Long rant about parts interoperability


 
S

Scott Smith

TVWBB Pro
If you are old enough, you remember when GM came out with Saturn cars - "A different kind of car, a different kind of company". I was a young adult with these things in the 1990's. Granted, they offered two different engines, but other than that, the great thing about Saturns was that every single car for like ten years shared just about all of the same parts. I realized that if I just kept driving Saturns, I could hoard parts strategically. Not a bad deal when you are just starting out as a young adult. My wife and I had a lot of those things, even a parts car packed with more parts from other cars.

Moreover, the repairs were also the same on every car, and that also was huge when I was a low-skill guy just figuring things out. There were forums - much like this one - to get answers. I couldn't fix cars, but I learned to fix almost anything on a mid-90's Saturn just by reading the forums.

Saturn died because people stopped buying the cars. It was the 90's, and folks wanted SUVs to haul their Weber grills as that became the next must-have item :)

So now Weber has gone from one model, to a selection of models, to a veritable stew of parts and models that arguably aren't any better than the vintage models - some say worse. I feel the whole pattern repeating in my life - use the product, read forums, fix as necessary, hoard more parts. I really don't appreciate how Weber needs so many sizes and variations of simple things - grates, burners, flavorizer bars, control knobs. I thought Weber's ethos was to be the happy median of grills - not the cheapest, not the most deluxe, but the one that you could keep going and going. Now I look at all the different parts and models and features and wonder if they are exactly where Saturn was around 2000 - throwing up all kinds of crazy new models and praying that something sticks.
 
Weber used to be much more like your Saturn car company. Parts from most grills built from 1985 through 1999 were largely interchangeable. Even when Weber changed to Silver/Gold/Platinum B and C line in 2000 many parts were still interchangeable to include lids and grates. I think at some point, they realized that by keeping so many parts the same, they really could not keep up with the updated looks they were looking for in grills. But now, it does look like ever 4 or 5 years, they are making wholesale changes with very little carryover in parts from one generation to the next.
 
I try to get in on the runs that were strong.

For example, my regular car is a 2000 E46. They ran six years, but there is a lot of aftermarket support, and only a couple of ways for them to really really die. I should knock wood.

My toy (1995 Wrangler) was made for nine or ten years (depending on whether you believe in 1996 Jeep Wranglers) but again a ton of aftermarket support. Plus that year had an external clutch slave (huge for the repair angle, internal slave requires removal of transmission to service).

Point is, I'm glad Weber made the largely interchangeable grills for a good decade or so. There is still a decent aftermarket for most parts, I've heard the drip tray is getting rare but I don't think I'll have to replace mine.

Probably no business will make a product that truly lasts forever, hardly changes and remains profitable enough to satisfy the inevitable greed that comes with a sniff of "more" in terms of revenues. Money.

The other side of the problem has been said a thousand times. We've been trained to think most things, even cars, are disposable.

I'm just grateful that Weber went on that run of grills, that there is a pretty healthy aftermarket all things considered, and that I personally have two sets of burners, three sets of flavorizers and a natural gas manifold.

Not to mention enough tricks and advice on here about how to use those things to keep that grill running pretty much as long as I want.
 
I loved Saturns (the REAL Saturns). The only REAL ones were the S series. After the S series they were simply rebadged other versions of GM "stuff". Some were rebadged German Opels (the Vue for instance after 2008) was an Opel. This was the smaller Vue not the larger one which was a Chevy something or other. The Saturn L series was an Opel as well, Bottom line GM messed with the formula and ruined the division.
But, the S series was the only true Saturn and was perhaps the best vehicle GM ever made. I would rank it right up there with even a Toyota Corolla. (other than the oil consumption issues that plagued both the twin and single cam engines). But with timely oil changes and good oil (no dino juice) the oil consumption could be kept in check or at least tolerable. I had 4 of them all SL2 versions, and my oldest daughter still has her little SL stripper. (no power anything except steering, manual 5 spd, basic radio, manual locks and windows. Still humming along with over 200k miles.
I had an earlier Vue with the 4cyl EcoTec total piece of junk. Thankfully it wasn't an Autotragic it had the 5spd. But the linkage and the stupidly designed hydraulic clutch were problematic, engine was a POC as well. Sadly it was a truly nice vehicle otherwise.
 
I picked up a 96 SL2 for my girls to share in high school in 2006 or 2007. They drove that for four years, then sold it to a friend's son that drove it for four more years. Ultimately went to the boneyard in 2015 or so. I think it had close to 200k on it at the end, the only major repair was to replace the gas tank straps, done sometime in 2012. Loved that car- simple and easy to work on. Hardest thing to do on that car was change the clock time on the radio- I had to read the manual for that one.
The "saturnfans dot com" site had owners just about as dedicated as those on TVWBB:)
 
I’ve only had to perform minor “Hot Rod” modifications to any of my kettles mostly after miserable straight line wind caused some damage to the lid, Weber sent a basic kettle lid so, it’s not quite right however, serviceable. There is a reason, I have channeled my efforts in the charcoal arena. Parts? Pretty much long term useable parts. Kettle diameter does not change, grates, easy replacements. It’s all the gas stuff that goes galley west! I’m not going to do a whole lot with regard to gas stuff. I like the old Genesis but, if I need to worry too much, I just don’t really care.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top