whalebird

Wayne, I speak with an unfair bias. As a Porsche tech at the dealership level, I was constantly side-lining cars because of galactic backorders on parts for cars both older and newer. Backorder is not the same as NLA. This effected customer satisfaction and my paycheck. At the same time I was also a Benz tech for which parts were readily available.
I found at the independent shops (and for the retail consumer - i.e. Pelican), the parts pipeline was for the most part intact. This includes the multitude of OEM parts, of which many are fine.
You may detect a frustration in my post.

Lorenfb

"Dave at SSF is a GREAT Porsche parts guy. WorldPac can be evil. SSF is a huge company. If anybody wants parts from these guys you'll have to go to your reputable indie shop."

The above mentioned suppliers are the key suppliers and IMC (> 90%)
for most/all foreign (and some domestic) parts besides the OEM dealers,
as most/all others, e.g. as those mentioned on this thread, are essentially
parts brokers, i.e. a non-stocking retailer using drop-shipments from
SSF, IMC, & Worldpac (the big three). Most/all brokers carry no stock.

Probably, and maybe soon/eventually, 'the big three' or one of them (the one doing
the least drop-shipments) will establish a retail-direct operation as most/all
have the names and addresses of the drop-ship customers. The barriers-
to-entry are basically non-existent, i.e. they have the stock, website, shipping
operations, sales staff, & etc, for the 'big three'. Most/all will realize that
the 20-30%+ margin lost to the brokers can be brought in-house for a
very small cost. In some cases, it's only a previous broker contract preventing
this. And what's to prevent a Pep Boys/Autozone/Kragen from 'brokering' too.

Bottom line: Other than a website, most/all brokers lack a real 'rent' (other
than price) that protects them from competitors and establishes a long term
business model. As a result, the overall parts margin for all, e.g. the 'big
three' & repair shops has been reduced. So, in the end the Porsche parts buyer,
e.g. the Porsche DIY guys, has & will continue to benefit.

whalebird

Lorenfb. That is a great scenario for the DIY crowd, but a nightmare for the indie shops. Lots of indie shops will turn you around at the door if you have your own parts in hand, and it's for the customers own good. I also think that the said brokers are holding more stock on hand. Drop shipping happens in certain situations but not nearly as often as every order. Anyway, parts supply are a sticky part of the car business.

rusnak

Well, there are barriers to entry and there are niches. I don't envision the big parts brokers even bothering with our cars. For one thing, they don't have the ability yet to identify all of the parts and applications correctly. And the emergence of web discussion boards has raised the bar for customer expectations much higher than even 10 years ago.

Lorenfb

"Lots of indie shops will turn you around at the door if you have your own parts in hand,"

That's what's now going on! Many now challenge the independents (& dealers)
with parts found on the internet (the brokers) for less than the independent
quotes.

"Drop shipping happens in certain situations but not nearly as often as every order."

Don't think so, not for the margins the brokers work off of. Try and will-call
a clutch, pressure plate, and TO bearing on a 964/993 at a broker, much
less one for a 997.

"For one thing, they don't have the ability yet to identify all of the parts and applications correctly."

Do what? They supply all the independents with much more demanding needs,
i.e. the independents are faced with a much broader parts needs than the DIY.

rusnak

why do specialist repair and parts retailers exist and continue to serve customers? I only care if Napa Auto or Kragen carry a distributor cap or wheel bearung if i'm stuck on the side of the road a few hundred miles from home between 9 and 5 M-F. The other 99% of the time my main concern is getting the right part at a fair price. Buying from a knowledgeable supplier and paying for shipping saves me the hassle of going back to try to get my money back, and having to threaten to shove the incorrect part up some parts counter guy's ***.

PushingMyLuck

Are you saying 911 parts prices are dropping?

Ed Hughes

You really don't catch on too quickly....

PushingMyLuck

This statement means prices are dropping.

Ed Hughes

One can clearly see that stock/commodity items can be shopped on the internet all day long, the next obscure seller lower than the next. That would be evident to someone who owns a 911.

awhenry

Rock Auto, Parts Geek and Amazon for common hard parts. Sometimes you can find a morsel on Ebay. Pelican for the specialty stuff. I havent purchased a part yet in my remediation process from Porsche.

r911

A good dealer is a blessing. Stoddard's does mail order and has lots of NLA quality parts. The factory seems to have a special relationship with them.

All dealerships have the highest quality parts.

I am about 150 miles from a dealer unfortunately, but Sunset (PDX) is closest. Sunset offers good prices, has a guy who really knows old 911s and gives an extra discount on 'customer appreciation day' in early Feb. They volunteered the extra discount without me even asking about it.

theiceman

Quit it already , you are defeating the purpose of my ignore list

Eharrison

So that's a no........?

rusnak

Haha!