Chevrolet is abandoning their customers....

[Javarod]

I have an uncle who owned a succession of International Harvester trucks in the early to mid-80's.

He lives in the extreme northern part of Vermont and there are alot of dirt roads. He swore up and down that IH trucks took the abuse better than any other trucks he had tried.

Oh I had one back in NJ, and they were incredible. They were very very reliable, although they did suffer from a bad rust problem. Parts could be tricky, you can prolly get some at other dealers, at various times, things like alternators, regulators even transmissions were sourced from other companies, the auto tranny for example was a TF727, a Chrysler transmission. The engines as I understand it came from their medium duty truck line, and ifn you've seen them, the two four cylinders IH made for the line were hilarious looking.

As to the early small American pickups, here you go:
Ford Courier = Mazda (Courier name is still in use in other countries, Mexico has one that's a mid sized car based pick up for example)
Dodge D50 = Mitsubishi (prolly the best of the lot, them and Mitsu worked together, anything from parts to whole vehicles commonly got used by Dodge)
Chevy LUV (Light Utility Vehicle) = Isuzu P'UP (pickup) (Prolly the worst of the batch, have you ever known GM not to pinch pennies and cut corners?)

[RetailWorkhorse]

have you ever known GM not to pinch pennies and cut corners?

Yes. They are the ones who made the engines for the LP-driven Schwan's trucks (you've seen them, big yellow trucks with food and a Swan printed on the side that delivers to your home ICE CREME AND MEAT!! ). They're dependable and only got stuck in my sinking driveway once. It's easy to flood the engine, though, so you have to talk to it and let it know you're not trying to drown it (at least that's what I do).



I've had older gentlemen use the Veteran card on me. Mostly to get into my pants (these were the same ones that flipped/or laughed at me when I told them I wasn't in fact a little girl). The ones that DIDN'T were true Vets and I thanked them for protecting me and my clan. Then they'd have the really big stupid grins on their faces. My Papa was in the Army, stationed in the motherland Germany, and my Dad missed the draft by three numbers.

[Sonoma]

This reminds me of an old 79 Ford Fiesta my brother drove when we were in college.

There was actually a Fiesta at the dealership when I took my truck in for an oil change tonight.

I can actually provide a LUV sighting this week as well. I had the 'pleasure' of following one across town yesterday. They were driving as pokey as could be, emitting noxious exhaust, but the roads we were on do not have any chances to get around slow drivers. I was half tempted to change my Ranger's air filter tonight, just as a precaution.

You know your car is obsolete when the model that replaced it has run it's complete lifecycle, and has also been replaced.

[Mark Healey]

Er, let me get back on topic *again* Very few main dealers have parts for cars that old. They tend to clear out old stock every so often when the cars change. Also, some only stock 'service items' (hoses, belts, brake parts, etc.) rather than body panels.

IIRC, In the U.S. they are required to make parts available for 10 years.

On reason I drive an old air cooled VW is parts availability. There are shitloads of aftermarket parts being made, lots of cars in the junkyards and many sub systems were made by outside vendors who sold the same systems to other car makers. But mostly because they're way cool. The only station wagons with trunks I know of are VW type 3s and Corvairs.

An interresting story the guy who owns one of my local aftermarket VW parts stores told me: When he was the parts guy at a VW dealership a guy from the corporate offices would come in and go through the shelves removing parts that were for cars that were made prior to 10 years previous to the visit. He would then destroy these parts. So I think that there is something to the theory of making parts unavailable to encourage the purchase of new cars.

[Hon'ya-chan]

Two quick points:

1) My parent company does the same thing. I'm not going to tell you what company that was, but I'll give you a hint: in the 80's, we entered into a partnership with Mitsubishi. Depending on the vehicle, it's sometimes cheaper and quicker to go to a Mitsubishi dealership to get these parts--assuming we can even get them in the first place. And pricy! Holy crap, are they ever!

Sorry, but Stealths don't easily mate with 3000GT's.

[Gurndigarn]

Yes. They are the ones who made the engines for the LP-driven Schwan's trucks (you've seen them, big yellow trucks with food and a Swan printed on the side that delivers to your home ICE CREME AND MEAT!! ). They're dependable and only got stuck in my sinking driveway once. It's easy to flood the engine, though, so you have to talk to it and let it know you're not trying to drown it (at least that's what I do).

Strange. Schwan's seems to have vehicle troubles, and therefore stuff that they need to sell at a discount, quite regularly. In fact, it seems like once each summer. Strange how it's never twice per summer, though.

[Pagan]

This reminds me of an old 79 Ford Fiesta my brother drove when we were in college.

Aah, yes, the Ford Fiasco.

[SpyOne]

I've had a dealership tell me flat out that they only carry parts for cars made in the last 10 years, and they only go back that far because they have to by law.

And when I was calling around, hoping to buy the shop manuals for my car (since dealerships will sometimes sell their shop manuals for a car over 10 years old, for the same reason), he said, "Man, we weren't even a Dodge dealer when that was made. Sorry, but ...."

But I've never freaked out on somebody.

For the record, the "Chevy LUV" (I owned one once) was a re-badged Izuzu P-Up (pronounced "pup"), and the "Ford Courier" (I owned one of them, too) was a Mazda B-2000.

[Diablo]

Working at this marina. I had to deal with this cat fisherman. They by far are the cheapest dirtiest fishermen on the water. The guy starts ranting and raving about how my boss has had his motor for weeks. My boss is a johnson certified mechanic. Good luck finding one thats honest hence its about a 3 month waiting list just for him to return calls. So this ass decides to just drop his boat and engine in the parking lot. I tell, "Hey man you can't just leave your shit here. We ain't responsible for it"
The cat goes off with the "I can't believe you'd say that to a vet"
I chuckle and ask him about what branch and where. The clown got so much wrong. Seriously it was a mix of "The Dirty Dozen" and "Rambo". Guy asks if I'm interested in joining. I told him the truth "Nah I did that shit for six years and it wasn't my bag. Also....Baghdad is in Iraq, not Afghanistan. Might want to remember that next time you try to bullshit someone." The guy just starred at me and finally turned tail with his shit and left. That annoys the shit out of me. Seriously, anyone talking big about killing people and talk about loving it are full of crap.

[Jadedcarguy]

Working at this marina. I had to deal with this cat fisherman. They by far are the cheapest dirtiest fishermen on the water. The guy starts ranting and raving about how my boss has had his motor for weeks. My boss is a johnson certified mechanic. Good luck finding one thats honest hence its about a 3 month waiting list just for him to return calls. So this ass decides to just drop his boat and engine in the parking lot. I tell, "Hey man you can't just leave your shit here. We ain't responsible for it"
The cat goes off with the "I can't believe you'd say that to a vet"
I chuckle and ask him about what branch and where. The clown got so much wrong. Seriously it was a mix of "The Dirty Dozen" and "Rambo". Guy asks if I'm interested in joining. I told him the truth "Nah I did that shit for six years and it wasn't my bag. Also....Baghdad is in Iraq, not Afghanistan. Might want to remember that next time you try to bullshit someone." The guy just starred at me and finally turned tail with his shit and left. That annoys the shit out of me. Seriously, anyone talking big about killing people and talk about loving it are full of crap.

What an ass. He deserved more of a tongue lashing than you gave him.

[Sliceanddice]

my family is military. have been for a while. thy rearly see combat, but they are. What my Uncles and cousins do i cant even legal know. And almost no one knows they are in the military otfen outside the family.
I didnt even find out my papa was drafted in WW2 until i was 12

[Hemily]

things seem to depend on brands really...

i took my pervious car, a 1978 Ford Mustang II, to a ford dealership, and they were unable to even adjust the carburator...

my dad is a firefighter, he's doing some work renovating one of their old fire trucks, a Volvo from 1936, Volvo Dealership had spare parts in stock...

[Spiffy McMoron]

Reading this thread, I'm a little surprised that anyone that drove a Chevy LUV is still going anywhere even close to a Chevy dealer.

I'm not saying that Chevy's are bad, but most, if not all, car companies have flushed some real lumps on the road that make their owners curse the heavens.

[icmedia]

After reading the OP, I immediately thought, "Do you sell hubcaps for a '72 Pinto hatchback?"

[Spiffy McMoron]

After reading the OP, I immediately thought, "Do you sell hubcaps for a '72 Pinto hatchback?"

No, but try the Quik Stop down the street. I assure you they're open today.