Your guess may be as good as mine.

[XcluSSV]

Since Holden is closing its doors after 2017, how will getting replacement body parts work in the future? More interestingly to me is, how will the owners of HSV's get their parts? On that note, I'm in the states and was hoping to convert my SS front and rear into the VF2 R8 Clubsport/Senator. If there's an aftermarket company that buys the rights to the bar molds, maybe I'll have a better chance at sourcing these parts. Any ideas what the future holds for these HSV parts?

 

[blackve76]

There some law in Australia that car companies have to supply aftermarket parts for so many years(unsure of time thought it was at least 5yrs).

Parts never a problem in Aust for commodores or HSV and then there aftermarket gear.

 

[DanielSS-V]

Since Holden is closing its doors after 2017, how will getting replacement body parts work in the future? More interestingly to me is, how will the owners of HSV's get their parts? On that note, I'm in the states and was hoping to convert my SS front and rear into the VF2 R8 Clubsport/Senator. If there's an aftermarket company that buys the rights to the bar molds, maybe I'll have a better chance at sourcing these parts. Any ideas what the future holds for these HSV parts?

Typically trim pieces for interior and chrome work, become scarce first. Then main body panels that are used a lot in crash repairs. Finally just about everything beyond consumables like oil filters etc. Being a mainstream model, Commodores will probably have most common parts for eight years or so, but by then it will be the wreckers for interior trim pieces. HSV will be harder to get again, especially as its looking like that partnership isn't going forward post 2017. Some parts will be reproduced by third parties, but with much of the Australian parts industry going belly up, who knows how much will be available this time around.

If you plan to put HSV parts on your US Commodore, my advice would be to buy two of everything if you can afford it, so you have the spares if you have a bingle. HSV might still be available second hand from wreckers, but their prices are bound to shoot up and I don't think it will take much more then a handful of years for it to happen. If your car is a long termer, you might also think about sourcing any Chev specific parts like the headlights, tail lights etc for your car. They look the same as the Australian ones at first glance, but they are different and no Australian based supplier is likely to ever have them.

In some ways we are going into a new world. Its difficult to know what will be available for the last Australian cars. The last time this happened was with the Chrysler Valiant and I recall that parts were getting hard to find for late model Valiants just three years after they closed up shop. I doubt it will be that bad, but I am going to say I think it will get worse, then some on here have been used to with previous generation Commodores.

 

[Risky]

Genuine spares will be around for a while. I can still get genuine spares & parts for my ute but the supply is dwindling. I have stocked up on items like new 1/4 windows as they are now rare. Some companies on eBay will have New old Stock available & yes you will have to pay for it. Also there are some good wreckers out there who dismantle cars as soon as they get them in http://stores.ebay.com.au/HPW-Bayswater?_trksid=p2047675.l2563.

My advice: get what you want now as you're in the US.

 

[Forg]

There some law in Australia that car companies have to supply aftermarket parts for so many years (unsure of time thought it was at least 5yrs).

Parts never a problem in Aust for commodores or HSV and then there aftermarket gear.

It used to be 10 years, might be 7 now though.
However it only applies while the supplier is still in business (I was looking into whether Dad should get an ED Falcon or Fairmont, the main difference from his POV was cruise-control, but even though they were only 5yo cars & there was a 10-year law on parts we couldn't get the cruise-control kit because the supplier had closed-up shop) ... and a lot of suppliers for the Australian car industry are going out of business.

 

[crew_man]

It used to be 10 years, might be 7 now though.
However it only applies while the supplier is still in business (I was looking into whether Dad should get an ED Falcon or Fairmont, the main difference from his POV was cruise-control, but even though they were only 5yo cars & there was a 10-year law on parts we couldn't get the cruise-control kit because the supplier had closed-up shop) ... and a lot of suppliers for the Australian car industry are going out of business.

That's not correct, Holden is responsible for supplying parts for 'a reasonable amount of time' after a model has been released. Internally it is between 5-10 years depending on the product type. They have a massive warehouse in Dandenong that holds all of their spare parts.

If there is a supplier that can no longer supply parts, it is upto GMH to either do an 'all time buy' (purchase more than enough stock in one go to outlast demand) or to re-source the product to another supplier. There have been times where an ATB was completed but due to a spike in demand, stock runs out before the minimum time that they need to supply, which requires them to resource a part that is over 10-years old.

Also, whenever it is decided that a part is at the end of its life and the tooling that is used to produce it is ready to be scrapped, Rare Spares are offered the opportunity to take the tools and continue production. If they decline, then the tools are destroyed, but a lot of the time they take the tools and store them, waiting for demand to pick up again so that they can produce the parts for the market.

At the end of the day it is Holden's responsibility to ensure ongoing parts availability, regardless of the state of its supplier base, as per ACCC regulations.

I know this because I used to work in the aftersales purchasing department at GMH, which was responsible for ensuring continued supply of parts.

 

[Forg]

What's your most-likely reason for there having been no way to buy 5yo Falcon cruise control units, if the reason I was given by Ford customer support was BS?

 

[crew_man]

What's your most-likely reason for there having been no way to buy 5yo Falcon cruise control units, if the reason I was given by Ford customer support was BS?

I didn't work for Ford, so I have no idea what the genuine reason was but it could have been anything as the customer support teams aren't savvy to the commercial arrangements between the company and their vendors.

They could have been in the process of resourcing or simply had short term supply issues, but this isn't something that the customer service person would be aware of or be able to tell you.

 

[Forg]

So what you're really saying is that we could have saved the ~$5k price-difference between Falcon & Ghia if we'd waited a couple of months and then bought the Cruise unit, with which compounding interest means Dad would probably have an extra ~$35k+ in his bank account now?

He's a retiree, you're a harsh man dude!

 

[crew_man]

So what you're really saying is that we could have saved the ~$5k price-difference between Falcon & Ghia if we'd waited a couple of months and then bought the Cruise unit, with which compounding interest means Dad would probably have an extra ~$35k+ in his bank account now?

He's a retiree, you're a harsh man dude!

Hahaha the harsh truth