well said Jaime. On Thu, Sep 1, 2022, 10:15 AM Jaime Kopchinski via Mercedes < mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
> Is not that they "don't care about" them, its simply a matter of suppliers > no longer willing to make the parts and not finding a cost effective > replacement. If there is a demand, they will try to find a solution. > They're a business, not a parts charity. > > Next complaint will be that reworked replacement parts are too expensive. > It takes significant resources to manufacture any parts for any car, new or > old. Engineers, purchasing, business cases, testing, quality control, raw > materials sourcing, tooling, etc. They don't just walk up to a machine and > push the "make me door seals for a 123" button. > > Think about how you buy your parts...are you supporting the system by > buying from MB genuine? Or are you looking for the cheapest possible > source regardless of quality? Then complaining when MB support is gone... > > Owners of the 60s cars are happy to pay for parts as the value of their > cars are increasing. MB responds by making parts available. (Like 4.5 > engine mounts, NLA for a few years, now available again with a new > supplier). > > 90s car support brings up another issue: electronics. If the chips don't > exist to buy anymore, its simply impossible to make the parts. Period. > But as the value and demand for these cars increases on the collector > market, you will see more solutions appear. If your goal is to keep your > beater on the road as long as possible and cheap as possible, you're not > the target market for these solutions. > > > > On Thu, Sep 1, 2022 at 10:03 AM Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes < > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > How long ago was that? Now days you can’t even get door seals for 123 > > coupes. A lot of 124 parts are now unavailable. Many of the ACC vacuum > pods > > are NLA. As previously mentioned you can no longer get 123 oil coolers or > > 126 SDL radiators. Vin coded ignition tumblers for 123 124 and 126 are > NLA. > > Perhaps they want to support very old cars or very new cars, but middle > > aged 123-126 they don’t care about. > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > > On Sep 1, 2022, at 7:57 AM, dan penoff.com via Mercedes < > > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > > > > Very true. > > > > > > When I was “restoring” the 65 220SEb I was constantly amazed at the > > parts I could still get from Mercedes, and in most cases, how relatively > > inexpensive they were. For instance, I could still get a lot of rubber > > parts, both seals and suspension. A full set of bushings for the rear > swing > > arms were less than $100. New front/rear springs, $110/each. > > > > > > The left front spring was really bad on that car, so bad that corner of > > the car was a good 2” low. Dealer checks on them and none in stock, but > not > > NLA. Turns out, they had run out of inventory and were waiting on a new > > order. So they were still sourcing these things over 50 year after the > car > > was built! > > > > > > -D > > > > > >> On Sep 1, 2022, at 4:27 AM, Jaime Kopchinski via Mercedes < > > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >> > > >> Try getting parts for 50s and 60s cars. You'd be amazed how easy it > is. > > >> > > >> You have to be creative in this business to find parts, but having a > > source > > >> like the classic center is pretty amazing overall. It's pretty > > remarkable > > >> what they do have. > > >> > > >> For example, I just bought a vacuum pod for the distributor of a > 300SEL > > >> 3.5. Pretty obscure part, still available, under $100. > > >> > > >> Is it perfect, no of course not, but be thankful they put so much > effort > > >> into it, its still pretty special. > > >> > > >> Jaime > > >> > > >> > > >>> On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 7:31 PM David Bruckmann via Mercedes < > > >>> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >>> > > >>> I agree re; NLA parts. And not just obscure stuff, but for example > the > > >>> window regulator kit (the little nylon disc and clip) is NLA. Which > is > > >>> nuts. > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> Kaleb Striplin wrote: > > >>> But they do not have anything that a normal dealer could not order? > > >>> Correct? The number of common parts that are becoming NLA is > alarming. > > >>> > > >>>> On Aug 31, 2022, at 4:32 PM, Jaime Kopchinski via Mercedes < > > >>> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >>>> > > >>>> ?The classic center is alive and well, and even just moved into a > new > > >>> (much > > >>>> larger) facility inside the Long Beach VPC. Tom retired months ago, > > but > > >>>> hes still active online. I get parts deliveries all the time from > > them, > > >>>> still excellent service and loads of parts in stock. > > >>>> > > >>>> Jaime > > >>>> > > >>>>> On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 4:16 PM Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes < > > >>>>> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >>>>> > > >>>>> I have not heard that. I don?t think the classic center really does > > much > > >>>>> anymore anyway does it? They only have the same parts any other > > dealer > > >>> has > > >>>>> as far as I know. > > >>>>> > > >>>>> Sent from my iPhone > > >>>>> > > >>>>>> On Aug 31, 2022, at 3:14 PM, David Bruckmann via Mercedes < > > >>>>> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> ?I may be late to the party, but I recently learned that Tom > Hanson > > has > > >>>>>> retired from the MB Classic Center. > > >>> _______________________________________ > > >>> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >>> > > >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >>> > > >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >>> > > >>> > > >> > > >> -- > > >> Jaime Kopchinski > > >> http://www.jaimekop.com/ > > >> _______________________________________ > > >> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >> > > >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >> > > >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > > -- > Jaime Kopchinski > http://www.jaimekop.com/ > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
