[Shop-talk] Fw: Harbor Freight & spare parts(was: MIG Welders 115 v vs220v)

[David Scheidt]

On 9/30/07, Randall <tr3driver at ca.rr.com> wrote:
> > You want to give me a cite for that claim?  I'm aware of no
> > such requirement.  GM, and every other car maker, knows that
> > there's money to be made selling parts.
>
> I don't know the citation, but I remember hearing about it way back in the
> 70's when the very first US consumer protection acts were being passed.
>

I've heard this (with different time periods) a number of times, but
no one has ever been able to come up with an actual cite.  I've run
into cars I couldn't get parts for that were only two or three years
old.

> And I also know that GM quits selling some spare parts almost exactly 10
> years after the car was last sold.

They may have other obligations to make parts available for some
period of time.  Contracts with their outside suppliers, for instance,
or a contract with a large customer (uncle sam, probably) that
requires spares be available for a specified time.  They may also have
financial accounting data that shows it's not worth selling many parts
after 10 years.   It costs lots of money to keep things in warehouses.
 (Tax law changed in the early 80s to make it much more expensive to
maintain parts inventories.)


-- 
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com