Summer 2019: GM parts backorder issue

[XLRATING]

As consolation for those needing parts that ARE still available, found out that it seems almost everything is on back order, even for newer vehicles, even for dealers. Thought I’d pass this along - it’s not just our XLR’s. Misery loves company!

 

[rexster314]

I've been waiting for a steering rack to appear for my XLR since February.

 

[XLRATING]

I cited your situation to them as an example. Sounds like the dealers are just as frustrated as everyone else.

 

[Jentgens1943]

FYI
GM Customer Care and Aftersales (Parts division) has a stop buy and discontinuance procedure. There are many parameters to this procedure. It essentially looks at sales demand, vehicle model and type, procurement cost etc. Cadillac Parts have the highest priority for retaining the pasts yet there are still limits. After a certain period that is vehicle is no longer in production it is economically unrealistic to continue to purchase and stock parts. The bottom line is the cost to procure the parts goes so high no body would buy them or the supplier would simply refuse to manufacture the part any longer. As an XLR owner I also want all parts to be available forever. Yet as a retired GM Parts Purchasing Manager I reluctantly understand the issue. It is not that GM does not want to service the vehicles. This process is not unlike any other OEM vehicle manufacturer. I know this does not make it any easier to accept not getting parts for our beloved XLR. I just hope it assists in understanding why some parts cannot be obtained.

 

[XLRATING]

FYI
GM Customer Care and Aftersales (Parts division) has a stop buy and discontinuance procedure. There are many parameters to this procedure. It essentially looks at sales demand, vehicle model and type, procurement cost etc. Cadillac Parts have the highest priority for retaining the pasts yet there are still limits. After a certain period that is vehicle is no longer in production it is economically unrealistic to continue to purchase and stock parts. The bottom line is the cost to procure the parts goes so high no body would buy them or the supplier would simply refuse to manufacture the part any longer. As an XLR owner I also want all parts to be available forever. Yet as a retired GM Parts Purchasing Manager I reluctantly understand the issue. It is not that GM does not want to service the vehicles. This process is not unlike any other OEM vehicle manufacturer. I know this does not make it any easier to accept not getting parts for our beloved XLR. I just hope it assists in understanding why some parts cannot be obtained.

I appreciate that explanation from someone with both the background and as a XLR owner, and it makes sense from a business economics standpoint. I do wish that, at a minimum, they would release the patents for the headlights and taillights, which I understand is part of the problem with aftermarket manufacture of these. I find it interesting that the high mount brake lights are available but nothing else.

 

[Jentgens1943]

Many parts are carry over parts being used on more current models and other models. They sometimes make an economic buy when a supplier will offer a decent cost to run what is estimated to be an all time quantity. This quantity is forecasted using past sales history and the foretasted sales trend, Because it is only a forecast (most forecasts are wrong by nature as you cannot perfectly predict the future demand) it usually results in a shortage or overage of inventory. At some point the item inventory falls into a surplus or obsolete category as sales diminish and a financial decision has to be made to hold or scrap or sell the old obsolete inventory. There are company's that actually buy surplus parts by the pound as scrap then hold the items for the aftersales collector market. This allows the OEM to take a scrap write off and still keep the part available through these outlets at a collector price. One of these companies I have delt with during my employment is called Vintage Parts. I don't know if they have any XLR parts though. GM does license the right to make their parts for the aftermarket yet I don't know the procedure well enough to advise how to get the license. GM still will require OEM quality and specifications be rigidly met by a licensee.

 

[beaver_jd]

Jentgens1943 , With all due respect you are giving a great Corporate response. I don't care. All GM has to do is release the patents for the headlight and tail lights and everyone would be a happy camper. These XLR's were a flagship Cadillac and not be able to get these two important parts shines a bad light on Cadillac.
John F.

 

[Jentgens1943]

With all due respect sir,
My response is fact and practical experience based not the corporate line. You make it sound simple. That is naive at best. Cadillac will get a real black eye when some outfit in China starts counter fitting these parts using substandard materials that fail under UV rays from the sun as an example. Or they will get brittle and break easily. Nobody will say "oh those were counterfeit knock off parts" They will say "look at how Cadillac is cheapening these parts just to screw the customer and save money. I have been to manufacturing plants in China where they make knock off parts that look identical to OEM yet the materials used are way under par. How long would everyone be a happy camper when the parts fail in short order and they have to keep buying trash. As I said, GM will license the use of their patents to approved manufacturers under strict guidlines. Obviously there has not been enough interest by anyone in the industry to seek a license. Don't accuse a company of something you don't actually know they are doing just because you "ASSUME" it. Might be a good opportunity for you to make a fortune by getting the license and making these parts. Let me know how the business case for that works out. I am sure your customers(like you to Cadillac) will not care if you sell at a loss either as long as they get what they want at their preferred prices. Until you go out of business that is.

 

[beaver_jd]

Jentgens1943. Ok no problem. If and when one of my XLR's breaks a headlight I will just throw the car in the scrap heap. You sound like a real smart a**. And do you own an XLR ?
John F.

 

[Jentgens1943]

2006 Gold Mist XLR.
Not a smart a** just calling out the facts instead of assumptions. Don't scrap it. Part it out as I hear parts are not available. (OK that was a smart a** remark) Apologies.

 

[beaver_jd]

2006 Gold Mist XLR.
Not a smart a** just calling out the facts instead of assumptions. Don't scrap it. Part it out as I hear parts are not available. (OK that was a smart a** remark) Apologies.

Hey, I like humour. Thanks for the go around and enjoy the rest of the day. These really are great cars.
John F.

 

[long Tall Sally]

With all due respect sir,
My response is fact and practical experience based not the corporate line. You make it sound simple. That is naive at best. Cadillac will get a real black eye when some outfit in China starts counter fitting these parts using substandard materials that fail under UV rays from the sun as an example. Or they will get brittle and break easily. Nobody will say "oh those were counterfeit knock off parts" They will say "look at how Cadillac is cheapening these parts just to screw the customer and save money. I have been to manufacturing plants in China where they make knock off parts that look identical to OEM yet the materials used are way under par. How long would everyone be a happy camper when the parts fail in short order and they have to keep buying trash. As I said, GM will license the use of their patents to approved manufacturers under strict guidlines. Obviously there has not been enough interest by anyone in the industry to seek a license. Don't accuse a company of something you don't actually know they are doing just because you "ASSUME" it. Might be a good opportunity for you to make a fortune by getting the license and making these parts. Let me know how the business case for that works out. I am sure your customers(like you to Cadillac) will not care if you sell at a loss either as long as they get what they want at their preferred prices. Until you go out of business that is.

I think yo uhave that wrong. Cadillac gets the black eye when china makes the part and it far exceeds the quality of oem GM parts at 1/3rd the price. There is no sound reason for Gm not to release such things as electronic programming for items like the top module , the suspension module and others. their are companies making many aftermarket parts for the car without GM's help. They could easily partner with well known companies to manufacture the parts under license. Like was said they are mainly In the business to sell cars and love it when parts are no longer available and the car must be parked and replaced. They are just not smart enough to know that they loose a customer in the process who goes to BMW or Mercedes who still supply parts for some of their cars made in the 70's

 

[Jentgens1943]

Sorry Sally,
GM also carries parts as far back as the 40's. After over 50 years in the OEM parts business I pretty much don't have to generalize. All OEM auto makers are in the business to make a profit not unlike any other business. When the parts sales drop to a point where they are no longer profitable they need to adjust. The XLR was and is a specialty vehicle. At a production build of 15,000 over 5 years it is so low a volume that the past model parts sales in many cases would not justify purchasing these parts forever. As far as China producing better quality I am afraid you don't know what you are talking about. That is a generalized statement. They may or may not as with any manufacturing company. One thing they are very good at is producing knock off parts for the after market and avoiding patent suits by making subtle changes to the design. If the XLR volumes were a money maker China would already be providing them. I have business relationships with auto parts makers in China and Taiwan. Specifically those that produce lighting. They are already making replacement parts for many GM vehicles without approval from GM or licensing the patent rights. I know first hand from visiting them and their manufacturing plants. This is not an emotional issue I am addressing. I am just supplying real information that explains the facts. As an XLR owner I too want the parts forever. It is just not going to happen. The car is now 10 years out of production and we owners know when we have one it is a "special" car and will be difficult to get parts forever just like any other specialty vehicle or antique and classic.

 

[cubby558]

They even had problems getting headlight assemblies pre-production!

 

[long Tall Sally]

I stand by my statement .MAny China products take the oem failure and fix it so it does not occur again. I to have been buying parts from many sources for over 50 years. At one time I would not touch Chna parts .And when I saw China I mean off shore Aisan other than JApan componies. do you een have a clue how many China parts are on your car at present? do you not know that many of the "made in Mexico" Delphi parts are sourced items from China that are brought to Mexico and assembled there? I deal with high speed turbo ceramic bearings. Made in China and nothing in the USA can even hold a candle to them. They are so far advanced that American companies will not even enter the market as they cannot compete in quality and price. The headlight motors in the XLR headlight are the same as in BMW and bought from wait for it ...Yes CHINA!!!
I have oem BMW motors in the box with the country of origin printed on the box, CHINA I have the same parts sourced from the manufacture direct from China. As far as not being enough cars, I call BS on that. China and Korea manufacture lights for Ferrari knock offs, for Porsche 550 spider kit cars, For Lamborghini recreations .They are rather cheap and are very nice products >As good as what is sold from the factory which come from... China. Are you driving a car with Aluminum wheels? Guess where they were made.? You can buy seconds from companies like Keystone and other aftermarket sources that are not replicas but OEm wheels with a scratch. With your sources you should be able to find a manufacture for the headlights or taillights without any problems. The reason why we don't have any is GM was too cheap to have the outer lens properly sealed the the housings in 06 .They replaced about 700 under warranty and in 07 and 08 about another 500. That was pretty much their supply of lights needed for warranty.

 

[Jentgens1943]

Thanks,
Very interesting. BTW, any time an OEM has product sourced in China they have their QC people in house to assure the Chinese manufacturer follows their material and manufacturing specifications to the letter. Even then though there can be a quality spill. Shouldn't happen yet it does.

 

[long Tall Sally]

you are correct .Don't get me wrong about offshore parts .if you buy a 99 cent screwdriver at Harbor freight that's what you get . But if you buy the 3.99 one it compares to triple that at snap-on. We al lknow about warranties and all. When I had my collision shops there were three tiers of most aftermarket parts. junk ok and pretty good. Pretty good would equal oem used and sometimes equal a new oem part for 1/2 the cost. Saved a lot of people from having to go buy a car when they were upside down. Oem are pretty smart to put logos or names on some of their bumpers so aftermarket cannot duplicate them. But that means they get ridicules prices for them. At one time a wrecked gm needing two headlights a bumper, hood and fenders made GM more profit than they got when they sold the car.

 

[Jentgens1943]

Still is a cash cow in OEM parts. Not just GM but all OEM car makers.