It's starting to happen... No more new parts.

[biju]

If you read my car audio post, Triathlete brought up a good point. Where in the heck will I put all my stuff for Zu? Right away I contacted Merlin to see about getting the OEM roofrack that I had called about two months ago. His response:

"I'm sorry, but that's been discontinued, along with the rear cargo mat and OEM floor mats".

Plan A. No worries, I thought. I'd have him do a nationwide search for one that's sitting in a parts room somewhere. He came up with two part departments. I called them both (TN & NH), and both said they didn't have the rack, and that the inventory listing was an error.

Plan B. I scoured the internet, and found all places that claimed to sell the OEM roof rack. Everybody said the same thing. "Sorry, it's discontinued".

Plan C. Did a nationwide search on auto recyclers to see if anybody had one. Unfortunately, the OEM roof rack isn't (at the places I called anyways) an inventoried part. It's not one they put into their systems - so when you have them do a search in the computer it comes up with nothing. I pleaded with most places to step away from the computer and go out and take a peek at the roof and see. Some agreed, and said they'd call me back. It's been days now, no calls back, and follow-up calls don't seem to help...

Plan D. Contact every VX seller I could find and see if they'd be willing to part with the roofrack before selling. No luck.

Plan E. Contact ZEUS for information on his fab job for the Thule rack/basket. He gave a great response, detailed, etc. I might have to have one fabricated at a metal shop?

The question is, aren't these things (parts) supposed to be available for 10 years after the manuf. date? And, what's next on the chop block? How are these things decided by isuzu?

-biju.

[VR4-Quest]

Did you try contacting Yakima directly, they are the ones that made the rack for Isuzu.......plan F maybe........
plan G, you could probably rig up one of the popluar racks (like yakima, Thule, etc.) to fit the stock mounting points.

[Triathlete]

Do a search on the board. A while back someone listed the part#'s for a round bar rack (either a thule or yakima) and posted pictures.
As far as the parts for 10 years I don't think that applies to optional equipment, which the rack was.

[biju]

yesterday after work I went to RackAttack here in Golden, CO.

They tried to fit several racks, and the only thing that remotely came close was the Thule 300 (new version of the 1A). It simply didn't fit right at all (not secure enough).

I haven't tried to contact Yakima directly... Good point! I'll letcha know what I find out...

-biju.

[VehiX]

So what would happen in the event you had an accident with your roof rack or it was stolen. Insurance wise, I'm sure a body shop could hunt one down for ya

[VehiGAZ]

If it gets stolen or crushed, you get a check to buy yourself dinner with.

At some point, this had to happen, I guess.

[Moncha]

Here's the Rack Manual it has the part numbers.

[johnnyapollo]

Technically you're talking about accessories here and not actual mechanicals or body parts. I kind of thought that this would happen when the mats started appearing on eBay cheap last year as Old Stock - the excess was probably dumped from the warehouses as the demand was so minimal. If you plan to keep your VX, you may want to start collecting some of the harder-to-get parts as well.

-- John

[erland]

I work in the rv industry and the rule for parts is 6 years for oem manufacturers to carry parts before they can be discontinued, but that is in America. IE Ford,Chevy,Dodge, etc...

[Hotsauce]

One of thre radiator hoses is discontinued already, I called st charles to order a set, and they told me.

I'm sure someone like Gates is still making them, but it gives you an idea of whats coming.

John C.

[SPAZZ]

they told me that Isuzu bought the patent for the Roof rack and attachments from them when they made the VX and that they(Yakima) could not by law provide me with a new roof rack or rails or any attachments for the VX or a lawsuit would result for them from Isuzu.

[biju]

Thanks for calling them, SPAZZ. I ended up sending an email (no response from them yet). Sounds like I'll get a similar response... *sigh.

I did end up finding one at a yard, but it wasn't easy. They had no clue as to how much Isuzu charged for them (they didn't have pricing on accessories) - so I got it for $75.

Scary to think the 'discontinued' plague is starting to effect parts not considered accessories (i.e. Hotsauce's need for radiator hose). Anybody else encounter this issue with other VX parts?

-biju.

p.s. - Me thinks the next VX roofrack on ebay should be very interesting!

[Triathlete]

$75! You stole that!!!!!

[biju]

Stolen indeed.

I was also able to locate a brand new Loadwarrior w/ stretch net on craigslist for $175. So hauling stuff for Zu will be less of an issue.

I'm still on the grind for another rack, and just hope one pops up in the near future.

-biju.

[Ron Pfeiffer]

Scary to think the 'discontinued' plague is starting to effect parts not considered accessories (i.e. Hotsauce's need for radiator hose). Anybody else encounter this issue with other VX parts?

Oh yeah - when I backed into the tree (I KNEW I should have shelled out cash for a backup camera!) I was told by Merlin at St.Charles that there were NO new rear doors out there. None. Zero. Took three weeks for the body shop to find one in a yard. Its only gonna get worse. Makes me sad. I really don't need the headache of driving a car that I can't easily fix, but there's simply nothing out there that can take Zue's place in my driveway or heart. So, I guess we deal with it.

Ron