Parts Suppliers

[DavidSamuels]

It's been nearly two years since I've purchased anything from Parts Geek on line. Recently I've tried to reach them by e-mail and phone--impossible. Anyone using them?

DS

[cbevis]

not for a few years...Rockauto has been my go to warehouse ever since.

[DavidSamuels]

I have used Rock a few times. Very very fast, I'll say that. I can deal with their funny displays, they just don't have a lot of the parts anymore.

[DaveD]

IPD, FCP and your nearest Volvo dealership

[quaylude]

Originally Posted by DaveD

IPD, FCP and your nearest Volvo dealership

Posted via Mobile DeviceTrue that! This is in my humble opinion the only list one should use and my closest dealers are 100 miles one way.

[crandandall]

I don't know what the requirements for getting a Worldpac account are, but you might try looking into that. If they won't let you start an account, maybe there's a shop in your area that has an account and will order parts for you.

[DavidSamuels]

I get most of my stuff from IMC. Problem is some of the larger suppliers are sku-ing down and don't have some of the more obscure stuff anymore.

[vvpete]

Surprisingly Rock Auto has a lot of 140 parts, tune parts, and cheap, quick. They don't have much for 240's though.

[andysbeta]

Rockauto closed out alot of 240 parts last year - I know as I took advantage of that when it went on. Now it is just going to uber cheap low quality chinese parts with most of the specific parts becoming NLA. Sad times for the 240 indeed.

[gsellstr]

I've been slightly disappointed in RA lately as well. Tried ordering a few things last week and each one was coming from a different warehouse. By the time I paid $6 shipping in a serp belt it ended up being cheaper from Amazon or even Kragen for the same brand of belt. Seems like they are scattering their parts at more warehouses. :(

Dealer prices are indeed coming down though. Just bought a Group 47 battery for an 850, and it was cheaper from the dealer than from autozone with the same warranty!

[andysbeta]

Yeah from what I see is as the parts dry up via the Rock Auto warehouse network more and more parts getting spread thin.. Alot of the parts I've ordered from them have been NOS type parts which is great, really.

I recently had to buy a battery for my 245 and an Interstate set me back $129.00 ! Last time I bought one new was in 2007 and it was $79 for the same battery back then.

[gsellstr]

Yeah, I've been finding the same thing on batteries Andy. Dealer price hasn't really gone up, but aftermarket has shot thru the roof!

FWIW the Die Hard AGM's are actually Oddyssey's under a different label, for a smaller price tag, and they kick the Optima's to the door.

[DavidSamuels]

Just bought an Interstate a few weeks ago. $79 plus tax. Have to buy another tomorrow, we'll see what happens.

[dl242gt]

I bought a group 47 for my 93 wagon from the local Firestone service place for 106$. It was the Megatron II version of the battery. The last one in there lasted over 7 years so I decided to try Interstate again.

[DavidSamuels]

Firestone seems to be the key. They are $25 less here than the Interstate store a few blocks away. Now that's dealer support.

DS

[andysbeta]

Must be the deliverence isolated hick-**** ****-hole I am presently stuck in causing the prices of batteries to be so high. You know, the nearest place that sells used batteries is 90 miles away and their used batteries go for $70? What is the point.

Need to escape out of Colorado. This place sucks.

Originally Posted by DavidSamuels

Just bought an Interstate a few weeks ago. $79 plus tax. Have to buy another tomorrow, we'll see what happens.

[DavidSamuels]

Yo AS--right you are. For twenty+ years there was a battery rebuilder down in the San Fernando valley valley called Try-It Battery. Between 1975 and about 2005 the batteries went from $19.99 to $29.99 to $35---a great buy regardless. I used them all the time. A few years ago the EPA went in and closed him down saying the ground was contaminated. They wiped the guy out, even though there was evidence the contamination might have been from the manufacturing facility behind him. Now we have a battery rebuilder up here in Lancaster. He advertises batteries from $30, but those are motorcycle bats only. Starting around $70 for your average car battery. You are so right, what's the point? Our Interstate dealer says they used to rebuild car batteries all the time. They've stopped, except for big industrial units, because the permits and such make it unprofitable to do the regular units.

[cbevis]

Originally Posted by DavidSamuels

...A few years ago the EPA went in and closed him down saying the ground was contaminated. They wiped the guy out, even though there was evidence the contamination might have been from the manufacturing facility behind him....

The EPA doesn't mess things up like that. 10 years as an Environmental Professional has taught me that John Q Small-Business-Owner is pretty much always at fault for the contamination under his property.

[TrickMick]

I have to "scrounge parts" for all makes and models (both furrin and dometique) every day...
it's getting to the point that I have to plan a DAY IN ADVANCE for anything other than a
"fast moving spark plug" or oil filter....even caps and rotors take a day "to get here from
the WAREHOUSE (or "distribution centre") and it's NOT like we're located in the outback
where the Abo's have to deliver the parts on goatback...sheesh...we're in a HUGE SMSA
( Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area )that encompasses five universities / colleges....

[andysbeta]

EPA is just another bureaucratic entity designed to dismantle the small guy when it comes down to it. Note in California how they tightened the smog emission standards on older cars, in fact requiring them pass as clean as most new cars - so they inevitably fail and end up in junkyards.

Yet the big corporations continue to purchase "smog credit" unabated.. EPA is so straight and honest indeed.

[cbevis]

Originally Posted by andysbeta

EPA is just another bureaucratic entity designed to dismantle the small guy when it comes down to it. Note in California how they tightened the smog emission standards on older cars, in fact requiring them pass as clean as most new cars - so they inevitably fail and end up in junkyards.

Yet the big corporations continue to purchase "smog credit" unabated.. EPA is so straight and honest indeed.

Talking about environmental policy when your concept of the Big Picture is only what you see three feet in front of your face makes for very ignorant statements. You can't make blanket environmental policy at the expense of smart economics. Sure, there's corruption at every level of government. But seven months of lobbying and governmental/environmental policy making back in '99 came down to one very simple question: would you rather drive a turn of the century beater...or stay employed?

Granted, the Ca-EPA (not the same thing as the generic EPA which is a Federal entity who does not make policy at the state level) is the only regulatory agency in the country that compounds pointless regulation with their onerous policy pushing. In fact, last I checked, they're the only state that still uses carbon credits. Everyone else is going LEED certification. And point of fact...the environmental industry as a whole is geared more towards making money than conservation...especially at the industrial level.

Even after that whole discussion you have to realize that of the 40-45 different branches of the Ca-EPA (still doing anything relevant), the AIRs program is the only one that ever makes the news. The other 39-44 branches overseeing things like leaking underground storage tanks, RCRA registrations, Manifest data, Spills listing, Septic tank registrations, etc never make the news because those programs WORK.

Enter John Q. Small-Business-Owner. My original point still stands; the small business owner is typically very uninformed (read as ignorant in most cases) when it comes to environmental compliance. And it never has anything to do with emissions. Carbon credits and smog levels have nothing to do with dumping 100kg/year of lead/acid waste down a busted sewer drain without a permit.

EDIT: Having said that. Move to Minnesota. We haven't had emission standards since '98

[Ryan_R]

Originally Posted by DaveD

IPD, FCP and your nearest Volvo dealership

No dealer nearby (100 miles each way), so I check Tasca first.... then it's FCP or IPD depending on what I'm after.

Most 240 and 740 parts appear to be quite available from Volvo still. Pretty durn cheaply, too.

-Ryan

[cbevis]

Originally Posted by Ryan_R

No dealer nearby (100 miles each way), so I check Tasca first.... then it's FCP or IPD depending on what I'm after.

Most 240 and 740 parts appear to be quite available from Volvo still. Pretty durn cheaply, too.

-Ryan

Man I wish that were the case in my neck of the woods because DavidSamuels is right...Rockauto is getting pretty slack in their selections. We've got ONE volvo dealership up here and they charge an arm and a leg for parts.

EDIT: Wait...you're talking straight from Volvo...not via dealer?

[Longhair]

Originally Posted by Ryan_R

No dealer nearby (100 miles each way), so I check Tasca first.... then it's FCP or IPD depending on what I'm after.

Most 240 and 740 parts appear to be quite available from Volvo still. Pretty durn cheaply, too.

-Ryan

This, Tasca gets all my business from now on! The dealer close to me (50 mile) charges double compared to Tasca

[DavidSamuels]

Yeah, Tasca. Anthony Foulke is the greatest. I've been buying from Tasca for dealer stuff for years, now accompanied by Mark Carpenter at Turner Volvo in Sacto--both great sources. Still, so much of the stuff almost has to be aftermarket to be reasonable. Issue here was brake hardware.

The wrap up to this is that I did place an order with Parts Geek. I called three times to try and get a rep to ask a question, but couldn't reach one. Decided just to push the button. Ordered half a dozen parts. Confirmation was e-mailed in minutes, as in days of old. Payment was confirmed in about three hours. That's a step that I can't recall any other vendor doing. Apparently their system does not confirm CCs at time of purchase, so they get back to you. Confirmation came through about 2 PM Pacific, so the order was in the warehouse too late to ship, but it did go today, complete, and I got tracking. Last time I ordered from them was almost two years ago. From what I recall it took them three days to ship. Looks like they have upped their game on shipping. However I finally got an answer to my customer service inquiry at 3 today! Not good. We'll see how the order comes in.