If you take your car in for repairs you should be provided with a breakdown of what is required to fix it and how much the parts and labour are. Often garages, especially main dealers, tend to charge not only a high labour cost but also quite a mark up on the parts. Ask the garage if they would let you source the parts yourself and they can fit them for you. Some garages don’t like to do this as if the part is defect or faulty they have no control over it and can waste many hours trying to fix it. Some mechanics will fit them but will tell you there is no warranty on the parts fitted as they have not come from their supplier.

If you are buying second hand car parts, be wary as you often have no come back and many parts cannot be tested properly until fitted on to the car.