Would you buy parts yourself, and ask a mechanic to fit them?

120_Minutes

Hey guys, I just wanted to get some opinions.

As we all know, maintaining a car can be costly, especially as the car gets on in years. There's plenty of anecdotal evidence of places ripping people off regarding repair and service and parts costs, so I was wondering if many people would consider sourcing their own parts to keep prices down and asking a mechanic to fit them? or is that considered bad etiquette?

robtri

personal, I wouldn't

if i but the parts I fit them, if I need a mechanic i let him get them

Part of a mechanics profit he makes on a job is a mark up on parts (just like every other business), so if I was a mechanic it would make your job very unappealing to me...

But I would expect it to be a personal choice by mechanics... no different than buying tyres online and asking a tyre fitter to fit them...
some will be ok with it some wont...

colm_mcm

If something goes wrong afterwards, mechanic can just blame the parts. There's also the danger that you get the wrong parts.

Del2005

There is a VAT difference to. If you buy you are charged 23% if the mechanic supplies and fits its 13%. Obviously buying online you can save the VAT but any problems with the parts, I've used several different sites and they have all gotten the bulbs for my current and last car wrong, your car is apart and the mechanic has no responsibility.

joujoujou

120_Minutes wrote: »

[...] I was wondering if many people would consider sourcing their own parts to keep prices down and asking a mechanic to fit them? [...]

I'm one of them people.

Rarely happens that my indy sources parts for my car, I'd say. :cool:

DoctorEdgeWild

When you have classics or unusual cars, this is the only way to work really.

I'm not handy with the spanners so when one of mine has a problem, my mechanic diagnoses it and sends me off to find/harvest/steal the parts he needs.

snaps

When I moved to Poland I was surprised to find that It's the norm in local garages to supply your own parts (if you want) and the mechanic fits them.

One of the last jobs I had done by a mechanic was brakes. I supplied everything (including fluid) and he fitted them.

goochy

Try to be clever buying egr valve for 100 quid instead of 200 dealer wanted. But then it failed and I had to cover cost of refitting myself which was pricey

goochy

Try to be clever buying egr valve for 100 quid instead of 200 dealer wanted. But then it failed and I had to cover cost of refitting myself which was pricey

my3cents

I nearly always get the part myself. My mechanic freely admits I can get the parts much cheaper then him because I shop around and he doesn't have the time.

marklazarcovic

do it all the time,he has no problem doing it either , can change oils and filters at home but no lift so limited to what i can do,id attempt more if i had a lift/easy access

I purchased 4 new tyres recently online- they came in a good 120 euro cheaper than my mechanic could get them from his regular dealer. He charged me for fitting and tracking and he was delighted with getting the business along with my regular service and I was delighted to be able to give him the business.

Cee-Jay-Cee

My mechanic (the one I use if it's too big a job to do myself) prefers to have parts supplied. He's very busy and doesn't have the time to be going to parts place to get parts to find they're not in stock and need to be ordered in.

Sam Kade

colm_mcm wrote: »

If something goes wrong afterwards, mechanic can just blame the parts. There's also the danger that you get the wrong parts.

I go to my mechanic first he tells me what parts I need, I get them and he fits them. It works better for him also as he is busy and doesn't have much time running around getting parts.

sjb25

Sam Kade wrote: »

I go to my mechanic first he tells me what parts I need, I get them and he fits them. It works better for him also as he is busy and doesn't have much time running around getting parts.

Yeah I do this aswell my mechanic rathers it aswell for the same reasons

120_Minutes

Interesting responses. seems we have some reasonable mechanics who dont mind you supplying parts.

Which brings me onto, ....can anyone recommend a good mechanic in the midlands/Athlone area? I have some work needs doing on my own car and I'd be happy to give the business to a good mechanic who won't mind me supplying some of the parts.

grogi

Sam Kade wrote: »

I go to my mechanic first he tells me what parts I need, I get them and he fits them. It works better for him also as he is busy and doesn't have much time running around getting parts.

That's weird...

My man (Joe Spanner) calls his man (Mike Belt) with the list of the parts, which are delivered often the same day. If they don't fit, the same van will pick them up with the next delivery...

Invoice comes at the end of the month AFAIK.

dr.fuzzenstein

The Connect needed new driveshafts, so I brought it to my local mechanic here in Deutschland. He only sources parts from main dealers, so he rang me with a quote of over a grand for new, original Ford parts. That's parts only, no labor. After we both had a good laugh for a few minutes, I offered to source the parts myself.
The funniest thing is, I bought the shafts of micksgarage.ie, they were much cheaper than any German or even Irish website, which is very unusual for them. Normally Mick's is more expensive than any other online or even bricks and mortar shop. Genius business plan.
I got two new driveshafts off them for €224, which is laughably cheap and he fitted them for €180, so the entire job cost me around the 400 mark.

uck51js9zml2yt

I source my parts and my mechanic charges me 50 to fit them and do an oil change.

CiniO

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

....... so the entire job cost me around the 400 mark.

I thought Germany had Euros these days

kay 9

I supply parts for my mechanic if it's something I'm not competent in doing,and he's ok with it. (I think)
As a plumber, I get customers to supply parts too, that way I only get screwed for labour if they decide they're poor come pay time.

goz83

I've used Atlas plenty of times in the past to fit parts I wouldn't have taken a chance on.....like timing belt. I almost always supplied, as I could get the parts cheaper and they were happy enough with that.

grogi

goz83 wrote: »

I've used Atlas plenty of times in the past to fit parts I wouldn't have taken a chance on.....like timing belt. I almost always supplied, as I could get the parts cheaper and they were happy enough with that.

I generally don't supply parts myself, as my mechanic provides rather competitive pricing already. But he is ok with customer-provided parts.

Even though he would allow that, when it comes to timing belt, I would rather leave the whole package to the mechanic, with specifying that I want/don't want to use Gates, Contitech or Dayco.

When belts snaps and you end up in deep see of trouble, it will be extremely difficult to prove who is at fault - manufacturing defect or faulty installation. And with parts coming from different source than your mechanic, you would face a table tennis match with the blame and broken car.

corks finest

120_Minutes wrote: »

Hey guys, I just wanted to get some opinions.

As we all know, maintaining a car can be costly, especially as the car gets on in years. There's plenty of anecdotal evidence of places ripping people off regarding repair and service and parts costs, so I was wondering if many people would consider sourcing their own parts to keep prices down and asking a mechanic to fit them? or is that considered bad etiquette?

I always buy,and my mechanic fits

my3cents

grogi wrote: »

I generally don't supply parts myself, as my mechanic provides rather competitive pricing already. But he does not have any issue doing so. Even if he didn't, when it comes to timing belt, I would rather leave the whole package to the mechanic, with specifying that I want/don't want to use Gates, Contitech or Dayco.

When belts snaps and you end up in deep see of trouble, it will be extremely difficult to prove who is at fault - manufacturing defect or faulty installation.

So how exactly are you going to know that your mechanic hasn't used Gates, Contitech or Dayco?

grogi

my3cents wrote: »

So how exactly are you going to know that your mechanic hasn't used Gates, Contitech or Dayco?

How do you know the mechanic is not using your car to get some free petrol?

my3cents

grogi wrote: »

How do you know the mechanic is not using your car to get some free petrol?

He may well be just the same as you don't know if your mechanic doesn't fit makes of parts you don't want fitted.

grogi

my3cents wrote: »

He may well be just the same as you don't know if your mechanic doesn't fit makes of parts you don't want fitted.

Then change a mechanic to a one that you'd trust... It makes no sense to use one you don't.

Chris_Heilong

I source my own parts as much as possible, then you know what is being fitted, it also means the mechanic will not have to wait around for bits to get delivered. I cant see it being a problem unless the mechanic is adding x amount of money to parts he sources himself and you are taking this extra revenue away from him.

gillianmcd

Most tyre centers charge a min 20- 30 euro per tyre if someone buys tyre online for fitment locally. You got lucky. If you bought outside Ireland (in Europe) you also don't pay VAT which makes the tyre cheaper. Support local. Obviously the price determined your decision in this case, understandably.

grogi

gillianmcd wrote: »

If you bought outside Ireland (in Europe) you also don't pay VAT which makes the tyre cheaper. Support local. Obviously the price determined your decision in this case, understandably.

That's not true.

VAT is universal in EU, the rates might be a bit different.

eiretyres.com is German (Delticom AG) - 19% of VAT.
oponeo.ie is run by a Polish entity (Oponeo.pl S.A.) - the VAT is 23%.
camskill is UK based - 20% of VAT.

If you import goods from outside EU, you are accountable to pay local VAT as well.

Esel

gillianmcd wrote: »

Most tyre centers charge a min 20- 30 euro per tyre if someone buys tyre online for fitment locally. You got lucky. If you bought outside Ireland (in Europe) you also don't pay VAT which makes the tyre cheaper. Support local. Obviously the price determined your decision in this case, understandably.

Ah heyore...

Truckermal

I always source my own tyres and get a local guy to fit 4 and I give him fifty quid. My mechanic tells me if he will supply parts or if I will supply them, the last service I supplied almost everything..

GoOnTaigh

I always buy my car parts, genuine parts from dealer and the mechanic fits them no problems. Always ask for a discount at the parts counter, all the garage systems have "discounts buttons" they can apply, they may or may not apply them but if you don't ask you don't get.

jimbis

I happily fit tyres that the customer has supplied all day long. And I charge cheaper than anyone else in the wide area. The way I see it is they are just going to go somewhere else and if I look after them, they recommend me to others and I'm the first one they call when they need repairs/tyres/servicing.

my3cents

jimbis wrote: »

I happily fit tyres that the customer has supplied all day long. And I charge cheaper than anyone else in the wide area. The way I see it is they are just going to go somewhere else and if I look after them, they recommend me to others and I'm the first one they call when they need repairs/tyres/servicing.

Good attitude!

CiniO

jimbis wrote: »

I happily fit tyres that the customer has supplied all day long. And I charge cheaper than anyone else in the wide area. The way I see it is they are just going to go somewhere else and if I look after them, they recommend me to others and I'm the first one they call when they need repairs/tyres/servicing.

How much do you charge for fitting and balancing?

johndaman66

Add clear odds with everybody else's experience on the thread here I rang a mechanic once and asked him if he'd fit a timing belt kit to a Vectra if I sourced and supplied the parts. He absolutely tore chunks out of me for making the suggestion....was highly abusive. Was so shell shocked I hung up but rang him back to let him know his attitude was not good for business and I would have let him source the parts too if he had only listened to me besides going off on a fit of rage. No good though, he didn't give me a chance to speak second time round, just went off on another aggressive rant.


Another mechanic locally had absolutely no issue with me sourcing and supplying parts for a head gasket after him telling me exactly what was needed.


On a side note I thought Gaites was recognised one of the best brands of timing belt out there.......

jimbis

CiniO wrote: »

How much do you charge for fitting and balancing?

€10 per tyre fitted and balanced. Being into cars all my life also means I have respect for the rims aswell.

I'll stop talking now incase I get accused of advertising

jimbis

jimbis wrote: »

I happily fit tyres that the customer has supplied all day long. And I charge cheaper than anyone else in the wide area. The way I see it is they are just going to go somewhere else and if I look after them, they recommend me to others and I'm the first one they call when they need repairs/tyres/servicing.

That's my mechanics approach too. He gets all my servicing/repairs work so I never feel guilty about saving a few euro ordering my tyres online and getting them delivered to his shop. It's a win-win.

intro

My mechanic generally does not like customers providing parts.He feels that if there is a problem with something not working/fitting correctly then it will be a row as to who or what is at fault ( and i can understand that!). Having said that, my turbo actuator was playing up but you basically needed to replace the whole unit. A new Mitsubishi turbo (for BMW 320D)was being quoted at 1350 euro in Ireland. 1100 to 1150 from uk depending on exchange rate. He was getting me a quote for a recon unit when i found a new one from Germany for 725 delivered. No brainer and he had no problem fitting it. Even came in a bmw box. Without much trouble there are loads in Germany for 800 to 850 delivered.Use google chrome for automatic translation. Its a bit annoying the price difference and i was lucky that the turbo had not "let go" completely so i had a bit of time to locate it. Delivery was 4 days.

colm_mcm

gillianmcd wrote: »

Most tyre centers charge a min 20- 30 euro per tyre if someone buys tyre online for fitment locally. You got lucky. If you bought outside Ireland (in Europe) you also don't pay VAT which makes the tyre cheaper. Support local. Obviously the price determined your decision in this case, understandably.

Places near me are €10 per corner to fit, balance and dispose of the old one.

Esel

intro wrote: »

My mechanic generally does not like customers providing parts.He feels that if there is a problem with something not working/fitting correctly then it will be a row as to who or what is at fault ( and i can understand that!). Having said that, my turbo actuator was playing up but you basically needed to replace the whole unit. A new Mitsubishi turbo (for BMW 320D)was being quoted at 1350 euro in Ireland. 1100 to 1150 from uk depending on exchange rate. He was getting me a quote for a recon unit when i found a new one from Germany for 725 delivered. No brainer and he had no problem fitting it. Even came in a bmw box. Without much trouble there are loads in Germany for 800 to 850 delivered.Use google chrome for automatic translation. Its a bit annoying the price difference and i was lucky that the turbo had not "let go" completely so i had a bit of time to locate it. Delivery was 4 days.

Read that as 'automatic transmission'!

Sam Kade

grogi wrote: »

That's weird...

My man (Joe Spanner) calls his man (Mike Belt) with the list of the parts, which are delivered often the same day. If they don't fit, the same van will pick them up with the next delivery...

Invoice comes at the end of the month AFAIK.

Same day delivery doesn't work so well out in the country which would mean he'd still have to drive 8 miles to the local town to get the part or else wait to have it delivered to his door You seem to be dealing with a big garage this is a one man operation.

Sam Kade

johndaman66 wrote: »

Add clear odds with everybody else's experience on the thread here I rang a mechanic once and asked him if he'd fit a timing belt kit to a Vectra if I sourced and supplied the parts. He absolutely tore chunks out of me for making the suggestion....was highly abusive. Was so shell shocked I hung up but rang him back to let him know his attitude was not good for business and I would have let him source the parts too if he had only listened to me besides going off on a fit of rage. No good though, he didn't give me a chance to speak second time round, just went off on another aggressive rant.


Another mechanic locally had absolutely no issue with me sourcing and supplying parts for a head gasket after him telling me exactly what was needed.


On a side note I thought Gaites was recognised one of the best brands of timing belt out there.......

Sounds like a complete bollix, he must have a hefty mark up on parts.

CianDon

Most of my car's have been very uncommon models, or ones that have just completely died out on the road, so I find it easier to investigate the parts needed if there is an issue and source them myself, rather than have a garage scratching their heads and killing time. I once had the Peugeot inside in a garage for 17 days just to get new rear brakes, so me and the mechanic have an understanding that if I supply the parts then everyone wins. Very handy on a budget as I can source second hand parts from breakers, and once the mechanic is happy with the quality of the part he'll fit away and everyone wins

MetzgerMeister

I would normally buy the parts myself because I know what I want. The only time I ever had a problem was with my interim Ford Fiesta. The coolant valves went on them meaning you only got hot air. I bought one from a motor factors, fitted it myself only to then find out if was based on the original design and was fvcked from the moment I put it in. Bought an OEM Ford upgraded part, fitted myself and it was perfect from then on.

knifey_spoonie

This is just a devils advocate approach here.

If for instance you were to supply your mechanic with a clutch kit, which turned out to be the incorrect kit, who would you be willing to accept the the hourly labour while that lift is occupied by your car sitting idle.

MetzgerMeister

In that case, yes because it was your own fault.

quadrifoglio verde

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

This is just a devils advocate approach here.

If for instance you were to supply your mechanic with a clutch kit, which turned out to be the incorrect kit, who would you be willing to accept the the hourly labour while that lift is occupied by your car sitting idle.

Of course. It's my fault. Why would I expect my mechanic to be out of pocket because I screwed up. Likewise I would not expect to be out of pocket if it turned out he messed up.

I generally supply the parts if I can get them cheaper or it's an emergency situation

ShadowHearth

My situation is unique, because very very good friend is my mechanic, so he always looks after me and gets discounts on parts that he would get, if he would get it for his own car.
Though in some cases I would get my own parts. When coil pack went on my mx5, it was way cheaper for me to get it online, then he would get it from his suppliers.

One thing for sure, I prefer him getting parts. If the parts ordered wrong ( it happens 80% of the time), then he can return them and ger proper ones way easier and faster.