They don’t grow on trees…

When you have a car and you find out that you need to replace something crucial all of a sudden it can put a bit of a strain on your wallet. Things like clutches, gearboxes and parts of the engine can be very expensive to replace but your car won’t work without them. They are expensive because they are designed for your model of vehicle and it is rare to find one make that will fit with another type of car. This means that you are forced to find a very specific part.

To help take the sting out of these unavoidable costs, here are some suggestions of where you can look in order to find cheap car parts.

Scrap yards

A great source of cheap car parts can be found at a scrap yard. This is where people take their cars when they are nearing the end of their life so that they can be officially taken off the road and so that the owner no longer has to pay road tax. The owners of the scrap yard will strip down each car, keeping parts that still work and crush the rest and sell it. If you need a specific part it can be worth your while phoning round all the scrap yards in your area and finding out if they have what you need. If they do they will be able to sell it to you at a reasonable price.

Car auctions

If what you need is very expensive to by new, you may be able to buy a whole car for less than the part is worth. Car auctions can see a massive range of vehicles on offer, some brand new, some only worth scrap. If you find a car there that has the part you need, it might be so hard to find that you can buy the car just in order to get the part.

Online

You can now buy all kinds of parts online. Even performance car parts can be found with ease and at prices which high street stores will find it very hard to beat. This is because due to the fact the business is based online, they will have lower staff overheads and be able to charge less for parts.

Friends

A good last resort is to ask friends to help you out with car parts. Anyone you know who works in a garage might be able to sort you out with a bit of inside knowledge and some contacts.

Sam Qam is a mechanic. He specialises in finding performance car parts for obscure vehicles.