5 year rule?

[Killerbug]

Shimano told me that Japan has discontiniued the making spares for Stella FA's, what a disaster for my customers, as it is one of the most frequent reels I get in for repair. does anyone know for how long the different brands holds spares.  I was told that there is a 5 year rule at Shimano?

[alantani]

not sure, but that sounds about right.  spinners have a short lifespan.   

[Robert Janssen]

The official policy at Shimano was that spares were discarded seven years after discontinuation of product.

Don't know if that has changed.

.

[redsetta]

...spinners have a short lifespan.

Good call Alan (particularly in the modern context).
I'd referred to this as planned obsolesence once before, but this is a better view.
Cheers, Justin

[Alto Mare]

You purchase a $2100 reel and after 5 years you can't get parts, now that's a shame.
I have a Penn spinner from 1956 that I can still get parts for it....not that it needs it .

[Irish Jigger]

You purchase a $2100 reel and after 5 years you can't get parts, now that's a shame.
I have a Penn spinner from 1956 that I can still get parts for it....not that it needs it .

  X2

[Keta]

X3  Even parts for a $200 reel should be available for many more years.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

You purchase a $2100 reel and after 5 years you can't get parts, now that's a shame.
I have a Penn spinner from 1956 that I can still get parts for it....not that it needs it .

OOOOOOHHH thats just another penn testament to great quality

[akfish]

Everyone stops making parts for discontinued reels, even Penn. For example, any parts for the 49 are impossible to get. The same goes for many of the SS spinners. It's a fact of life.

[Ken_D]

Here's a  quote from a Shimano factory rep: " We maintain parts for 5-7 years for our reels. Due to stocking space and manufacturing, it is difficult to hold a large parts inventory. Several parts interchange with the new models. I can only speak for Shimano and not for our competitors.

Unfortunately there are not many aftermarket companies making parts for fishing reels. In the automotive market there are aftermarket companies that buy or make tooling to build replacement parts.

The new reels have more features, more power, more drag and are lighter and smaller. We are a technology driven company. We will always continue to make new models to take advantage of the latest advancements.

......if you do a cost breakdown of the older reels to determine the cost of the reel over the years you have owned it. In most cases you have made good use of the reel for the time you have had it. I'll use a Curado 200B for an example. That reel sold new for $120. If you bought one in 2004 (Last year they were made) the reel would have cost you $15 per year to own and operate (minus maintenance and service). There are not many things that are that cheap to own per year. "


Thread is here:   http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=440665&highlight=fact+fiction

Note the last post in the thread, where Shimano's reps says they keep a parts list of those that are common reel to reel.

[Killerbug]

True, a Shimano calcutta cost's ca 200$, and you can sell it two seasons later for 150$.  Or you can buy a seccond hand Ambassaduer for 50$, and keep it for the rest of your life .

[Bryan Young]

On really smart thing that Penn did was the use of existing parts in newer reels.  If you look through the history of the spinfisher, you could take that green plastic spool and replace it with a new version of the spinfisher aluminum spool.  The modifications were implemented with possibly adding a part here, a part there, but the main parts were essentially the same as what was used in the past.  I haven't seen that in most manufacturers...with possible exception would be Abu's round baitcasting reels.