Is it safe to buy spare parts from eBay and Amazon?
In my country, everything is sold at least 3 times the prices I see on eBay and Amazon...
I manage to find sellers who look good with sales and comments but there are always individual comments from people who are unsatisfied and claim that it is an fake...
Now I don't know whether to think it's fake or that they did something wrong or got mad at the seller or that it really is an imitation
And if so it is safe to order from eBay and Amazon, how can it be done in the safest way?
A lot of them are fake and won't last long. Yeah they cost less, but remember you get what you pay for.
Are there categories or are there specific things that are better to buy at a local store?
Just go to local auto store they sells quality parts and I don't advise anyone to buy any auto parts from online especially ebay and amazon they sell bunch of cheap crap.
I was at a store that was recommended to me...
Let's take plugs for example
The ones in the picture cost $110 and there are these:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nClF-N-tPMxn3J0nx4FDg1GlS9bxqiz6/view?usp=sharing
I know in my country there is a crazy tax on everything related to cars but...
It is available, say, for less than $30, which is roughly the price at other sellers as well...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/393022681222
No
I wouldn’t say they are all bad. Ebay and amazon both sell millions of car parts from thousands of individual sellers, so you can’t make a universal recommendations. It is certainly possible to get good quality parts from either source. But in both cases, there have been documented cases of counterfeit parts being passed as authentic. Both have made efforts to weed out the bad guys, but how successful, I don’t know.
IMO, Amazon is also not very good at verifying proper fitment. They are good at selling tee shirts and cell phone cases. But car parts need to fit exactly and vary from model year to model year, etc. It can be difficult to tell just from a picture if some specific black plastic part from some random Chinese generic manufacturer is actually going to fit properly.
So, OK, if you need a part and Amazon or EBay is the only reasonable source, you’re not wrong to buy from them. But you have to do more due diligence to verify fitment and authenticity than if you are buying from regular auto parts retailers.
Regarding compatibility, I have no problem with it...
I use partsouq.com and check with a friend that it fits...
The problem is that there are many differences of opinion on the subject and on the one hand I guess that the products are cheaper because of the taxes in my country but on the other hand how do I know that what I buy is no less good than what I can buy in a local store
When I use OEM parts, particularly for my '79 Pontiac Catalina, I use EBay. You know it's going to fit. Chinese made brake calipers and such are a completely different ballgame. I won't use Chinese brakes. It's gotta be OEM.
So just order OEM parts?
The sellers can't fake the sticker?
44-year-old parts are VERY hard to come by, even Pontiacs that they made thousands of.
Depends on the part
Are there categories or are there specific things that are better to buy at a local store?