Supply Chain

[dakazman]

                     

     After ordering, paying and receiving verification of a A/C condenser to finish my El Camino, after a few days order, CANCELLED. without even a word to me or my credit card cancelling / crediting the transaction.

   I called several vendors and specialty sites and I get OUT OF STOCK, supply chain problems. I'm beginning to think that someone doesn't want me to finish these cars.  Do I need A/C, at my age, YES. Once the ac is complete, I'll register and insure the car.
  I am also wondering why the shop I brought my wife's van to fix the air didn't want to replace a condenser after they charged me $400 to service the system and it all leaked out a week later. I'm currently now replacing myself and not happy working on this monstrosity. dual ac system and going over every line without a lift, condenser, for it will be here Wednesday. okay just venting.  deadhorse:

  Has anyone else experienced the disappearance of parts?

   dakazman

[BDA]

Not yet but I guess we might want to get ready for the eventuality. Is this part of the new world order? Give me the old one any day!

[dakazman]

  BDA,   I can’t agree more.
   Last week it was my 15” tires are being phased out .
 Dakazman
 
   

[dakazman]

  I’ll wait until tomorrow to start pulling the universals on this driveshaft, just in case I can’t buy them .
I guess 25 years old is the sealed for life .
  The last section of my ac saga is from the back doors to just in front of the wheel well and down thru floor. The holdup is the back bed/ seat has to come out . 🥱. My sniffer went off a few times near the floor in front of rear wheel.

  Dakazman

[EuropaTC]

Has anyone else experienced the disappearance of parts?
dakazman

Not so much for car parts because I tend to keep spares for the bits that usually wear out, and of course I'm not doing starship mileages.  But two of my other hobbies are cycling (road bikes) and archery, both of which are at the stage where "if you haven't already got it then you aren't getting it".

For both sports I've never seen so much stuff on back order and it's not just "out of stock, we'll get it tomorrow"  it's  "6-12 weeks". One supplier (Spot-Hogg) are quoting 4-6 MONTHS for their sights & releases, something you'd normally expect to order and receive next week.  I've recently had one of my regular archery suppliers email me on Monday morning to say the arrow shafts I ordered on Saturday (then in stock) wouldn't be coming because the distributors didn't have any and couldn't give a delivery date. Even a pack of spin vanes (the "feathers" at the back of the arrow) took over a month to arrive, and they are considered a consumable item because you break so many.

We import lots if stuff in the UK and I think it's a combination of the effects of Covid lock downs world-wide catching up together with a massive increase in freight costs over the last 12 months. Then Russia chucking bricks at Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions/oil/gas supplies aren't helping either.

Energy/fuel costs are going through the roof here and I can see folks will be having to decide where to cut back.  And when people aren't spending the suppliers can't afford to hold stock so I don't see the situation improving any time soon in the UK at least.

[4129R]

Getting spares for a 1996 Toyota Landcruiser is very difficult.

I had to replace the diesel injectors. Parts had to come from Germany and it took 3 months to get the injectors overhauled.

I am told Fiat and Peugeot parts are hard to get as the manufacturers will only supply spares for 5 years after manufacture.

Getting spares for a Europa is a doddle compared with cars made in the last 25 years, and Europa parts are relatively cheap.

[cazman]

I am in the business of auto parts manufacturing and I will say in my little world that anything from China is difficult. Obviously, we have moved too much of our manufacturing there and we are seeing the results. What most people do not know is that a good deal of China's manufacturing and some of it's main ports have been closed for months at a time this spring due to COVID. They just opened up a few weeks ago. I have parts that have just shipped (and try not to rely on Chinese goods, so it is a small part of our products line) after a two month wait. I see it only getting worse.

I have another global supplier that supplied us with fiberglass reinforced plastic and they have had a fiberglass shortage for two years now. I could go on and on.

The only answer I see is to Buy American.

[dakazman]

  I just received this info from my friends on another forum : el Camino Things have improved quite a bit offshore locally.
Port of LA/LB has been averaging 20-30 ships
waiting to unload.
Compare that to as many as 109 (or more) for las
holiday season.
Freight broker CargoMatic says there are 300
waiting to load in China (across multiple ports).
In California, there is a conflict between
independent and company truck drivers servicing
the ports.
This has the potential of lasting a while, and we may
see delays in freight leaving the harbors as a result.
The 25% import tax added to container chassis
(trailer) about 4 years ago, then followed 2 years
ago by second import tax continues to constrain the
ability to move freight by truck in US.


Dakazman