Auto manufacturers must make parts for 10 years

[snopes]

Comment: I keep hearing this one but can't find any concrete information.
The claim is that auto manufacturers are required by federal law to have
parts available for any models they sold for the period of 10 years.

This matter to me personally because I have a car I will want to keep
longer than 10 years.

[snopes]

Apparently the term has been increased from the previous seven years.

- snopes

[KirkMcD]

Originally Posted by snopes

The claim is that auto manufacturers are required by federal law to have parts available for any models they sold for the period of 10 years.

The time period begins after the model is no longer sold.

This matter to me personally because I have a car I will want to keep
longer than 10 years.

Don't worry about it. Just don't break it.

There is always aftermarket parts, junk yards and the fact that most parts will sit on a warehouse shelf for a long time.
You can still find parts, sometimes new, to cars made in the early 1900's.

[Blackhawk]

It probably also depends on the popularity of the vehicle. If it is well known and favored, like Honda Civics, the parts will be around for quite a while. If it's say, an F-100 Ranger, good luck with that, junkyards are pretty much your only option.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by KirkMcD

...
There is always aftermarket parts, junk yards and the fact that most parts will sit on a warehouse shelf for a long time.
You can still find parts, sometimes new, to cars made in the early 1900's.

I just a got a new radiator put in my 1988 Chevy Nova, 'tho it did take the shop a few days to get it the part in from wherever they had to order it from.

Nick

[Troberg]

I just a got a new radiator put in my 1988 Chevy Nova, 'tho it did take the shop a few days to get it the part in from wherever they had to order it from.

A decent radiator specialist can put together a radiator to measure. They just find a correct size "middle part" (the part where the actual cooling takes place), welds/hard solders a suitable top and bottom tray to it and weld the appropriate fittings to it.

Cost me about $300 the last time I had it done (work, material and installation, but it was five years ago), and they made some of the most exquisitely beautiful welds I have ever seen. If I ever need some special welding done, that's the guys I'll go to. My own welding is 1 minute welding, two minutes with the angle grinder...

I've got an 89 Volvo 240 and my mechanic never has problems getting parts. apparently Volvo still makes them.

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by notorious fluffy g

I've got an 89 Volvo 240 and my mechanic never has problems getting parts. apparently Volvo still makes them.

Or Volvo is still using the same parts in their new cars.

[Ceiling Fan]

They still manufacture parts for The Classic Chevys (1955-1957), and The Late Great Chevys (1958 - 1972). Plus for many more American made automobiles, from the 60's to the '80's (and newer, obviously!). You still can get whole lotta parts for these old cars, which is obviously greatly appreciated by us antique car enthusiasts.

(By the way, I find it funny how many Americans call these old cars "antique cars". I think it's kinda amusing to describe something about 50 years old as "antique". Me and hubby often buy car parts off of eBay for our 1960 Pontiac and the sender always describes the item being "antique car part". I suppose that's just the way those cars are called over there.)

[hambubba]

There's also such a thing as NOS - "New Old Stock", which means that a parts supplier stocked parts in anticipation of sales, and still has parts on hand, sometimes many years after the parts have stopped being manufactured.

It's a short-term loss for the parts house if they don't sell right away, but it does guarantee them some return eventually.

Originally Posted by Ceiling Fan

They still manufacture parts for The Classic Chevys (1955-1957), and The Late Great Chevys (1958 - 1972). Plus for many more American made automobiles, from the 60's to the '80's (and newer, obviously!). You still can get whole lotta parts for these old cars, which is obviously greatly appreciated by us antique car enthusiasts.

(By the way, I find it funny how many Americans call these old cars "antique cars". I think it's kinda amusing to describe something about 50 years old as "antique". Me and hubby often buy car parts off of eBay for our 1960 Pontiac and the sender always describes the item being "antique car part". I suppose that's just the way those cars are called over there.)

In some provinces of Canada, anything over 25 years old, if a special interest vehicle, can be considered classic, and over 30 years old can be considered antique for insurance ratings purposes. It doesn't apply to all cars, though. A 1965 Pontiac GTO, if in good condition could be either classic or antique, but a 1965 Pontiac 4 door Laurentian is just considered an old car 'cause they built so many of them.

For importation purposes, like customs duties, you pay far less duty on an antique part (if any) than for a new part. There's a lot of other considerations, like where the part was made, to determine if there is duty, but if the part is used, and for a vehicle over a certain age, you can usually get the part duty free. Which is why eBay has so many "antique" parts, IMO.

(A Pontiac in Finland? COOL!)

[RivkahChaya]

For purposes of licensing, around here, an "antique" car is anything over 25 years-- but you don't have to license your 25 year+ plus car as an antique, it's just an option.

I had a 1961 Ford Ranchero that I got parts for many different places, mostly junkyards, but often parts stores have lots of rebuilts for older vehicles. Then there are specialty houses that are NOT dealers, but make parts for lots of popular older vehicles. If you need something like a windshield, that is very model-specific, difficult to remove from a wreck, and impossible to rebuild, your best bet is one of these places. You pay a lot, but people looking for windshields for 1930's roadsters are probably living above the poverty line.

[Floater]

Originally Posted by notorious fluffy g

I've got an 89 Volvo 240 and my mechanic never has problems getting parts. apparently Volvo still makes them.

A friend of mine once told me about someone he had met who very dearly wanted to own a Volvo PV. The only problem was that Volvo stopped making them in 1965 and he couldn't find a used car in good condition. The solution to the problem was to contact Volvo and ask them to build a new one out of spare parts (the man is also quite rich, I assume). I can imagine that the mechanics who put it together had a good time.

[llewtrah]

We get "pattern parts" for old models; parts made by third parties once the manufacturer cease producing the model. One of the used cars I owned had been built-to-order by VW in Germany for a British buyer. It confused the heck out of mechanics because the car was nominally a VW Polo Fox (on its registration papers), but had many parts from the VW Golf production line because VW had ended the Polo Fox production run.

[MollyK418]

Originally Posted by Floater

A friend of mine once told me about someone he had met who very dearly wanted to own a Volvo PV. The only problem was that Volvo stopped making them in 1965 and he couldn't find a used car in good condition. The solution to the problem was to contact Volvo and ask them to build a new one out of spare parts (the man is also quite rich, I assume). I can imagine that the mechanics who put it together had a good time.

I swear I just saw one of those on the road the other day in pristine condition... Did they sell them in the States?

[RichardM]

Volvo PV444 and PV544 were sold in the US. Other Volvos that may also be called PVs, I am not sure about.

[Floater]

Originally Posted by RichardM

Volvo PV444 and PV544 were sold in the US. Other Volvos that may also be called PVs, I am not sure about.

Those two are the only models called PV.

I'm able to get new parts for the F-150 Ford Van I drive and its a 1978.