buying GM parts

[streetdreams]

at my dealer they sell parts to employees for theyre OWN cars (must have ownership in your name) at cost plus 10% off. I thought this was the deal of the century since some things are marked up 100%! anyways I bought plugs and a friend says "next time you wanna buy parts go to partsman, dont buy from here they rip you off" I thought about that for a second and told him "how can a outside company sell delco parts for cheaper than cost +10%?

he just shrugged and said "trust me". I thought about this long and hard and I gotta know. this 'partsman' or any other company, how do they get theyre stuff for less than cost?? if they really did than dosent that mean GM is losing money on every sale to parts companys??

[1990lumina]

I see AC Delco stuff for sale everywhere ALOT cheaper then the dealer. I think the bottom line is all the parts still come from GM...so why would GM care who sells them??? Maybe I'm wrong though

[streetdreams]

ya but again thats the retail price you see either at the dealer or at the parts co so even a sale at the parts co is gonna be cheaper than dealer retail. I'm saying as employees we get at COST+10% off and the parts co's COST price is still cheaper. thats what I dont understand

[Turbo231]

That's because it's your dealer's cost....not the actual cost to generate the part.

 

GM makes a spark plug...or pays someone too...say for $1.

 

GM charges the dealer $2...that's the DEALER'S COST.

 

GM charges a wholesaler $1.50...that's the WHOLESALER'S COST.

 

Some other parts place purchases the wholesaler's plug, at say $1.75, and sells it to you at $1.95...that ends up being cheaper then the DEALER COST.

 

That's how it happens. Everyone gets a cut. While a dealer may only purchase 100 plugs, a wholesaler may purchase 100,000 plugs and get a price cut. GM doesn't protect their dealers, all it sees is $$$ and volume.

 

Ben

[manitcor]

in the case of ACDelco stuff, dealers get most of that direct from ACDelco. If your slick you can get the parts guy at the counter to tell you where thier local disturbter is (or look it up) many of them are open to the public as long as you have a credit card.

 

In the case of GM only parts that arenot branded AC Delco, thats where they really get you.

[streetdreams]

turbo 231 that was a great reply man you really cleared it up and ya I see what your saying, the parts dealer in a dealership is not the 'direct' line to GM parts its just another customer in the GM lineup. man now it all makes sense!

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I was pricing out spark plugs for the Sunfire, so first I went to NAPA and they only had AC Delco platinum for $11 or so... then I went to the dealership (I get a slight discount cause I work at Thrifty INSIDE the dealership) and it was slightly more expensive for the same part.

[streetdreams]

its funny now that I think about it. GM is like a ginat money making machine, theres noway they'd lose even half a penny on a sale. they have so many routes and transactions for business and accounts its mind boggling. other day at work a advisor was asking how theyre gonna get theyre dealer rebate on a warranty muffler and the parts manager says "well we'l have to get it AAC and when that comes back send it out via transac and it might be 4 days before we get back a nasco number on it. I was like wtf? did you just say. its all business to GM headquarters