Best car part websites
You can save lots of money by buying car parts online, but which is the best site?
While many of us turn to garages and main dealers to look after our cars, some owners – particularly of models outside of warranty – prefer to do the basics themselves.
Servicing and routine repairs, even on relatively modern cars, can be much cheaper if you’re a skilled home mechanic and have a fully equipped tool box.
But you also need parts, and the good news is that you no longer need to trawl around the local motor factors in order to procure the spares you need to carry out a service, renew your brakes or change wearable items, with a host of online parts suppliers offering the bits you need, often at great prices and with promotional discount codes. We put some of the leading online parts suppliers head-to-head to choose the best.
How we tested them
We selected a ‘basket’ of five commonly bought parts that are easy enough for the home mechanic to fit, using five popular and different types of car in order to gauge prices and average out the cost of the basket for our chosen models.
The spares were typical of those needed for a major service – oil and air filters, an alternator drive belt, front brake discs and a track rod end, the latter being one of the most common MOT failure points in the UK.
Used - available now
2023 Audi
Q3 Sportback
23,346 milesManualPetrol1.5L
Cash £21,897
2017 Audi
A3 Sportback
60,000 milesManualPetrol1.4L
Cash £8,850
2021 Hyundai
Ioniq electric
76,000 milesAutomaticElectric
Cash £9,000
2022 BMW
i3
40,000 milesAutomaticElectric
Cash £11,250We priced them up on each site for a diverse spread of five different cars – a 1.2 petrol Citroen C3 Aircross, a 1.6 petrol Peugeot 207, a 2.0 petrol Mazda MX-5, a Ford C-Max 2.0 TDCi and a Range Rover L322 3.0 diesel.
We always used the price of the cheapest listed item but gave extra points if the site offered a wider range of options. We also checked the delivery time and cost, and rated the sites for ease of use.
1. Parts In Motion
- Basket price: £94.04
- Delivery: Free, or £8.40 next day
- Rating: 5 stars
- Website: partsinmotion.co.uk
Although Parts In Motion isn’t the easiest of our sites to use – it’s quite slow and you have to go back to the home page to change vehicles – there’s no arguing with its value for money, and the parts are mostly known quality brands such as Mahle and Febi Bilstein. The company also offers a no-quibble guarantee if the part doesn’t fit.
Delivery is free if you don’t mind waiting, and at £94.04 our average basket cost was less than half that of the most expensive.
2. Online Car Parts
- Basket price: £114.20
- Delivery: Free, over £140, or £8.45
- Rating: 4.5/5 stars
- Website: onlinecarparts.co.uk
The Online Car Parts site is clear and easy to use, and although its basket price overall wasn’t cheapest, it was the least expensive for the Mazda by almost £40, proving it pays to shop around between it and our other top choices to get the best deal.
There are occasional discount offers, but overall prices are pretty keen anyway and the site is easy to use and navigate, suggesting alternatives alongside each part.
The delivery charge is a little at the higher end at £8.45, but you get free postage via Evri if you are spending over £140.
3. Autodoc
- Basket price: £118.26
- Rating: 4.5/5 stars
- Website: Autodoc.co.uk
If you find Autodoc similar to Online Car Parts then there’s a good reason – the two appear to be operated by the same company, with the same delivery fees, but Autodoc has less choice.
It offers discounts if you use the app rather than the website, and it’s worth noting that there are some promotional codes online that can bring the cost of parts down by as much as 12 per cent – it’s a faff to find them but worth the effort, as with the money off applied, the Autodoc basket is cheaper than the Online Car Parts one.
4. Euro Car Parts
- Basket price: £166.74
- Delivery: Free (over £25) or next day collection
- Rating: 3/5 stars
- Website: eurocarparts.com
Euro Car Parts is one of the big names in the industry and it’s worth noting that its seasonal discounts can sometimes bring the cost of your purchases down by as much as 25 per cent, but this doesn’t apply to all items.
Delivery is free over £25 and there’s a lot of choice, but you won’t find everything – an alternator belt for a Ford C Max TDCi being one of the glaring omissions we found.
5. GSF
- Basket price: £188.26
- Delivery: Free over £25, 2-3 days, or next day collection
- Rating: 2.5 stars
- Website: GSFCarparts.com
When we last did this comparison, GSF was one of the cheapest out there, but although it remains highly competitive for some of the items – filters, for example, were cheaper than all rivals – the price for larger parts is steep and our Range Rover basket cost was more than double that of Parts In Motion.
Delivery is free if you spend more than £25, or you can collect from one of GSF’s 180 stores.
6. Halfords
- Basket price: £174.69
- Delivery: £5.99 24hr – or free to collect in store
- Rating: 2.5 stars
- Website: halfords.com
Halfords now has an online parts store to compete against its online-only rivals, and while the site is one of the easiest to use here, the prices weren’t brilliant – it was most expensive for all but the Range Rover.
That said, if you’re in a hurry, you can order and pay for your parts online then collect from your local store in two hours, which is one thing the others don’t offer.
Verdict
Halfords and GSF were two of the easiest sites to use here, so it’s a shame they’re too expensive, especially as the click and collect at the former can be a real help for the weekend mechanic. With some forward planning though, it’s hard to ignore the incredible value offered by Parts In Motion, with Autodoc and Online Car Parts close behind.
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