Dodge dealer never has anything in stock?

[The motor guy]

I decided to get some new brake pads for my truck. This time I decided I wouldn't even bother calling the dealer since they never have basic maintenance items in stock. I can't wait 5 days for a radiator cap to come in. What gives? Then one time I came by three days later after the part came in to pick it up and they shipped it back to the warehouse! I was so [censored] that they shipped it to my house directly the next day. I was like, why not call me and ask if I'm coming in to pick it up?

 

[Hall]

I wonder if this is a case of "we don't want to sell parts to do-it-yourselfers" vs what you believe of them not having parts in stock. Are you suggesting they don't or can't do same-day repair work, including things like brake jobs ?

 

[Andrew1972]

 

[64bawagon]

It has everything to do with money, inventory costs money.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted by madRiver

Absurd post!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Dealerships rarely stock any over 5 year old parts.

 

[Zee09]

Ford dealers here don't carry many parts at all.

 

[JTK]

It's even more fun when it was a scheduled visit and they have to "order the part" and schedule another visit for you.

 

[The motor guy]

Most of these common parts are used on other vehicles including newer models.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted by JTK
It's even more fun when it was a scheduled visit and they have to "order the part" and schedule another visit for you.


The manager would have a very bad day if they did that to me. Haha

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted by JTK
It's even more fun when it was a scheduled visit and they have to "order the part" and schedule another visit for you.


The manager would have a very bad day if they did that to me. Haha


So to give you some insight, very rarely does the parts department have access to the appointment system to stock parts. Plus just because it is an appointment does not guarantee the owner will come in. Also parts special ordered generally cannot be returned to the manufacturer without a financial penalty.

Stocking levels are based on prior sales history as well as a constantly changing list of top selling parts. It makes no sense whatsoever for a parts department to stock a part that will sit on a shelf for months when it can be obtained same day or overnight. All the parts sitting on a shelf are stacks of the owners money doing nothing for them unless they sell.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted by bdcardinal

So to give you some insight, very rarely does the parts department have access to the appointment system to stock parts. Plus just because it is an appointment does not guarantee the owner will come in. Also parts special ordered generally cannot be returned to the manufacturer without a financial penalty.
Stocking levels are based on prior sales history as well as a constantly changing list of top selling parts. It makes no sense whatsoever for a parts department to stock a part that will sit on a shelf for months when it can be obtained same day or overnight. All the parts sitting on a shelf are stacks of the owners money doing nothing for them unless they sell.


Pretty much sums it up. ANYTHING in inventory is just money that's tied up that the dealership's owner can't do anything with. OTOH, the nearest Ford dealer that I worked for has almost nothing on the shelf at all, not even a set of brake pads for an extremely hot selling car or truck. If you are a tech and you go to the parts man and 99 times out of a 100 they say that they have to order it and the vehicle will be stuck in your bay for at least a day, it gets old REAL fast.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
I wonder if this is a case of "we don't want to sell parts to do-it-yourselfers" vs what you believe of them not having parts in stock.
I don't know if I really believe the return to warehouse after 3 days thing. That sounds like a cover story to me. Might be slacker parts guys, might be attitude, or general incompetance.
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Are you suggesting they don't or can't do same-day repair work, including things like brake jobs ?

Ha! Do you really believe dealers always use genuine Mopar parts? lol think again.

Local Dodge/Ram dealer can get most any still-available part for my '01 Dak overnight, in one rare case I ordered a brake line (have since switched to bend-my-own NiCopp) that had to be ordered-in from out of state, took 3 days.

Really, I would switch to another dealer, if possible, or just order from one of the many Dodge/Ram dealers online.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted by Kruse
Originally Posted by bdcardinal

So to give you some insight, very rarely does the parts department have access to the appointment system to stock parts. Plus just because it is an appointment does not guarantee the owner will come in. Also parts special ordered generally cannot be returned to the manufacturer without a financial penalty.
Stocking levels are based on prior sales history as well as a constantly changing list of top selling parts. It makes no sense whatsoever for a parts department to stock a part that will sit on a shelf for months when it can be obtained same day or overnight. All the parts sitting on a shelf are stacks of the owners money doing nothing for them unless they sell.


Pretty much sums it up. ANYTHING in inventory is just money that's tied up that the dealership's owner can't do anything with. OTOH, the nearest Ford dealer that I worked for has almost nothing on the shelf at all, not even a set of brake pads for an extremely hot selling car or truck. If you are a tech and you go to the parts man and 99 times out of a 100 they say that they have to order it and the vehicle will be stuck in your bay for at least a day, it gets old REAL fast.



One of the metrics measured for dealer performance is "off the shelf fill rate" basically parts that were in stock at the beginning of the previous day that were sold off the shelf versus being ordered in. It has to be above a certain percentage to be eligible for certain incentive programs. It generally does not apply to crash parts like for body shops since a lot of dealers cannot physically stock bumper covers, doors, hoods, or 1/4 panels in large quantities.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by 64bawagon
It has everything to do with money, inventory costs money.


and a lot of dealers are up to their eyeballs in debt with the founding owners' son/ grandson high on coke, running the place into the ground.

I wanted something somewhat weird from Advance Auto, was willing to wait a few days. They offered to order. I said great. They said I had to pay UPS. I said nevermind, I can do it myself from home. They don't do hub runs?

 

[StevieC]

My dealer has old and new parts always in stock but they are a high volume dealer and do a lot of fleet vehicles. Most I have ever had to wait was until that afternoon and rarely next day.

 

[dave1251]

If you need a part the best thing you can do is order it from the web. It's rare a dealership will have a warehouse full of parts. It's inventory which is unlikely going to be moved thus a loss.

 

[PumpPusher]

Originally Posted by HangFire
Ha! Do you really believe dealers always use genuine Mopar parts? lol think again.

I was in an O'Reilly's when one of the drivers was loading up on parts to run out to a Ford and a CJDR stealership.

 

[The Critic]

It looks like these pads are specific to the 03-04 1500 and the 06-08 2500/3500. These are 10+ year old vehicles. While this is very dependent on your local market, I would imagine that there are few of these vehicles coming to the dealership for light maintenance (on a regular basis).

 

[The motor guy]

That's an hour away. Look up clear lake Chrysler jeep dodge in webster