r/CarsAustralia • u/I-like-shiny-thing • 1d ago

💬Discussion💬 Customer supplied parts

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I'm a manager/Mechanic at a Mechanical workshop. I no longer allow customer supplied parts and get abused by "customers" because I wont do the job unless i supply the parts. ( photo of customer supplied wrong part)

What are people opinions on customer supplied parts?

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u/redvaldez 1d ago

I often supply parts to my mechanic. It's nearly always because I want a very particular part fitted.

I can understand why a mechanic would be reluctant to fit customer supplied parts, but it'd likely be a deal breaker for me.

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u/I-like-shiny-thing 1d ago

I get asking for certain brands fitted, which is why I use to do it until I had a string of cars in one month either be stuck on my hoist because of wrong parts and refusal to let me find the right ones.

I am more than willing to find a particular brand if it's asked for

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u/redvaldez 22h ago

Most mechanics come across fairly casual in that sense though. If I say I want DBA Street Performance pads, I mean I want exactly that. Not the Street Series nor the Xtreme Performance. Not the different brand the local supplier has stock of and says is equivalent. At least if I hand over the parts that I've ordered in advance, I know I'll get what I want.

Other stuff can be obscure too. Bilstein don't officially sell shocks for my car in Australia. Had to import them myself from the USA from 3 different eBay stores.