"the secondary market" (mild rant, again...)

[MHLIGGINS <MHLIGGINS@aol.com>]

<<.....And while I'm at it, how important is the secondary market to a car
manufacturer, anyway?  Do they even concern themselves with such things or are
they focused solely upon selling new cars?  .....
...Jeffrey Goggin>>

     If you'll recall some of my earlier rants on the list, it doesn't seem
that we matter much.  When you consider how poorly stocked most Audi
dealership parts departments are, plus the prices they ask for the goods, the
parts market seems to be treated as a necesary evil, not something they do
because they want to.  The U.S government mandates that parts be available for
a certain amount of time, so they MUST have some parts.
     I just stopped by the dealership again Friday afternoon.  Out of a list
of about a dozen items (10v turbo engine stuff) they had exactly none.  Zero.
Zip.  Nada.  The big goose egg.  No timing belt, no head gasket, no head
bolts, no etc., etc.  They did tell them could order the parts for me.  Well,
great move ExLax.  I can do that from here in beautiful downtown Bucksnort
without having to drive 73 miles one way to get to their place -- expecting to
find parts for my car.  Come to think of it, we've only been able to buy one
Audi part from their stock-on-hand.  They did make a key for us once.  Out of
more than a dozen trips.
     Based on comments by other q-listers, I do not think I am the lone ranger
here.  Unlike some of those commenting, I would be willing to pay their prices
sometimes - but I can't buy what they don't have in stock.  About now Jouko is
probably getting ready to comment about the cost of carrying a full stock of
Audi parts (he's made that observation before), but the parts I wanted were
not esoteric.  We're talking head gaskets and timing belts here.  "Oh, yeah,
we can order them there things for ya."  People, for the 10v engine those
parts are as common as grass on a fairway.  We're not talking things like
intake manifold gaskets for for the 20v engine.
     On the Porsche side of the equation VAG seems to be interested in the
later owners.  Same with the VW side.  But in the U.S. Audi does not have a
repuation for holding value (as noted in your post).  Audi seems to be
assuming that the later owners will not be as concerned for maintaining older
cars with rapidly declining values.  So they feel compelled to work at the
leading edge -- get the new cars and lease cars moving.  At a later time they
may become more interested in the trailing edge, but only when the cars are
holding value like the comparable marques from their homeland.  (Which is
happening to a degree, as also noted in your post.)
     Also, keep in mind that europe does not have a "commodity" parts market
as we know it in the U.S.  They don't have an auto parts store on every other
corner.  Most parts come from dealers or through commercial garages.  (Phil
Payne can probably offer addition insight here.)  The volume is lower as well.
     The commodity parts market, as a support of vehicle sales, is not a
concept they want to learn.  Audi, like most auto makers, would probably
prefer to see that the cars all got recycled after a certain number of years.
This would mean higher new car sales, of course, so why wouldn't they want a
fixed life span?
     In short, after the initial warranty period, the Audi owner is a
liability, not an asset.  Should the owner decide to buy another Audi, they
would then be moved back into the asset column.  (Sorry, Jeff, but I can't
ever get debit and credit right, but I know asset/liability.)
     In addition it would seem that the Audi owners who would work on their
own vehicles are a special abomination.  People working on these machines
without all the special tools?  Blasphemy!  And to change factory parts into
renewable resources? (bomb recharge thread comes to mind)  What must they
think?
     These are my opinions in the matter.  I don't think we get considered
into the equation at all.  We might later, but not now.  Getting cars off the
assembly lines and into the hands of as many willing owners as possible,
that's the locomotive these days.

     That's how it looks in Bucksnort.
     Later.
     Marty Liggins
     Imperial Potentate, Bucksnort Quattro Club (Un-Inc.)