Car dealer markup on parts

Jp8819

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Sorry for long vent but needless to say it pays to shop around and know what you are buying to not get ripped off from a dealer or someone.

Back story purchased a 2014 ram 2500 with cummins a while back with 100k on the clock but the mileage didn't really scare me and knew the risk of a used vehicle. Fast forward to recently it developed a minor squeak under hoood like a bearing going out so figured it was a belt tensioner or fan bearing going out no big deal and was going to pull it in the shop and fix it but had not gotten to it yet. Well Sat it was idleing while I hooked up the trailer and heard the sqeak stop all the sudden and clunk at same time and thought that can't be good. So cut it off quickly and popped the hood to find fan belt pulley side ways and belt off. After looking closer the bolts had come out of the pulley and it sheared the last two off. So decided to tear it apart Sat afternoon to see what parts were needed and how bad damage was. After couple hrs of fusing and head scratching I finally got the fan, bracket and shroud off engine and out in one piece together since with no pulley I could not get the fan nut loose to bring it out in pieces like designed.


Luckly only needed a new pulley since holes had mushroomed and new bolts and was going to replace belt and tensioner while I had it all apart for preventative since it had 100k on it and was already mostly apart.

Call 1st dodge dealer today to get prices on parts, pulley $135 which I thought was high but hey its a dealer and factory parts. I about dropped the phone when he told me the 6 bolts that hold it were $11.20 a piece and he had the nerve to laugh and say man they are proud of those. Mind you not real special bolts just 6mm flange bolt. So decide to check around since he had to order it anyway after sticker shock.

Second dealer price pulley is $122 and bolts $9.02 a piece and thought better but still crazy for bolts and he didn't have it either.

So still scratching my head on what to do and decided to check with cummins in greensboro since I was going right by it to see a customer. Pleasantly surprised when he told me pulley would be $40 and bolts were $.22 a piece. He had to order it as well but would be here tommorrow.

So with that said do your home work, I am all for them making a profit on parts but that markup was a bit excessive. I do not want to know what the dealer would have wanted to preform the work as well.
 
Cummins has always been awesome to deal with
 
Pull your engines serial number off and go to cummins quick serve make a account. Input your serial number of the engine and find the bolts. Call Cummins dealer
 
Pull your engines serial number off and go to cummins quick serve make a account. Input your serial number of the engine and find the bolts. Call Cummins dealer


I was going to but just happened to be going right by and had pulley with me with number on it so decided to stop in and the guys in greensboro have always been very helpful this time and years past.
 
I was going to but just happened to be going right by and had pulley with me with number on it so decided to stop in and the guys in greensboro have always been very helpful this time and years past.


Good deal! Screw Dodge and Chrysler. Cummins saved Dodge. I open a account through cummins to get parts for my truck I'm building.
 
Chrysler loves their bolts. Flywheel bolts for my old YJ were up around $10 a piece, redline or whatever they call their express shipping was almost the same, per bolt, too late for that weeks stock order. Unfortunately at that time I had zero other options.

Glad Cummins Atlantic does well for you guys, my parts people aren't so lucky.
 
A parts guy told me dealers buy their parts and resale them through different departments within the dealership to arrive at their insane prices.
 
Years ago I had a VW Beetle. Someone stole the antenna of it in a parking lot. It just screwed off. I went to the dealer to buy another. They wanted $85.00 for the antenna. :eek:
I passed and went home and tried Ebay. Long story short. $15.00 with free shipping. :) Except the the fact I get free oil changes at my Honda dealer now that's the only time they see me.
 
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My brother-in-law built a dealership which he eventually sold to one of the big national groups. From my perspective, it looked like selling parts and service was a very good business. His widow wants to downsize and recently put their house on the market at $10,595,000 (yeah, I double-checked to be sure I had the correct number of zeros).
 
A parts guy told me dealers buy their parts and resale them through different departments within the dealership to arrive at their insane prices.

Most dealership will buy parts from the manufacture who bought the parts from the supplier. At each step the price is inflated and thus you arrive at stupid high price for a bolt.

Example. Fastenal makes a 12mm flange bolt, it cost them 50 cents to make. Dodge buys the bolt for 50 cents and then sells it to the dealer for $5 bucks. Dealer gets it and sales it to you for $10 dollars.

I own a Cat Skid Steer and if/when something is needed for it I'll get it from supplier since I have "insider" knowledge. Oh and because Gerogry Poole can eat a dick and 2 on Sunday.
 
I own a Cat Skid Steer and if/when something is needed for it I'll get it from supplier since I have "insider" knowledge

I have a Bobcat 762. Any knowledge you can share to help me with parts for that?
 
I have a Bobcat 762. Any knowledge you can share to help me with parts for that?
Should of bought a CAT. :)

I work for Cat in Clayton. I can tell you from having taken Bobcat apart that most of the hyduralics are same that Cat uses just a lower teir quality of part. Not calling the junk, Bobcat meets client with a budget. Cat has more features standard. Georgy Poole is cause for a lot of people not buying cat.

I can't remember if Bobcat tells the supplier to remove their markings or not. I know CAT does.
Hydraulic system (what I do) suppliers would be
Danfoss
Rexroth (Bocsh)
Hydac
Hydra Force
Proclaim
 
Most dealership will buy parts from the manufacture who bought the parts from the supplier. At each step the price is inflated and thus you arrive at stupid high price for a bolt.

Example. Fastenal makes a 12mm flange bolt, it cost them 50 cents to make. Dodge buys the bolt for 50 cents and then sells it to the dealer for $5 bucks. Dealer gets it and sales it to you for $10 dollars.

I own a Cat Skid Steer and if/when something is needed for it I'll get it from supplier since I have "insider" knowledge. Oh and because Gerogry Poole can eat a dick and 2 on Sunday.


Fastenal example is not even great one they are a distributor and buy it from a bolt mfg as well and put a good mark up on it. Lol I use to work there but least the markups were reasonable not 300%
 
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Fastenal example is not great one they are a distributor and buy it from a bolt mfg as well and put a good mark up on it. Lol I use to work there but least the markups were reasonable not 300%
I use Fastenal because most people here know them, that's all. lol
 
That's me!!! ;)

Thanks for the info.
I ran Bobcat's most of my life until I started to run Cat machines. Then Dad and I bought out 289D this year. First one was when I was 5 years old, the mason building my parents house let me drive it (92-93').
 
ALWAYS call around for prices.

Took my Buick in to the dealer service department to troubleshoot a rattle (I had a suspician what it was, but was out of town from the people who did the original transmission work).

Long story short, they inspected the h*ll out of my LeSabre and gave me a list of everything that needed attention. I dunno if they thought I would just trade it in or something, if they gave me a huge enough repair bill, or what.

In addition to what I brought it in for, one of the things they said needed replacing was my alternator.

For $700.

$700 to swap an alternator that has what...two bolts and two wires, sitting right on top of the engine? The new alternator better d*mn near rival the Hoover Dam's output for that price!

I said "no thanks" to any repairs and took my car back to the shop that did my transmission work. That part was under warranty. The rest? I can change alternators and stuff like that in the driveway.

But before I do, I'll have the alternator checked by someone else. It seems to be working fine, no problems charging or with output voltage. I know alternators can have a bad diode or two and still work OK, but there are USUALLY a couple minor symptoms which go along with this. Like output voltage generally increases a couple volts, the battery starts acting weak because it's not charging properly, or battery voltage drops too much when you load the electrical system by turning on lights, A/C, etc. And I'm not getting any of that.

I do have a power converter connected to my battery...I wonder if it interfered with their diagnostics machine?
 
ALWAYS call around for prices.

Took my Buick in to the dealer service department to troubleshoot a rattle (I had a suspician what it was, but was out of town from the people who did the original transmission work).

Long story short, they inspected the h*ll out of my LeSabre and gave me a list of everything that needed attention. I dunno if they thought I would just trade it in or something, if they gave me a huge enough repair bill, or what.

In addition to what I brought it in for, one of the things they said needed replacing was my alternator.

For $700.

$700 to swap an alternator that has what...two bolts and two wires, sitting right on top of the engine? The new alternator better d*mn near rival the Hoover Dam's output for that price!

I said "no thanks" to any repairs and took my car back to the shop that did my transmission work. That part was under warranty. The rest? I can change alternators and stuff like that in the driveway.

But before I do, I'll have the alternator checked by someone else. It seems to be working fine, no problems charging or with output voltage. I know alternators can have a bad diode or two and still work OK, but there are USUALLY a couple minor symptoms which go along with this. Like output voltage generally increases a couple volts, the battery starts acting weak because it's not charging properly, or battery voltage drops too much when you load the electrical system by turning on lights, A/C, etc. And I'm not getting any of that.

I do have a power converter connected to my battery...I wonder if it interfered with their diagnostics machine?
I'm glad to know I'm not the only LeSabre owner here. :)
 
My did works in parts distribution for one of the Big Three. He has said before, the price doubles every time the part changes hands.

I'm a fan of using OEM parts, and will use dealers for a lot of those parts. It's a shame dealers have priced themselves out of the market in a lot of ways... Parts and services is one of example.
 
I'm glad to know I'm not the only LeSabre owner here. :)

Heh! My wife and daughters call it my "granny car".

Funny how none of them have ever turned their noses up at it what they need a ride!

Me? I call it "The Raptor".
 
My brother-in-law built a dealership which he eventually sold to one of the big national groups. From my perspective, it looked like selling parts and service was a very good business. His widow wants to downsize and recently put their house on the market at $10,595,000 (yeah, I double-checked to be sure I had the correct number of zeros).
Yes, parts are very lucrative especially if you're selling them to the end user. This is pretty universal across industries.
 
On my end of the business, more times than not, the dealer has better pricing than the Chinese parts pushers. Better quality part also
 
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