The Art's Automotive policy on customer supplied parts

We will use customer supplied parts... reluctantly. However, we do have a list of conditions which must be agreed to before we will use your parts.

But before reading the conditions, let me try to talk you out of buying your own parts. If you've already bought them, you can skip this next section.

There is not any savings for most people when they buy their own parts. We do not charge over dealer list for the parts we sell you, so unless you have an inside connection at the dealer, you will not save any money by buying OE parts yourself. If you are planning to buy aftermarket, you may be getting a false sense of value. There are some aftermarket parts which can be safely used, and in rare cases there are are some aftermarket parts which are improved over the original part design. However, knowing which aftermarket parts are good to use and which will kill your car is a bit like knowing which mushrooms are safe to eat: very risky unless you have a lot of expertise and experience. If you pick a bad part and the part does not perform to your satisfaction, you will have little recourse. The parts supplier may warranty the part but that likely will mean you get the exact same brand/model of the part that failed in the first place. The mechanic will not warranty the labor required to replace the part a second time, since he did not pick the Death Cap brand alternator the first time (at least that's the way we feel about it, other mechanics may have other opinions).

1. The parts must be OE, if not, you must agree that there will be no warranty on labor to replace a part that has failed for any reason other than obvious mis-installation If there is any question as to whether the part failed due to mis-installation or part quality, you will not receive the benefit of the doubt.

2. In most cases there will be a "corking fee", much like the fee charged when you bring your own bottle of wine to a restaurant. Part of the way we make money is by selling parts. On the one hand, we like to be nice guys and feel uncomfortable about the corking fee at times, but on the other, there are expenses that must be met for us to stay in business and make a profit. The corking fee will be 20% of the list price of the OE part.

3. The parts you bring us must be the right parts for the car. If the part is wrong, and the mechanic needs to spend extra time buttoning the car back up so it can be pushed off the lift while we are waiting for the correct part, then that time will be billed to you.

4. If you bring an aftermarket part that requires modification or other extra work that would not be required if we had used the OE part, then you must pay for the extra time we spend installing the part. We can not always give an upfront estimate of the extra time necessary, as we may not know what will be required until the car has been taken apart.