In past generations, it was a luxury for only the lucky few to have a motor car serviced or repaired by a supplying or franchised dealer. The vehicles and the moving parts were simple and similar, and there were many more competent ‘home mechanics’ – relatively speaking, at least. Nowadays, however, things are quite different. For several reasons, the concept of undertaking regular maintenance or repair on a car less than ten years old is quickly becoming a thing of the past. The complex machines depend on special computers to analyze several systems. The warranties are longer than in the past and stipulate professional maintenance. And most replacement car parts are disposable and simply replaced, whereas in the past they could be made to work again somehow.

Computers Taking Over

Modern motor cars are very different creatures from those just a few decades ago. The use of computer technology, in both their design and service and repair, has improved the cars and aided diagnosis. In the design process, the ideal balance is found to provide consumers with comfortable and efficient vehicles, and this is beneficial to all. However, in service departments of franchised dealers, there are large and sophisticated computers which are used to communicate with cars’ systems for analytical purposes. The systems are extremely expensive and designed for each brand or even model of car. Local mechanics, working from home or a lockup garage, are unable to buy such special equipment, and therefore can’t properly diagnose, service, or repair modern cars.

The Good & Bad of Modern Motor Car Warranties

Secondly, the manufacturers’ warranties are quite different from years gone by. In the last century, 12 months was the norm, and the small print could be read to indicate that the vehicle only needs to be properly serviced and maintained. However, newer cars have longer warranties as well as offering routine maintenance as part of many sales packages. Being routinely serviced ‘in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines, and using genuine Mitsubishi parts’ for example, is a common stipulation in the wording of warranties. Without the specialized machinery and genuine car parts, this would be impossible by the owner-driver or part-time local mechanic.

Replace - No More Repairing

Finally, car parts are very different from how they were in the past. It used to be possible to ‘make something work again’ by cleaning or adjusting it or maybe adding some lubricant. It may even have been possible to find secondhand parts or those designed for another vehicle and make them work in a temporary repair. However, the car parts of today may be more standardized but they are quite different from their ancestors in the way they are supplied and used. To buy car parts can be done in a number of ways, many of which are different from twenty or more years ago. Where it used to be possible to buy OEM car parts from an independent dealer, saving money both in the purchase as well as the journey to the store, that practice is less common now. For example, genuine Mitsubishi spares are often only available from franchised parts dealers, with OEM spare parts being the ones found on independent sellers’ shelves. In addition, there is far less ‘cleaning and putting back’ of car parts nowadays. Replacement of parts, or even systems, is the simplest way to perform a repair on modern cars. This is often more expensive than it used to be, but one must take into account that everything has gone up in price and the cars thewww.dealer-spareparts.comlves are better in every way.

The New Way To Save Money

So, with the option of paying a local mechanic or asking one’s father or uncle to repair or service a vehicle, how can owners save money on running their modern cars? One way to cut costs but maintain the best quality is the purchase of the parts. While this may appear to be a bit of a headache for retail customers, who only need one part at a time, it’s of great benefit to independent parts retailers and wholesalers around the world. Like almost everything nowadays, from airline tickets to books and toys, the online market has opened up opportunities both buyers and sellers alike. Using the likes of Mitsubishi as an example again, the ‘mother company’ in the homeland protects the interests of their dealers around the world by controlling the official sale and export of parts, for example from Thailand where they are made. They forbid their own official dealers from exporting the genuine Mitsubishi spares, as this would be unfair to the dealers who must buy direct from Mitsubishi. However, there are several independent parts suppliers in countries such as Thailand who are able to source and supply for export genuine car parts at much lower prices. The parts are of top quality, and absolutely genuine, but they have not had to go through the profitable markup process of the genuine sales network. They are not OEM parts, but genuine in every way.

Hi Quality, Low Cost

So, with the loss of the home mechanic, consumers can now look to a different way to save money on running their beloved motors cars and keeping them on the road. Buying genuine car parts from a supplier who has imported them indirectly can save quite a lot of money when compared to visiting a main dealer and paying the high prices caused by the parts going through the official supply chain. This may not be possible for the first few years of a car’s life, due to warranty stipulations, but owners of cars aged four years old or more can save a lot of money this way.