There is an article in the UK FT today saying that VW is buying most of the old Karmann factory. link here :

FT.com / Companies / Automobiles - New model to rise from the ashes of Karmann

I have begun to wonder recently who is going to continue making spares for the Crossfire. The reason is that I need a new rear bumper and there are none in the UK ( where I live ) none in Germany where they were made and one is on a very slow boat from the U.S..... 5 weeks and still not arrived.... making the rear of my car look horrible after someone hit me from behind

Not sure if the moulds etc have been salvaged from Karmann or if enterprising folk would make copy body parts in the future. I know that the oily bits are generally freely available Mercedes parts.

Is this a problem we will all start to face sooner than we think ? Obviously only if you need a new part ! Should I start buying up spares now !!

 

Not a bad idea. IMO

 

I am pretty sure there is a law at least in the USA that a car manufacturer must continue to supply replacement parts for a least ten years after the car is sold. that means those few '07 and '08's have extended our parts supply to 2018. Also as these cars get older and junked the quanity of used parts will grow as well. It they become classics, the aftermarket will eventually produce re-production parts. I am not too worried.

 

Lantana, I've heard about that "LAW" for years, and I've always wondered just who you need to get in touch with to enforce it?
I'm just going by past experiences I've heard about.
In 1976 my Brother and I were collecting AMX's. Between the two of us we had 7 cars. One of his needed a padded dash (which is considered a "safety item"). When he tried to get a tan one from the factory, he was told all they had were black, and only 3 left in stock. After they were gone, there wouldn't be anymore. That was only 6 years after they went out of production!
It took nearly 30 years before anybody started reproducing any body parts for the car, and only fiberglass hoods, bumpers, and spoilers at that.
Now they only made a little over 4000 1970 AMX's, so you could say it's understandable why they wouldn't worry about being obligated to keep that many 1 year only parts in stock. But that same dash cover also fit the 1970 Javelin too, and they made a lot more of them.
With Chrysler's total disregard for the Crossfire. I can see the very same thing happen to us.
After all, I know of no Asian "aftermarket" body panel replacements being made for our cars either, simply because of our low production #'s.
I hope I'm wrong, but it's something I've been worrying about for some time, since I have no plans on selling my car. The last time I said that about any new car that I've owned was 40 years ago, and it's still sitting in my garage.

 

a quick Google found this on cars.com

full article here What if My Dealer, Automaker or Bank Goes Bankrupt? - Cars.com

i know it doesn't really address if "the law" exists, but other than posting the ten year thing, no one else has really looked into it either.

 

As I pointed out, even though they built 5 model years of Crossfires, no aftermarket company has yet to reproduce any replacement body panels that I am aware of.
You have to ask yourself, with only 76k produced, would it be economically beneficial for any aftermarket supplier to do so?
Naturally WE think it would, but would they think so?

 

Here's a longer article about the Karmann deal.

VW to buy Karmann assets, create new model - BusinessWeek

 

and as i pointed out, for all the talk of this law, no one has ever been able to come up with an answer if it exists or not. so with only 76,000 produced, would Chrysler thumb their nose at this law if indeed it did exist?

 

The law does exist and the law doesn't exist. There appears to be no law providing "The manufacturer must provide replacement parts for x years . . .". Practicality dictates a different circumstance.
We get warranties with our cars. Mine is 3/36 + lifetime power train. Federal law and state law provide remedies for breach of warranty (over, above, and different than lemon laws). Remedies include revocation of acceptance, damages, possibly specific performance, etc. Revocation of acceptance mandated a refund.
A manufacturer would be insane to fail to support its vehicle with replacement parts for less than the warranty period. Toyota, for example, was required to repurchase a car due to a mere shortage and delay of head gaskets. See Royster v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., 92 Ohio St. 3d 327 (Ohio 2001). Porsche got dinged a decade out on failing to support on extended warranties with available replacement parts. See PFM Air, Inc. v. Dr.Ing.Hc.F.Porsche A.G., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57405 (M.D. Fla. July 9, 2008). Under the federal Magnuson Moss Act, once the manufacturer provides an express warranty, the implied warranty of merchantability cannot be excluded. In addition to the foregoing cases, I think an argument could be made that replacement part support for at least seven or ten years is part of the "merchantable" part of a vehicle purchase (the product must be such that it would pass without objection in the trade).

So the law provides a duty to support the product with replacement parts. The end date of this duty is either merchantability viewed from the purchase date or the run of the warranty, whichever is later. Of course, all of this only buys you a law suit not a new bumper.

The foregoing is my opinion and is not intended as legal advise. The research is topical, and any reliance is at the reader's risk. No warranty is made to the correctness of the information, and gratis binding opinion letters are never provided by the author.

 

there are some interesting posts and obviously layers of complexity. I don't think we have laws like this in the UK.
A couple of observations though. As the need for a replacment rear bumper for example is not due to any sort of failiure and not covered by manufacturers warranty but instead due to a collision, would the manufacturer have any obligations ?
Second thought is that as Karmann "went bust" and are now being bought by VW, then Chrysler may have no access (or contract) to get new replacememt parts made and may need to set up new manufacturing facilities.
What I do know is that getting a rear bumper in the Uk is surprisingly difficult and it is only 2009 !

Looks like an interesting debate

 

I guess in 2-3 years I better start shopping for a well-used but rust-free 2005 roadster for parts. At the rate prices are declining, I should be able to buy one for $3-5k and have plenty of parts. If I had a big barn, I'd buy a few more. Plan B is to carefully drive my XFs and try to avoid situations where accidents are more likely to happen (defensive driving 101+).

 

Karmann owns the molds/equipment to manufacture parts for the FX. What if they sell it off to raise cash? Is the metal more valuable for scrap than what an investor would make by producing parts? Who ever bought it, would they be bound by any previous contracts by other companies? Would VW, if it purchases Karmann and the equipment, be obligated to do anything with it? Daimler Chrysler is no longer a company. Chrysler LLC was nearly bankrupt this past year. Daimler would rather push every Crossfire into the ocean than acknowledge it's gang rape of Chrysler.
"Enjoy em while ya got em" Other than buying a couple for parts it's a crap shoot.

 

My husband was wondering this very thing yesterday - thought if we came upon any wrecks, etc. we should buy up to keep hood, bumpers, etc. for my car. I hope to drive it as long as I'm able to climb in and out! Timely topic, but gather we'll just have to wait and see. Sounds as if we may have better luck in USA than UK!

 

BMW did similar things to Rover. And look where Rover is now - owned y a Chinese company. That new Mini owes very little to the Issigonis original. I suspect that BMW raided the plan chest for a few other projects too.


Right - I see a few ways out of this, and it all depends on Chrysler’s long term plans for Crossfire spares.

1 - 3rd party spares - I believe that there are quite a few people here who know how to fabricate body parts. It would not be beyond the wit of those people to make moulds and make spares to order. Whether this is a financial method of suicide is for others to decide. Metal can generally be knocked into shape by a skilled panel beater, but the fibreglass panels could be easily copied by those skilled in this material.

2 - The Crossfire is Mercedes based, and as such the inner workings are easy to get bits for. However, the externals are the problem. The Crossfire could be the basis for a more ambitious customisation. I don’t know what the law in the USA is on self-build cars, but here in the UK, it’s allowed. The Crossfire mechanics could quite easily carry something even more eccentric.

I think option 2 is more extreme, and relies on Chrysler deciding that it’s going to walk away from the car and have no more to do with it. Option 1 is more feasible, and it’s possible to make custom parts that are still well within the Crossfire look. I’ve seen a few custom panels here, and they work well.