How to Get Cheap Auto Parts for DIY Car Repair

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Year, make, model, engine type of your car. Depending on the part you are looking for, you may also need to specify automatic or manual transmission, whether or not the car has air conditioning, etc.
Web access for online price comparison.

Step 1

Cure your tunnel vision!

Cure your tunnel vision! Though your car dealer is a source for top-quality auto parts, be aware you will pay top dollar at a dealership parts department. It is true that the dealer is the only place that carries some hard-to-find parts. But for many auto parts there are other businesses that supply good quality parts for much less money.
Step 2

Leverage auto parts stores.

Leverage brick-and-mortar auto parts store web sites such as www.advanceautoparts.com and autozone.com. These two auto parts stores sell good parts and compete aggressively with one another.

I have discovered a secret about the Autozone website. It pays to shop online at more than one autozone location. I have the store closest to my house set on the website as my preferred location. However, I always check prices at other nearby autozone locations. Prices are not all the same at all Autozone locations. For example, I recently bought a coil pack for my Ford Taurus The price was $79.95 at one store, and the very same part was $54.95 at another nearby Autozone store. Guess where I bought the part? This is not a fluke – I routinely find different prices at different nearby Autozone locations. It pays to check.

Autozone has a feature where you can select products online, save it to a store list, and when you are finished making your online list, you can send the list to the store and the parts will be ready for you to pick up. This saves a lot of time at the parts counter!

On www.Advanceautoparts.com you can select and pay for your auto parts online, and then pick up your order an hour later at the store. Another great time saver!
Step 3

Shop on the internet.

Don’t forget to check web-only auto parts stores. One of my favorites is www.rockauto.com. Rockauto has a very robust selection of car and truck parts, including many hard to find parts, and their prices are very, very low. I was shopping for a fuel pump for my Dodge van and the best I could do was around $400. The same part was just $265 at Rockauto. Even with shipping I saved big.

Specialty web sites are your friends! Whenever I need a radiator for one of my cars I visit www.radiators.com. These folks have given me consistently great service, their prices are often 40-50% or more below the prices of other radiator suppliers, and their shipping is blazing fast and very low cost. Don’t buy a radiator without checking with radiators.com first. They have done such a good job for me, I have them on speed-dial (800-395-3889).
Step 4

Recycle!

The junkyard, boneyard, automotive recycling facility, whatever you want to call it, can save you money on certain parts you otherwise would have to get at a dealer. Recently I was looking for a camshaft position sensor drive unit (a part normally only available at a Ford dealership) for my Ford Taurus. A new one from the dealer was $165. I found a perfectly good one at a nearby junkyard for $15, a savings of over 90%!
Step 5

Don’t forget individuals!

Don’t forget individuals! My van’s automatic transmission needed to be replaced. The problem was the price for the transmission at the auto dealership parts department was about $2100, and my local auto parts store wanted about $1800. An internet search for a rebuilt unit for sale by an individual turned up one in a nearby city being sold by a Dodge technician who had a freshly rebuilt transmission in his garage that one of his customers canceled out on. He sold it to me for $500.00. The price was certainly right on that transmission job!
Step 6

Know when to hold 'em!

Know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em! Sometimes, after exhausting all your other options, your only option left is to get the part you need at a dealer. I have found parts prices to be the same from dealer to dealer, but one thing to be aware of is often there can be a shipping charge if the dealer has to get the part from another dealer or central warehouse. So, if there are several dealers in your area for your model car, if the first dealer you talk to does not have the part and wants you to pay for shipping, ask the dealer to look in his computer to find the nearest dealer that has the part in stock. It may be cheaper for you to just drive over to that other dealer than to pay to have the part shipped.

Comments

coachmac4 said

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on 1/17/2009 This is an excellent article on shopping for car parts! Thanks 5*

on 1/12/2009 great advice and resources!! The junkyard is really good if you've got a couple of hours you can save hundreds of dollars! I got extremely new tires for my car for 40$- 4 tires for the price of one, basically!!