Original equipment manufacturer parts for an older vehicle can be tough to find. And the concept of “older” doesn’t have to mean the car or pickup truck was made decades ago. A vehicle built in the early part of the 21st Century may require replacement components that seem to be completely unavailable as OEM parts. Vehicle owners who truly prefer OEM components keep in touch with stores that sell used automotive parts in Houston TX, hoping that the item they want will appear soon.
Original body parts are often easier to find from a store that sells Used Automotive Parts in Houston TX. When an older car’s engine or transmission needs a major overhaul, owners often just junk it, even though the body is still in fine shape. The relative ease of finding used OEM parts also is true for components that are not normally replaced after several years and remain intact in a junk vehicle. For instance, someone looking for a used car horn or a gas cap from the original vehicle manufacturer can probably find one relatively easily at a used parts store like Apache Auto Parts. Click here to learn about the inventory at this particular retailer.
There are a few related factors in the scarcity of these parts. First, manufacturers are making vehicles better than ever before, so that cars and trucks last longer than ever. People are keeping those automobiles on the road for upwards of 200,000 and even 300,000 miles. The average age of vehicles now is nearly 12 years old, according to an R.L. Polk survey. That’s an historic high. A third factor is the so-called cash for clunkers program from 2009, which paid vehicle owners to get rid of old vehicles in return for cash to buy a new one. Those old ones were junked. The idea was that this would work as a stimulus for the automotive industry, but it had significant long-reaching negative effects for consumers wanting to buy an affordable used car or used components. A sudden glut of used parts meant that many of those items were lost to the scrap metal market instead of stocked at stores.
