Date:         Tue, 25 Aug 1998 09:51:49 -0700
Reply-To:     Kelly Bauman <bauman@ICAN.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Kelly Bauman <bauman@ICAN.NET>
Subject:      Re: internet discount parts - shops are catching on.... :<(
Comments: To: arbosch@RA.ROCKWELL.COM, Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
In-Reply-To:  <8625666A.006BFD19.00@ramilwsmtp01.ra.rockwell.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 15:12 24-08-98 -0500, Alan Bosch wrote:
>I wonder if a repair shop would consider buying their parts from the vendor
>of YOUR choice.  That way, you can work out any concerns about warranty,
>price mark up, and the like prior to the start of work.

Fortunately my mechanic uses the same LOCAL parts supplier I would.  Let's
look at it from the repair shop's point of view.  The shop has to get parts
delivered in a timely fashion, other wise the mechanic and the repair bay
are idled waiting for parts.  The repair shop has to work out payment for
the parts wih the supplier.  The shop needs to have confidence in the
quality of the parts themselves, otherwise they spend several hours of
their own labour and shop time replacing a part that saved the client $10.
If a part is defective the supplier will give the shop a new part but they
won't pay the labour to install it.  Finally, for many of us the least
expensive source of parts is often mail order.  It would be unreasonable to
expect a shop to get its parts by mail order.

My 2 cents worth.

Kelly Bauman
Delta, BC
'91 Westy