Sorry but I disagree. I would expect at some point not to be able to purchase parts for the 13 bar cookers as they are 20-30 years old. A 5 year old Weber should have all parts available. People buy them to last 10-15 years, if not, then why buy a Weber at double the price of a Charbroil or Nexgrill? If parts are not available for that length of time I guess we will all be buying disposable grills for a few hundred dollars and throw them away in 5 years since no parts will be available.
Replacement parts are extremely lucrative. There is no reason not to supply them, unless your Chinese suppliers suck.
Look at all the Chinese replacement parts that have popped up over the last few years for these old grills. I just bought an aftermarket 7515 Utheer drip tray and holder. I think it's nicer than the Weber one and it's half the price. Hopefully one of these companies will pick up on more parts. It's really Weber's own fault for outsourcing the parts that are available. It makes it awfully easy to make knock offs.
Well, yeah, of course. Why should the Chinese continue to make them for Weber when they can just make them for themselves and sell them at full retail. Good luck enforcing patents or design rights in China.
That's how they roll for sure, and we just keep helping them along. The biggest problem I have with Weber, for example, is paying top dollar for something that they import from China and them pretending that it's still a top quality product. My brother's $2,000 Summit that's only 3 or 4 years old is a rust bucket. If he doesn't take it all apart every few months and clean it, it doesn't even work right.
I emailed weber support and the grease tray is available. Their reply is below.
2011-2016 Genesis 3XX series with front valves
