How do you buy most of your parts? (No, I don't mean cash, CC, etc)

Are you the type to look around for the absolute best deal?

Would you spend a little extra and buy it from a local shop to show support?

Do you buy everything from one place because they either have great prices, or great customer service?

Are you the type that waits till the last minute and then buy from the business than can get it the fastest?

Do you plan ahead to weight out all of your options?

Anything that the expeirenced buyers can recommend to the newcomers would be great as well!

Thanks!

-Cash if possible, otherwise credit

-I definitely look around more than your average person

-I ALWAYS purchase from a local shop if at all possible unless they are unreasonable with their prices

-I look for customer service & prices, if a business has great prices but shitty service they can kiss my a$$, i probably look more toward the customer service than prices though

-I always try to avoid last minute purchases, I'm starting to purchase parts, as funds allow, for a car I have yet to purchase

-Definitely plan ahead of possible

-SHOP AROUND & LOCAL, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS OR FOR HELP!!!!! :bounce: :dsmrule: :bounce:

I buy used if I can, but I always pay cash. I would much rather buy locally than going for a cheap price (Never order from darkside racing).

Jana I apologize for going off-topic, but John why do you say never order parts from Darkside Racing?

I usually know what I want and when I want it by. I hate waiting. So I'll usually go with the place that has everything I need in one shot or can get it quickly. I like good customer service and I hate being lied to. I will spend a little more $$$ for good service and support versus ordering from 5 different places based on price. I do some research before hand to see what the normal price range would be for a particular part before I try to buy it. I've done alot of business with VPE, but lately Scott's quality of service has been dropping, so I may be moving on. I can't ever find anything I need around my area. Unless you drive a Honduh, they are like "What part do you want? We never heard of that. Don't know when I could get one of those."

They say they have parts they dont have. I ordered a Tial 38mm external wastegate from them when they had it in stock. I called them after a month and he said they were waiting on tial. I questioned him because they said they had them in stock and the guy said that they didn't. Two months after my original order, I get it in the mail shipped direstly from Tial. Needless to say I already had my boost creep fixed. I have heard of others buying a FMIC kit through them and never getting it. They didn't return my emails while I was waiting on the wastegate either. I had to call them and sometimes someone would pick up the phone. Sometimes they wouldn't. Cheap price on the wastegate (about $230 shipped) but horrible customer service and delivery time.

Darkside Racing has a fairly well know reputation for screwing people over.

I tend to research and shop around on the net. Then I check with my choice locals and if they get close I buy from them. A lot of the stuff I have got for my car has been stock parts, so I end up online, even with shipping they beat Wayzata Mitsu by a ton. And some of the other stuff is just things I find that are smoking good deals, like my Exedy clutch, $142 shipped, cheaper than stock, and an upgrade (mild). I do my best to plan ahead but some shit just comes up, then it's whoever can get it the fastest if the price isn't totaly outrageous.

I like to get the best deal I possibly can. If I have to spend a little more to get everything from one place I will. I would also spend a little extra to buy locally. Customer service is a plus, but it isn't often you find service bad enough to make you not want to spend money there. I plan ahead as good as I can, but I always procrastinate about spending money, but I've found that if you let one deal pass you buy there will always be another one.

I try to buy all of my stuff locally.

Aot of research and trying to find the lowest prices. Local is great but if its not lower than somewhere else I dont think Id go for it. Unless its not a trusty company.

I like to buy used and get a deal but theres always that bad feeling if something doesnt work. Havent had a problem yet but you never know...

I buy both locally and online, depending who has the best deals going at the time. I have paid more for parts to support local vendors, but like everything else it has to at least be within reason. I have also bought a lot of stuff used, a lot of the time its just as good about about 1/2 the price. I also always research my purchases very in depth before making them. I usually plan ahead and slowly collect all my parts before installing them.

there is nothing local to me. My most local shops would be (CALIFORNIA)RnR which is 3 hours away, and RRE which is 4 hours away
(PHOENIX) Vivid Racing which is 3 hours away, and AGP that is 3 hours away. I don't really consider that local. I always buy from either RRE or RnR. I get all piping type of products from RnR because they have great prices, and i know Ryan pretty well and he gives me awesome discounts on top of his already low prices. And then if its something else like gauges or turbo timers or oil caps, I get all that stuff from RRE because i know Cory there pretty well and they give me 20% discounts on most stuff because i've done a lot of business there and plus im in the military. And both shops have given me great customer service (except one case with RnR but that got straightened out). I look for a combo of good prices and customer service. I do tend to stay loyal to shops i've had good experiences with, and in return, they've given me great prices and better than usual customer service. Once i move back to MN i might possibly do more business with local shops, but if a local shop is going to charge me 70 bux for something and RRE is going to charge me 60, then ill wait the 3 days to get it in the mail if it saves me 10 bux. But if the local shop says "hey, ill match that price if you do more business here" then ill prolly do more business there because it is local which is always nice. But i will pretty much stick with those 2 shops for a loooong time because of the way they have treated me and because no one yet has beaten the prices they offer me yet. I figured id try out QPR just to see how they are because someday they will most likely be local to me. I haven't received the BOV yet, but from what i hear it is gorgeous. If it is, then that will be a good first impression, and i might do more business there. Prolly nothing big, but little things like if they ever get that catchcan made. stuff like that. but if they never get one made after they said they would, well then ill just have to find sumwhere else to get one. Wow im really rambling on, imma stop now. Sorry for the long post

So you are cool with RnR again? As for the local shops I have done business with, both Archer and Elite have given me good service. I haven't dealt with QPR yet, but I am sure I will sometime within the next few months.

I see alot of good points being brought up. Let's say for an example you can find a internet sales only online shop selling a FMIC Kit for $850 and a local shop selling the same kit for $860. Based of that alone is $10 enough to change your mind? Or would you really find out who can get it sooner. Maybe shipping would make the coast more over tax. I know from a business standpoint more and more large companies are offering free shipping, while we have to charge sales tax.

I like this topic. It's will hopefully benifit some others starting the process this spring/summer. I personally haven't bought a whole lot new, but when I have it has been local if I could. Otherwise I bought alot of used items from some locals a few years back.

Personally, I wish that businesses would just include sales tax within the stated price....stores, online (when in-state), etc. I would deffinately pay the extra $10 to buy the FMIC from a local vendor as long as I wouldn't be sitting around forever waiting for it (typical with a lot of online vendors).

On a side note, I bought a bed a few months ago and they were running a special where if you made the purchase by Labor Day they would cover the sales tax. Not a bad promotion to counter-act the online retailers offering free shipping.

With sales tax and now some of the internet heavy shops offering free shipping, it hard for the local shops to compete. Especially shops not on the west coast. Places like Prostreet Online can go down to the big distributor warehouses and pick up their HKS and Greddy parts and then sell them with free shipping and actually make some money. If somebody wants some simple part that you don't have in stock and it has to come from the west or east coast then it's often easier just to tell them to order it online. There isn't much markup on import car parts nowdays(not that there ever was a lot, except by Extreme Motorsports :) ) when dormroom parts slingers like Darkside Racing sell parts at $10 over cost, so any profit can often be totally eaten up by shipping costs, unlike in the car audio world where the markup for the vendor can be 100%.

Allan, i guess i didn't quit state it right. I will always buy from those 2 shops ONLY, not just some random shop that saves me 10 bux. Plus i know that no shop could offer me a lower price on most of the products due to the fact that i get good discounts. BUT lets say i was living in Minnesota. And I was in the market for a new turbo. I can get a PTE 50 trim from Ryan for 750 bucks. Now if you guys at QPR said that you will sell me one for 800, then yes i would let that 50 dollars sway me to buy from Ryan. Mainly because i have done a lot of business with Ryan, and I trust him and his work and he has done a lot for me and my friends. I have a lot of patients(spelling?) and can wait a little while for parts if it saves me money. Especially since ill have a 2nd car here soon But if you came back and offered me a comparible product and matched his price, and i haven't had any bad experiences with you, then yes i would go with you guys because of the fact that you are local and could prolly get me the parts a little bit quicker. Does that make sense? I mean, i stay loyal to a company to a point, but if i moved to MN and got the same type of treatment from you that i did from Ryan, then i'd prolly start buying from you instead because you are giving me equal service as he was, but you are only a half hour from me. Anyway, im really tired and if this isn't making sense then sorry, im tired and am just rambling.
Oh and TalonTSIguy, yes i am straight with RnR again. He came through in the end for my friend. Offered him free replacement of everything, installed it for us, and also gave him a bunch of money back for his troubles.

I try to buy at a place with a decent price. I will do lots of research and plan out my mods. I give myself plenty of time to get them before I plan on putting them on. I also like to stick with places I have good experiences with. I also try to buy locally. I will pay a little more to keep it local than I would to buy it online. The only part that really sucks is the sales tax kills you on big items. It isn't the shops fault, so I try and take that into account.