Cadillac Repair: canvas top, auto theft claim SIU investigation EUO denial expert, forensic locksmith

Question
Do canvas top come from factory or is it and after market part

Answer
Hello,

This is a good question. You did not indicate the year, because I have not seen those roofs on the newer vehicles. They were popular in the 90's and into the 2000s.
The roof is not made from Cadillac, but for Cadillac by an outside vendor and installed at the factory. So what you have is an after market part if you will installed at the factory.
Auto manufacturers use many outside vendors for a variety of components.
Many over pay for ignition locks and kys at the dealer, and these are aftermarket components made to factory specs to be assembled in the car. The locksmith gets the ignition locks and keys from the same aftermarket supplier from Milwaukee and will sell these components for a more reasonable price. When buying from the dealer, the person is paying a huge mark up for that package with a GM part number. The same hold true with steering columns,seat material etc. The factory is just assembling all of this as a unit.
From my experience, Ford and AMC were the two largest outsource companies years ago. In a AMC or Renault, the tech may find up to 5 different manufacturers for an alternator.
Fords were a nightmare to get parts for a vehicle because just to get a simple tie rod, one almost had to describe the color of the car.
The other issue is availability. For trim, such as a roof cover, replacement components were only available for 1-5 years. The only way a mock roof can be serviced on an older car is at a trim shop and if any structural components such as around the windows or top are broken or missing, you would need to go to the junk yard and be very careful to remove for the trim shop.
I will admit, I did my share of cussing replacing broken rear door glass on vehicles with these tops. It was a nightmare!

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