On Wed, 25 Dec 2019 22:48:18 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Wed, 25 Dec 2019 20:27:36 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 25 Dec 2019 15:26:11 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, December 25, 2019 at 1:08:45 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 25 Dec 2019 07:54:19 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 10:37:11 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Tue, 24 Dec 2019 09:49:47 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 12:19:59 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Tue, 24 Dec 2019 05:53:55 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, December 23, 2019 at 8:28:50 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Mon, 23 Dec 2019 15:11:03 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, December 23, 2019 at 4:01:05 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Dec 2019 14:13:18 -0500,
wrote:

On Mon, 23 Dec 2019 09:23:50 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, December 23, 2019 at 11:56:49 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Mon, 23 Dec 2019 02:02:12 -0500, micky
wrote:


Car is in a traffic accident,

Body shop won't return the car for 4 months because they ordered a new
seat belt and it's not avaibable anywhere in the US, has to come from
some other country. Takes 4 months.

Have you ever heard that a body shop can't return a car if a seat belt
is missing?

Why couldn't they get a seatbelt from a junkyard, at least temporarily.


They didn't say what kind of car.

Thank the Traders of the world for that.
It is that "keep us safe, no matter what" thinking.

You are right, go to a junk yard and get one.

Actually, if it takes 4 months to get a seat belt, maybe it's being
caused by one of Trump's trade wars. Notably lacking is any mention
of what kind of car this is, how old, etc.

I didn't hear about the trade war with Japan or Korea.

And the replacement parts would have been made the same year or soon
after the original belts were made, long before the stupid tariffs.


Build all the parts ever needed for a 1992 Ford Taurus in 1992?
I don;t think so. Maybe if a Democrat like your ran the company.
Would take a hell of a good forecast and a BF warehouse.

I doubt they built OEM parts long after the model run was over.

I think you will find that's not true. Why would Bosch, for example,
an OEM supplier to BMW, MB, etc, stop making parts after the model
build was over. You're telling us they make brake pads, calipers,
radiator hoses, etc for the next 20 years, guessing at what the
demand might be? That would be nuts. And you can get parts from
OEM suppliers like that for cars that are 20 years old today.

And no one said the part had to be from an OEM supplier either.


Brake pads are a commodity, maintenance items, spanning many years and
many product lines. How about things that are year and model specific?


97 Honda Prelude door handle. Lots of people list the part, actually
finding one in stock, in the right color, not so much.

Did you try the dealer?

The dealer searched the national Honda database and came up with a
black one, shipped from out of state. My car is red. He told me, they
are pretty rare. (two model years, of one model car)

And the obvious next question would be, how long to order one from
Honda? Again the issue wasn't whether it's in stock at a dealer,
in stock in the US, but whether they are still being manufactured.
If I go into the MB dealer, they first see if they have it in stock.
If not, they check the MB North America warehouse. If they don't
have it, they check MB direct. Given that multiple
vendors are selling new ones on Ebay, it would seem that those Honda
door handles are being manufactured, but it is possible they may not
continue to make them in the less popular colors at some point.



That was Honda saying they did not have any in the database and they
did not think the door handle fairy was going to come up with any
more. No manufacturer is going to crank up a line to manufacture a
unique part for a car that is more than 10 years old (max under the
law).

That's just more bad information. There are parts available for
just about all cars that are only ten years old. I have a 40 year old
classic Mercedes in the garage and many parts are still available new
for it. Less now, but even at 20 years, anything I needed I got.




If there was enough demand, like for maintenance items (brake pads
etc) OEMs would jump in

They don't have to jump in, they are where the parts came from to
begin with and I've yet to have an experience where a part for a
ten year old car is no longer available. Can it happen? Sure, but
it's sure not the typical case.


I bet there are plenty of model specific parts for that car that are
unobtainable "new" from the OEM or any other source.
It all depends on anticipated usage and what they have stashed around
the world in dealer sops and warehouses. Mercedes (or Honda) makes
their money selling new cars. A car that gets junked is a sales
opportunity for them. The government requires "reasonable parts
support" for 10 years. After that it is whatever is in the pipeline or
what an after market comes up with. On a low volume vehicle, unique
parts can easily become unavailable "new", particularly if there was
an unanticipated demand, late in the cycle, after the OEM has shut
down that line. Then again, someone *might* come up with one at 5x the
list price, but I am not doing that either. List on the last one I
bought was $75 and I did pay $125 by the time I had it in my hand (for
the wrong color) but when the other handle broke, I couldn't even find
that.


but they also would only be interested in
parts that span many models and model years. This feeds right back
into that headlight conversation. If you have a somewhat rare car and
you need a unique headlight assembly, when current stock is gone, they
are likely to be gone forever except for salvage parts.



Ebay? Plenty of them on Ebay, brand new in various colors. And whether
it's stock or not isn't the issue. Sure, the dealer might have to order
it. the issue was whether they are still being made.

That did not seem to be the case when I looked and they wanted a
couple hundred bucks for one in the wrong color. You do need to be
careful and be sure they are selling you exactly the same part number
or it is not going to fit. They do lie/don't know better.


Price is another issue and why people often wind up at a salvage yard.

The problem is a plastic door handle in a junk yard will be as
environmentally degraded as the one that broke. That is just a tumor
transplant.

Then just send the whole car to the junk yard, problem solved.


1997 to 2001 are the same handle on Prelude. And they ARE paintable.
right side part number 72140SW5Y01xx left side 72183SW3013xx
The xx is the color code -
Euroautosolutions has all colore listed on ebay for $133.95 each brand
new OEM. They are just down the road from you in Lake Mary Florida.

I believe the actual business name is Dealer Sales Solutions at 106
Commerce Street in Lake Mary. I believe they can be reached at 407 878
7000.
Operated by Dan Rowland. They should have exactly what you are looking
for

They didn't have one when I was looking.