American Car Parts Suppliers

[AmericanThunder]

Who do you use for supplying your parts?

i think over 20+ years of American car ownership we have tried all the UK based suppliers but almost inevitably these days we find ourselves importing direct from the USA.
I'm sure some will think that that is expensive and slow but fortunately neither Yank is a daily driver so the worst thing is one of the cars is not driveable on a show day.

So why do we import most things ourselves? Simply put its cost. We can source, buy and import even the most basic items from the US cheaper than the price the majority of specialised parts houses want for the same item!!
Now I understand that they have to make money, but given the I can beat most of their prices most of the time it would seem to me that they are making a huge profit and pricing themselves out of a sale. Not to mention that if they don't have it in stock its often quicker for me to import direct and not wait for them to fill up a container and bring it over.

So ignoring specialised performance parts, just service items - whats your view on this and who do you use?

 

[TransAmDan]

Good question. Over the years I have changed many parts, and also changed who i order from.

I used to use O.C.W in Perivale London. My clutch was going, so I ordered another clutch from them. My old clutch held on for about another 18 months, got my car to a garage, up on the ramp it went, took out the transmission, removed the old clutch, and noticed the new clutch was too small, by about 2 inches in diameter. So i called O.C.W, obviously cant do too much as I had it for soo long, and they didn't have the correct one on the shelf. So I ordered one from the states, it was far cheaper even with rapid shipping, I went for a Spec Stage II clutch capable of holding 500hp. The car was on the ramp for 4 days. I had to pay rent for it too. I found out what the clutch they sent fitted. It was for a '87 Ford Ranger, didn't fit another other years, it was a bit of an odd ball. Never the less, I NEVER ordered from them again.

So performance parts i certainly go direct to the states.

Something like an engine coolant sensor that I needed quite quick I use Bauer Millet I will carry on using them for parts i need quick. They are helpful, know their parts, never received a wrong part from them. Although may cost a little bit more its quick and hassle free.

If I want a part and done mind waiting a few days then I will always try looking up on Rock Audo (current discount code from here) the parts are very cheap, but you obviously pay more for shipping. Overall its cheaper than buying in the UK. also neve been sent a wrong part.

The above people I have used for a modern 2000 year car. If you are after a part from something older(they do parts for new cars too) then give Rustys Speed Shop they are on the South coast and we know the owner of the family run business from car shows. Certainly worth trying.

 

[Darren]

I'll have to have a look at some of those suppliers. I need to get some new shocks at some point this year and can't find them over here. With Summit, it seems that the postage is as much as the parts (Works out ?65 per shock, which I guess isnt' too bad though).

Had mixed results from Rock Auto, it it's for something you can't see then they're probably ok, but the product images in their catalogue doesn't match what you recieve.

 

[TransAmDan]

I brought some Koni shocks from WS6Store.com I wasn't aware where they were made. They are made in Holland, I'm sure if I knew the size I could have got them far cheaper. lol, never mind you learn by your mistakes.

 

[AmericanThunder]

My now sold 97 T/A had a whole bunch of suspension parts on it, including the above Koni's, to the point that handling wise its not far behind the Z06!
But these were all specialty parts that I would not expect to source here.

Just before Christmas I changed spark plugs/leads and all the tensioners and pulleys and belts on the Z06. The UK based firms all had the opportunity to quote and but when I factored in shipping and VAT and the handling duties levied by Parcel Farce, it was still cheaper from Rockauto.
However, you do need to be careful with Rockauto to make sure all the items in your order come the from the same location as otherwise you get multiple shipping costs. Its worth checking the various manufacturers of the part you need until you get the order from one place. Its a PITA to keep adding items to your cart and checking the shipping and then going back and removing them again but its worth the leg work.
But, what will happen to the likes of US Automotive and Ult Spares if they keep pricing themselves too high? - I understand they have to make a profit but at some point people (like me) will start buying direct and once enough people do that they will find themselves out of business.
I would also be careful of electrical items from US Automotive - in my experience these items are junk sourced from the cheapest supplier they can find. 4th Gen electric window motors for example.
I used to use Summitracing when I was building my 2nd gen but everytime I have looked at items from them recently their shipping has been ridiculous - oh well, their loss, its not like they have a monopoly!

 

[dave010567]

I've been on a steep leaning curve the last 6 weeks or so. The camaro overheated and I did the head gaskets in. I'm lucky that my mechanic did his apprentiship on yank cars but we had issues getting parts from his supplier. It took 3 weeks for the 2 plastic pipes that split and caused the problem to arrive. Then after they were fitted and it was found I had wrecked the head gasket the supplier wanted another 2 weeks to get them in and ?500 for them.So after some phone calls in the UK I tried ebay. 2 phone calls to the US and a couple of emails and ?120 later a gasket set was on its way. I ordered it on the Wednesday night and it arrived on the Friday morning even the garage couldn't belive how quick I got them. So as a newbe to all the yank stuff I would say ebay is worth a look.

Dave