Inventory decisions
 

So the other day the blower fan in my 83 electra quit working. Quick check and sure enough the motor is on permanent vacation. Call my local NAPA store, sales guy says "Yep, have one in stock, your cost $59" . Naturally I .told him to send it over. About an hour later I'm working on a 2008 Toyota Prius. Call the same NAPA store to order sway bar bushings. "Sorry, I don't stock those, but I can have them in the morning". Now I have to mention that I work for a local taxi company and have about 20 of these cars in the fleet. It makes me wonder who's in charge of the inventory when you can get apart for a 35 year old car right now but have to wait overnight for parts for a ten year old Prius!!

How much was the part for the Prius?

$14.00 with tax!!!!

OK, that is weird. I guess the same thing happens at our dealer parts room too. We stock some of the weirdest things, but you'd think we would keep parts that we replace on a daily basis, nope. Even though most of the time its warranty shit.

This is intriguing, so I poked around over at Napaonline.com . Turns out their TEM 937711 works on your 1983 Electra, a 1977 LeSabre, a 1981 Bonneville, a 1981 Chevy van, my 1985 C30, and a 1996 GMC Savana. So probably lots of GM square pickups, a couple of decades of GM vans, countless B and C bodies, and probably a bunch of others. My guess is that one sits on the shelf all the time for lots of GM delivery/utility/cargo/passenger vans and probably doesn't move too often, but often enough . . . while at the same time maybe nobody needs Prius sway-bar bushings very often . . . ? The way people drive Prius' around here I'd believe it.

At first, I had to re-read a couple of times to make sure I didn't read that you work for a local taxi company and have about 20 Electras in the fleet. :)

Sorry, I guess I should proof read before I post. I meant that we have 20 or so Prius in the fleet along with 15 Prius Vs 9 Grand Caravans 4 Siennas and a half dozen Camry Hybrids. My point was that with that many vehicles thev store should have some of the more popular parts in stock.

Yeah definitely!

. . . or maybe your taxi company needs more 1983 Electras in the fleet . . . ? Seems like parts availability is really good. :)

I only wish!!! No stupid computers controlling hybrid batteries and power widows and horns and……..

Pffft, today's heavy duty trucks have....
Engine ECU
Vehicle VECU
ABS ECU
Telematics ECU
M-Drive or I-Shift ECU
Radio ECU
Body Builder ECU
Light Control ECU
Lane Departure ECU
all connected via the CAN network.

Just checked, 28 different control modules in a 2012 PriusV.