[urq] Parts, etc

[Michael Hopton]

Jon,
First thanks for trying!

I don't expect Audi to provide the parts but I do want maintenance
parts most of which cost Audi nothing more than placing an order on
their subcontractor. Or better still let the subcontractor manufacture 
them, here I am talking about Lemforder, TRW etc, ur-q ball joints,
steering tie rods etc

Many years back you could source tie rods direct from Lemforder 
for less than half the price of Audi ones, still $200. But now only
the Audi ones are available at $1000 Cdn for a set, and how much are
the cars worth....

Interesting the tone to their response, makes me feel loyal.....

regards, Mike 




-----Original Message-----
From:	urq-bounces at audifans.com on behalf of Jon Linkov
Sent:	Mon 1/24/2005 7:43 PM
To:	Urq List
Cc:	
Subject:	[urq] Parts, etc
So, after a short back-and-forth with ACNA, I've learned this:

> One thing that AG is doing which may help collectors find rare parts is the
> Audi Club International, or ACI.  AG has formed ACI and plans to use ACI as
> a common place for all world-wide collectors of Auto Union marques,
> including what they call "historic" or "tradition" models, to communicate
> with one another and not only share their enthusiasm but also solve some of
> the search problems as well.  ACI is just now evolving, but it is getting a
> rather large push relative to the Q25 celebration.  Hopefully I'll have
> something more definitive to give you in the very near future.
> 
There are also contact that the club has with AG and ACI who may be able to
help with parts...but they DO need to know what is needed.

Also, there is the issue(s) of the following:

> AG does not feel that they are negligent in the least in the discussion of
> making parts available for older cars.  Rather, they feel that they go far
> beyond what the regulating bodies require of them; and they do this to
> accommodate their customers.  The governments of the various markets that
> Audi sells in determine the minimum number of years that manufacturers must
> provide replacement parts for a product -- in most instances this is ten
> years.  For many products that were produced en-masse, such as the
> 80/90/4000 series, Audi still produces replacement parts today for models
> that are 20+ years old, well beyond what the government requires of them.
> To their credit, this strategy satisfies the vast majority of the their
> customers.  Customers or enthusiasts who get "squeezed" are those like
> yourself who have limited production vehicles whose parts don't entirely
> interchange with parts used on high-volume models.  In the end, it all
> becomes an "economy of scale" discussion -- and many times it is a supplier
> to Audi, not Audi themselves, that makes the decision that a part is not
> economically feasible to re-produce; but that's not taking AG off of the
> hook entirely as they too make similar decisions.
> 
> I've mentioned this dilemma to AG personnel repeatedly in the past, most
> recently this past week in Ingolstadt -- each time getting the "economies of
> scale" reply.

BUT...what I¹ve offered to do is send in a list of the ³most wanted² parts.
However (yes, here¹s the catch)...I¹m not playing Court Stenographer. This
is the beginning of my busy season at work and I just DON¹T have the time to
catalogue each e-mail, part #, description, etc.

So, if a person/persons are willing to work with me to compile a list, I¹ll
handle getting it formatted and sent off to ACNA/AG/ACI.

I guess it¹s a start.

Jon
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