keithb7 Posted May 27, 2018 Report Posted May 27, 2018 Why are parts crap? Because at one time quality, reliability and reputation was #1. Today? Profits at any expense. Cut quality and availability to save costs in the name of profits? You bet. Today parts products are built to last until the warranty period is over. A large number of new vehicle buyers will have never changed a headlight. They’ll have leased or bought another new vehicle every 3-5 years. Many might have brakes or tires replaced once. Then its time for a new vehicle. New vehicle manufacturers love this. Sell more! More profits! More wealth! Will there be a 2010 vehicle on the road in 2110? Does shiny foil covered plastic, made to look like chrome, last? Plastic radiators? How about those awsome fake chrome covered lug nuts? Aren’t those a treat once the vehicle warranty ends! Outsource everything! Across all businesses it seems have happened. Remember when appliances used to last 20-30 years? Rant over. 1 Quote
knuckleharley Posted May 27, 2018 Report Posted May 27, 2018 16 minutes ago, keithb7 said: Why are parts crap? Because at one time quality, reliability and reputation was #1. Today? Profits at any expense. Cut quality and availability to save costs in the name of profits? You bet. Today parts products are built to last until the warranty period is over. A large number of new vehicle buyers will have never changed a headlight. They’ll have leased or bought another new vehicle every 3-5 years. Many might have brakes or tires replaced once. Then its time for a new vehicle. New vehicle manufacturers love this. Sell more! More profits! More wealth! Will there be a 2010 vehicle on the road in 2110? Does shiny foil covered plastic, made to look like chrome, last? Plastic radiators? How about those awsome fake chrome covered lug nuts? Aren’t those a treat once the vehicle warranty ends! Outsource everything! Across all businesses it seems have happened. Remember when appliances used to last 20-30 years? Rant over. Well,I don't want to get political,but the outsourcing is directly tied to the VERY generous union wages and benefits The Big Three bestowed on Organized Labor back in the 50's. It drove up the price of cars so when the "economic tide" turned as it always does eventually, The Big Three were left with no choice but to shut down a lot of the production in the US and farm it out to Asian companies,or go bankrupt. Unfortunately for Detroit,they couldn't tax Asian companies to cover their tax burden,so Detroit went bankrupt. NOTHING happens in a vacuum. One action will always cause a reaction somewhere. The one Universal Truth is "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." Don't believe me,ask the cow how much your burger or steak costs. Mods,if this strikes you as being political,keep in mind that everything in life is essentially political,and it is non-partisan. There is plenty of blame to go around with the professional criminal class we call "politicians". But.....,it's ok with me if you choose to delete it,too. 4 Quote
RobertKB Posted May 28, 2018 Report Posted May 28, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, knuckleharley said: Well,I don't want to get political,but the outsourcing is directly tied to the VERY generous union wages and benefits The Big Three bestowed on Organized Labor back in the 50's. It drove up the price of cars so when the "economic tide" turned as it always does eventually, The Big Three were left with no choice but to shut down a lot of the production in the US and farm it out to Asian companies,or go bankrupt. Unfortunately for Detroit,they couldn't tax Asian companies to cover their tax burden,so Detroit went bankrupt. NOTHING happens in a vacuum. One action will always cause a reaction somewhere. The one Universal Truth is "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." Don't believe me,ask the cow how much your burger or steak costs. Mods,if this strikes you as being political,keep in mind that everything in life is essentially political,and it is non-partisan. There is plenty of blame to go around with the professional criminal class we call "politicians". But.....,it's ok with me if you choose to delete it,too. This may or may not all be true. What I like to ask is about the people buying the product. Everyone wants to pay the least amount possible and this is understandable. However, if you want to keep companies and businesses in North America, you need to pay more for the product. The employees of these companies need to make a decent living so they can live a reasonable lifestyle. People will always go with the least possible cost and this is what costs jobs. If you want the jobs to stay in North America, then be prepared to pay the price that keeps jobs in Canada and the US. You can't have it both ways. Personally, I am prepared to pay more for products not produced offshore but those products are becoming hard to find. Edited May 28, 2018 by RobertKB 2 Quote
knuckleharley Posted May 28, 2018 Report Posted May 28, 2018 27 minutes ago, RobertKB said: This may or may not all be true. What I like to ask is about the people buying the product. Everyone wants to pay the least amount possible and this is understandable. However, if you want to keep companies and businesses in North America, you need to pay more for the product. The employees of these companies need to make a decent living so they can live a reasonable lifestyle. People will always go with the least possible cost and this is what costs jobs. If you want the jobs to stay in North America, then be prepared to pay the price that keeps jobs in Canada and the US. You can't have it both ways. Personally, I am prepared to pay more for products not produced offshore but those products are becoming hard to find. I couldn't agree more. In fact,I normally do pay more if I can find a US manufactured product. Don't get me wrong,though. I won't and can't pay 700 bucks for something I can buy of equal quality for 130 bucks. I might want to,but I just can't afford it. 1 Quote
Flatie46 Posted May 28, 2018 Report Posted May 28, 2018 19 minutes ago, RobertKB said: This may or may not all be true. What I like to ask is about the people buying the product. Everyone wants to pay the least amount possible and this is understandable. However, if you want to keep companies and businesses in North America, you need to pay more for the product. The employees of these companies need to make a decent living so they can live a reasonable lifestyle. People will always go with the least possible cost and this is what costs jobs. If you want the jobs to stay in North America, then be prepared to pay the price that keeps jobs in Canada and the US. You can't have it both ways. Personally, I am prepared to pay more for products not produced offshore but those products are becoming hard to find. Yep costs more to make stuff here. We have environmental rules we live by. ( think about the chrome process for an example) We have somewhat realistic wages VS something made offshore or assembled with crap made offshore. Something I've noticed, their are lots of American companies that support other brand vintage or muscle cars. I think some how, some way we need to get some of these companies to get into the Mopar biz of our era and then support them. Be nice to see some performance minded companies offer something for the ole flat 6. Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted May 28, 2018 Report Posted May 28, 2018 There is not enough money in the old flathead type car market for these companies to make a good profit If you want say Max Wedge parts/ Hemi cars , 300's etc or .any mid sixties cool cars yes they will make repro parts for them... this because the owners have money and the resale is high on these type of cars... watch the auctions and other sales. The repro manufacturers feel that it's a good market to make parts. Our type of cars ..... weak market... cars don't bring high dollars at sales ...owners question or are concerned about how expensive the parts could cost ( cheap dollar watcher owners)... this probably is the main reason parts are not reproduced much for our post war Mopars. 1 Quote
austinsailor Posted May 28, 2018 Author Report Posted May 28, 2018 But it doesn't cost any more to make a battery cover or gasket the right size. If you are going to make it, why not make it the right size??? Quote
Frank Elder Posted May 28, 2018 Report Posted May 28, 2018 1 hour ago, austinsailor said: But it doesn't cost any more to make a battery cover or gasket the right size. If you are going to make it, why not make it the right size??? Quantity VS Quality would be the overriding factor here, meet the contract and keep the overhead low. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.