Car dealers overcharge for car parts to increase car sales

New research claims some car dealers are overcharging motorists for car parts by as much as 400% in an effort to persuade them to change their vehicle early.

Motorists who take their vehicle to some franchised dealerships for service or inspection are being quoted excessive prices for the parts to be replaced. Motorists should beware of hungry car salesmen lurking in the background hoping to make a quick car sale, or being persuaded into paying an excessive price for a repair – an approach described as the ‘pincer movement’ by one ex-dealership car salesman.

Mark Cornwall of Car Parts Direct said: "I believe car manufacturers are keeping replacement parts prices high in order to encourage motorists to buy a new car. If their customer chooses to pay for the inflated repair quote the dealer wins either way. It’s a win-win all the way for the dealers – often at huge and unnecessary expense to the motorist."

Most new vehicles will lose around 60% of their value in the first three years of ownership. On a £15,000 vehicle that’s £9,000 of depreciation, or enough cash to allow a motorists to service and repair the average vehicle for around 14 years according to Car Parts Direct.

Fifty-six percent of Car Parts Direct mail order customers service and repair their own vehicles, 32% have a friend or local garage fit their parts and 12% of parts are supplied to car dealerships and fast fit centres, who in turn sell the parts on to their customer. Mark Cornwall said, "All of our customers pay exactly the same price, most online orders are sent carriage free and we have one price to all price policy – it’s simple that way."

Before being persuaded in to buying a new vehicle when faced with an expensive garage repair bill it is worth checking out alternative parts prices and arranging the repair yourself. You can check prices on over a 100,000 car parts for virtually every vehicle on the road in just a couple of clicks by visiting carparts-direct.co.uk