Are there any cheaper online car parts?

AdrianC

stator wrote: »

Where do local garages get their parts? Are they paying the inflated GSF / ECP prices and passing on the costs to us, or do they have a separate trade pricing that is more reasonable? Do garages bother shopping around, or do they just go with the same supplier every time, no matter the price because they are passing on the cost to the owner?

Local garages use the same couple of suppliers, because they build a relationship with them. Some of them are the "big name" also-consumer suppliers, others are more trade-only.

Apart from price, the big difference for a garage is that they phone and order the parts, which arrive on the factor's van a couple of hours later. If they're wrong, they get put on the side and go back to the factor next time the van arrives for credit. So where you've got multiple options (say, 90s PSA rear drums... <glare>), then they simply ask for all the options to be sent. The ones that aren't needed go back. Speed of supply is more important than absolute price, because the price is getting passed on to the customer anyway, and also because focussing on price means you get parts made out of cheese, which then fail quickly and either need to be replaced by the garage for free or simply lose customer goodwill. But, yes, they get big discounts...



As for Mister-Auto, I use 'em a lot. They have a much better way of seeing what brands are available than the others, imho. For PSA stuff, they tend to be good not least because they're actually owned by PSA.

fred246

Garages aren't bothered about what parts they fit. It's not their car they are working on. As long as the parts are cheap the profit is good. If they don't fit well there is always the big hammer. It's the DIY people who are bothered. They are working on their own car. They check for sealed boxes and holograms. They obsess over the brand of their parts. They are the ones who cause mayhem at ECP. Garages just don't care.

blinkered67

Regarding, the above company for car parts.
I live in the countryside in France and buying car parts can be a chore. To my rescue came mister-auto.com,I have used them for about 5 years, never had any complaints, in fact their delivery times have improved and offer a 24hr service at an enhanced price if needed, I have just ordered BOLK brake discs and pads, I have received them with no difficulty and the quality is fine €45 for Mondeo rear axle brake kit, 2 discs 4 pads, spot on, you can always pay more for big names, but the value margin becomes very debatable,

Norman_Castle

GSF are good. Discount codes of 50-60% are very common.

onomatopoeia99

fred246 wrote: »

Garages aren't bothered about what parts they fit. It's not their car they are working on.

The one I use asks me what parts I want for things that aren't main dealer supply only, and often calls me with a selection of options.


But you carry on thinking what you want :T

stator

Norman_Castle wrote: »

GSF are good. Discount codes of 50-60% are very common.

But that's because their prices are normally a rip off?

Iceweasel

Try here:

https://www.europarts-motorfactors.com/

erictheviking_3

Parts did not fit my vehicle despite clearly stating on the Website they did. Refund refused on the basis of some 14 day returns rule they have - which is not the law. Got a refund via Amex (only £15 but that's not the point)
The said I should have checked the parts against my VIN number - no idea where they expect you to do that on their site.
Beware.

trubmij

Before buying any parts from Autopartspro be fully aware.

I posted the review below on their website and gave a 1-star rating.

I cannot recommend this company. It has been the worst experience of purchasing anything online and I have done online shopping since online shopping started.

Do not be confused by various its UK domains including; https://www.autopartspro.co.uk/ and https://www.autodoc.co.uk . As this company is based in Berlin, Germany from where orders are dispatched, and all Admin is based. This has created extra issues.

Despite me giving them my vehicle VIN number, car Make/Model, full description of the part required, AND even photos of the part required the item received was incorrect and would not fit my car.

It was agreed after some reluctance on their part that I should return the item for a full refund, which I did at my expense. Their T&Cs are very strict on refunds and returns and return postage is normally at customers’ expense. As the part was going to Germany this added extra costs.

However. I also raised a case for my postage costs to be refunded which was finally accepted.

It has taken almost a month to obtain a full refund and the process has not been easy. I was initially told that the refund had been made and allowing for the 5-6 working days to reach my account I had to chase them again to find out where it was. I had to supply IBAN/BIC numbers, so they could setup an international refund. I don’t know why as they could have just refunded my Credit Card. Finally, I received some money to my current account but his was only for my return postage. More emails later and I noted a clue in one of their replies and looked in my Credit Card online account and found the refund for the part itself had been paid by Credit Card. I don’t know why they could not tell me that’s how it would be done.

Their Customer Service is poor, and I never seemed to deal with the same person and, despite trying, I was unable to escalate the problem to a higher level in their management.