Buying Spare Car Parts: A Guide

At some point in your motoring you will be in a position where you need to buy replacement parts for your car. Whether you are paying for them through a mechanic or paying so you can fit them yourself, spare parts can be an absolute pain if you don’t know what you are doing. We thought we would put together a few pointers to help you along the way.

The good news about buying parts for your car, such as Volkswagen or ​BMW spares​, is that you can buy pretty much any part you want. The market is huge, and there are many places, both on and off-line, where you can easily locate and purchase the part you need.

The specifics

If you are trying to buy a spare part, you will need to have a couple of pieces of information to hand before you start searching.

1. The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The VIN is perhaps the most essential piece of information you need apart from the part details themselves. A seller can take your VIN and immediately find the parts you need. It removes a lot of time wasting and it reassures you that you are getting the right part.
2. The code. This is something that you might not be able to get hold of, depending on how small or specialist the part is. Each part in a car will have a code on it. It’s basically a catalogue number and if you are able to find it you should again be able to speed up the whole buying process.
3. Obviously, you can just take the the part into a store if you are shopping in the real world. Taking the part to a store is a quick way to get the result you need.

Where?

Apart from the many online retailers who can sell you spare parts for your vehicle, there are also plenty of off-line places that can help.

Your first port of call could well be the dealers themselves. If you bought your car from a dealer showroom you’ll know where to go. If you bought it from a private seller, just look up your local dealership for your car. Be aware though that dealers will often charge high prices to source and acquire your part.

And obviously, you can find car parts in many other places, including specialist meetings where collectors swap parts, as well as specialist dealers in the local area.

Can I do it?

You can take car parts and replace them yourself. There is plenty of help online and in other areas such as specialist books and so on. However, there is one thing that must be made clear before you open your toolbox.

Bear in mind that a badly-installed part can affect the safety of your car. It’s more than possible that you might get one aspect of the job wrong. It may only be a small aspect but it could compromise safety. In most cases, especially with more specialist parts, it pays to get someone else to do the job.

Buying spare parts can be an adventure in itself, so take a look at these pointers and make sure you get it right.