Who do you guys buy your parts from? I got a catalog from Mid America Motoworks when i bought the car. Just curious of other vendors.

 

I prefer Willcox on most parts. Forum members get a discount and they actually restore corvettes and offer the the top quality parts they use in restorations. Customer service is A1.

 

When restoring my 72, I kept a little spreadsheet instead of receipts (I figure the new parts are proof I bought new parts) and I bought 95 things off of ebay including a lot of NOS stuff, so don't forget to look there. As for vendors, I bought 236 things from Corvette Central, 30 things from Paragon, 33 things from Willcox, and 4 things from GM.

Living in Ohio, all 3 of those vendors are next door to me, so I liked the shorter shipping times. Overall, I think I ended up using Corvette Central more because their website was most user friendly and I got just about everything in 2 days. If you plan on buying a lot of stuff, I think you can get an account set up to get a discount. Regardless, I think you save 5% or so once you get past $750 for your order, and they offer free shipping about every other month on orders over 199 - although the latest email I got said free shipping on orders of 149. Paragon gave me a dealer discount of sorts, which was 15% off my orders, and Willcox obviously has the forum and weekend specials but their ebay prices are sometimes better than their own website, even after the discounts. I have waited up to 10 days for a couple things from them, though.

Overall, I preferred Corvette Central and ebay, but I loved ordering stuff from GM that even they didn't know they still had - rear license plate bezel, rear letters, gas cap, center caps, window cranks (have different part numbers), inside door handles, blower switch, even lug nuts.

 

Willcox for a few reasons..... quality, price, tech support, site support, and an awesome collection of "how-to" PDF & videos AND they have actual live humans answering the phones!

 

^^^this^^^

 

i try to use Willcox most of the time.
mainly because they have a "shipping calculator" in their checkout section.

being from "downunder", using the calculator i don't get get any hidden over the top shipping costs.
or have to worry about back n forth emails for confirmation that can go on for days

 

Corvette Central, Corvette America, Zip and Willcox are the usual suspects for me for new repro items. For original or restored /refurbished items I buy from fellow members on this forum, as well as ebay.

 

Willcox sells parts made by other companies at a lower price than the manufacturer's own site. For example I just received 2 lower dash pads through Willcox but the parts were from Corvette America. I carpet I ordered a while back was Al Knoch. Other parts have also been top quality at a lower price. If you do have a problem the support is top notch.

 

Corvette Central, Dr. Rebuild

 

I think we are all pretty lucky to have so many TOP SHELF vendors helping us out with good inventory, good prices and great customer service. My most oftern go to guys, Corvette Central, Zip and ebay.

 

I have used http://www.riksvet.com for almost all my parts, except a few items that I got off eBay. Rik's has always had the part I needed and very fast delivery. If I have a problem and can't figure it out, I call Rik's and they have always helped me figure it out and / or get the part I needed to fix the problem. I guess most people stick to what works for them, but it is nice that we have so many options and the competition helps keep the prices down.

 

I have had good luck with cc and zip next big buy goes to wilcox

 

In my opinion...

Willcox - Hands down, best service and support
Corvette Central - Relatively fast shipping
Paragon - Discounts offered for returning customers
Dr. Rebuild - For oddball quality parts that other vendors may not have
Zip - When I can't find what I am looking for anywhere else

 

I use Willcox and Bair's for almost all of my stuff. Both are great and are always willing to help if you have a question or a issue.


Joey

 

Ordered up parts from Wilcox and they came in a mid-America box--go figure !
Corvette Central got the most of my business with Paragon a close second.

 

Wilcox has great customer service and advice. Bairs offers rebuilding services that are great. Dr Rebuild has odd stuff that no one else has.

I don't keep track of what I spend. It would scare me and make the wife crazy.

Bob K.

 

I keep detailed receipts of everything including ebay and swap meet expenses, so I always know what I have in a car, plus for capital gains reasons.

Its always good to have a few favorites, as often some vendors do better on a particular item than others, but not on the next item.

 

I have been buying Corvette parts for about 20 years and have used just about all of them at one time, but I always seem to migrate back to Ecklers. They usually have what I want in stock and if back ordered they keep me abreast of when it will ship . The only draw back for me is that they are in Florida and I am in California so shipping cost is a concern.

 

Zip for most stuff(gotta be careful as some of their stuff doesn't fit that well but their real time inventory info on the site is awesome) and Dr. Rebuild for the hard to find and NOS stuff.

 

Corvette Centrai, Wilcox and Zip