[Chrysler300] Stuff NAPA had then that they don't have now

["Dennis S Cloer" <skyhawk@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi 300 lovers.

     When I compiled the NAPA list of parts available for several years of the 300 series (the one's on the Club website) it was 1999-2000. Every single part number that was listed was checked for availability at that time, sometimes it was in stock, sometimes it could be special ordered from a distribution center. For example, TS86, the brake shoe set number for several years of our cars, showed 35 sets available throughout the US at that time. I expect several members decided to order a set once they knew they were still available, and probably ordered a few other numbers as well.( I know I did) The supply disappeared. Occasionally, NAPA computers recognize a "run" on a particular part number, and a restock order is issued to the vendors.  But not every time.  TS 86 disappeared, most likely forever, from NAPA as they continued with a national policy of suggesting to store owners that only high-turnover items be stocked. TS 86 ain't one of 'em, and it's likely a few more will fall by the wayside as our cars age. Typing in TS86 in a NAPA store's computer will show "not available", and trying to get around the store's stocking computer by running a check on the regional distribution centers will show the same thing. Five years ago, you were still in luck.
     I was hoping to solve two problems when I submitted the list. One, if you have a part number in hand, you can work around the "non-car guy" types at the parts counters  who know only how to push buttons on the keyboard, and would'nt be able to decipher a printed parts book if it landed on their foot! Two, you now could use these numbers to stock up on parts that were likely to be gone in a few years, if not sooner.
     I no longer work for NAPA, but I still have sources within the regional mechanism who will help me run down a part or two.  They are having a lot less luck than before, as local stores send back slow selling merchandise for credit to the regional warehouse, who don't re-stock it when the part is finally sold.
     The Club website list undoubtedly has more numbers that are obsolete.  The best way to use this list, in my opinion, is to go to a NAPA store with the part number you need, and hope that it's still available. Sometimes, after they look at you funny, you can go to O'Reilly's, Auto-Zone, or Advance with the part number and they'll cross it over to their part number for you. (Sometimes, depending on their knowledge of how to do that) These stores often have parts available that NAPA stopped carrying over the years.
     Our cars are getting older, and the days of easy-to-find parts are coming to a close.  Check with the Model A guys, and ask them how easy it is to find a water pump for their stock engine at a NAPA store.  When I was working in a small independent auto parts store while in college (1965), we kept two of these pumps in stock for cars that were at the time 30-plus years old.  We stopped carrying them in 1969 after the last was sold.  Behold, our parts future!
    Sorry for the long discourse, and I apologize to Club members who did not know how old that parts list is.


dennis cloer       hickory nc     300g coupe

     

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