Providing parts to mechanics

[Eagle 1767]

Repco are miles worse than any dealer and supply mostly garbage. Rip every poor c**t off is no joke.

Dealerships seems hit and miss as far as parts go, some stuff is crazily prized compared to the same thing overseas, but sometimes it's actually cheaper.

[Deano1968 40]

On 6/4/2025 at 1:01 PM, deedub said:

Just got off the phone with Greg from Greg Hantz Autos in Hamilton. Booked in with them. Was happy for me to supply parts. Super friendly.

Thanks @gjm for the recommendation. Tracked down an old post last year where I was asking for recommendations for local BMW specialists around my way. You recommended Greg.

Greg's our go-to mechanic as well. Top bloke. Does everything from the classics to modern stuff. Coombes Johnson BMW in Hamilton told me they send the cars they can't fix to Greg. 

[deedub 115]

34 minutes ago, Deano1968 said:

Greg's our go-to mechanic as well. Top bloke. Does everything from the classics to modern stuff. Coombes Johnson BMW in Hamilton told me they send the cars they can't fix to Greg. 

Thanks for that. My car is going in to Greg soon. Nice to know I've found someone I can trust with my BMW's. 

[E30 325i Rag-Top 3018]

22 hours ago, M3AN said:

Someone in the chain is making significant margins on original parts sold into the NZ market if we can import them ourselves for less than we can buy them here. Fact. A 10mm screw that is used just as much on a 1996 car as it is on a 2019 car does not, and should not, cost $4 when I can buy 10 original BMW ones for $4 and $2.50 postage from offshore.

“Rip off” is a bit of a strong and emotional term, especially when you are not comparing all the facts (one example out of how many millions of part numbers?) nor comparing apples with apples.
It all comes down to economies of scale, and how costs are spread across the supply chain. FCP Euro would probably have a bigger parts turnover than BMW NZ, let alone BMW North America who would be the equivalent point. 
As mentioned above NZ parts can be reasonable for fast moving volume medium cost items. If it’s a larger, low volume item that has to be ordered in especially then unfortunately the costs won’t be comparable with the US who is still probably buying exponentially more per year. This then gets into a “chicken and egg” situation as more people buy on line from the bigger vendors. 

The issue then is supporting the local businesses in terms of time scales, yes most things can be sent over-night, but this then gets tricky for larger parts like bumpers for crashed cars, wheels, Lithium batteries (dangerous goods), etc. If the significantly increased freight costs (post Covid) are then passed on insurance companies will soon up the premiums to recover and more cars will get written off.

Would that it was possible for FCP to be a supplier. However, you might want to ask Toyota Aussie and Toyota NZ how they ended up with fake parts in their supply chain and the $$$s it cost to sort that mess.

Is there room for improvement..? Always. Will systems evolve over time..? Most definitely. Will people still claim “dealers charge 100% mark up” .? We shall wait and see. *Purely my personal opinions as an innocent bystander, any resemblance to persons dead or alive are purely coincidental.

[Eagle 1767]

My main issue when ordering bulk vehicle parts in NZ(more so as retail customer) is the lack of online ordering systems. Ordering from overseas is so much efficient for anyone accustomed it. Sending big parts lists to the dealership for pricing\availability creates too many issues unless you dont care about pricing and\or delivery schedules, not to mention extra work for the parts guy.