should I ask the mechanic if I can bring in my own parts?

[space-time]

I need to get a lot of work done on my car (2001 Civic, 105k miles): timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, check valve clearance, replace various fluids (antifreeze, brake, power steering, manual transmission fluid). I also need new front brake pads and most likely rotors.

I would like to stick with OEM parts as I know they're good. I can get a pretty decent discount if I order the parts online comapred to what a Honda deale might charge. So I want to take the car to a mechanic (one that I have used in the past and I trust) and I would like to ask him if I can bring in my own parts so I don't spend an arm and a leg.

I wonder if this is an unusual request and if the mechanic will be offended by this. I suspect (but I don't know) that the mechanics often order parts from the same discount places and they might charge full price to their customers, thus making a little extra profit on reselling the parts (on top of labor charges). Also, if I order online, there is no tax (7%) which would probably be around $50 as I suspect the parts alone will cost me over $500

[NewtonMP2100]

. . .the question is. . .shouldn't you not ask. . .?

[dad@home]

Most will do this.
The issue is that if the parts are defective or break the shop will charge you again to replace them. If you buy the parts from your mechanic the labor to remove and replace defective parts is covered.
You will save money if everything goes well........

dad

[Mac1337]

They will always find something that doesn't fit right or is the wrong one. Just because you know your car model and year doesn't mean you will get the right parts for it. How do you know the cost if bought locally?

[Carm]

If you trust your mechanic, you shouldnt be asking about him/her marking up the cost of the parts. Ask for receipts of the parts.

Joe

[troywellbuilt]

I do this with my mechanic. I have an '87 VW van, so he would spend a lot of time hunting down the parts locally, so he is happy to let me BYOB.

My boss got wind of this arrangement and gave it a try with his mechanic...first he got the wrong part which his mechanic was not to happy about, the next part he brought in was the correct one, but was discovered to be defective after installation, so he had to pay for installation twice. He no longer brings his own parts.

[(vikm)]

It's not a matter of trusting your mechanic as it is common practice for a shop to mark up the parts.

dad made a good comment above.

I've done this as I get a special on parts via a car "club". Usually, if you've gone to the same shop a number of times they won't have a problem. can't hurt to ask them.

Good luck.

[olnacl]

When I ran my shop, we charged our labor at time and a half to install customer supplied parts. This was clearly stated on a sign prominently posted in the shop also depicting a fellow walking into a restaurant with his own ham and eggs.

We did (and all shops do) make profit on parts we sold, so installing customer supplied parts cut into our margin and compensation was mandatory. On the other hand, I was in a position, due to the large volume of work we did on Corvettes, to buy many parts in large quantities at below wholesale and passed those savings on to my customers. For do-it-yourselfers, we sold parts at 10% over cost. That policy seemed to work fine for 32 years.

And, as mentioned above, we offered no warranty on parts customers "brought in".

YMMV

[fauch]

He'll probably just charge you more for the "labor"...
But I've done this when I happened to have spare parts lying around....

[Buckeye_Sean]

If you have a good relationship with a trustworthy mechanic I wouldn't risk it. Good, fair mechanics are hard to find. I have one that I've used for years and he always treats me right. Yes, I know he is marking up parts to make a little money. However, I figure he buys at a pretty good discount anyway and its his rep. on the line if the part fails and it will be on his dime to fix it.