parts price negotiations

[Kibokojoe]

Found this out by mistake and thought I would pass it on. Several weeks ago I bought some parts from a local Honda dealer using a list of parts with prices off the internet.

Being in a rush for the parts, I decided to see what a local Honda dealer would charge for the same parts. Maybe they would have them in stock and I wouldn't have to wait, so I faxed the internet list with prices to the local Honda parts house. The parts guy call me back and told me that he could match those prices. I was kind of shocked because local parts houses usually charge almost double what you can get off the internet. He said he would ticket me as a "jobber"

Last night I did the same thing with a local BMW shop and used the prices found on bmwfans.info and a couple of other internet bimmer shops. The parts guy called me and said that some of the prices were ok but that on two of the parts he couldn't sell them at that price because that is what he buys the parts, but he would negotiate. The two parts were from the bmwfans.info site. So they must have dealer price on their site. Of the two parts one was a Vanos hose that sells for $39.50 and he sold it to me for $44. Not bad. This place is notorious for over charging for parts.

So my friends the moral of the story is look on-line find the best price and then fax or email the parts list with internet prices to your local dealer and see what happens. I know in my case they are willing to negotiate. Trade off is you have to pay local taxes but you can get the parts quicker and you don't have to pay shipping. But then again you have to drive to pick them up.

[repenttokyo]

another good tip is to find dealers that are aware of enthusiasts for a particular model and stock parts / charge prices that are designed to attract them.

when i owned my lincoln mark viii, there was a dealer in arizona that could beat Ford list by 60-70 percent.

now that i have my cadillac cts-v, i only buy parts from Lindsay Cadillac in Virgina, as their parts manager, Luke, beats GM list by a huge amount and almost always has what i want in stock - which is important when ordering for such a rare car.

[BennyM]

Wow. That is truly amazing. I'll have to give it a shot.

[Kibokojoe]

What do you have to loose but money.