How long will SOL & SKY body parts be sold?

[kasher]

How long will SOL & SKY body parts be sold?

I didn't have enough room in TITLE to say, "How many years (to what year) do you think SOL & SKY body parts will be available?"

Right now, if - God forbid - you get in a fender bender, where does the body shop find fenders, etc., for replacement?

It's October 14, 2012, now. Do you think they will be available another 6 to 10 years (at a NOT too excessive price)?

[JRinKY]

Until the current supply runs out. Some parts are already scarce, and that list will grow. Unfortunately, the parts you are most likely to need will be the hardest to find, since those are the same parts that everyone else will need too.

No one has announced that they are making any new parts, so what is available is whatever was left over when production ended. There is always a chance that someone will tool up to make them, but given the small number of cars produced that chance seems pretty small to me.

Before long I think that salvage parts will be the only ones around. You might even have to find a body shop that actually knows how to fix something instead of simply replacing it.

[rob the elder]

Originally Posted by kasher How long will SOL & SKY body parts be sold? I didn't have enough room in TITLE to say, "How many years (to what year) do you think SOL & SKY body parts will be available?" Right now, if - God forbid - you get in a fender bender, where does the body shop find fenders, etc., for replacement? It's October 14, 2012, now. Do you think they will be available another 6 to 10 years (at a NOT too excessive price)?

Body parts for the Sol are not difficult to find yet. I have seen several "kits" that include fenders, door skins, quarter panels, trunk lids and hoods. Source One had them on their website for a while. They found them at a reseller in the mid-west. There were several kits available in multiple factory colors.

I have seen both factory and after market fenders for sale.

Generally cars that receive sufficient damage to make the quarterpanels unrepairable result in a total loss which means that there are quarterpanels in stock that are unused.

Fenders get crushed but on the Sol are repairable.

Factory hoods and trunk lids are readily available.

Parts that will be hard to find will be rubber seals, interior trim bits, center console for example. Complete convertible tops will be difficult to source from GM. The electro / mechanical cable assembly that articulates the trunk lock and buttress latches is both unique and relatively expensive.

Unique Sky parts are getting to be more of a challenge. The center front plastic / chrome trim with the Saturn logo is readily pitted and I am sure will be a challenge to find since the demise of Saturn as an entity.

Fortunately the cars have proven to be very reliable and the high failure rate mechanical parts are shared with multiple other platforms with the result that there are plenty of them in stock at the New GM.

[wspohn]

Originally Posted by JRinKY You might even have to find a body shop that actually knows how to fix something instead of simply replacing it.

And good luck with that - the craftsmen that used to do this sort of work are either retired or working for expensive vintage restoration shops. Most body men these days would be lost if you asked them to rework a bent fender instead of just replacing it. Oh, they'd probably try, but they probably wouldn't have had much practice since their auto school days, so the results would be pretty unpredictable.

I knew one old guy that could sit down with a flat sheet of aluminum, some hammers and dollies and an English wheel and a few days later present you with a new fender he'd made patterned after the existing opposite fender (this was on a Bugatti and one fender was missing). I wouldn't like to think of the price for that sort of work.....

[rob the elder]

Yes

I am fortunate to have found a great shop that I work with but I hear on a daily basis how the "new way of doing business" is to hire 30 guys and 3 lawyers, do the minimum work necessary to get cars in and out of the shop and make money on volumn. Not quality.

They get sued all the time for shoddy work but its more cost effective for them to pay the lawyers full time to deal with the suits while churning out cars that have at best a 2 year paint job and less than factory fit and finish.

The insurance companies love it because its cheap and most customers dont notice or care.

[jwvess00]

Hi there!

My father is one of those that can do bodywork. He'd much rather fix than replace, but then again this has been a hobby of his for longer than the 37 years I've been alive. We were at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals, inside where they were showing off a panel beating bag. The piece of sheet metal that had there was pretty rough from people playing with the mallets. Dad picks it up and says, "I think I could flatten that back out." Funny thing is, I think he could.

He used to do that sort of work on the side, years ago, and even won some local car shows with his paint jobs. Now we only fix or paint things for ourselves. It's just too expensive to do for others, and it seems nobody is willing to pay what it costs anyway.

[carnut122]

I have an 88 Fiero, and parts are still easy to come by. I bought a Fiero parts car and have most of it tucked away in my garage. When the right parts car comes my way for my Sky, I'll have to build a few more shelves.

[RickyN29]

Yeah this notion worries me as well. I'm afraid the day will come when they just can't fix or source parts!


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[marq]

There is a legal requirement that teh automaker has to provide service/body parts for 10 years.

I have never had a problem getting any part for any of the many old vehciles I have owned. Some may get pricey but if something is on the road, somebody will have a part.