Parts, On line or local auto parts store?

[THE VEIN]

ecs is terrible for buying small things. I want to buy a couple plastic pieces for my car and the total was $1.50 and wanted to charge me something like $8 for shipping. but I agree with joshdub. u can basically get your parts from anywhere, you just have to know the brand. I just bought some bulbs for my cluster the dealer wanted $10 a bulb and I found the bulbs on ebay listed as an Mercedes Benz part for less than $3 shipped to my house

[cn90]

I have played this BMW, Volvo games (the parts games) for 25 years, here is my take...

1. Small parts (seals, gaskets etc.), I use BMW simply because:
- I don't pay shipping cost
- They are cheap, generally $5-$20 range. Plus I can ask their techs if I have any questions.
- They fit perfectly as these jobs (seals, gaskets) take a lot of labor hours.

2. "Other" parts (spark plugs, struts, oil filters etc.)...
- I use only brand-name companies such as NGK, Mahle etc.
- I stay away from URO etc.

My suppliers...
- Auto Parts at AutohausAZ - OEM Auto Parts - Discount Replacement Parts, Resources and Car Care Tips
- European Auto Parts - Wholesale Genuine and OEM Saab BMW Volvo Parts
- BMW Parts, Mercedes, Porsche, Saab, VW, Volvo, Audi and Mini Parts

[Ricky Bobby]

^I do the same as cn90. I have a good relationship with my local dealer which gives great pricing (Open Road BMW in Edison)

[THE VEIN]

the 3 local dealers always kill me with the prices. right now I'm looking for the clip that attaches the bumper and fender together realoem lists the part as $19.90 my 3 local dealers have it for $58, $48, and $42. average price I see online is around $35. the lowest I've seen was $16 but with $15 shipping which is still the cheapest genuine bmw part

[Joshdub]

Originally Posted by THE VEIN

the 3 local dealers always kill me with the prices. right now I'm looking for the clip that attaches the bumper and fender together realoem lists the part as $19.90 my 3 local dealers have it for $58, $48, and $42. average price I see online is around $35. the lowest I've seen was $16 but with $15 shipping which is still the cheapest genuine bmw part

You cannot use realoem for prices. It is rarely ever accurate.

[THE VEIN]

it should atleast be in the same ballpark

[Joshdub]

Originally Posted by THE VEIN

it should atleast be in the same ballpark

It isn't. Realoem is a part number and diagram reference tool. It isn't designed to be a price comparison tool. It doesn't take into account supply and demand, or increase/decrease of manufacturing.

[puddinboo]

Originally Posted by THE VEIN

ecs is terrible for buying small things. I want to buy a couple plastic pieces for my car and the total was $1.50 and wanted to charge me something like $8 for shipping. but I agree with joshdub. u can basically get your parts from anywhere, you just have to know the brand. I just bought some bulbs for my cluster the dealer wanted $10 a bulb and I found the bulbs on ebay listed as an Mercedes Benz part for less than $3 shipped to my house

I paid around 80.00 shipping from ecs and because they don`t include duty charges I ended up paying around 150.00 for duty + 80.00 shipping total of 230.00 .for like 300.00 of parts I ordered. at least with rock auto they include the duty fees ,so you know how much its going to be. (no surprises)

[bestvaluestore]

Originally Posted by davesx5

How much luck do you have buying at the local auto parts? For my high end cars Mercedes and BMW I usually use Peach Parts (pelican parts) and have always had very good luck. This weekend I needed to change out upper control arms on my 02 Honda accord and decided to use the local store. One side fit perfect the other side I needed to return because the ball joint bottomed out and never tightened properly. The same brand replacement came in much higher quality than the first, grease fitting and heavy duty. So 2 parts, same part number, same box, totally different?

If it is urgent I usually use local shop otherwise online parts can be cheaper.About the quality ,ask in the shop you bought it from,may be they use different suppliers.

[stackz]

meh. I use a combo of my dealer for small parts and then either online or parts store for larger parts.

I dont care if a cv joint is oem or aftermarket, the rubber is gonna wear out and crack open after 50k or so.

I've got my autozone lifetime cv joints up front which I've already used once just due to me accidently jabbing a hole in the driver side one while working on other stuff up front. got another one no questions asked.

my dorman window regulator is going just fine a year later. again, lifetime warranty. it goes bad I get another one rinse/repeat.

not only that but companies like dorman actually do improve on the original flawed design. I could see it in comparing the dorman regulator against my old worn out oem unit. the cables were beefier, the plastic guides were beefier, etc.

in the end just go with whatever floats your boat.