And yes, I can guess your approximate age if you get the first part of the headline.

That said, it was a very effective ad campaign for Wendy’s back in the day, when chicken nuggets were becoming all the rage at fast-food franchises across the country. The meaning behind the ad, and the very negative, dramatic effect it had on one of Wendy’ s competitors, was simple: What goes into your nugget matters most.

It’s the same with your motor vehicle, if you ask your local service department. And those parts need to be from the manufacturer. And, yes, parts also matter to the consumer as well, because manufacturer parts come with a warranty from the date of installation, which can stretch well beyond any warranty one may have in effect from the dealer.

But I’m beginning to think otherwise. Because in my current case, the better part has proven to be more than a hassle. It’s become a major inconvenience, to the point where it’s becoming insulting.

But that’s what waiting for more than two months for a common part will do to someone. And this is what it does to a guy who owns a paper and has a weekly column. One month, I can let it be. Two months, we’re pushing. Heading into Month 3, sorry, I’m gonna write.

Now mind you, this column isn’t about the dealership. After all, it must get the part from somewhere. And a manufacturer’s part needs to come from the manufacturer’s source. And in this case, the manufacturer is General Motors. And the part in question is apparently the rarest of all things manufactured by this mega corporation: A water pump for a 2018 vehicle.

After all, as I was told upon leaving my truck at the dealership (well, a day or two later) there were no water pumps for my vehicle anywhere in these here United States.

Think about that. In the Year of Our Lord 2025, the General Motors Corporation had no water pumps in stock for certain vehicle repairs on Feb. 26, 2025. Worse, the company had no idea if there were any in transit, when some might be coming from the supplier or if any were in the plans to be built.

Imagine being the service guy having to call me and being the first line of defense for this inexcusable batch of excuses. Now imagine having to make that call every week or two before even hearing of a possible fulfillment date for a part that one would think is needed by service departments across the country on a pretty regular basis.

Imagine being told this happens more often than folks realize.

Think about that. All this for wanting to replace my water pump with a “Genuine GM Part” as the ads used to promote, which is the right decision for a guy thinking he’s gonna keep his truck for several more years. But that decision, now with an estimated delivery date of May 15 might have cost me untold thousands of dollars in rental cars if it wasn’t for good friends willing to loan me their “extra” vehicle over the past two months (with irony on that to follow).

Now, I used to work in sales for a copier company way back in the 1990s, which was actually the last American manufacturer of copiers, and by law they had to carry parts in stock to repair copiers no one had bought in the past decade but were operational in offices across southeast Michigan. And kept the parts in stock it did, even though the number of operational copiers was fewer than the company’s employee count.

But not General Motors, apparently.

Now you might say, “Craig, what about Covid and the supply chain?” Well, I was told Mayor Pete solved all of that. Plus, isn’t five years enough for a company to do it on its own?

Maybe you say, “It’s Trump’s tariffs.” Nice try. There was plenty of time to build water pumps before the tariffs, which still haven’t been enacted.

And no, there’s no excuse allowed from the supplier’s side, either. The same rules apply in getting their act together. It appears neither GM nor the water pump supplier (or their suppliers) chose to get their collective acts together.

This shouldn’t happen in the USA.

Yet it is, and it’s happening across the industry. How do I know? Well, the same thing has happened to other friends of mine as I tell them my story of woe. To wit on the previously mentioned irony, my buddy who lent me his vehicle when my dilemma began has had this happen now on two vehicles, all during my current parts malaise.

And while I rarely say it, I will say it: This is something the government should get its collective nose stuck into at the state and federal level. Maybe our lawsuit-happy Colorado attorney general could do some good for the people while getting his pound of flesh. I mean, can’t the Commerce Department or some vote-seeking Congress-critter make a stink?

Then again, I’m writing this sitting at DIA while getting nickeled and dimed ($20 to $50 a pop) to death by United Airlines for seats, bags and who knows what else.

And we all remember how President Biden got rid of those.

(I really need this) In Christ and Freedom.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com