[s-cars] Longevity and Replacement parts

[CyberPoet]

Well, far be it for me to defend the VAG conglomerate for not storing
enough parts for our everlasting needs, but the following
considerations come to mind:

1. The unit sales for 198x thru 1996 for Audi in America weren't all
that high. Additionally, these sales were split across a number of
different platforms and models. Given this, some German engineers
somewhere probably ran a logistical simulation to determine the failure
rates and required stockage levels of varying parts for the various
platforms (very traditional in the industry). It's not his fault that
we tend to cherish our cars far beyond the German standard life
expectancy for our vehicles -- as list members, we do so far further
than 'typical' car owners (didn't I just see a post today about someone
getting a brand-new factory-built engine for their 10 year old vehicle
from Audi?).

2. Some parts are not Audi-produced and their contracts with their 3rd
party vendors are probably such that Bosch, et al, guaranteed to
provide a certain number of replacements or a certain time frame of
replacements on demand through the dealer channel. Thus, before you
start cursing Audi, question yourself whether the item is specifically
an Audi OEM part to begin with...

3. There are many externalized parts that we, in the American market,
tend to go through at a higher rate than the Germans, including body
mouldings, weather stripping, belly pans, headlights, etc. This is
because of the difference between the nature of our roads and theirs,
and may not have been built into their calculations.

4. If parts are still available new in the logistical system anywhere
in the world, they can be located. Your local shop may not go through
the effort (or may not be connected to VAG's global logistics
database), but there is the capability to move part XXX from Bali to
Boston for your needs. Just be realistic about delivery times. As was
noted, parts are often still available for the German market for our
cars when they are not still available at your local stealer's... In
part, because they use less, in part because the cost-equation made it
sensible to store more in the fatherland, and in part because they sold
more Audi's in Europe than in the USA by a large factor.

5. Platform life. If you look at a Ford platform like the mustang line
(in it's 1981 through 2000 model incarnation -- the years might be off
since I'm not a mustang buff, but the thought is right), the unit sales
and lack of any significant diversity in the core platform meant that
the same parts often fit multiple decades of production. If Audi sold
the same car for decades, it wouldn't sell well in the USA as Audi is
currently positioned -- a low-volume, high-end luxury performance
vehicles. Thus, as Audi owners, we expect continuous improvements (as
well as meeting new, changing emissions and computer standards), which
leads to radical changes in engines, platform alterations, etc. This
means more parts spread across fewer cars, and thus less availability
in the supply line a decade after production (because the same part
isn't still being used for brand new Audi's rolling off the assembly
line).

So, which do you want: guaranteed parts for your mustang, or a
low-volume, not-the-same-as-everybody-else high-end luxury performance
vehicle? At least you don't have to fabricate your own head gaskets,
injectors, MAF and so forth -- well, at least not yet.

Cheers!
=-= Marc Glasgow
Tampa Bay's best Mac Consultant since 1990
www.cyberpoet.net