We all know the price of vehicle parts can be expensive, especially for special purpose vehicles. The sellers think just because we have bigger vehicles than the average car then we have lots of money.
We recently had to replace the left hand engine mount in our Nissan Civilian. None of the usual spare parts stores had the part listed on their books, so off to Nissan we go.
"Sorry, no stock in Australia but the good news is that we can get a left hand one from Japan, shipped in 10 days for $120. Even better news is that there is a right hand one in Melbourne, only $300"
There had to be a better option. The vehicle has the same motor as a Nissan Patrol, right? Off we go to Bursons, "yes, we have left and right on the shelf for a Patrol of the same year, only $52 each"
We took the left hand one with us, and yep, it was exactly the same. And guess what?? The left is exactly the same as the right, there is no difference !!!!
So for the price of one left hand engine mount from Japan, we got 2 Patrol mounts. All fixed.
So when you need parts, check to see if there is a better option. Hint, the Mercedes cab chassis has a lot of the same parts as the VW for a third of the price.
Ian + Jan
92 Nissan Cvilian
"IansuspenJan"
Adelaide
The first thing I usually do when parts are required is to visit the local parts place with part in hand and just ask if they have "one of these" , is quite amazing how the more experienced blokes just say "yes we do, how many do you want?"
Car manufacturers quite often use a standard design if possible and across as many different vehicles as possible.
Oka 4WD camper/motorhome, 1100w solar, 400ah lithium, diesel heating, HWS and cooking
The automotive spare parts departments have a min 100% mark up, then an additional 20% for retail, so they can give a 20% discount to trade customers. If the first leg in the chain (usually the national distributor) buys the part for $20 plus freight, it's sold to the next leg (usually the dealer network) for $40 plus a mark up on the freight paid in the first leg, plus their freight costs, the retail customer will pay $96, plus a mark up on both lots of freight, plus GST for that item. If the same manufacturer can be found, they will supply the part to the aftermarket network for the same $20, the retail customer pays $40 plus GST and freight and thinks the got a bargain.
An example, the recirculation booster pump for the heater circuit in a Ford or Holden are around $120, I can buy them from the manufacturer for $18 plus GST plus freight when they hit Aust, but I have to buy a min of 1,000 units, you need a big network to buy at manufacturer prices, but sometimes you can find the same item out of China (where it's all made) from someone who has bought up the remaining stock from a manufacturing company that has retooled to make a different product now. This is where the evil bay mobs and DX and so on get their supplies from, still the same chain type system, just no where near the mark up in each link of the chain.
The automotive supplier carry stock on the shelves was vanishing 15 yrs ago when I got out of that side of the trade, there was already hassles with trying to get the correct part then because the image on the computer was generic, not an actual photo, manufacturers used a number of different suppliers to keep up sufficient stock for production line assembly, so many different set up went into the same model vehicle, none of them were interchangeable, it’s a nightmare now, it’s just as likely the part you need is no longer available yet the vehicle is only 8 yrs old, if the vehicle manufacturer is no longer based in Aust, good luck getting bits for a vehicle 12 mths old, Saab comes to mind as an example.
The whole retail world is changing, possibly for the better, but maybe not, the future retailer will no longer have stock on the floor, everything will be a buy in, no more going and checking out the best camera etc at the shop and then buying it on line because the shop will be doing exactly the same thing from a catalogue, the USA is like that already, we will be the same in under 10 yrs.
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
As long as that, T1?
In some areas, it's already here.
And the way technology is invading all areas of our lives, I'd put the timespan closer to FIVE years.
PS. I don't own a smart-phone (yet - it's inevitable), and don't even use all the facilities on my 'dumb' phone!
Regards & God bless,
Ray
-- "Insufficient data for a meaningful answer." Isaac Asimov, "The Last Question"
"I refuse to drink water, because of the disgusting things fish do in it" W.C.Fields
Hi.
Parts are expensive, I wanted inner tie rod ends for my coaster. Toyota could not supply them, as my 83 coaster was too old, so i got a price from another company at nearly $300 each. So I ended up getting them from China. The only drawback, I had to buy 4. That was the minimum. The freight was more expensive than the actual parts. Parts plus freight equaled somewhere around the $100 mark. So i have two more sitting in my shed if any body is interested, a price that will never be repeated.
I worked in the motor trade for many years. I started off in the state distributor for Chrysler. A couple of us got together and costed a vehicle in spare parts, it blew our mind the price difference. We costed it at retail price. The new car was worth $13,500.00 after we had finished we came up with a price of $46,200.00. Not a bad mark up. If you think about it that New car price included assembly and painting where ours only includes all the parts, someone still needed to put it together and paint it
