With my recent purchase of a 2002 SS it made me start to think, I wonder how long we are going to be able to find parts for our vehicles, I am more so talking about mechanical parts rather than body parts but both just as important. I see Rcok Auto and the local parts stores still offer them for sale. However should I start building a collection of spare parts for my vehicle? Will low miles and in great shape I hope to have my car for many years. Thoughts?

 

I have been dealing with this topic myself. My 2004 Monte, I have owned since 2008 and it is stored during winters since I bought it.
I have heard rumor that legally the manufacturer has to have parts available for 10 years. Keep in mind, RUMOR.... No idea if there is truth to it.

I can tell you, LOTS of Genuine GM parts are being discontinued (heck, even certain bolts, a stinking flange bolt). The saving grace at the moment, these cars are part of a larger and popular platform, the W-Body platform and all the engine options were very common in the GM line up. As a result, there is a LOT of aftermarket support for factory quality replacements for suspension and mechanical. ZZP also offers some aftermarket upgrades for things that can help too.

As factory/GM parts discontinue, the dealers are also raising the price of them.

I have started collecting things to have spares. Such as years ago, I got brand new replacement badging for my 2004 Monte. I can rebadge the entire outside of it once.... I also have a variety of other small odds and ends. It is hard to say what to stash....

And a side note.... If this is NOT your only car to drive, I am going to heavily suggest talking with a collector car insurance. Both of my Montes are summer cars and I have them covered with a Hagerty agent.

It *might* be of help. At the moment, not much going on but I am still working on various things with my 2000 Black Monte. I have a thread documenting things I do with it.
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/sh...e-62826/page5/

 

Thanks for the reply, I have noticed RockAuto seems to carry a lot of parts still and Autozone had the fuel pressure regulator in stock the diagram was leaking. I did start stocking up on some spare parts already. My dad did mention I should have insurance thru Hagerty which I did from the beginning.

 

IMO the engine and transmission are common enough that you'll practically have an indefinite supply of parts for them either via junkyards or aftermarket. They were built in such large numbers and run so long (well the engines at least, lol) that there's still a huge population out there.

Id imagine body wear items (brakes, suspension, etc) should still be available for a good bit longer too. Theyre common enough with most other W bodies that the normal wear stuff is still very plentiful, so it should be around for quite a while longer.

The worriesome parts are:
-the oddball body pieces that arent typical wear items. Bumper lower lips, trim, seals, etc. These are usually model specific and sometimes trim specific so the inventory dries up much faster. Junkyard is an option for metal stuff, but plastics / rubbers degrade with time and will likely be just as bad on a junkyard vehicle as your own.

-electronics. No one is making new stuff, so once these get scarce in junkyards, this could turn into a real problem. These cars dont have a ton of modules (but we do already see a huge number of ICM failures popping up), but all it takes is one to shut the whole car down. These brand new cars with a dozen + modules are going to be a real pain - I bet you see more industry start to pop up around circuit level diagnosis and rebuilds.

I really need to look into that. I pay a ludicrous amount of money for insurance on stuff that barely ever leaves the house.

Really irked me during the peak of covid where we were both WFH and spending all our free time doing reno at the new house. Id be shocked if we did 3000 miles that year combined on all of the cars and yet were still paying insane insurance rates like we were driving Mad Max on the highway every day.

 

Plenty of parts still out there for 2000 to 2005 models. RockAuto, eBay, and salvage yards are good sources. Might be smart to grab rare items like sensors or interior parts while you can.