Let us start with ease of obtaining. Obviously newer car parts will be easier to get than older ones. A friend of mine still has a 1975 Pontiac Lemans. To obtain auto stores near me for this car he has to literally go to junk yards and even online. No new car dealers keep parts beyond 10 years or so and even auto parts stores limit their inventory to cars under 20 years. A 30 year old vehicle is almost impossible to find parts for. Plus, if you can find the part, depending on where you get it, the cost could be anywhere from 20 to 100% over the original part cost. To say that late model car owners are taken advantage of would be a gross understatement. These cars are sold at a very steep price because they are out of production already. The parts are more difficult to find since a few shops will continue to manufacture such parts. The aftermarket car parts industry refers to any parts used on a car that are not from the original manufacturer. The problem, of course, is such parts are very expensive. Much like generic versions of prescription pills, there are plenty of alternatives to manufacturer created parts. In fact, the industry is so big that it has over $257 billion dollars in sales each year. OEM parts are almost always more expensive than aftermarket car parts. That being said, the price difference often isn't that large in many cases. This is important because OEM parts are generally better for your car than aftermarket parts. The issue is not the manufacturing process of the aftermarket car supplier, but the simply fact that the OEM part is made using the same molds and manufacturing process of the original part on your car. This means it should fit perfectly whereas the aftermarket part might not be an exact fit. How does one find spare parts that are suitable for their cars? A lot of people would hesitate to buy parts from recyclers because they are not really sure if these parts are suitable for their cars. If you are one of those people who are afraid that you might get spare parts that are not really suitable for your car, you should bear in mind that your car is a mass produced model and there is bound to be thousands just like it lying around some junk yards waiting to be discovered. If you take some time to really find what you need, you can usually find it in a junkyard. Last and this is very important, make sure that the title transfer is handled smoothly. Request a bill of sales to insure that the transfer is clean and legal. Once you have sold the car you may want to take a portion of the proceeds and hold a neighborhood barbeque for their pain and suffering. Many people feel that to get the best deal on car parts that they have to go second hand. However this is just not true, if you look in the right places you can often get new find the nearest auto parts store at prices that are the same as those second hand ones. Online stores are a great place for cheap car parts, one reason for this may be because they don't have expenses from advertising and bricks and mortar stores. Also if you check around the online stores you can often find the part you are looking for on special at a really discounted price. One special warning: the growth of the counterfeit parts industry is causing fits for retailers and consumers. If you suspect that you have purchased a bogus part, return it to the retailer for a full return. One more good reason to learn what a company's return policy is before you do business with them. There are a lot of aftermarket auto parts you can purchase and install on your own. A little homework before you start the project and you are good to go. Also a lot of suppliers have detailed instructions on the how to. I find it very satisfying to do the work myself. You get the feeling that you did it all! And it is always a good conversation piece. Although, if you have not attempted anything like this before, I always recommend a professional to do the install.
auto stores near me|find the nearest auto parts store
