by Mike Mccarthy

Created on: March 06, 2009   Last Updated: March 22, 2009

Do you need a replacement part for your vehicle? Would you rather save some money while doing so? Then I suggest that going into your local car dealership is not the best way to go about this.

Your first port of call should be your local junk yard, salvage yard or vehicle breakers. You will find them in your yellow pages and there is a good likelihood that they will have a web site, try a little googling. Gone are the days where you had to wander through the mud with a spanner in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. Parts are removed from the donor vehicles, cleaned and labeled ready for sale.

You will find that in most cases the owners and staff at your local salvage yard will be helpful and knowledgable, and will be able to supply you with what you are looking for, in good condition, at a fraction of the price of a new part. You will find that some of these places specialise in either a manufacturer of a vehicle, country of origin of a vehicle or even domestic or commercial vehicle types.

The age of your vehicle is irrelevant here, as salvage yards are taking in vehicles that are quite new, due to crashes or similar. So the availability of that replacement mirror, or light fitting is good. This is particularly true of those salvage yards that specialise in manufacture or country of origin, as they quickly get hold of damaged nearly new vehicles.

Another place to look for your used auto parts is ebay. Many private owners of vehicles decide to 'break' their old car instead of just scrapping it. They dissemble the vehicle themselves and sell those parts on ebay. Using the search tools on ebay, you can quickly find the right manufacturer of your vehicle. I suggest you do not make your search too specific, simply because you may miss what you are looking for, perhaps just search on manufacturer as opposed to model and year. Before you bid have a look at the sellers feedback, as this is one way of making sure you get what you pay for. Also read the item description carefully, to make sure the item you want is in the condition you need.

A good place to find parts that are either cheap or even sometimes free, is to join a car club. There are many on line car clubs available. You can either find one that caters to your car make, or one that is specific to your car's use, a 4x4 club for instance. These clubs often offer discounts from suppliers and the members themselves often swap or sell parts too. To find your relevant club, either do a simple search on line, or use a specific listing site such as www.ukcarclubs.org .

It should never be a problem finding used auto parts, and it's sensible as a car owner to do so, as it will certainly help to keep your motoring costs down.

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