1995 960 dealer parts price gouging

jasv · Post by **jasv** » 10 Sep 2014, 10:52

My local dealer in Southern California seems to be price gouging. I needed a new accelerator cable part number 3547300. I googled it and there are various dealers that have a list price of $70ish with a "your price" of $60ish.

I went to my dealer and he wanted $112 for it. I pushed back and the parts specialist gave it to me for $89. The same parts guy charged me $16 a piece for oetiker clamps but a different guy at the same dealer charged me $5.99 each for the same part.

It seems obvious that my dealer (or the one parts guy) is price gouging on parts. Complaining to the dealer is probably not helpful and the guy charging a normal price is the one likely to get scolded.

Is there a Volvo "corporate" place to complain? Or is it common practice and dealers can set their own "list price"?

Jesse8931 · Post by **Jesse8931** » 10 Sep 2014, 11:37

Dealers can set what ever price they want. If it were me I would try to order from fcp euro. I had ordered a timing belt kit and water pump both the kit and pump dropped over 25 bucks off for a total of 53 dollars difference. I made one call and was refunded the difference.

Jesse8931 · Post by **Jesse8931** » 10 Sep 2014, 11:39

Also OEM parts have long gone past the time of being readily available. 112 at a dealer in stock or 70 online that is the price of a building lights employees etc.

jasv · Post by **jasv** » 10 Sep 2014, 11:41

I am a regular customer of fcpeuro. They have great service and stand by their parts. Sadly, they did not have this part available.

jasv · Post by **jasv** » 10 Sep 2014, 11:44

Jesse8931 wrote:Also OEM parts have long gone past the time of being readily available. 112 at a dealer in stock or 70 online that is the price of a building lights employees etc.

Actually all the "online vendors" were dealers and the actual price to me was more like $60. The issue is they had a consistent "list price" across all dealers. Also, it was not in stock but available next day.

It was the combination of the oetike clamps and the cable experience that bothers me. I guess there isn't anything I can do except take my business elsewhere.

Post by **jimmy57** » 10 Sep 2014, 12:05

The manufacturers do not like this either (they do not like parts discounting either for that matter) but the business owner sets pricing. You can opt to not buy from them. I have the same issue with Ford parts. My closest dealer is above SRP and a dealer a little bit further away (but the traffic there is often TERRIBLE) does internet wholesale and I can order it online and it is on the counter 45 min later when I arrive. I will on occasion go to the above SRP and ask if they will deal a bit as I can get the part at the other dealer for $x.xx. They will usually do it but they act like I just made them reach in their pocket and kick in the diff between the normal price and the low price. I have told them I will gladly buy parts their for the good price or they can lose the sale completely as I will go to the other dealer and get parts.
When the dealer has the attitude of "milk the cow until it bleeds as I may not get a chance to milk it again" instead of " milk the cow a little everyday and the cow will have milk for a long time" there isn't much you can do.

Post by **rmmagow** » 10 Sep 2014, 13:11

I have had good luck with Tasca for my 98 V70 parts. Shipping is a bit high. The last time I ordered from them, they asked if I could pick up the parts at their warehouse (Size and fragile issue) which is only like 5 miles from my house. To my surprise they refunded me back the entire shipping charge. Their counter price for the same parts was nearly 100% over what I ended up paying. The counter guy told me to just go home and order the parts on-line. There's a few on-line Volvo dealers selling parts at reasonable prices. I am also thinking the FCP can order non-stocked parts, but I'm not sure about that.