VINTAGE AUTO PARTS

[Jim Piro]

In case yo'all don't know, the prices you get from Vintage are LIST! They will not come down one cent but every GM dealer in the world has an open account with these people. Go to your friends at GM, if they are giving you a discount, and tell them to call Vintage(give them the number if they don't already have it)and they will get better pricing plus freight.

I have delt with these people and I have the drill down pat!

[KDirk]

Jim,

Good advice there. I always order through the dealer and get wholesale pricing (40%+ off retail). VPI parts don't come down quite as much as GM SPO stuff, but still better than list. Of couse, this assumes you have the "good guys discount" at a GM dealer. Some do, some don't.

I'm lucky to have a good working relationship with both parts guys at my local Cadillac dealer, so I order everything through them. Of course, I single handedly improve their monthly sales numbers - sometimes by a few to several hundred dollars (between myself, my one brother and my mom there are 4 Cadillacs and 1 Reatta, thus lots of parts purchased on the account), so the benefit is mutual.

Bottom line, get in good with a parts guy at a GM dealership willing to work with you, not against you. This may not always be easy to pull off, but it can be done. A few spiffs may help; I give the two parts guys I deal with gift cert's for local restaurants at Christmas each year, out of appreciation for all the money they have saved me.

Keep in mind this has to be in the thousands of dollars over the last 7-8 years of owning GM products. I also get the occasional free polo shirt, or other promotional item, so I'm perfectly happy to shell out $150+ or so for a holiday "thank you".

KDirk