Supporting a reliability-driven commitment to having the right part at the right time, MCI Service Parts is extending that service to older, slow-moving and surplus parts through a distributor relationship with Vintage Parts Inc. (VPI), Beaver Dam, Wis.

As part of this new relationship, VPI will inventory MCI and Setra parts classified as inactive, obsolete or discontinued, along with parts that would have otherwise been scrapped.

“Our agreement with Vintage Parts extends parts availability, provides long-term parts support and improves response time to our customers,” said Stan Dzierzega, MCI executive director of operations aftermarket business. “Moving our legacy parts inventory to VPI frees us up to focus on those parts our customers do need on a day-to-day basis.”  

About 10% of MCI’s parts inventory falls into the legacy classification. These include seldom ordered, out-of-date parts and parts not sold for several years. By the agreement, VPI will inventory a part for an extended period of time, upward of eight years with parts that have not sold. Parts can be ordered as usual through MCI Service Parts or through VPI directly. The parts available through VPI are flagged as such in the parts catalog to be easily identified by MCI Service representatives and on the MCI online parts store. Customers pay freight on VPI ordered parts.

VPI offers same day shipping, a 24/7 emergency order system and 30-day no-fault return policy. Parts can be searched and purchased atwww.vpartsinc.com or by phone at (877) 846-8243.

This year, MCI Service Parts also launched an industry first — a Coach Critical parts guarantee that promises 1,500 parts essential to uptime will be in stock and ship by the next business day in coach-down situations, or the customer will receive an account credit for 50 percent of the part price up to $150.

Altogether, MCI Service Parts has more than $35 million in parts inventory, stocking more than 100,000 parts at its 365,000-square-foot distribution facility in Louisville, Ky., that also houses MCI’s ERSA (emergency roadside assistance) team and the MCI Technical Training Institute. MCI offers Technical Tune-Up Sessions free to operators of MCI coaches.