Buying parts

[shiloh87]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but, links to reputable on line sites to purchase good OEM parts would be greatly appreciated, even eBay links would be good(if there is such a thing).
Parts up here(Canada) are ridiculously expensive compared to USA pricing? I don`t get and probably never will.

Thanx

[billr99]

Try AutoPartsWay (http://www.autopartsway.ca). Their prices are a little bit higher than FCP Groton, but if you go over $75, they ship for free. So many times, assuming that a US-sourced part has GST/PST applied also, they will be cheaper than FCP Groton (or FCP Euro as they are called now - http://www.fcpeuro.com). I always compare the two though because occasionally FCP will have a discount going (like now for Labour Day) that pushes the pricing in their favour.

In any event, AutoPartsWay in my experience, usually has Volvo-boxed parts, many times labeled as "OES" on their on-line catalog. If not OEM-labeled, then the parts are the same aftermarket sources as FCP such as Lemforder, Sachs, etc. They ship quick from warehouses distributed across Canada and most of what I've ordered have come out of Brampton, so they would get to you in a couple of days, I would think. Typically about 3 days for me here.

Cheers,

Bill

[shiloh87]

Thanx, I`ll check them out.

[coflynn]

I find ipdusa very good too. When shipping to Canada the UPS options seem very expensive - but remember they include tax/duty! The other day the voltage regulator broke on my car, autopartsway.ca had it for $130 but were sketchy on shipping speed, and ipdusa had it for $60. Next-day shipping (needed car fixed for trip) was $100 - which seems crazy, but in the end was still cheaper than dealer, and critically got here faster than dealer as they had no stock. Ordered ~4PM Atlantic time on Thursday, got here ~5PM Friday... not bad.

IPDUSA does seem to have good support too - I've e-mailed them about parts I got with stupid questions and they happily answered

[shiloh87]

Just ordered the stuff I needed from autopartsway.ca, had everything I needed, all oem/oe parts, and at extremely reasonable prices, free shipping to boot. So if this stuff shows up Friday, I`ll be busy this coming weeked.

Thanx for the help.

[Astro14]

IPD is a good company...it's almost always worth calling them...

Case in point: in 2000, the turbo blew on my '85 245 GLT wagon. I got the turbo rebuilt, and was offered the option of rebuilding using a water cooled turbo housing (instead of the original, as-installed, non-water cooled housing). When I called IPD about parts for it, they had an entire kit to plumb and connect that water cooled housing. That kit replicated all of the plumbing that was introduced on later models of the B21FT red-block engine (the upgrade had better cooling, more than just the oil running through it, and allowed later iterations to run more boost for more power...). The kit included all the factory parts; hoses, seals, fittings, for a very reasonable price.

That kit wasn't in the catalogue...but they had exactly what I was looking for...for less than half of what the parts would have cost individually at the dealer...

[billr99]

IPD is good but they really rape us up here with shipping plus the method they use guarantees a duty and sales tax charge. The method FCP uses includes all of that in one charge and sometimes is actually cheaper than it should be for some reason. In past I've been a real promoter if FCP, but Autopartsway with their free shipping within Canada really gives us folks up here a break versus the US suppliers. I asked FCP some time back to cut us a deal since they provide free shipping within the US but they never came thru. Bottom line is that if you are going to buy, say, $150 worth of parts, by the time FCP or IPD applies $30 or $40 shipping, and you get nailed for 15% tax (that's our HST here in the Maritimes and it is also applied to the shipping charge), getting free shipping saves quite a bit especially when the parts charges themselves only differ but a few dollars.

In ant event, when I order parts I always compare at least FCP and AutoPartsWay, occasionally IPD and pick the cheapest. The bits are the same, service is equal in my experience so price is the decider.

Cheers,

Bill