Is it ok to purchase a genuine make/model car part and take it to the dealership to save $ and only pay labor charges? Or if I find a new genuine part, can I expect the dealership to price match?
Depending on the dealer and your rapport with them …both. It really is an individual “people” issue. Here at my ford dealer we often are installing customer furnished parts, AND price matching when possible. Discuss this with them. Some of my service writers don’t know my customers but if they touch base with me ( parts man ) as they come into the shop I will get them the discount we discussed between ourselves.
Dealerships won’t do this. Shops typically will not either. Should the part be an imitation knockoff (like my Rolex) and fail or not fit properly, they don’t want to be stuck expecting to stand behind the repair.
I just read Ken’s post and I have to admit that I’ve been enlightened. I’d be amazed if anyone around here would do that.
We do, in fact, remind them of the warrantabily concerning the parts versus the work. But this is a small town and I can’t speak for the others.
My shop will do this, but they won’t guarantee the part. That means if the part fails, you pay the labor to do it again. If they supply the part and the part fails within the warranty period, you don?t pay labor to do the job again. I think it a fair policy.
Unless you’re getting the part at a heavy discount, is it really worth it ??? I did this once (brought my own part to my mechanic). I happen to be friends with the district parts manager and needed a differential for an Audi (ouch !). The savings was over $500 for the part (I got at dealer cost). Aside from this one time, I never thought of doing this. As another mechanic once asked me, “would you bring a steak to a restaurant to be cooked to save money” ???
One of the side issues we see is ; if the customer is self diagnosing, bringing us parts to be blindly installed, then accusing that their car’s not fixed.
But when honestly discussing the repair we openly explore the AutoZone, Carquest, Ford OE options and if they go out and purchase some parts on their own, that’s ok. That part has it’s own warranty and doesn’t cover labor etc,etc, it’s thier choice.
For your Kia, all the parts are bogus. For a GM car, bogus might be bogus-fide for all anybody knows. I may go along with you about body parts being better if they are “genuine” but you may be able to trust the dealer as much as any other source. They’re usually the ones who talk about their brand of genuine parts. If you bring that question to a dealership, they might refuse to work on your car. They won’t charge you for the dumb look that they will offer you. I know you asked the question here because you didn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of the actual service writer. Probably no to both questions.
Dealer markup on parts varies greatly, depending on the part, but figure about 100% (they sell it to you for twice what they pay). Do you expect them to be warm to the idea of using a part that you bring in?
Do you take raw eggs and bacon in to the restaurant and ask them to cook them for you?
It isn’t really fair to the dealership or the shop doing the work. Do restaurants let you bring your own food and only charge you to cook it? Does your exterminator let you buy the chemicals to save a few bucks? No, they don’t, and they shouldn’t have to. The profit margin they add to the cost of parts is part of how they make money, and that is why they are in business.