Bringing your own parts to a shop for service

is there a standard ettiquette? In the past I have brought my own brake parts, rims, tires etc to shops for regular maintenance and they've simply charged for labor with the understanding that all warranties are void.

 

Lately I get the impression that I'm the bad guy cause I was able to buy a timing belt kit for a third of what the shop quoted. I know shops make money of marking up parts, but I would think that shops would happy just to get work.

 

I don't like being made to feel like the bad guy and get a guilt trip when I just need a mechanic and not a parts store too.

I always ask first, but I think a good shop shouldn't care, as long as the parts are decent. I wouldn't want to install something I thought was inferior.

 

The old Subaru credit card made it easy to get the OEM parts for what amounted to free. (yes they cost more, but the coupons were for just using the card). My mechanic understood my frequently limited budget. He's a pretty decent guy.

I always ask first. But I just had a shop tell me "you know you really shouldn't do that, it's like bringing your own steak to a restaurant." It's like, no ones making you work on my car. Just tell me you don't want to and I'll go find another shop.

Speaking from my own experience I generally prefer to supply the parts I install for my customers. It isn't only because of the mark-up on the parts, which is minimal for me since I price parts to be competitive with other online vendors, and which rarely offsets the time spent researching and ordering. It is because you never know what you will be dealing with when a customer brings you parts, whether they are new or used. Sometimes you end up with a huge headache either due to the part being incorrect or having some kind of problem, or if the part is installed and then has a problem down the line that can't be pinpointed to the part itself or the installer. I have had customers ask me to take care of shipping defective parts back to the person/company they bought them from, or to try and "make them work" without consideration for the time and risk of doing so. Conversely I have had customers ask me to do the same thing and offered to pay me for the time and gas for the trip to the post office, on top of postage and packing materials.

 

When you encounter this on a regular basis it gets easy to take the hard-line approach since you don't know what type of person the customer is. Usually once I get to know a customer and how they are to interact with we can work out the best way to save them money on the project.

the aspect of being able to pick out my own parts comes into play as well. I'd like to think that the majority of people that want to bring in their own parts, are smart enough to have done research such that compatibility and fitup are not an issue.

 

If the shop quotes me a price for a part, i have no idea what i'm getting. OEM? Refurbished? Generic autozone equivalent? At least when i buy the parts, i get the option of OEM equivalent for gaskets, or maybe i want to upgrade to a racing belt with the timing belt kit?

I think the assumption that folks have done their research if giving more credit than some folks are due...

 

Yes... FAR more credit. I'm lucky that most of my customers are very good at understanding the "big picture" of compatibility/fit, but even with "bolt-on" items there can be fitment issues that you wouldn't be aware of unless you had installed that particular setup before.

 

That said, why would you have no idea what you are getting? Ask for a part number.

 

If it's something that they don't carry, just bring your own stuff in. If it's something that they carry / order, just show them where you can buy it for cheaper. I feel like any reasonable shop should be ok with that.

 

This is pretty reasonable. If I carry it then we should be able to work something out on price, and with full disclosure on what you are getting. If I don't carry it then of course I will work with you. If you are not getting that from your shop then they are probably not in the business of doing enthusiast/custom work, and more of a regular maintenance shop.

 

I have had customers ask me to buy them used VF52s off NASIOC and give them a warranty, while trying to haggle install cost.

All fair points. It's been the smaller shops that obviously make money on supplying parts that have been the hardest to work with. The larger places didn't even hesitate to say they would install my parts (with a warranty disclaimer).

 

In the end, although one smaller shop said they'd do it, i did not get a good vibe (actually i got the "i'm gonna cut your brake lines" vibe). I'm going with a larger service place that's offering me a free loaner for 2 days...

 

In the future, i will probably allow them the chance to meet my prices before purchasing them myself. However when they come in at $530 for a timing belt kit that i was able to get for $190, it was hard not to just buy it.

 

Could be a generational thing too. Some of the old school guys will throw you out if you said you got it "online." Even though online doesn't always mean cheap knockoff from china. It could mean OEM replacement from RockAuto.com...

I almost always bring my own parts used or new to my local mechanic (the source) in Montpelier vt. for things I cannot or don't want to do myself. They have never given me any hassle, only difference is they have a different labor rate for parts they don't supply and Im ok with that.

In the future, i will probably allow them the chance to meet my prices before purchasing them myself. However when they come in at $530 for a timing belt kit that i was able to get for $190, it was hard not to just buy it.

 

This sounds like someone who thinks they are dealing with a pushover who has no clue. I have had this happen at many places where the service manager/ owner would rather have customers who are clueless, because it means they can do their work in peace without anyone double checking their work. This doesn't necessarily mean that they do poor quality work, some people just don't like it when people supervise or ask questions about their work.

 

But with that much of a price difference, I would just never go back to that place again. You just have to find a shop that has service techs/ an owner that are comfortable with working with someone who knows and CARES about their car.