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Parts Supplies in General

beaver_jd

Seasoned Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2016
Messages
347
Location
Calgary AB / Palm Springs CA
My XLR/V(s)
2006 Red XLR / 2007 XLR-V
I heard on the news this AM that Ford no longer has parts for 06 and later F150's. As a matter of fact they said when the warranty expires they will no longer supply parts on some models. I didn't hear the whole story as I was at a Mickey D's for my morning coffee. So it leads me to think that Cadillac is not the only one that is having parts issues. But this doesn't bother me as much as what I am about to say. I talked to the guy at the place that has the headlights for our cars. $1200 a piece. There is another part ( and I forget which ) that was a couple hundred dollars and he was selling it for over $1000. It has been discontinued by GM. When he gets down to his last 3-4 pieces the price goes up to $3000. I am a real believer in free enterprise but this is disgraceful and I would let my car sit before I would buy anything from him. I think a lot of pressure needs to be applied on these manufactures to allow outsiders to manufacture the parts they no longer want anything to do with. JMO.
John F.
 
Those headlights aren't even legal to use on the road in the USA.

Without DOT markings on them.
 
Seems we owners should collectively be able to petition Cadillac to release the patents so others can build parts for these cars. I love mine and drive it every day. I'm retired and have plenty opportunity to enjoy it. Will be highly upset if my car had to sit due to scarce parts.

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Seems we owners should collectively be able to petition Cadillac to release the patents so others can build parts for these cars. I love mine and drive it every day. I'm retired and have plenty opportunity to enjoy it. Will be highly upset if my car had to sit due to scarce parts.

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I don't think there's enough owners, counting those not on this forum, to do much of any good to accomplish that. But I'm willing to put my name on one anyway.
 
You may be right but nothing beats a failure but a try. These cars may be few but were expensive when new as well as costly to maintain and now no parts.

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You may be right but nothing beats a failure but a try. These cars may be few but were expensive when new as well as costly to maintain and now no parts.

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You have a sunny outlook. Read the older posts, and you'll understand why I say that. If a part is not in the inventory, Cadillac doesn't care. Go to the Cadillac website and look at the legacy cars section. XLR is not even listed.
 
Cadillac published a large coffee table book celebrating 110 years of Cadillac. (Cadillac at 110 - Assouline). The time line has a cartoon of the Evoq concept car, but not a single mention of the XLR or any pictures at all. They quickly mention the Cadillac Art and Design concept, which inspired all of the designs after 2003. They had a whole section on the ELR with pictures. It was a huge dud. Cadillac has moved on.

When I say they have moved on, the current management at Cadillac is distancing themselves from the previous regime. This is not uncommon when a new management team (Johan de Nysschen et al) takes over and puts their own people and ideas in place. The XLR is simply a casualty of this changing of the guard.

Tim


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Cadillac published a large coffee table book celebrating 110 years of Cadillac. (Cadillac at 110 - Assouline). The time line has a cartoon of the Evoq concept car, but not a single mention of the XLR or any pictures at all. They quickly mention the Cadillac Art and Design concept, which inspired all of the designs after 2003. They had a whole section on the ELR with pictures. It was a huge dud. Cadillac has moved on.

When I say they have moved on, the current management at Cadillac is distancing themselves from the previous regime. This is not uncommon when a new management team (Johan de Nysschen et al) takes over and puts their own people and ideas in place. The XLR is simply a casualty of this changing of the guard.

Tim


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I both "like" & "dislike" this post - like because Tim is right, & dislike for the same reason. It's unclear to me why Cadillac no longer even acknowledges the existence of the XLR (it's certainly not as bad as the Cimarron or Catera so as to deserve that fate!), but it's a fact of life. De Nychessen is busy developing an American Audi company & the XLR is not part of that.

Also, I'm sure there are owners of certain Oldsmobile, Pontiac & Saturn models that are feeling the same pain.
 
I talked to the guy at the place that has the headlights for our cars. $1200 a piece. There is another part ( and I forget which ) that was a couple hundred dollars and he was selling it for over $1000. It has been discontinued by GM. When he gets down to his last 3-4 pieces the price goes up to $3000. I am a real believer in free enterprise but this is disgraceful and I would let my car sit before I would buy anything from him.


Law of supply & demand. That business purchased the remaining stock of parts and hopes to resell them for a profit. They have a lot of money tied up in parts and are gambling that they eventually sell. Sure, the markup seems high, but it still is more financially viable than having an XLR sitting in your yard forever.

Yes, it's a shame that these parts aren't available from GM, but our XLRs are far from being the only vehicles in this situation. When automobiles have so many parts unique to them and not available from the automotive parts store, you will have this situation. Even more so with special vehicles built in low numbers, say less than 16,000?

BTW, have you checked to see what they are asking for used ones on eBay?
 
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Those headlights aren't even legal to use on the road in the USA.

Without DOT markings on them.


Do you really think that will be a problem?

The DOT marking is so small you almost need a magnifying glass to read it!

Some states do not require a vehicle inspection. My state does, but I doubt that very many inspectors ever look for a DOT marking on a headlight or taillight lens. As long as the lens isn't cracked or damaged, the inspector is checking that it works or is aimed correctly.

This would not be a concern for me, though it might be for you. What year and color XLR do you own?
 
The Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn and others can still use Chevy parts. I owned a Olds and Pontiac. Both were serviced by Chevrolet. I took the XLR to a Chevy dealer and after 2 hour they sent me to Cadillac. The XLR IS different and should be treated as such. If Cadillac is done then release the patents so others can build parts for these cars. That's the reason for the original post.miss PETITION

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I'd think if the patents were released a company could contract a certain number of parts to build. They could charge whatever is necessary to recoup costs but at least there would be parts. Right now if you have an accident your car becomes a parts car. Not good.

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These cars are a fiberglass composite body like a Corvette. I think I would find a set of lights that I liked an example being an SRX and used them. I would find a body shop that specialized in Corvette repairs and have them do the job. I am not going to worry about something before it happens but if I come across a set of headlights at a reasonable price I will buy them.
John F.
 
That may be the end result for many but the ultimate position we'd prefer is o.e.m. parts.

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Things to consider....

Does anyone know what the price on the headlight assemblies was back when Cadillac still had them in stock?

What would a manufacturer have to charge to make it worthwhile to produce a new run of these assemblies?

Considering less than 16,000 XLRs were built and there were at least two different designs, how many purchasers today could they be?

Would that number justify the production costs or what would the price have to be to make it profitable for the manufacturer?

Just wondering?

Any others thinking about this?
 
Just for fun, if half of the XLR's needed lights, that's roughly 7500 pairs or 15,000 lights. At $1000 each your looking at $15 mil. gross. You would think some aftermarket company could produce a workable replacement and still make a decent buck. Car companies routinely buy competitor vehicles and tear them down to every single part! How hard could it be to re-create our headlights? Just sayin! I worked for GM for over 20 yrs. Maybe I need to call up some engineering buddies and put them to work! :)
 
For my $$$ I'd rather have the brand new assemblies than used ones not guaranteed to work or last very long. $1000 bucks is spendy so if I had to buy, let it be new.

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Be Happy It Is What It Is

Auto manufacturers are in the business of selling cars for a profit. Having a supply of parts available for a number of years is a necessary evil for them as it ties up capital but as a model diminishes in numbers still on the road they discontinue keeping a supply of parts. It is nothing but economics. If there were enough built and shared between divisions within the manufacturers much is shifted to the after market suppliers.

A low production volume car such as the XLR makes obtaining parts most difficult and people that have them are going to charge what they can while they can. The aftermarket suppliers are not going to invest in tooling and manufacturing of parts unless there is enough profit and volume along with continued demand. Even if they did a run of head lamps etc. and stock piled them they might have to take 20 years to sell off the stock they need to manufacture to break even. I seriously doubt is anyone will ever make headlamps again or tail lamps or much anything for this car once supplies are gone. It is nothing but pure economics and has nothing to do with a manufacturer distancing themselves from a legacy.


On the other hand for those that plan on keeping this car and preserving it as best they can in the years to come will help drive the market value up not only on available parts but the value of the car itself. It is a double edge sword but these are the facts of life and it happens time after time with a lot of products.

I bought my first and only XLR 6 months ago as a wrecked 2006 XLRV with the front end pretty much cosmetically wiped out along with the right frame rail however it is a low mileage pilot car that was assigned to a GM Executive before sold at auction so I decided it was worth fixing. Had I realized how expensive the parts were going to be as well as difficult to find I might not have bought it but I'm committed now and hopefully by Spring it will be finished. I have never driven one yet as a matter of fact but I like the car, it's history and collectability so I plan on keeping it for some time. This is one of 3 Cadillacs I own which also include a 1998 Crimson Pearl Eldorado Touring Coupe with 61K miles and a practically new 2015 ATS Coupe which really impresses me as a car Cadillac should have built years ago and they have nothing to apologize for as it is a superb road car and everyday driver if need be.


Some cars are destined to become collectable and many are best forgotten and some are often forgotten and a generation later they are finally appreciated for what they were maybe not due to their engineering but more the nostalgic so many people long for. Who would have ever thought an AMC Gremlin would be collectable or a Chevy Corvair but many people still pay a premium for them. Maybe if the XLR had been less expensive and they sold a ton of them like the Bandit Trans Ams that are now going through the roof it would have been different on the parts supply availability but it is what is so enjoy it if you will.

By the way I still need the front inner splash shields for my XLRV and the best I have found is the extensions. Anyone have a part number or supplier that works? Been waiting on the rear bumper emergency lock cover too for sometime.

Cheers

Mike Murphy
 
I'm just glad my wife talked me into spending the $500 back in 2011 when we purchased our 2005.....at the time I just bought it, and had a car payment and was thinking twice about spending the money. The 04-05 had the cracking lenses from the bulbs that caused crazed affect on DLR Lights and the local dealer most likely was trying to gain our Cadillac repair business. They had offered to switch them out a $1000 assembly x 2 a total of $2500 with labor for $500! They basically charged me the $500 labor to do the job! Apparently today it was a good decision!


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