| After taking my car to a garage to get a service | | | | They provided suggestions of possible alternative |
| and MOT carried out only to be told that they | | | | names, as well as suggestions of where I might |
| could not get a part directly from the | | | | be able to find a replacement and how much it |
| manufacturer, I have recently had the | | | | was liable to cost. I even ended up with several |
| excruciatingly painful experience of trying to | | | | detailed sets of instructions on how to fit the part |
| source the parts from alternative suppliers. | | | | myself, which if I had the time would have saved |
| This was a situation which I had never envisaged. | | | | me a sizable amount of money! |
| While I understood that my Toyota MR2 was no | | | | The next step was to check out some of the |
| longer in production, I was still completely stunned | | | | recommended garages and scrap yards online to |
| to find out that certain parts for it are no longer | | | | see if anywhere had the part in stock, how much |
| available. If my vehicle was a rare custom car, | | | | it would cost and how long it would take to arrive. |
| then perhaps I could understand it, but it is | | | | The internet again came to my rescue, as a quick |
| currently one of the more popular tuner cars to | | | | Google search for the terms "car part Toyota |
| be coming into the UK as part of the grey import | | | | MR2", yielded a list of specialist part suppliers and |
| market from Japan. It seems that although you | | | | scrap yard networks. |
| can easily buy the cars themselves, getting the | | | | These networks proved to be of particular use |
| parts to keep them running is a lot more difficult. | | | | for my circumstances. Simply by entering in the |
| I tried the usual phoning round of local suppliers, | | | | car and part details, one website provided a free |
| but to no avail. I checked through the yellow | | | | check of multiple car part sources across the |
| pages and tried the local scrap yards to see if | | | | country in one go. After only a few minutes I |
| they had anything, but again with no luck. I looked | | | | was on the phone to a scrap dealer several |
| through hundreds of pages from different car | | | | hundred miles away, and being told that they had |
| tuning and performance parts sites, and couldn't | | | | the part in stock and could do next day delivery! I |
| find anything to match up with what I needed. | | | | confirmed, by emailing a photo, that the part they |
| In the end I started trawling through different | | | | had was actually the one required and after that |
| motoring forum [ sites to see if the part was | | | | it was just a matter of ordering and waiting 24 |
| perhaps known under a different name from | | | | hours for the part to arrive. |
| what the garage had told me it was called. That | | | | How quickly it can all change; from the despair I |
| was when I started to gain some feeling that I | | | | felt at the idea that I might have to get a part |
| might actually be able to keep the car running. | | | | custom made or even dispose of my car, to the |
| Following a couple of posts asking for help to the | | | | elation at being able to quickly and cheaply get the |
| relevant sites, with the addition of a photo of the | | | | car back on the road. For anyone with a car that |
| offending part, and I suddenly had access to a | | | | is no longer in production, or who is simply looking |
| large group of keen car owners and mechanics | | | | to save on the costs of repair and servicing, the |
| looking to discuss motoring online and my car | | | | internet is definitely the answer. |
| problem in particular. | | | | |