Dear Honest John, I have this problem...
...I have a warehouse full with £40M of MG Rover parts, have on-going parts supply agreements in place, access to tooling and an impressive track record of quality of parts and availability in supporting MG Rover owners. However, despite this and numerous press releases, the media is determined to ignore these facts and continue to unnecessarily alarm owners and potential buyers of MG Rover vehicles. Please help...
Desperate of Desford.
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Dear X Part.
As a Rover owner I have experienced no problem in obtaining a wide range of parts for my car-a situation that is now causing me real concern as I feel that I am letting the media down by not experiencing in reality what they continue to report. Other Rover owners I speak to have similar concerns as they too have no trouble in getting parts.
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Well the media in general aren't renowned for understatement are they.
A classic case of the media helping to create the news they report.
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Latest Q & A with X-Part this afternoon:-
Q: Are you saying you have a full inventory of body and trim parts for all variations of the Rover 75 Tourer and MG ZT Tourer and MGTF?
A: Yes, and I would like to make the following points: We have full inventory and on-going supply agreements in place; We have contractual entitlement to tooling access for current models; We own tooling for non-current
Q: Who will resupply that inventory in between the warehouse running out of parts and production commencing in China?
A: The warehouse will not run out parts, managing inventory is our business. If tooling is moved to China we will make appropriate bridging purchases to ensure continued availability while we make alternative tooling arrangements if necessary. This is the nature of changing suppliers in the parts business, we do it all the time and know what we are doing.
Q: Are you saying there is an interim agreement that allows for the continued production of all body parts in the UK even though the Chinese have the intellectual property rights?
A: There is no 'interim' agreement, we have contractual first call on access to all tooling. There is, therefore, no issue on IPR for production of parts for existing vehicles. We are also in cooperative discussions with SAIC to ensure both our best interests and those of MG Rover owners are served. In any parts business of this scale there are occasional availability issues but even with the current challenges XPart is performing at the same availability level as other OEM parts providers, probably better than many. Please also note that on a case by case basis we would happy to provide additional support to your readers wherever possible.
HJ
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I've made the point several times that companies (such as XPart) will not willingly desert an already existing source of sales of spare parts i.e. the many, many thousands of Rover cars on UK roads.
But the doom and gloom merchants are always to the forefront...:-)
No doubt they will now be the first in line for Rover 75s at giveaway prices.....
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Very interesting. I can't help wondering if I could get a ZT260 for Sonata and Supra (only I could not really, too complicated to organize!).
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There's a difference between having contractural access to tooling and actually finding a place that will run the tool for you based on spares quantities rather than production quantities!
Not doubting anything that X-Part has said, but it'll be a battle unless they keep an enormous amount of stock which is an expensive way of running a business.
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well done HJ and rover guy, please see my new thread just above, car supermarket insane prices.. SM
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They must be optimistic to think they are going to enforce an agreement with (presumably Rover) against a Chinese company in China!
Production will take priority over spares for SAIC and anyone else will be at the bottom of the queue. And don't expect to see the tooling when they finish using it, after all it is going to China.
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>>They must be optimistic.......
They've been in the business since 1931 so I've got to think they know what they're doing.
I've not dealt with Xpart but I have dealt with Caterpillar - a lot, in various places in the world. In my experience the company is not full of stupid or naive people and they are pretty capable at what they do.
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Dear Desperate,
Had the supply of spares been reliable when Rover existed as a company perhaps the 'media' and 'public' would have more faith in your ability to maintain the supply now that Rover is in liquidation.
Regards,
Thommo.
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Hmm, interesting thread. Although not a Rover owner myself I have made quite a number of purchases of Rover parts over the last few years on behalf of other people. I can't say that I found the parts availability especially good and endured one or two rather long waits.
I am also not convinced that 'access to tooling' is the same as parts availability. Someone has to have the technology to use the tooling and do so at a profit.
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Staggers me all this....
All the doubt about MG Rover parts. No-one in the aftermarket parts business will be ignoring how many BL/Austin/MG/Rover cars are out there in daily use.
Any BackRoomers care to have a stab at how many vehicles in total we are talking about??
I'll give my answer at the end of the week.
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Exactly the point I have already made...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I'll give it a go.
BL/Austin. Almost none. Rusted to death years ago. Maybe see the odd one kept by an enthusiast but thats it.
MG. Are we talking classic MG's or recent re-badged Rovers? Anyway even taken together relatively few.
Rovers. More so than the classic MG's but many common parts with the re-badged MG's. A fair number out there but nothing like the number of say Mondeos or BMW 3's.
There is a stock of parts on the shelf, yes. When these run out one company MAY manufacture high value replacements, but one company only, they will have you by the preverbials and they will charge literally what they like and you will wait upon their timetable.
Low value items, switches, little bits of plastic here and there will just disappear, you will end up scouring breakers yards or bodging it up.
If your need is for a car that you will use intensively and then can effectively throw away after 3 years and it is sufficiently cheap then by all means buy a Rover, but any sort of longer term thinking then it just doesn't make sense.
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Oh good, a sweepstake, what do we win?
I guess 1,200,000 yes 1.2 million Austins, Morris', Wolesleys, Rovers, Triumphs and MG's still kicking about. I'm not including LDV vans, or BMW Mini's, or Range Rover or Jaguars made under BL.
Reasoning: there's still quite a few 90's 200/400's about, and loads of Metro's. Granted not many Maestro / Montego about, but you don't see many Sierras or Cavaliers either.
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How BMW got bolded and underlined above I have no idea.
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Seems to be a link to Churchill Insurance. Wierd!
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Reasoning: there's still quite a few 90's 200/400's about, and loads of Metro's.
Given the age of those vehicles, are the owners likely to want to pay much for the parts to repair a 5-10 year-old vehicle? Because unless the owners are prepared to pay the prices needed to cover the cost of manufacturing low-volume parts, there won't be much incentive for anyone to make them.
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Whilst Rover was alive any criticism of their products would get a furious response along the lines that:
1. their products were perfect
2. the reason nobody bought them was becuase people like YOU were running them down
Now we seem to get to be getting the same sort of thing about the parts supply.
As NW points out, the older Rovers are now bargain basement vehicle you buy then run till they drop and throw away. No one is going to pay say £500 for a low volume maunfactured part to keep them on the road.
Of the newer ones, they will drop to bargain basement within 3 years and the same will apply.
Once the existing parts run out someone has to take the decision to tool up and manufacture new ones.
Will they do that on spec? Possible but not certain. Possibly they will wait for 'demand' to build. That is owners with cars off the road screaming for help.
Its all uncertain. It might work out it might not. All this talk of parts being avaialble forever because someone has the tooling rights is marketing puff to sell the remaining cars.
Can we not just admit that?
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I don't see that XPart have anything significant to gain by helping sell the remaining unsold new stock. Sure, that's a few more in circulation that will require spares at some point, but the numbers in relation to MGR cars already in circulation are infitesimal.
I had problems getting rover parts for my 400 (96MY) about a year after the facelift and switch to 45, but that was then and this is now.
All cars reach a point when the cost of spares and repair mean that a reasonably serviceable vehicle meets with the crusher as the repair is more expensive than the car. With Rover it may come sooner than others, but I bet they'll still be worth more than the comparable Hyundai, Kia or Daewoo in three years.
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You're on. When I win you can send a cheque to your local Macmillan Cancer Relief with my compliments.
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Done. When I win you can send your cheque to Leukemia Research.
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on-line gaming then - quick, form a company and float it on the stock exchange
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IIRC someone posted recently claiming his 75 was off the road indefinately due to a body shop not being able to get a new front bumper?
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IIRC someone posted recently claiming his 75 was off the road indefinately....
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=32711
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I wonder whether the Xpart guy would care to comment.
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Already has - in that thread I think!
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Says it all. Part was out of stock for X weeks. Eventually Xparts got it back in and 'normal' supply was to be resumed in a few weeks after the backlog had been filled...
Think my bets pretty safe...
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Ahem...should have followed the thread.
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Right on Thommo.
We've already had a long thread on here about the non-availability of a part. HJ's car-by-car-breakdown said for *months* before MGR collapsed that "SOME PARTS FOR ROVER 75s ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY OBTAINABLE AND CAN RESULT IN LONG PERIODS OFF THE ROAD".
As soon as a couple of part non-availability stories run in the red-top tabloids, used values will fall through the floor.
I'm sure ready demand will keep K-series head gaskets available for the forseeable future however...
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>>HJ's car-by-car-breakdown said for *months* before MGR collapsedthat "SOME PARTS FOR ROVER 75s ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY OBTAINABLE AND CAN RESULT IN LONG PERIODS OFF THE ROAD".>> As soon as a couple of part non-availability stories run in the red-top tabloids, used values will fall through the floor. >> I'm sure ready demand will keep K-series head gaskets available for the forseeable future however...
Another case of not letting the truth get in the way of a good story eh? lol
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So what is being said here?
1. The stories are not true and the people saying them are liars; or
2. They are true but they should keep shut because its Rover and they are subject to some sort of special protection from the truth?
Please clarify.
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I'll give my answer at the end of the week.
>>
And the answer is........???????
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Thank you Mare. At least one person is interested!!
The total stands at 2,091,551 vehicles.
(This comprises Austin/MG/Morris&Rover's still actually in use today.)
Anyone surprised at how high the figure is??
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>>Anyone surprised at how high the figure is??
As I have owned a rover or several since 1985. I am not surprised.Cannot say I have ever had severe problems getting parts for any of them..Mind you. cannot comment on MG or 75.For all the running down these motors get.They are good for the price. engine ie K series is the only letdown.But then for some people you could class them as throw away units.
Car itself is a good motor in that they dont rust as badly as some motors I could mention. fault wise I think they have less than others.I think when you look around and see how many 200/400`s there are still around mostly in good nick.I wonder why certain people keep running them down?
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Steve
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Well we can only judge by our own experiences.
I had a Rover 216 Vanden Plas. The worst car I have ever owned and cost me a fortune in spares and repairs and depreciated like a rock falling off a cliff. Could not PX it as the trade described it as 'poison', had to sell it privately for what I could get, not much.
As with most people who have a bad experience with a Marque I said 'Rover, never again'.
I know something of the parts disaster that occured whilst Rover was producing as I have a friend who is the FD of a packing and shipping company specialising in car parts. Newish Rovers were off the road for months waiting for parts.
Maybe the situation is different now and maybe not. I for one would not be willing to take the risk. To those that are, good luck.
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