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Show Fall CAR CARE, 2009, Fall 2009 Page 6 Will you find parts if your car has been discontinued? If your car -- and the dealer who sold it to you -- has gone the way of cheap gas, sidewalk pay phones and service station attendants, don’t fret. No matter how troubled the U.S. automotive industry may seem, finding an identical replacement part for a piece of your vehicle’s original equipment will be relatively easy for a long time to come -- even if individual models and entire lines seem to have been dumped at breakneck speed. That should bring some relief to Pontiac and Hummer buyers whose vehicles have been added to a growing list brands that have been disappearing almost as fast at the dealerships that sold them. Several thousand dealerships, along with their service and parts departments, have been shut in the United States and Canada since the beginning of 2009. While the wave of bankruptcies, restructuring and belt tightening has forced car makers like General Motors and Chrysler to phase out models or drop entire lines, “there’s an ample supply of parts,” for now and in the foreseeable future, said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com. It also means that you can rest easy if you opted for an extended manufacturer’s warranty when you bought your car or purchased one just before the standard factory warranty expired. The parts will be there for as long as your warranty holds out, automotive insiders believe. For consumers, the fallout from the massive fiscal issues faced by the industry may seem scary, but in reality the impact on the average car owner will be minimal when it applies to their being able to replace worn or broken car parts with original equipment. That’s because many parts are interchangeable between many brands and models made by the same manufacturer. Air filers, brake pads, and rotors on some discontinued Pontiac models, for example, can be replaced with identical parts used in some Chevrolets, since both vehicles are made by General Motors. It may be quite different if you bought a limited production vehicle. That decision could cost you more, and even more if you need to replace an original part with an exact duplicate once the warranty has run out. It may still be available, but because of the limited number of vehicles produced, it will be at a premium. “It’s just going to cost an arm and a leg,” Toprak said. If you’re like most auto owners and independent repair shops, you’ll turn to after-market parts -- those made for your car but not by the car manufacturer. The quality of parts can vary. While it’s not the only measure, savvy automotive parts buyers recommend judging by the price of the part. Automotive replacement parts fall into one of three categories, says the United States Federal Trade Commission: * New: Parts made to the original specs, either by the vehicle manufacturer or an independent company. * Remanufactured, Rebuilt and Reconditioned: YSee PARTS, page 12 LA Times: Hyundai Accent SE Hatchback lacks muscle, but not charm CORNWALL, N.Y. — Rosa Parks Brown, our Labrador dog, prefers subcompact cars. We think it’s because subcompacts force humans to sit next to her. Parks, as we call her, loves humans, craves them. She hates being left alone in the rear compartments of large trucks, crossover utility vehicles or sedans. In that regard, the subcompact Hyundai Accent SE hatchback, seemingly the least likely of vehicles to transport three adults, a large dog and all of their stuff, turned out to be ideal for our 320-mile journey here from our home in Virginia. Parks did the whole trip resting her head in the lap of her true master, our daughter Binta, or sticking her face as close as possible to the open front passenger window ostensibly to catch a breeze, but really to nose the woman in the adjacent seat, my wife, Mary Anne. Other than my wife’s occasional protests against being neck-slurped, it was a pleasant, easy trip — surprisingly pleasant and easy. The little Accent is the most affordable car made by Hyundai, a South Korean manufacturer that prides itself on the design and production of affordable automobiles. At Hyundai in the 1980s, that meant motorized trash, such as the defunct, seldom mourned Hyundai Excel subcompact. Today’s Hyundai no longer makes trash. In fact, the company has been reaching upscale and doing so subcompact with wiggle room, arguably with as much usable interior space as that offered by the more expensive Toyota Corolla. Fit and finish are as good as anything offered by Hyundai’s Japanese rivals. In terms of air-bag count, standard safety equipment is better. You get standard side and head air bags in the Accent. You don’t in the Corolla. The Corolla has a more powerful four-cylinder engine — 1.8 liters and 132 horsepower vs. 1.6 liters and 110 hp for the Accent. But both cars can exceed the top 65 mph speed limit on the New Jersey Turnpike with the same unhappy result: an expensive conversation with a The 2009 Hyundai Accent SE two-door hatchback coupe is the best sub- New Jersey state trooper. compact car for the money, the author writes/LAT photo Still, I would’ve preferred a larger engine in the Accent. And here’s successfully with models marketing. Some of you have hoping that Hyundai creates a special such as its new Genesis taken that as an insult. It isn’t. iteration of the Accent with, maybe, a turbocharged 1.8 liter, four-cylinder sedan. Next year, Hyundai To people who shop diesel. That would make getting up will roll out its Equus sedan, regularly at Wal-Mart, as we a super luxurious automobile Browns do on our East Coast Mine Hill Road here a lot easier than struggling along in second gear, which is designed to compete with road trips, it is high praise. Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class and We get products and service what we had to do in the gasoline-fueled four-cylinder Accent SE used on this trip. BMW’s 7-Series. we want with the quality we But Parks didn’t mind the second-gear The only people laughing want at prices we consider stuttering. With a fuel efficiency of 27 at the prospect of Hyundai unbeatable. miles per gallon in the city and 33 mpg taking on Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai understands on the highway, using regular unleaded BMW are those who haven’t that. It is committed to the gasoline, we saved enough money to buy been paying close attention proposition of high value her some gourmet dog food. to Hyundai. for dollar, even in its least Perhaps that’s really why she prefers I have written here and expensive car, the frontother places that Hyundai has wheel-drive Accent hatchback. subcompact cars.— Warren Brown mastered the art of Wal-Mart The Accent is a |