[countchocula]

Recap:
A tree fell on my 2003 Insight, crushed the roof, and when the Honda dealer tried to get a replacement roof panel (which Honda lists in its parts catalogue), Honda didn't have one. It was "back-ordered." How long would it take to get long? No one seemed to be able to tell me or the dealer.

In the end, they had to find a salvage Insight, and cut the roof off to replace mine. The salvage yard somehow knew that Honda didn't have any new roof panels to sell, and charged $50.00 over the list price of a new roof panel from Honda.

The question that concerns all of us is - why is it that Honda isn't stocking parts for a car that it is currently producing? Are there other Insight parts that we would find are "back ordered," if we needed them? I don't know the specifics, but I do know that Honda (and all car manufacturers who sell in the U.S.) have a legal obligation to sell parts for the cars it produces for a specific period of time after production of the model stops. This experience has made me wonder if Honda is living up to its end of the bargain. Has anyone else had this problem? Maybe an internet petition signed by the members of the Insight list would wake Honda up to the fact that when our cars break down, we need the parts to repair them quickly, not when they get around to it.

 

[Guest]

Hi Countchocula:

___If you have seen some of the other Insight accident threads, you will see similar situations. I believe one of the Insight’s that needed lots of new body panels took almost 3 months to repair because of the length of time to receive all the parts from Japan. IIRC? Honda may be obligated to make parts for 10 + years or so but that probably does not mean they have to stock them either here in the US or in Japan.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:2f09grlk][email protected][/email:2f09grlk]

 

[Insightful Trekker]

If you look at your reply you answered yourself. Supply and demand. Honda doesn't want to loose a sale but the demand for roof panels has been low and they got "caught" short.

In the case of my accident the rear bumper skin and rear floor pan were readily available. I suspect the same for front bumper skins, door skins, and fenders. In most cases accidents involve the car moving. And in such accidents with roof panel damage the car is frequently totaled. Hence the low demand and subsequent supply.

 

[Aaron Cake]

Recap:
The question that concerns all of us is - why is it that Honda isn't stocking parts for a car that it is currently producing? Are there other Insight parts that we would find are "back ordered," if we needed them? I don't know the specifics, but I do know that Honda (and all car manufacturers who sell in the U.S.) have a legal obligation to sell parts for the to repair them quickly, not when they get around to it.

Happens all the time. Try ordering trim for an RX-8 from Mazda...Or the undertray for the Insight from Honda. Can you imagine the overhead (size and cost) if every Honda dealer had to keep every possible part for every car they currently produce in stock?

 

[Holicow]

I don't think it would be unreasonable for them to stock a few uncommon pieces, accounting for all the pieces in a complete car, in a central location in the US.

That should not be a cost burden.

 

[Yves M.]

Even more. I do not beleive that the parts like a roof which is made of aluminium, exist in any stock.

It will be built when it will be needed by a customer and i do beleive that it will be built once they receive enough orders. They would not build just one.

If I remember correctly, there was a guy in Ontario Canada that waited 6 months for body repaires to be done on his car. And it can not take that much time, where ever it would be in stock (Japan, Russia, South Pole,North Pole,...)

When I bought my car, I phoned Honda Canada and they told me that if parts are not available, they would provide a rental car for the time it takes (except for the first week).
And If I remember correclty, it was what happened to the guy from Ontario. But it is not fun to drive a rental at 25 mpg while you wait for your car.

EDIT: I am all for a "Maybe an internet petition"

 

[rschaffrath]

I had a similar parts problem back in 2002. I broke a clip off of the cabin air filter duct cover (p/n 79813-ST3-E01) and ordered a replacement for $6.17 in January 2002. I checked back with the parts department periodically and they were still marked out of stock in central parts and on backorder. Finally in June with nothing happening, they printed out my order information so that I could contact the Honda Consumer Line for help. That did not go anywhere either but in August 2002, the part suddenly turned up available in system and with a new price of around $60! When the parts clerk checked to see when I would get my part, he discovered that my order had been mysteriously cancelled by the Honda Parts division. The parts clerk was really angry at the point (not at me) because he had been working with me over the eight months to try and get this part and suddenly found his order cancelled. Luckily I had the paperwork from back in June that showed I had a valid pre-paid order for that part. He made a call, entered the information into the system and I got the part for what I had paid for it in September 2002, nine months after I ordered it.

So no it does not surprise me that Insight parts are taking a long time to get.

 

[countchocula]

Parts availability

My point is not that I think all Honda dealers should have uncommon Insight parts on hand, but that Honda should ALWAYS have these parts available in a central location, ready to ship out to the dealers.

Not having parts for a car that is currently in production is irresponsible. Those who have received rental cars to tide them over while they wait for Honda to ship their parts should consider themselves lucky - the dealer didn't do this for me.

 

[Yves M.]

Hi countchocula,

I have forgotten to point that they saied they would provide rental cars when the car is undrivable. Else they would not.
I am not sure but the clip you are talking about probably keeps the car drivable.

You should ask your dealer/America Honda for the rental service when they can not provide parts. By pushing a little they should say yes, they are responsable for the "not ordinary" delay

I am totally agreing with the fact that they do not have parts and should.

The first year (3 times!), I had to go back home after going to my prearrange oil change because they either did not have the oil or did not have the filter. They did not even had my car as an Insight, they could not put it in their computer! (I specified on the phone an Insight but they still expected a Civic)
Since then, I always have 3 oil litres and a filter at home or in my car.

 

[james]

I must admit to a certain curiousity: people keep mentioning this alleged obligation to stock parts for a certain length of time, but I've never heard of it elsewhere. What statute imposes it?

As for the practicalities of stocking parts like roof panels, remember just how few Insights there are in the world. The total production so far is what, 20,000 or so? Now in any given year, how many of those do you suppose have trees fall on them, or roll over, or have damage that calls for a new roof panel? Maybe 1 or two, do you suppose?

 

[Rick]

Sadly get used to it. When I briefly had the 00 Insight I was selling I was going to do a brake job on it (turned out not being necessary) so I called up the parts manager I know at the dealership I use, he puts the order through, front pads and rear shoes no big deal. I get a call the next day that they're on national back order for 6 to 8 weeks for something common as brake pads! Well in the mean time I ended up selling the car and kinda foregot about them, they came in a few weeks later and I ended up buying them anyways because I wanted to remain in good standing with the dealership. They remain sitting there in my garage. I'll use them eventually right?

They do keep common body panels in stock, anything thats common collision stuff. There is a centralized parts depot (well kinda) in California. Any part I have to order comes from overnight on a truck from California. Again I will mention the fuse box I had to get, that had to come from Japan, it's just something you have to consider will happen when you own a limited production foreign built car. My car was out of commission for almost 3 weeks because of it. Granted this was when I was posting bad things about Honda and the Insight.

Seriously it can be much worse. My parents run an automotive repair shop and I've seen this first hand. Friends brought in their Chevy Tahoe, think it was a 2000 model with 80,000 miles on it. All 8 fuel injectors were dying and had fauled the oxygen sensors as a result. Guess what, this is a common problem for that particular engine which is in how many thousands of Chevy's and they are back ordered for over a month! So we used some connections and were able to locate 2 which was enough to get it through for the time being.

I hate to play devils advocate for them, but it is simple supply and demand, if there were a lot of people requiring roofs they'd have em in stock, but thats just not the case.

 

[ext1jdh]

A similar thing happened to me several years ago. Due to youthful stupidity I got into an accident in my 97 Ford Aspire, a car built for ford by Kia. It took over six weeks for body panels to arrive from the depot in Korea. It seems as though it isn't common for parts to be readily available for cars that have a low production run. Unfortunately, we'll have to get used to it.

 

[james]

"...it's just something you have to consider will happen when you own a limited production foreign built car."

Though the Insight is a lot better than some. I once had a '54 Sunbeam Alpine - imagine what it was like locating parts for that

 

[Holicow]

I think we all agree that, financially, there is no big reason for Honda to have parts available (supply and demand).

Economics aside ( is that possible? ), it would put Honda a step above to make sure that Insight drivers aren't out of commission for 6 weeks (that's just ridiculous) waiting for a a single part. Just because it is a "limited production" car is not enough excuse. Honda is not a limited production company with little, or no, resources. You can't compare the Insight to, say, a '68 Lancia.

Having a complete car's worth (or 2) of parts always available would be a big factor in not letting that (a prolonged wait) happen. The cost of 2 Insights, and the small space to store them, is nothing to Honda.