Is there anybody here who understands the etiquette of Japanese business communications?

It depends, really.

I'd expect spare parts to be knocking about for a period of time after being discontinued, but I wouldn't expect parts to still be made 18 years after (It does depend on what the thing is, mind you).

I wouldn't be reasonably expect to be able to get new parts for an obscure 18 year old car from the manufacturer.
 
Caged said:
Counter point: If customers value them so much they should buy extras to keep as spares.
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Hind sight is a wonderful thing!:p

I have always felt that If I have a new boiler fitted I will buy two so the other one can be broken for spares (If needed). Boiler parts are stupidly expensive.

But that is another issue :p .
 
Orionaut said:
Hind sight is a wonderful thing!:p

I have always felt that If I have a new boiler fitted I will buy two so the other one can be broken for spares (If needed). Boiler parts are stupidly expensive.

But that is another issue :p .
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Well in the 18 years since it was discontinued you've had time to try and put something in place so you don't end up in this position. It seems strange to have that much notice and to just carry on hoping that this vital product keeps working.
 
Kuros said:
It depends, really.

I'd expect spare parts to be knocking about for a period of time after being discontinued, but I wouldn't expect parts to still be made 18 years after (It does depend on what the thing is, mind you).

I wouldn't be reasonably expect to be able to get new parts for an obscure 18 year old car from the manufacturer.
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Aye, unless it's something like an Aircraft, Nuclear reactor, or industrial machinery you'd be hard pushed to find active support after 18 years from the original manufacturer.

It costs companies a lot of money to keep production lines running (or even just to keep the patterns etc handy for limited runs), so once something is no longer made unless the parts are still in use in other models they're unlikely to keep support for long.
 
Orionaut said:
[..]
The "Product" has been out of production for 18 years or so (Though it has an equivalent model today)
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I think it's reasonable for a company to no longer provide formal support for something that it hasn't produced for 18 years, especially when there is an equivalent model in current production.

I am wanting to compose a "More in sorrow than anger" letter directed to the CEO of said Japanese corporation over this lack of after sales support.
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I think that neither sorrow nor anger are reasonable regarding after sales support 18 years after production of it ended. Not just 18 years after purchase but 18 years after the product was last made! How long was the warranty on the product?

If the product is as widespread and popular as you make it out to be, you could make a case to the company that it would be to their benefit overall to provide the full range of official replacement parts (if I read your post correctly, you're saying that some parts are available but some aren't), i.e. that the profit from parts sales plus the value of the effect on reputation (not only does the company make such good products that they're still working and highly valued by customers decades later, the company even provides a full range of spare parts for products that they haven't made for decades!) is of more value to the company than the cost of making, supplying and guaranteeing the parts. That cost might be very high. It seems likely to me that the reason why the company still provides some parts and not others is that the ones it does supply can be made in a practical way along with its current production and the ones it doesn't supply can't be).

TVR comes to mind. As far as I know, they now manufacture and supply certified genuine TVR parts for old TVRs for the reasons I mention above.
 
Just be clear what you are asking about and what you want the outcome to be (as the person reading the email may not have perfect English). Write in a formal style and be respectful towards them and their company. Also don't use contractions (like don't) ... write them out fully.
 
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So what's the product then? Nobody is going to be able to identify you based on that.
It just seems like a pointless exercise and you're going through this just for a bit of attention.
 
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