Went along to a spares palace today to pick up a part for my car -- £60-ish for a glove box cover. While in there another person asked for a wiper relay -- I did not manage to hear the make of his car but the spares place deals in five makes of the average type of car, not Mercs or BMW.
The man was told it was £55 + vat, and it would need to be ordered, as was my part.
Now I know I can buy general purpose relays for just two to three pounds so on an electronics parts web site I looked up an 'automotive relay' that would handle 30 amps and 12 volts (more than enough) and saw they were less than £1+VAT in 1000 off. So £2 plus some postage would get me one. Some mark-up.
Of course the relay would need to be of a size that would fit where it was wanted but that would not be a problem for me and sizes are given.
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It could be more of a wiper ECU if the car is new, rain sensitive wipers, light sensitive wipers, speed sensive, rear wiper that comes on with reverse, etc... All these inputs need to be monitored and calculated. Also, as cars increasing use control area networks to reduce wiring by sending all of this information all over the whole car with effectively one wire, the weight savings are offset with a requirement for more complex electronic parts. e.g. a modern rear light cluster will nowadays have three wires, one to ground, one to 12v power and the other a CAN which will carry all other info in two direction from which bulb to illuminate to which one is faulty.
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Yup I also believe that the power requirements of these CANBUS systems mean manufacturers are struggling with the amount of amps they have to put through the loom, and would like to use a lot more than 12V to reduce the amps.
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wouldlike to use a lot more than 12V to reduce the amps.
Or better still cut the amount of useless gadgets piled high in modern cars, get back to basics and kick canbus in the hedge.
Hah, I feel better now :o)
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Or better still ...Hah I feel better now :o)
Oh look, a flying pig! (With cornering lights and electronic fully damped illuminated infinitely adjustable...cupholders)
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Some mark-up.
You've conveniently ignored how much it costs, including overheads, to package, transport, order, stock, and process a sale of small quantities of large numbers of different spares. For example, my employer used to say that the overheads of employing somebody was 3 to 4 times their wages.
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"to package, transport, order, stock, and process a sale."
The stocking of such parts was zero. They just rang a supplier and asked me pay and then to ring back 4 days later to see if the part was in.
But, as I said, it was a palace of a place to go and was also the frontage for the car servicing aspect.
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The stocking of such parts was zero. They just rang a supplier and asked me pay and then to ring back 4 days later to see if the part was in.
So was there not a cost incured by the people who do stock the parts and then send them on to your dealer?
Typically, every step in the supply chain can double the cost of an item.
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....... They just rang a supplier and asked me pay and then to ring back 4 days later to see if the part was in.
You've ignored the cost, including overheads, of processing the sale. The dealer has to add overheads to everything which goes through their hands.
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ood job it wasn't a Renault - around £150 for a Scenic wiper relay 8 years ago!
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So what did you get for your £60 glove box cover? Surely the manufactuing costs were a lot less - so why didn't you make one yourself?
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Some mark-up.
I'd like to see you running a cafe.
Coffee ~ cost to make 5p. Selling price 10p would give you 100% profit ........ wouldn't it? !!
Edited by L'escargot on 12/01/2009 at 09:44
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Last part I bought from a dealer was a fuel pump relay for my lovely green Vectra, 17 quid inc. ; seemed fairly reasonable to me. Mind you they operate the spares business out of a scabby looking warehouse on the edge of town, rather than a shiny glass and chrome palace.
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