Re: Yanmar\'s \"gray\" position
Yes Yanmar got sued . I don't know the details, but it was a big enough settlement for them to change their policies. It is making it a real pain in supplying parts for Yanmar owners. The grey only parts are in the price book, so when I price a part , I don't know for sure if Yanmar will supply it or not. I don't know until I receive the order & discover that items are missing from the order & aren't listed as back ordered.
As to someone ordering parts from Japan & making a big business of it. I don't think that will work on a large scale. I all ready order grey only parts from Japan. It takes longer & costs more. To be price competitve with US parts , they have to come by ship which takes longer. US costumers generally aren't that patient. To stock all the items that might be ordered is to expensive. The major tractor company dealers don't stock anywhere near as many parts as they did 30 years ago. I think if anyone tried buying large quantities of parts in Japan that they would be noticed by Yanmar & eventually be cut off. It is my understanding the manufactures in Japan don't like the export of tractors to the US anyway, because they feel it cuts into their US sales.