298VISTA2000 wrote:
For the last couple of years (not this year yet) I ordered directly from Volvo (
http://www.volvopentastore.com/) because I didn't want the hassel of a middle-man. Does purchasing from a dealer give you better prices or something? For my Volvo Penta 5.0 GI the oil filter is $8.95 and fuel filter is $9.95. I do have to pay for shipping but I don't have any dealers near me. Do the dealers save you that much?
That site you posted is a part of iboats working with volvo penta direct, They have recently teamed up to make buying volvo parts much easier to find online the first time around And also much better then going through a normal boat dealer ship that is not really 100% set up to handle a ton of parts calls/Emails everyday, For the most part some of the dealers that do online parts orders are just hoping to sale some of their extra basic parts they may have lying around in the back room, And they probably have one person, (Two if their lucky/Busy) Trying to do two jobs at once, One job is just trying to keep up with day to day normal job activities in house, Trying to get what the service techs need to move boats in and out of the service bays everyday, then at the same time they are trying to handle the walk in part shoppers, And some day to day phone calls, That right there is a full time job in it's self, Plus over time is needed sometimes just to try to keep up.
Now with all that normal everyday work going on they would be lucky to have any extra time in the day to get to a ton of email parts request going on at the sametime, The shop would half to higher another person just to try to keep up with that area of the parts, And more then likely they are not going to higher someone because they know they are not set up to do a full on online order parts store with a big warehouse full of parts with a team set up to handle a big volume of calls and emails.
Now keep in mind that there are some big manufactures out there that requires when the little dealer wants to buy parts direct from the manufacture there is a certain dollar amount that you have to go over in order to buy parts from them, And that makes it hard to do or get when someone wants a one off hard to find part that does not cost all that much, (That was just an example, It could be anything, Including filters if the little dealer was out of stock).
Also not to mention the little dealer does not have big open accounts with each vendor set up without getting permission from in house accounting to order a ton of parts without showing the in house accounting department the parts have already been paid for in advance, Or show them some kind of proof the parts they are about to order are for either a sevice boat, Stock parts, Or sold parts.
Now Places like iboats, Overtons, ect they are set up to order the parts you want before you even get off the phone with them, Because an online warehouse that just sales parts only are allowed to just order direct from say volvo/Merc, ect, And have it to you within a timely fashion, Because their accounts are so active everyday, Also because the computers are working with each other all the time just ordering and shipping part out.
Now as far as the normal service dealers goes for trying to get the parts for You/Everyone they would need to look up the parts, Go in the back room to see if they have it or not, And if they do not have it, Then if they remember they would put your order in the mix with their next in house parts order that they would need to do for the normal in house service supplies for normal day to day service, And then when they get some extra time they will ship them out to you.
So in a nutshell it makes the little sevice shops look bad because either they are not set up enough to compete like a warehouse that would be full of parts with a team ready to work and go pull your parts and get them out the door, Or in some cases they do not have easy access to just order the parts right away for you, And it takes a lot longer to get your stuff to you.
Well that's my two cents worth about all this.
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