Archive for the 'Car Parts Store' Category

Finding parts for your pride and joy (or sometimes just a means of transport) is full of choice.  From well known large companies such as Halfords to your local scrap dealer.    One of the market leaders is Halfords, originally opened originally as a wholesale ironmongers in 1892.  As of December 2008, Halfords has 455 stores nationwide.   One of Halfords main competitors is Motorworld, whom claim to be “the largest independent  car parts and accessories retailer with stores nationwide and over 40 years experience”
Amongst the big players there are a plethora of smaller shops, breakers yards and main dealerships offering car part services to the UK consumer.
Smaller shops are usually independently run and offer a good service to the local community.   With the increasing use of the internet, many smaller dealers have begun to exploit this new market available to them.  The larger players also have a presence on the net.

Car dealerships offer car parts direct from the vehicle manufacturer. Manufacturers often gain business through this means by stipulating that car parts not purchased from an authorised dealer will result in an invalidating of the cars warranty.  As a result they can mark up the price substantially to gain a huge profit.  Although there are new EU regulations coming into force that will curb the hand of manufacturer from this practice. Speaking personally, after a reversing accident, I had to replace the tailgate of my Vauxhall Astra.  My first port of call was the Vauxhall dealership whom quoted me £680 for a new tailgate. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your outlook) my Astra was past its warranty periods I chose a much cheaper alternative by finding a used tail gate and getting it fitted by  a trusted mechanic.   All for £40.
Although it was considerably less expensive to find my own parts, it did take some time.  I  had to look through a large number of breakers yards in order to find a suitable part.  There are services offered by companies such as CarSpareFinder, who offer a service to look for car parts amongst a national network.

All in all, there is plenty of choice out there for the consumer. However you can have too much choice. The people who will lead the market will be those who can offer a quick, cheap, reliable service with then minimum of hassle.

However here at CarSpareFinder  we can help you find used parts even cheaper from our national network of breakeryards.

In order to improve your experience with CarSpareFinder we have adopted an auto quote system for our car part suppliers. This means that for some car part suppliers they can add their prices and availability of a specific part and if that matches a request you the consumer will get a price immediately.

We know how frustrating it can be waiting for a reply for a price with these breakers. This development represents the commitment we have to improving visitor experience and giving our car part suppliers value for money. Sometimes it is possible that a breaker will have more than one part option in and have different prices to suit. We encourage them to present the most expensive option, but then write in the comments box any other cheaper versions available.

Up to now we have avoided offering a text service, because we know some of the scams that some of the other part locator services have done (some offer a genuine service also), but our policy is not to ensure our consumers do not get stung with unreasonable text message charges, just because they did not read the terms and conditions properly.

Anyway once we have educated those to use auto quote properly we are sure you will get a far better service from CarSpareFinder

The Financial Times (27 Sep 08) reported that Motor World, the new car parts and accessories group, has gone into administration, with the loss of 300 jobs. The Administrators, BDO Stoy Hayward, have closed 40% of its national UK network of car parts retail units.
Pacific Retail has purchased the bulk of Motor World car parts shops (approximately 135). What factors brought about Motor World’s demise? Well several scenarios have been put forward, but I can tell you some of mine. Analysts point to the worst UK Automotive trading figures this summer, since the 1960’s. Did not the rising demand for car parts on the internet, using systems like CarSpareFinder, play a major factor?
This week (1 Oct 08) the Automotive Industry learned that Wembley based Euro Car Parts, one of biggest suppliers of vehicle parts in the UK has taken over a Yorkshire competitor, the excellent Sheffield based LSUK. It claims this move will protect the future of 600 jobs. LSUK’s has over 50 car parts outlets and subsidiaries M I Diesel Products, Protech Automotive (UK) and Yeovil Rewind.
Likewise, the UK Automotive Car, Van and Bike Parts sectors, perhaps mirroring the Global banking industry, is involved in widespread consolidation as firms reorganise and reposition themselves to deal with any downturn in the Global economy. The internet is providing the growth area for car parts, and maintains its volumes despite the obvious slowdown on the high street. The high cost of fuel and transport is another factor online driving car parts sales. The single biggest factor has to be the time saving, the ease and simplicity of locating and purchasing car parts online, and as importantly, the outstanding value-for-money in purchasing used car parts are the principal ‘drivers’ of revenue growth. The UK Dismantlers and breakers, like those members of the CarSpareFinder Business Community, are best able to take advantage of the new opportunities for car parts sales, supported by an ever increasingly sophisticated next day delivery courier network which delivers very good customer service and achieves the high levels of customer satisfaction enjoyed by CarSpareFinder breaker clients, and consumers alike.

Hi Julian here.

I was just scanning through some of CarSpareFinder’s used car parts requests today (Wednesday 17 September 2008) and I came across a used Nissan car parts request for a Nissan QX Dashboard complete on a ’57 plate. Luckily one of CarSpareFinder breakers had one in stock – I believe the price for this used car part was £85 plus vat and delivery. This car part new might be as much as £500, from Nissan Car Parts direct. The difference in value between new car parts and used car parts sourced on parts location sites like CarSpareFinder is clearly evident.

What sort of used car parts are the most popular? One might be forgiven thinking it is the ‘old bangers’ which are the most sought after for second hand car parts? This is not the case at all. The example above of a dashboard complete for a Nissan 12 months old used car part shows that it ranges for car parts for the ‘nearly-new’ sector i.e. cars less than 24 months old, and the second hand market extending to models 15 years old. Breakers have a preference for the fast moving used car parts sector i.e. car parts most in demand namely for models from 3 to 6 years old (currently 02 to 55 plates). I suspect the near to 2000 one gets the lower the price for used car parts is. I don’t have exact data to prove this but some rough and approximate analysis of CarSpareFinder’s car part requests indicate the used car parts for car models before 2000 represents approximately 40% of the total, making 60% for car parts 8 years of less.

What are the most popular kinds of car parts requested on CarSpareFinder – one of the UK’s leading parts location services for car parts, van parts, and motorcycle parts? The answer is probably obvious to most people when they think about it – replacement car parts for crash repairs. This includes bumpers (front and rear), bonnets, headlamps (offside and nearside), wings (offside and nearside), doors (offside and nearside), wheels, and radiators. Of course, engines and gearboxes are extremely popular, and CarSpareFinder receives over 200 hundred a week of used car parts requests for transmissions and car and van engines. Last Thursday (11 September) I noticed VanSpareFinder received over 7 diesel engine (complete) van part requests in one day, and over 20 in the week. It just shows how much demand there is in the UK for car parts to keep cars and light commercial vehicles on the road.

The car i am about to describe is amazing piece of machinery and this because its a import. I read the review on this car by a great blogger on his blog ‘carblog’ (see bottom of article).This car to us Brits is a vauxhall Monaro, but depending on where you are in the world it could be a Opel Monarco or a Holden Monarco. But one thing remains the same, it is Australian and it is a godly car with amazing car parts, as you will read.

Some people worry that with an import you may not get vauxhall genuine parts, however this is not true. Remember Opel and Holden are vauxhall, they just have different names for different markets, so not matter what it will be a vauxhall genuine parts, should you need to get one fixed.

The outside looks stylish and sleek, however it does not jump out at you, however for me this is a bonus since if it stuck out where i lived it would get stolen, so it works for me. The interior is dark (sexy in my eyes) and the inner trims such as the dashboard don’t have the plastic feel of most cars, it all looks so perfectly finished off.

It would not be in the car parts store if it did not have the boys toys car parts such as leather interior, heated seats, climate control, cruise control, parking sensors, however some extras are put in such as GPRS, a 10 speaker, six disc CD player, adjustable seats, steering columns etc.

the designers obviously thought about the vehicle when building since it has a good sized glove box and compartments and boot is ample for the family including shopping, pram, mother in law etc.

Another great aspect is its performance and power. It supports the v8 vauxhall engine (the v6 was a amazing achievement but the v8 is godly). It specs you can find out anywhere on the net, this model comes with a 5.7 litre version outputting 3431b/foot torque and 329 BHP, however you can tune the vauxhall engine to almost a extra 100 BHP if you know how or have the cash. This powerful vauxhall engine is controlled with a six speed close ration manual car gearbox with traction control on demand.

So that may look impressive but what can it actually do, well it can do according to ‘Goose’ it can do 180MPH and does 0-60 in around 6 seconds. This is allot compared to my 0-60 in 15 seconds in my vauxhall engine in my 1995 corsa.

Which new car does not have alloys these days, and this car comes with alloy wheels and the tyres are good on a day to day basis, however if your gonna flex the cars muscle you may want to upgrade the standard tyres.

the brakes to accommodate this monster of a vauxhall engine are fantastic using 296mm vented brakes for the front and 286mm for the rear

The McPherson struts front suspension and Control Link Independent rear suspension (with gas dampers, anti-roll bars and coils) provide a nice drive even at high speeds.

The Vauxhall Monaro is surprisingly quite, although with a amazing 10 speaker CD kit you don’t need to worry about the road noise.

So to sum up its an amazing car with some amazing car parts, especially the v8 vauxhall engine.

So thanks Goose for your review and for a more in depth review and some amazing pictures see his article on ‘carblog’.

If your worried about the environment and are worried that we are going to run out of petrol before you die then this article is for you. A company called Telsa have been working on a mass produced electric sports car. yes thats right it works off solar power and you have to charge it up in solar stations, however no petrol needed that means clean fuel and why its included in the ‘car parts store’

I read about the telsa on ‘The racing geek‘ blog by a person who has test driven one of these and this post is based on his post.

Firstly the Telsa is based on the lotus Elise chassis and resembles the vauxhall vx200, however the chassis has been modified to enable 100% electrical powered vehicle by inserting a electrical power train. The power train is a revolutionary piece of equipment. Instead of building the technology from scratch they used existing technology and added onto it, for example it is powered by the popular lithium batteries which are in items such as ipods, xbox 360 controllers etc. Obviously the batteries are more powerful and cooling them is a priority but they are rechargeable.

The impressive thing about the vehicle is that it can produce 248bhp and 200 ft/lbs of torque and remember no fuel is needed. This is nt as much as the v6 vauxhall engine (for more information on the v6 vauxhall engine visit the vauxhall site), but as with new technology will only improve and still enables 0-60MPH in 4 seconds. On one charge you can do around 250 miles and also added in there is very little CO2 emissions and no maintenance (only changing the oil every 3 to4 years). Also impressive is the lack of car parts since its all electric. You have your obvious car parts such as tyres, chassis and seats but you don’t have loads of moving parts in the engine and so forth so less car parts means less maintenance overall.

The car only has 2 forward gears in its car gearbox, first will take you to 70 MPH and second will take you up to 130 MPH, and obviously there is a reverse.

The car has been designed by some of the top people in the industry and thus some of the chassis modification don’t just accommodate the power train but also improve on the car such as lowered sides to increase livability. Other improvements over the Lotus Elise include increased performance.

So with all this in mind what are its drawbacks, well firstly the price is a steep 90,000 GBP, so the average Joe can forget it, its a car for the rich. (we can all dream right?). Obviously the lack of recharging stations means if you run out of energy your in trouble, a second car might be needed to do long runs.

For some impressive images see ‘the racing geek‘ blog

Telsa Roadster - car parts store addition

This impressive beauty will support the latest v8 6 litre vauxhall engine for a stunning 419 horsepower and a acceleration of 0-60 MPH in just 5 seconds and is why it is in the ‘car parts store’ section. It will be popping up at the Geneva Auto Show later this year.

This impressive vauxhall engine will be controlled by six speed vauxhall gearbox either in manual or automatic
This muscle car has features from the Australian holden commodore and Holden HSV Clubsport R8 giving it umph and style.

It is rumored that the car will support a range of upgrades and modified kits to get extra power from the car parts for those who love to have ultimate control and power in their vauxhall.

Of course the car looks amazing with it being a 4dr coupe, however these additional doors mean extra bucks! can your wallet afford them?

So if the answer is yes the car will be on sale later this year if there are no set backs both online and at dealers across the uk.

Fact from sarahmcbride.spaces.live.com and also a nice image is there also

One thing which is becoming more common these days, especially in the younger generation, is to buy older cars for run around’s. Although they offer less fuel efficiency and power due to dated technology, there often so much cheaper its not worth worrying about the fuel efficiency.

For example a brand new vauxhall corsa will cost you around 9,000 to 10,000 new, however if you look at a vauxhall corsa on auto trader, a 2003 car with around 40,000 will cost you around 3,000, thus a 6,000 saving and only because its 4 years old.

The vauxhall corsa has always been a award winning car, especially the newer models, but the old ones had just a good a reputation.

The vauxhall corsa is classed as a super mini, which offers plenty of space, with engines from 1 litre upwards (1 to 1.3 being most popular) since it has enough umph to get you places and keeps the insurance down for the under 25 years of age group (me included).

The vauxhall corsa (even the new ones) don’t cost much and thus are not equipped with all the latest gadgets of the time, however they maintain style, get you to places and includes nice essentials such as electric windows, central locking, abs etc.

So for a reliable car to get you around which you wont be laughed at by your mates the vauxhall corsa is a excellent choice. It also has the bonus of having cheap vauxhall car parts, should one brake.

the mazda 2’s is a new style of car coming out later this year with a bold new design and on several blogs has been classed as a ’super mini’. It has more curves than Jennifer Lopez (in both the chassis and various ar parts) and under the hood the platform is similar to the new ford fiesta.

It differers from previous versions by getting rid of old unwanted car parts such as the high roof look, and in with some new car parts accesories including narrow headlamps, angular tail lights etc.

There is to be a sporty 3 door and a normal 5 door models, but all include the basic car parts such as power steering, electric windows etc, although the sport model will have some extra car parts, no doubt better alloy wheels, chrome trims, and sporty interior. Most of the models are to include extras such as air conditioning, mp3 playback, abs, traction and stability control, front airbags, side curtains etc.

Every model has your standard 5 speed car gearbox but a choice of automatic or manual is to be given

The car should go well with young drivers due to its nice starting price of around 9000, the nice and efficient 1.3 litre car engine. This does not put older people off since the the car engine comes in several litres including 14 and 1.6 TDCI turbo diesel models.

So who ever you are you should check out the new Mazda 2, its stylish, its curvy, its fast and its at a reasonable price (sounds like my ideal woman).

What is the most famoust vauxhall car parts? ….Everyone has seen the adverts for the vauxhall corsa, the cMon puppets. well these little guys are now officially the most famoust vauxhall car parts.

i just shows advertising really works and that they should have done it with some sort of vauxhall car parts e.g. make puppets out of a vauxhall corsa tyre to increase there sales. Obviously some vauxhall car parts you could not caracterise such as a vauxhall corsa bumper front.

anyway these puppets took off by storm and i believe you can actually purchase them online or get them when you buy a vauxhall corsa.

[for a image of these puppets in action see autoexpress]