Resto question - sourcing parts

[xs29bb1]

Hi guys,

I'm at the stage where I need to order what unfortunately amounts to a boatload of parts for my '68 R/T.  Everything from door handles, to gas/brake pedals and bezels, to arm rest pads, etc etc - all totaled a good 200 odd parts in all.  The thought now is to source these from YearOne - and with my volume I'd be getting about a 20% discount off of the retail prices.  These guys seem to have most of what I need, I just don't know if this the most cost effective way to do this.

So, the obvious question is - is this the correct way to go? 

[Ghoste]

Just find out what the shipping costs are, they have a bad reputation for raping you on the shipping in some cases.  There are other sources out there that could well prove to have what you need for a lot less.

[xs29bb1]

Thanks.  So it is it just the shipping that's high or are their prices high in general?

[Mike DC]

   
The prices at Year One in general are decent but the shipping is ridiculous.  It's literally their intentional business model.  They list moderate prices in the catalog and then rape you on shipping with numbers that are illogically high. 

I'm not saying it's impossible to ever get a decent total price from them on anything.  But I'm saying you have to find out.  You do not have the total price from Year One until you get the shipping figure included.  Some items will end up being decently priced when the smoke clears, others won't. 

[tsmithae]

My resto has taken years and honestly, this is probably for the best.  I don't think I have paid retail for anything, I just wait until I see what I need at a steal and I pop when that happens. In general, I have been able to find better prices than Year One, but that isn't always true. 

[xs29bb1]

Thanks for the input guys.  I have the bill from them - it's essentially 20% under retail due to the volume, however as you guys have mentioned they literally want 9% of my price for shipping!!  Putting it into perspective, they want more for shipping than it cost to ship my entire freaking car from Colorado to CA last year when I first acquired it.

Yes it's 200 parts, but there's no way it can cost that.  I'm going to look elsewhere, and if I can get a decent quote maybe I'll call YearOne back and tell them they can either cut the shipping a ton and make a huge sale or I buy nothing from them at all.  I guess it's worth a shot.....

[cdr]

classic ind has sales & their shipping is not to bad,also summit racing has a lot of parts & free shipping.

[NHCharger]

Once in a great while Y.O. will have a 10, 20 or sometimes 30 % off sale and include free shipping. I bought all my wiring harnesses from them when they offered that.
As mentioned there are other vendors that offer better pricing and don't bend you over on shipping. Vendors like Dante have a pretty decent selection. Sometimes the smaller vendors such as RT Specialties have surprised me with having some of the hard to find items in stock.
FYI, steer clear of Jim's Auto part in NH.

[A383Wing]

BE&A Parts
Mega Parts

[bull]

The addage you often see goes "no expense was spared on the cost of this restoration" but that's BS IMO. You can spare a lot of expense by shopping around and working sales.

That said, Year One can work out well for you with big orders, especially considering their 20%-25% off sales. They way they ship (and there are many threads about this) is they quickly grab whatever box the particular part fits in easiest and you get charged for the size of the box more than the weight. So say you order a side mirror and a pair of arm rest bases. You may end up with a 15" box because they were too lazy or in too much of a hurry to put them diagonally in a 10" box. The way to make this work in your favor is to buy one big part and lots of little ones or just lots of little parts. That way they grab a big box and start filling it and the per-item shipping charge drops dramatically. Year One usually has at least one sale per year where you can get 25% off of orders of $1,000 or more. 200 items would easily put you over $1,000. Many guys here have taken advantage of that sale when buying their wiring harnesses and if they were to figure the shipping cost of each harness it becomes obvious that Year One shipping is not bad in that case. One or two items though? You're going to get nailed.

[Daytona R/T SE]

I ordered about $500 worth of stuff from Year One a couple of weeks ago.

They had a 30% off code listed on their website.

Shipping was $16.  

Based on my past experience with them, I thought they would stick it to me on the shipping.

Didn't happen.


I just looked,


They have another 30% off code now:   T2DAY