The average car repair costs somewhere between $500 and $600 these days. And it’s not all that uncommon for people to pay a whole lot more than that to get their cars fixed.
Car repairs cost this much money, at least in part, because of the high price tags that are often attached to many car parts. These parts can drive the costs associated with car repairs up and make it challenging for people to find room in their budgets for them.
One way to bring your car repair costs back down to earth is by looking for cheap car parts that you can use while making repairs to your vehicle. You can find car parts that are affordable in a wide range of places.
Whether you choose to look for cheap car parts in a junkyard or shop for car parts online, you should be able to track them down. Let’s check out a few of the best places to search for the car parts that you need.
Junkyards
The salvage business within the U.S. is worth a whopping $22 billion at this point. As a result, there are well over 8,000 junkyards scattered throughout the country.
There is a pretty good chance that you have at least a few junkyards in the general vicinity of your home. If you’re on the hunt for cheap car parts, you might want to kickstart your search by checking in with these junkyards to see what they have available.
Junkyards routinely buy old cars and pull the salvageable parts from them. They’ll then turn around and sell these parts for just a fraction of what they would cost you in stores.
In some cases, the parts aren’t going to have a whole lot of life left in them. You’ll want to shy around from investing in any of these parts since you’ll have to worry about replacing them sooner rather than later.
But there are also plenty of cheap car parts available at junkyards that have lots of life left in them. You might be able to get your hands on the missing car parts that you need for next to nothing so that you can complete car repairs without spending a small fortune.
Auto Repair Shops
Because the salvage business is so lucrative right now, some auto repair shops have started to get in on the action by purchasing old cars and pulling parts from them just like junkyards do. It’s why you should also take a look at what your local auto repair shop might have in stock before trying to find car parts elsewhere.
With a little bit of luck, they might have an old version of your car hanging around that has the parts in it that you need. They can offer them to you at a deep discount, and in some instances, they might even help you to install them in your car without forcing you to break the bank.
You should be aware of the fact that auto repair shops are going to hit you where it hurts by charging exorbitant labor fees. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask an auto repair shop in your area if they have any leads on the car parts that you’re trying to locate.
Car Part Stores
If you look for cheap car parts in junkyards and auto repair shops and aren’t able to find them, the next thing you’ll want to do is take a trip down to a brick-and-mortar car part store in your area. Google “car parts near me” and you should be able to find the locations for at least a few of these stores.
Most of these stores will sell some combination of both OEM car parts and aftermarket car parts. Whenever possible, you should try to go with aftermarket car parts since they’re going to come with lower price tags attached to them.
Car part stores are typically going to charge a lot more than junkyards and auto repair shops for parts, though, because they’re all going to be brand-new. So you might want to compare the prices on car parts at these stores to some of your other options prior to pulling the trigger on them.
Online Marketplaces
In this day and age, you can buy almost anything that you want through one of the many online marketplaces that exist. From eBay to Craigslist to Facebook Marketplace, you can shop for all kinds of things through these digital options.
This includes cheap car parts. There are always people trying to get rid of parts that they don’t need anymore for one reason or another. You could benefit from it in a big way by searching around on these marketplaces to see what they have to offer.
You will need to be prepared to put in some work to locate any specific car parts that you need. You’re not going to find a super large selection of car parts in most cases.
But if you just so happen to stumble upon the parts that you’ve been chasing after, you should be able to get a great deal on them. You can also usually do some haggling with sellers to bring the prices for parts down even lower than what they’re listed at.
Auto Part Websites
You can buy all types of different aftermarket parts on websites for a variety of things nowadays. Whether you want to purchase electronic aftermarket parts for computers or Strike Industries aftermarket parts for firearms, you should be able to find the aftermarket parts you need at low prices.
This goes for aftermarket car parts, too. There are a whole host of websites that specialize in selling aftermarket car parts online. These parts will cost you a lot less than OEM parts while doing the same job that they do. With these auto websites, no matter your vehicle, you can find plenty of European car parts from some of the most renowned brands in Europe.
You should visit a bunch of auto part websites to see what they have in their inventory. You could very well find the car parts that you need without putting in too much effort on your part.
You can also compare the prices on aftermarket car parts at different sites to guarantee that you get a great deal.
Things to Consider When Buying Car Parts
Regardless of where you decide to buy cheap car parts, there are some things that you’ll want to consider before you agree to purchase them. You might put yourself into a tough spot if you invest in car parts without taking the right things into consideration.
You should begin by making sure that you buy the right parts for your specific vehicle. You might have a difficult time returning car parts to a junkyard or to someone who sold them to you on an online marketplace if you make the mistake of buying the wrong parts.
You should also consider these things when buying car parts:
- Are the car parts in good enough condition to put into your car?
- Do the car parts come with any kind of warranty?
- Were the car parts manufactured by a reputable company?
- How quickly will you be able to get the car parts?
- What kinds of reviews have the car parts received in the past?
It’s very easy to fall in love with cheap car parts simply because they’re cheap. It could lead to you buying them without putting the necessary thought into doing it.
Rather than rushing right into buying car parts when you find them, you should ask yourself the questions that we laid out above. They’ll help you decide if buying car parts that you’ve found will be worth it in the end.
Start Your Search for Cheap Car Parts Today
Finding cheap car parts isn’t always going to be easy. If there is a relatively rare part in your car that you need to replace, it could take weeks and maybe even months for you to find it.
But as long as you use everything that you’ve learned here to your advantage, trying to find car parts shouldn’t be too much of a struggle. It should get your search off to a strong start and lead you in the right direction as you set out to find car parts.
You’ll be installing new car parts in your vehicle in no time at all. And you’ll be doing it while knowing that you saved yourself a bunch of money by looking high and low for them.
Would you like to get some more tips that will help you make repairs to your car without spending all your money? Find them by sifting through the other articles that we’ve posted on our blog.
