franklin Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Why does Subaru choose to miss out on an opportunity? What Im talking about is the mutitude of excellent OEM parts available for the Legacy that they make but dont offer to us either as options when ordering our cars,dealer part availibilty, or thru STI. Seems to me that they dont have to develop ,design or reasearch these things as they already did that (examples : STI pink springs,JDM B Spec suspension, Sway bars, spoilers, B Spec wheels on and on) Seems to me a win win thing for them. These are not issues of emissions or saftey regs either. I dont get it they could build custumer excitement AND MAKE MONEY.They import parts now they are already developed and are factory parts. How much more grief to bring these over too? AS american consumers we are compelled to find "grey market" importers for factory stuff. Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 That is a great question, and I believe that if you look at the business side of it you will find the answer, as well as the reason that no manufacturer does this. In a lot of ways Ford Racing is pretty close. If they could make money at this then they would certainly do it. YOu may be overestimating the market and the potential liabilities. Remember that Subaru first offered the SPT parts they wouldn't even allow dealers to install them (including hte suspension package) and they said theywould void the car's waranty. Makes you want to pop $700 for a muffler, doesn't it? Look at Acura, their "A Spec" line is a bunch of dress up stuff. Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 The limited sales volumn of our cars surely limit aftermarket investment. Agreed. But they (Subaru) developed this stuff why not market it?The business end seems sales volumn would improve your return on this investment. Right. My son just bought a Scion Tc and Toyota's idea seems to "dangle" all these toyota goodies at the dealers for sale-make $$$ and build an intrest in their cars. If your correct about not even wanting to install STP parts that they sell and threatining to void a warrenty--why sell them in the first place? My thinking is they already make these parts, they have dealers, and an import/ distribution network why not do it. If they dont have any faith in a factory designed suspension installed by factory trained mechanics there is potential liability. These are not racing or offraod parts im speaking off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Right now, today, a SPT Strut tower bar (a waste of money IMHO, but it is ideal to make this point) cannot be installed by a Subaru Dealer. Silly, isn't it? But leaving that aside, unless the manufacturers are not rational, there must be a reason that none of them offer any really interesting or useful parts. One rason could be the volume, another could be liability concerns and yet another could be that the price points are way too low. I believe that it is a combination of all three. Subaru is having a hard enough time selling Legacys as it is (they are going for at or under invoice), how many of those people would really pay top dollar for Subaru parts? Imagine them offering a larger turbo: NEVER going to happen. Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 rao I hear you and belive what your saying is correct but I dont see the logic or business sense of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STG Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 rao I hear you and belive what your saying is correct but I dont see the logic or business sense of it. The logic: It's not worth it. The business sense: Potential liability, low volume (=high cost), emmisssion re-certification, marketing costs. Much better to dump the cash into marketing the car itself to increase sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Someone needs to be fired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STG Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Someone needs to be fired. That would be the idiot that actually sells management on selling speed parts and looses money for the company. Subaru doesn't have enough warranty issues with modified cars? I laugh everytime I go to my dealer because there's always a new ricer racer story at the service department. Some kid came in and said he drove through a puddle and his WRX's engine siezed. He finally copped to putting NITROMETHANE in the fuel tank - wouldn't say how much. The right cylinder head blew off, one of the pistons has a hole in it - its connecting rod broke and punched through the cylinder wall, the top of the crankcase has a hole blown through it and the intake manifold blew off the engine breaking into two pieces. I'll photograph the engine after it's cleaned up and put on display. Heck, Subaru has enough trouble keeping its idiot California customers off the emmissions testing dynos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 Ok Then 1) why do they sell them in other markets 2) exclude emissions and saftey type things. A strut tower brace is spooky to install? A front lip spoiler ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STG Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Ok Then 1) why do they sell them in other markets 2) exclude emissions and saftey type things. A strut tower brace is spooky to install? A front lip spoiler ? Probably because other markets don't have the insane product liability laws coupled with over litigious attorneys like we do here. Write a business plan and submit it to S.O.A. You'll be the first one toi submit that idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 Im not trying to be argumenitive. They do have a STP program. I would guess they want to sell something or they would not bother. Most of the items they offer are pretty lame I thought if they offered some good stuff that they already make they might sell more and make more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidiq Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 http://www.spt.subaru.com/microsites/spt/main.jsp That's a pretty good selection, IMO. But still, aftermarket stuff is still scary for companies because of sue-happy America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 What Im talking about is the mutitude of excellent OEM parts available for the Legacy that they make but dont offer to us either as options when ordering our cars,dealer part availibilty, or thru STI. Seems to me that they dont have to develop ,design or reasearch these things as they already did that (examples : STI pink springs,JDM B Spec suspension, Sway bars, spoilers, B Spec wheels on and on) Seems to me a win win thing for them. can I also mention other options (besides performance parts) *cough* Mcintosh sound system *cough* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 Yes my list was not all inclusive. Did not try to be--just some examples. After thinking about it and looking at some of the responces my guess is for whatever reason ( lawsuits, volumn,costs) SOA figures its not worth the bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidiq Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Also keep in mind that people in Japan/Europe are more willing to spend more money on a Subaru than the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euclid Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I'd also be willing to bet that the percentage of north american 2005+ Legacy owners who actually care about performance parts is not very high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxerGT2.5 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Why does Subaru choose to miss out on an opportunity? What Im talking about is the mutitude of excellent OEM parts available for the Legacy that they make but dont offer to us either as options when ordering our cars,dealer part availibilty, or thru STI. Seems to me that they dont have to develop ,design or reasearch these things as they already did that (examples : STI pink springs,JDM B Spec suspension, Sway bars, spoilers, B Spec wheels on and on) Seems to me a win win thing for them. These are not issues of emissions or saftey regs either. I dont get it they could build custumer excitement AND MAKE MONEY.They import parts now they are already developed and are factory parts. How much more grief to bring these over too? AS american consumers we are compelled to find "grey market" importers for factory stuff. Am I missing something? This is pretty common. Look at Mazdaspeed and Nismo. It's not just subaru. OBAMA......One Big Ass Mistake America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opie Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 One of the biggest problems is that each and every part they could market would have to be tested to ensure that the part did not alter the crash worthiness and/or emission compliance of the vehicle. Even if the parts does not have any reasonble connection to those area's. The second problem as mentioned is liability, each part can affect not only how the car operates, but how it feels, sounds, and reacts to the drivers inputs. As sue happy as the U.S. is, the reward is not worht the risk in Subaru's eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryD Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I personally can understand Subaru's hesitation regarding some "performance" products, but SOA won't even have the factory splash guards for the Legacy (which is the same as the JDM and EDM MY2004) in the US intil possibly this spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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