I decided it was time to replace the A/C Belt Tensioner so I went to my local dealership to buy one after not being able to find the part on GMPartsDirect. I ended up paying $89.00 for the part, however, I have come to find out after the fact that the part lists for $56.50 and can be bought for 33.50 on GMPartsDirect. I am pissed at myself for not catching this sooner.

BTW: the part number for this item is 12580196

 

The only time a dealer is worth going to for parts is if you know someone who works there and can get you a deal

Otherwise, it's always better to order them online from someplace like gmpartsdirect.

 

You got the lifetime warranty with that one.

 

I'm a GM dealer and in fact the suggested retail price on the ac tensioner is $59.59. But that's in my region. GM sets diffrent list pricing suggestions based on regions but, I can assure you that GM has not suggested that the tensioner be that high. You indeed were being what we call in the industry "price bumped". Some dealers set their "in-house" management system to add a certain percentage of increase onto their already premium Retail or List price. What this does is accrews extra money and causes them to have a higher proffit at the month end. Usually only struggling Parts Dept.'s or well to do Parts Dept.s at Ultra-Premium Mega Dealers do this. I don't support this, myself. I see it as a way to drive off what walk-in customers you have.

 

I would have called this place a struggling parts department. I would not have minded paying $59 for the part at all. Oh well, you live, you learn. I would love to be able to walk into a local dealership and buy a part for a decent price. The good thing is that I live in a fairly large city so there is more than one dealership around here.

 

I print out what gmpartsdirect.com has for pricing and take it into a dealer here in town who sells it to me for that price. He says he would rather have my business with very low profit than not have my business at all.

 

not a bad idea. Im a GM parts guy, and i'd honor that in most situations.

 

Some dealers can't match GMPartsDirect because GMPartsDirect is a branch of a Mega Chevrolet Dealership, and they move so many parts that they can order and get an additional cut in cost. Therefore the usually sell parts for anywhere from 10% to 15% over their dealer cost. I for one can't match them because 10% over cost is employee pricing. We have to try to make at least a 20%mark up on some things just to pay the bills and break even. So in turn if I price someone something for 15% over cost, then I would not be able to pay the shipping charges, and the customer would be responsible for the freight.

Hope this sheds some light on things for you.

 

YEAH ALOT OF DEALERS CANT MATCH GMPARTSDIRECT BECAUSE THEY DONT SELL ENOUGH VOLUME TO GET THE SAME DISCOUNT, AND WOULD BE SELLING UNDER THEIR COST...

BUT THEY DEFINITELY DID BUMP YOU ALOT!!!

 

Man, I didn't realize what that part listed for when I read your PM! I thought that the price you got sounded about right, but now that I know the list price I'm pissed for you! Could you return the part and get your cash back, then order it from GMPartsDirect, or did you install it already?

(I've returned parts before without a problem, as long as it's not an electrical or special order part)