What's the deal with repair parts these days???

[smritte]

The root problem in this picture is the fact that the stealership does not want to provide parts to maintain older vehicles because they would much rather sell a new car. They don't like people such as myself who keep cars running for multiple decades. That is not nearly as lucrative for them. If they want me to buy a new car they are going to have to build something that isn't a POS. I don't think they are capable of doing that anymore.

This is pretty close to spot on with one exception. The dealer is not the problem, its the manufacture. The dealer has 3 basic sections. sell cars, sell parts, work on cars. The dealer does not control part availability, the manufacture does. If there's no parts, they cant sell parts and believe me, parts is big money.

The law says the manufacture needs to supply parts for 10 years. That's law but there's a huge grey area. They need to supply proper replacement parts for the duration of warranty. After that they only need to supply "suitable factory replacements". Figure four years after the model changes then its a crap shoot.

A good example was, GM changed the Camaro body. The vehicle I got was a little over 5 years after the model change. The car needed a seat belt. ALL of the available Camaro seat belts turned into two part numbers. left and right. All the colors are now the same number. You couldn't choose. You have tan seat belts and the box had a red one. When I contacted people i knew in corporate, I was told it was a suitable replacement. Done.
Of course me working at the "Stealership" got blamed.

I have spent 48 years working professionally in this industry, almost 30 of it as a dealer tech. I can spend hours talking about manufacture polices and politics but the thread is about parts.

I have two places I buy parts from when I cant get them here or sometimes the price here is too high. One is in Dubai and the other is in Japan. A part can be discontinued in America but available on the world market. Unfortunately, its not American cars. Working my whole life as a tech and amateur fabricator has taught me quite a bit about part quality. Its either good or not. I absolutely refuse to purchase from most auto part stores. Why? Because I don't like doing the job twice and I have higher standards then most regarding the quality of my work.

Has part quality dropped? NO. More people are making and selling crap. The quality is still either there or not.
Has part availability dropped. Sort of. That's based on what car manufacture you have. There's a reason I wont own certain vehicle types.

 

[MOAK]

Years ago we bought a new 1989 505 STX Peugeot. Contrary to biased auto review magazines that car has proven to be one of the most rugged & reliable cars to come out of Europe. It was unsurpassed at handling some of the roughest roads in the world. It also loved cruising in the triple digits. Our dealership was a dream to work with. He kept commonly needed maintenance parts on hand. Sadly, about 175k miles and 13 years later, there were no longer parts available. We wanted a sedan to travel in, besides a camping vehicle. Good luck getting parts quick on the road back then. We sold it, not the dealers fault. The local Toyota dealership has bent over backwards to find stuff for me. Once it was a power steering pump bolt located at a dealership in St Louis, had it in three days, $4.89. Dealerships, in my humble opinion, keep the doors open selling parts & service. smtitte is correct, I too have a list of manufacturers and aftermarket parts houses I avoid, and Peugeot is right at the top. ( LOL )

 

[grubworm]

well...over 2 weeks and it looks like the used part has arrived from somewhere and now i can drop off the jeep and see how long and how much it will take to install and reprogram the controller. i spoke to the shop earlier and i heard a guy in the background say something about "lube"...not sure if that is for me or the jeep...

the dealership cant get the part and wont mess with a used part, so i am reduced to going to shop that is part salvage yard, part tow truck company, part tire repair and part auto mechanic. not getting a good feeling...but apparently the shop is putting two of their best guys on it so maybe i'm just being a bit of a worry wart...

 

[Sparksalot]

well...over 2 weeks and it looks like the used part has arrived from somewhere and now i can drop off the jeep and see how long and how much it will take to install and reprogram the controller. i spoke to the shop earlier and i heard a guy in the background say something about "lube"...not sure if that is for me or the jeep...

the dealership cant get the part and wont mess with a used part, so i am reduced to going to shop that is part salvage yard, part tow truck company, part tire repair and part auto mechanic. not getting a good feeling...but apparently the shop is putting two of their best guys on it so maybe i'm just being a bit of a worry wart...

View attachment 269076

Instead of Beavis & Butthead, I would hold out for Larry, Daryl, and Daryl.

 

[smritte]

Don't forget the other brother Daryl

 

[grubworm]

ha. well, i got a call earlier that the salvaged abs controller was installed, but its bad, too. so far i'm $1000 into this where i have a $700 bad used part and $300 non-refundable labor since it was neither larry or daryl's fault that the part was bad. and the jeep is still undriveable. guess this is going to be another "new normal" for folk with vehicles a few years old.

its nerve-wracking...the dealerships and most other shops wont repair it unless they have a brand new OEM part ( i get it, liability issues) but all the OEM parts are discontinued and unavailable and the one shop that will fix it is part of the same company that has the salvage yard next to it, so if i get the part from the salvage yard next door, they will install and reprogram it. if i go out and get my own part...nobody will install or reprogram it because of liability issues.

salvage yards are going to be the new bit-coin...

 

[Garyindiane]

What is the OEM part number?
Is it 68067457AA?

 

[Garyindiane]

This place seems to do rebuilds on that unit.
Module master

 

[smritte]

Idle curiosity but what code did you get initially when you scanned it.
Also what code does it have now?

 

[grubworm]

What is the OEM part number?
Is it 68067457AA?

68145835AB
its for a '13 wrangler sahara

 

[grubworm]

Idle curiosity but what code did you get initially when you scanned it.
Also what code does it have now?

abs, brake and traction control light all came on and stayed on so i plugged in the reader and it said abs controller is bad...the reader didnt give a code, it spelled out on the little screen that abs controller is faulty
i didnt notice anything physically happening with the jeep. i read a few jeep forums concerning this and one person said that his faulty abs controller applied the brake to his right front tire while driving and it pulled him over to the side...sounds like it could be dangerous, so i figured stop and fix it immediately

it sat 2 weeks in the driveway while we waited for the salvage yard/shop to get the part and when we went to drive it to the shop about 4 miles away, the lights were cleared. i took it and told them to swap the part anyway and the used part that came in showed the abs, brake and traction light once they installed it.

 

[grubworm]

This place seems to do rebuilds on that unit.
Module master

thanks! im keeping the old one and will send it to these guys to rebuild it if i ever need it again

 

[bgenlvtex]

68145835AB
its for a '13 wrangler sahara

$700 on ebay

There are tons of the "AE" revision on ebay

OEM Mopar $575 This is one of several sites I see referencing this as an "export" or "RH Drive" part

Moar OEM

 

[grubworm]

$700 on ebay

There are tons of the "AE" revision on ebay

OEM Mopar $575 This is one of several sites I see referencing this as an "export" or "RH Drive" part

Moar OEM

thanks! i called the mckinney dealership and the parts guy said they dont have the part and i tried the other link you had for the shop in florida and they are out of stock as well. their site doesnt say its unavailable, but it will say that if you actually place an order or call and ask. i've has 2 dealerships tell me that there will be a run of these made since there is such a high demand still and that the parts will be available later next year.

like i said earlier...brother in law had the chevy silverado still under warranty and couldnt get parts, so hopefully its a limited thing that will clear up soon and we can get back to repairing our jalopies instead of having to buy brand new

 

[smritte]

abs, brake and traction control light all came on and stayed on so i plugged in the reader and it said abs controller is bad...the reader didnt give a code, it spelled out on the little screen that abs controller is faulty

OK
As long as your sure.
I have diagnosed 100's of ABS systems. I can count on one hand how many actual module failures I've seen. Abuse, internal seal leakage and accident damage don't count. On the other hand, I've seen countless modules replaced unnecessarily. I would second guess the issue when you had two with the same problem.

 

[grubworm]

OK
As long as your sure.
I have diagnosed 100's of ABS systems. I can count on one hand how many actual module failures I've seen. Abuse, internal seal leakage and accident damage don't count. On the other hand, I've seen countless modules replaced unnecessarily. I would second guess the issue when you had two with the same problem.

i dont trust my code reader 100%, but i did use it when the thermostat went out in her jeep. she was visiting her daughter in austin, tx when her engine light came on. the local shop in austin ( not a dealership) told her it was the thermostat and not to drive it and that it would be $1300 for them to fix it. i told her to drive it home and when she got here, i used my reader and it said thermostat. i got one at autozone less than $30 and took 5 minutes to replace. so that turned out really good, but i really dont have a clue on the abs module. the shop i took it to used a bigger and fancier diagnostic computer and they said it was definitely the abs controller...however, some youtube vids showed a shop using a nice snap-on scanner and getting actual codes (mine doesnt do that) and finding a grease leak on one wheel that shorted the sensor. i kind of feel like it might be something like that, but all i have for data points are what my reader says and the shop verifying that with their scanner.

there are a few independent shops around here and they are all booked up like crazy, so i am very limited on options. at least we're home. like i said earlier, brother in law went with us to wyoming a couple months ago when his still under warranty silverado broke down outside gillette, wy and it took a lot of work and over a week trapped there to find the part. when i was a commercial diver, i also built and operated ROVs which are electric/hydraulic, so i got a good bit of experience repairing servo valves and the like offshore...looks like i am going to have to teach myself some automobile troubleshooting/repair now. the abs controller reminded me of a servo pack we had on the ROV...electric controlling hydraulic.

 

[smritte]

Their actually not that difficult. Dead controllers are normally a power/ground/connector issue. You can have a shorted comm wire cause weird issues but that depends on how they tie the comm wires. Unfortunately, jeep is one of the few data base's I don't have access to otherwise I would send you diagrams and diagnosis.
you can short almost all of the sensors on an ABS and all that happens is you get codes.

90% of abs diagnosis can be done with a good volt meter. The sensors need a lab scope and good scan tool to see if the computer is seeing the signals as well as being able to remote control valve's.

Remember. I'm not saying the module isn't bad. Its just not common.

 

[grubworm]

90% of abs diagnosis can be done with a good volt meter.

makes sense. i remember troubleshooting problems with the ROV where it was going down thousands of feet and constantly in and out of the water, so i'd expect some big complicated failures and it would pretty much always be a power issue with a wire or connector being the issue. we had a giant o-scope out there to test video problems, but i never used it. i had a good fluke and would set it to A/C and look for 1v peak to peak to determine if i had signal. it either worked or didnt work, so checking waveform was irrelevant. im sure a lot of that applies to the jeep and its sensors...
i would guess that all vehicle sensors receive a voltage to operate and then they transmit a signal of varying voltages that correspond to a certain condition that is being monitored by a microcontroller. like a thermostat outputting a voltage that corresponds to a certain temperature. i'm more than likely looking for a total failure where that sensor is not putting out any voltage, so i can see 0v and know its bad.

 

[freak4life]

a couple months ago, we went up to wyoming and south dakota with brother-in-law and his wife. we were just outside of gillette, wy when their transmission light came on and the truck shut down. it was a fairly new chevy silverado still under warranty, so no worries...gillette was just a few miles back and they had a chevy dealership. well...it was some kind of valve in the transmission that failed and even though it was covered by warranty...the part was not available. i even went online and called dealerships in louisiana and texas thinking i could get one overnighted. NOPE. it took a week and finally sourced one and had it shipped to the dealership. a month later, they had another warranty issue and again, the part was not available. they traded the truck in on a new one.

now, a week ago, the wife was driving her jeep sahara when the abs and brake light came on. its a 2013 with 100K miles, so it is in really great shape and is basically her grocery getter and light errands vehicle. i plugged in the obd reader and found that it was the abs controller. no problem, i called the dealership to see if they had any in stock. not only do they not have any..NOBODY has them. i called dealerships all over the county including mopar warehouses and every other parts distributor i could find on line. after a little searching, i found out that it has been discontinued by jeep. they were around $350 new and the very best i can hope for is to have the local salvage yard try to source a used one (which is $800 used plus the cost to reprogram it)
jeep is messed up...the abs controller i need is only available on 2012, 2013, & 2014 models. after that, they have a new style and the new jeeps are even different from all those.

looks like older jeep parts are discontinued. i looked at other parts and its the same story. i know there are a lot of older jeeps out there and i wonder how people are going to keep them running if the very manufacturer who made it quit making parts for it? and apparently chevy is no better. i have a tundra, so now i wonder if toyota is also falling into this as well.

anybody else have trouble getting parts?

I’m sorry to hear about your parts problems. I do not believe you will have those same issues with your Tundra. I drive a brick (4runner) it has not changed (much) since 2009. That is/was one of the main reasons I chose to purchase that vehicle. There is something to be said for continuity in vehicles.
Blessings Rich

 

[freak4life]

Grubworm understands.

Tundra--that bit you snipped off the front in order to quote me was actually essential to the point. I go to the stealership intending to buy the part. They flat out do not have the part. And "do not have the part" means the brand does not have the part. The best I can get from them is a part number. If the brand had the part itself I would get it from them.

The last time I managed to get a part from the Stealership it was a thermostat for my 12v Cummins. They didn't have it in stock, but they were at least able to order it. It was over $100, but I did indeed manage to get an OEM T-stat for my Cummins.

In my experience the OEM parts are the best parts I can get. That is what I want. But it generally cannot be had, particularly from the stealership. So I then resort to the next best option, which is to look for those same parts on ebay. And yes, OEM parts do show up on ebay, from private sellers. After I am dead and gone I expect someone in my family is going to make a bit of money selling my NOS parts that I purchased over the years but never used. That market has been around for a long time, and I expect it will continue that way.

The root problem in this picture is the fact that the stealership does not want to provide parts to maintain older vehicles because they would much rather sell a new car. They don't like people such as myself who keep cars running for multiple decades. That is not nearly as lucrative for them. If they want me to buy a new car they are going to have to build something that isn't a POS. I don't think they are capable of doing that anymore.

I love our “capitalistic system” in our economy. Your term “stealership” is a pejorative and unnecessary. They are not in business to not make money. They are not in business to provide you with the least expensive products possible. Free markets work, maybe you should take the risk of losing your capital and open up a dealership and then try selling your products at or below cost so random strangers will feel better about your work and not really care about the risk you took. Just my .02 cents for what it is worth, probably not even .02 anymore.
Blessings