Is it me or IPD?

[Tahoe_XC]

With multiple XC70's and over 10 years of preventative maintenance and fixes I have spent my fair share on parts.

I believe most Volvo owners on this site are similar: relatively frugal (likely due to kids, but as much just solid financial managers), an appreciation for the wife's blessing to accumulate tools (if they have a purpose), the enjoyment of a good Swedish puzzle, and the satisfaction that comes from beating the stealership.

A lot of what I learned about Volvo's started on this site, SS, Mathews etc. In the beginning one resource people often pointed to was IPD. So being a good sheep, I followed. Yes, thier prices were slighty higher, but that was OK given the service and the resource. I became a very loyal IPD customer, even sporting the liscense plate frame.

Sadly, their founder passed and the business sold to new owners. Since then, I believe prices have steadily risen and innovation and offerings have dropped. Example: No longer can one buy IPD heavy duty ignition coils.

The onslaught of dealers selling on Amazon, eBay or deep discount on-line direct versus the IPD inflation factor makes it impossible to justify. The great IPD sales that I used to look forward no longer beat the competition. Heck, they don't even match the competition.

Then today, receiving the email from IPD marketing that I can now buy parts on credit utilizing IPD's third party finance partner. My immediate thought: does IPD even understand whom thier customer is any more?

But in fairness maybe it is me. Maybe, I am no longer representative of the modern Volvo owner?

Maybe that owner/DIY'r now is someone whom is willing to pay high prices because they are now able to schedule monthly payments on every order greater than $250....

So is it IPD or is it me?

[Sierra]

I have ordered parts with IPD to begin with ... But later found them cheaper with FCP.

I used FCP for the ETM and the MAF recently - Pay-Pal on my side and they saved me monies on the ETM alone by $90 or so thru them in shipping it to Xe... Than Xe directly from their own web site.

And the ETM transaction to Xe with free shipping was smooth as silk via FCP! FCP filling the order and shipping with conformation for the MAF was slow as hell and took 10 days to get here with free shipping.

Now I have found AZautohaus cheaper/same with free shipping and FAST free shipping. It might be because they are in AZ and I am in Kalifornia. But they are my now go to site. (Along with being way more informative for parts and compatibility on-line)

I pay for most everything via Pay-Pal ... If they are shady/first time purchase - I will use my personal CC for the insurance of it.

[Astro14]

It's IPD...

Love those guys from when they helped me convert my beloved 245 wagon's turbocharger from oil cooled to water cooled in 2000. They had a whole plumbing kit, with OE parts, to do the job. Wasn't even in their catalogue. But a short, pleasant phone conversation, and I was good to go.

They still offer some good parts, at reasonable prices, that you can't get elsewhere. Gas struts for the hatch and hood, for example. Their aftermarket brand is the OEM, while other aftermarket offerings from FCP, and others, are junk. But for things like ignition coils, or a MAF, yeah, Bosch straight off Amazon.

Often, if it's Volvo parts I need (like a tailgate wiring harness specific to the VIN), I just go dealer. I've cultivated a relationship with the dealer. Everything comes in two days, and at 20% off, isn't any different than FCP or any other discounter. Further, I'm ordering off the VIN on file, so I KNOW the part is correct.

I've had real trouble with FCP getting parts as promised. They have been late every time recently, between the MB and two Volvos, there had been a lot of parts orders. But no more. I'd rather pay a bit more and know that I'll have the part when I need it. Further, I've got the same deal at my local dealership - order by VIN, they guarantee two day delivery from the warehouse if it's not in stock, and give me a discount.

You just have to shop around. Sadly, the days of picking up my paper IPD catalogue to see if they've got my part, and calling Jared, or one of the guys that knows Volvo inside and out, seem to be gone.

[JRL]

Welcome to the new world where Brick and morter stores are a dying breed.
It's not you

[Scopeman]

I know what you mean about IPD. I buy some parts from them, as they are only 15 miles away. But, they often don't have what I need in stock, especially if it is on sale.
I wondered about the finance plan as well, 10-30% APR???
The new owner is a business man, less so an enthusiast, so he makes business decisions, like discontinuing the custom made coils, probably not much margin in those vs the production cost.

FCP has been good for unusual parts, like the antenna ring, but it takes at least a week to arrive.
I will need to replace a front wheel bearing soon, and am trying to find the best deal on a good aftermarket part, still haven''t made that purchase.

[Rabid Koala]

I have bought some parts on Rock Auto, most recently some brake linings, they were considerably less expensive than IPD or FCP. Yes, I know I need to do my due diligence when buying there, but sometimes it works out well.

[vtl]

Mostly buying "performance" parts from IPD, like HD TCV (died...) or rear toe rods (it's really nice to do alignment yourself - not easy with stock rods). Just bought aluminum skid plate. However, 90+% of parts is FCP. They were cheaper few years ago, but even today you can make a good deal with all discounts applied. Also their warehouse is under 2 hours driving from my house, so I get everything in 1-2 days even with free shipping

[Astro14]

FCP was once cheap.

No longer.

They advertise Mercedes parts as being on "sale" for dealer retail. The dealer is cheaper, because they give me a modest discount, and I don't pay shipping, and the dealer ALWAYS gets the parts when they say.

FCP has really let me down on shipping and price. I order on a Monday, pay for two day shipping, and they get it to me...the following Monday! "Well, its two days from when we get it in stock" is the latest explanation.

That would be nice to disclose up front.

But hey, at least they charged me MORE than the dealer for the part and then stuck that shipping on top of it!

Shop around.

[billr99]

For us up here in the GWN (Great White North), IPD has never been that cheap overall thanks to their shipping policies. FCP and eEuro, on the other hand, were pretty much the go to outfits with AutoPartsWay getting in there when the exchange rate was favourable. The last couple of times for me though both FCP and eEuro were beaten by RockAuto with AutoPartsway not even in the same ballpark. Its not so much by the actual parts costs but for FCP/eEuro its the shipping to Canada. FCP use to have a great deal with UPS where the shipping included brokerage and taxes; now its just the shipping portion so when the bits come to the door, you have to cough up another $25 plus 15% sales tax. At least AutoPartsWay has free shipping over an amount of purchase being in Canada and all, but their parts prices aren't even close to the others even when exchange is calculated in. The thing that kills RockAuto occasionally is when things get shipped from multiple locations and you get dinged for every one of them instead of getting charged a single shipping amount. I've had to change the particular brand of a bit to try and get another one that would be shipped from the same location as some other thing I need just to try and manage the shipping costs. The real bitch with all of these outfits is when you really need something that costs, say, less than $100 USD and the shipping ends up as much or more. But you bite the bullet when its the thing that is keeping the car off the road. And finally, here in NS the dealer option really is the ultimate last resort with a single dealer whose parts department has to be one of the worse, if not the worst, I've ever seen in some 45 years of screwing around with cars.

These days I'm trying to look ahead a bit and work the holiday sales like the 10% off for July 4th and whatnot. PITA though as one can't anticipate everything so you still get caught and there goes whatever savings you might have had by trying to be proactive. Guess the bottom line is that on any given day you need to do a price comparison of the top 3 or so vendors and go with the cheapest when all things are considered. I have a spreadsheet but I thought I wouldn't have to do that kind of thing anymore once I retired and wasn't putting together business cases to buy a million dollar server or network setup.

Cheers,

Bill

[Waterdog]

My experience is that for Volvo blue box parts I can usually get them at a slightly better price through a dealer that sells through the internet than through non-dealer sources such as FCP. The dealers will also generally do better at getting the correct part using the VIN, but even they are not perfect. I have an expensive front O2 sensor for sale in the classifieds at a small fraction of what I paid because Tasca identified the wrong part, even though they had my VIN. They acknowledged their error, but I delayed to long in doing the install so I was past their return period - and they would not budge.

My local dealer is OK, though not as good as they used to be. I used to be coded into their system to always get 15% off list and they would sometimes do better. They will still usually, though not always, do 15%, but I have to ask at each purchase. Apparently they decided that they were treating DIYers too well - or maybe it was the renegade parts staff acting on their own. The change coincided with the departure of the counters guys I had been working with for quite a few years.

Where I find FCP, and sometimes others such as IPD or Rock Auto, to be the best is when I am getting OEM or other aftermarket parts - such as Sachs shocks/struts or Hutchinson motor mounts for substantially less than the equivalent Volvo blue box parts.