Porsche Not Supporting Older Vehicles, Abandoning their heritage, if you ask me Options

[Tobra]

A post in another thread got me thinking. Porsche has a long and distinguished heritage, but they have apparently lost interest in it. As I understand it, they once had a policy that they would make parts available for their vehicles, pretty much as long as they kept going.

There are a lot of folks out there, you are one of them if you are reading this little missive, who love finely made old cars, particularly from Suttgart. (I am sort of like that, but I have a 914 instead) Maybe through meassage boards such as this, perhaps through the PCA, or POC, it would be possible to influence their actions. I am going to write Porsche a letter on my letterhead. They may do nothing, but they just might respond. Anyone already written them and been spurned? Anyone thing it might work?

[smontanaro]

I'm sure we'd all love it if Porsche continued to produce parts for our 914s (and 356s, 912s and early 911s). But despite its success over the past decade or so, Porsche remains an extremely small car company. I doubt it's economically feasible for them to produce parts or train their mechanics to work on our older iron. I think they simply lack the resources. They'd be stretched way too thin.

Best of luck with your letter writing project but I think it would be wrong for Porsche to try and support their old cars. It's better left to the folks like Pelican and all the smaller folk out there providing parts and service for our cars (which in many cases are as good as or better than what Porsche originally provided).

Skip Montanaro

[TimT]

hmmmmmm

Go to Chevy,Ford,Pontiac,Cadillac, etc.. and try to get parts for a car they made 30 or so years ago...

I think its not so much that Porsche doesnt support the old cars, its that Porsches suppliers have moved on, as might be expected.

[reverie]

It may be the suppliers, but in the big picture it was the MBA/corporate thinking that took hold in the 1980s - "the purpose of a business is to maximize short-term profits" - and their "bible" said the way to do that is by cutting costs.

Letter-writing won't take us back to those old days, when Porsche employees told us we would be supported with a parts inventory. The long-term-profit, old-school management people are gone..

[lapuwali]

Some of the suppliers have moved on, some still support old products. Mahle still makes pistons, ATE still makes brake parts. The 914 is really no worse off in parts supply than most other cars its age, really. About the only commonly required part that's NLA right now is CV joints, and I suspect that will be temporary.

A lot of the suppliers will make a run of parts from time to time to refill the shelves. Ball joints on the early swb 911/912 were NLA until a supplier did this about a year ago. Coolant bottles for a particular class of Alfa were NLA until the supplier decided to make enough to satisfy a few years worth of replacement demand (perhaps 1000 units, not many, really).

As Tim says, GM and Ford don't make parts for '69 Camaros or Mustangs anymore, but aftermarket suppliers do, since the demand is there. Some of those "aftermarket" suppliers are the same ones that made the original parts. Many are copies made by other companies. They're better supported than the 914 simply due to the demand.

I've been fooling with old cars for 20 years, and nothing much has changed over that time across a wide range of models: British, Italian, and German. Some cars are so well supported you could build a brand new one out of parts from a catalog (the "old" Mini is like this). Others you struggle for months or years to find used parts or some NOS parts (try finding Citroen parts in the US some time). Ebay has been the primary change in this regard, making the market for NOS and used parts much easier to accesss. Stuff doesn't have to linger in some barn or back room for years anymore.

I don't see Porsche as having turned its back on its heritage in parts supply. I DO see them has having turned their back on their heritage with things like the Cayenne. They have to look forward, not back. They're not in business to support a few thousand cars they built 30 years ago. They're in business selling tens of thousands of new cars today.

[Jeroen]

Porsche actually puts in quite an effort to keep producing or start reproducing parts for their older cars

Check porsche.com and look at "porsche classic"

Problem is... these are mostly small run productions, so they are more expensive and very few people are willing to spend the extra dough
In turn Porsche sees this as "no demand" and quits producing the parts again...

[zymurgist]

It's not unique to Porsches. I know a guy who loves '60s Oldsmobile Cutlasses. He told me that he saw a fairly beat-up air cleaner sell at a swap meet for $2500 (the car it came off of sold for $4000 when new). The Olds and Buick muscle cars weren't as popular as their Chevelle/GTO siblings... GM hasn't made parts for them in years... and the aftermarket supports those models where they can make a profit, i.e., the ones where there are more examples, or where people are willing to pay $$$ for good repro parts.

It's a sad fact of life... there just weren't that many 914's made back in the day, and more of them are disappearing every year. (I avoid reading the Sawzall threads for this reason.) It's not economically feasible to provide a complete parts inventory... catering to the enthusiast community, at least in this case, doesn't feed the bulldog.

[URY914]

I think there is law or statue or something that requires manaufactures must provide parts for a given number of years. Don't know what the number is. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wacko.gif)

[tdsmoonchild]

QUOTE (TimT @ Apr 2 2006, 09:37 PM)

hmmmmmm Go to Chevy,Ford,Pontiac,Cadillac, etc.. and try to get parts for a car they made 30 or so years ago... I think its not so much that Porsche doesnt support the old cars, its that Porsches suppliers have moved on, as might be expected.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

Built a '63 Cadillac several years ago, couldn't even get a transmission pan gasket from GM, much less anything else!

[grantsfo]

Why should Porsche support a Volkswagen? (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[Tobra]

QUOTE (grantsfo @ Apr 3 2006, 06:11 AM)

Why should Porsche support a Volkswagen?  :D

I am so glad someone else said that. I realize all companies are profit driven. Porsche has been somewhat different than most until recently, but a Toureg/Cayenne? (another good point) VW dumped the old AC stuff years ago at US dealers. Thousands of dollars for a "Hemi" radiator for a Chrysler B body is one thing. If they don't think there is a demand, if a few hundred people complain about it when they can't get a windshield frame seal or a pair of potmetal HE's, you guys are corporate asshats, forget the Cayman, hello NSX, or Skyline or Jaguar or...

[Cap'n Krusty]

I had a 53 Porsche from 1972-1980, and from the getgo I couldn't get caps, plug wires, and a whole host of engine parts. The myth of long term factory support for old Porsches is just that, a myth. The classic parts program is around 15 years old, and is a nice thing. However, you may see few 914 parts from that program, because it appears to be aimed at the big bucks 356 and 911 markets. The Cap'n

[effutuo101]

I beleive that a manufature is only responsible to support a product for 10 years after it ends a production run. So, there is a mathmatical equation that the Federal government give the auto maker and requires them to make x parts to maintain the number of cars they produced. That means that support would have expired in 1986. That is my understanding of the issue

[Porcharu]

QUOTE (effutuo101 @ Apr 3 2006, 07:40 AM)

I beleive that a manufature is only responsible to support a product for 10 years after it ends a production run. So, there is a mathmatical equation that the Federal government give the auto maker and requires them to make x parts to maintain the number of cars they produced. That means that support would have expired in 1986. That is my understanding of the issue

It might even be 7 for low production. For equipment it's only 5 years.

One of the reasons I bought a 914 was the relitively good availability of parts for a 30 year old non GM car. I am always shocked when I see the parts availability of big old GM tanks. I just don't understand why anyone would want an old family sedan as a hobby car. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wacko.gif)

I gave up on my 75' Scirocco because NO body rubber parts are available, windshields etc.

Just look at all the members who make parts for our cars. I thinks it's pretty amazing.

[DonTraver]

Porsche is the only manufacturer I know of that has a restoration department. I visited it twice last year in Stuttgart. The first time they were restoring a 908, frame up, and a 914-6 frame up the second time. Talking with Stefan Nadj, Manager Workshop Classic, he said that they still have most of the special molds/tools/jigs to completely restore any model, they just have to dig them out and make the parts they need for the restoration. But it's not cheap, bring a big wallet.

They also have a mechanical rebuild dept, body & paint dept, and a service/maintenance dept. If you want your car serviced by Porsche you can. I saw a total of 9 959's waiting for service. Apparently the 959 is so complicated, that the people that can afford to own one ship them back to Stuttgart for regular servicing and repair. Must be nice.

Porsche North America listens pretty closely to the special registrations that are a part of PCA, from what I've been told. That might be the way to get their attention, start a 914 registration with PCA. They might already have one, not really sure.

Later, Don

[Rick_Eberle]

Is it just the U.S dealers?

Now the 914 was never available in Australia, so almost everything I've ordered has to come in from Germany, which usually means I have to wait up to a whole 6 days.
In the last two years I've bought from the Porsche dealer:

a windshield,
windshield trim,
all the roll bar trim except the rear center peice(NLA),
the chrome trims and seals for the door windows (they gave me a FREE windshield seal - the big one - because the early front trims have been superceded),
window scrapers,
the horn contact in the steering wheel hub,
rollers for the rear boot springs,
front and rear roof brackets in the rear boot,
clutch clevis,
clutch cable,
accelerator cable,
battery tray,
CV joint boots,
a convex outside mirror,
and more that I can't remember.

I know they had available tie rods, engine mounts, brake hoses and hard lines, also lots ov various hardware such as fasteners, etc.

We know that there are over 700 convex passenger side mirrors, and I just found out that there are 971 driver's side mirrors.

This is for a car that had a production run of, what, just over 100,000 that ended 30 years ago?

I think it's amazing that there are any 914 specific part numbers in their system at all.

[Pat Garvey]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

As an owner for 34 years, I realized long ago that I would keep my 914 for many years. I also realized that some of the "soft" parts (rubber pieces, asbestos brake pads, carpet, etc) would not be available forever. So I stocked up. You can fairly easily find usable hard parts, and my soft parts have been stored in evacuated (no air) packages, so they'll keep long-ter, (no ozone damage to the rubber). Admittedly, I am a little extreme - actually I'm cheap, because these parts can all be found today, but at prices way beyond what I paid.

Quite frankly, I think the purist can find just about any part for a 914 if they're willing to search & pay.

[Tobra]

If I find the windshield frame seal, I may just buy two, bought the car in September, so never had the chance to stock up on cheap parts (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

I guess it could be worse, you can't get the energy absorber part for the bumper off a '75-'79 Super Beetle, have not for several years, and how many of those did they sell with those bumpers?