Spare parts – “non-original”: calculated how much you can save

What changed?

With a shortage of spare parts, it is easier to live for the owners of the most massive cars, for which the range is wider. Based on popular models, we looked at which cars offer more “non-original” and how much you can save on them.

The first and most important caveat is price. Even with all the tricks of finding spare parts, you will find most items at best 50-60% more expensive than at the beginning of the year. More often, the price increase is 100-150%, and individual offices do not hesitate to sell three to four times more expensive.
The second nuance is the delivery time. Parts sellers started spinning in alternative supply chains so as not to run out of goods. But it takes longer and you have to wait.
The third point is related to the suspension of the supply of some brands through official channels. Not all companies decided to look for an opportunity to get them in other ways. Therefore, some motorists will have to look for a new one instead of a long-known store.

Under the circumstances, there is no time for fat, which used to be called “I only have the original”. Switching to replacements is now easier and cheaper. And as maintenance problems, forgotten for 30 years on the free market, are maturing, it pays to be more thoughtful when choosing a car on the secondary market.

And for those who still have enough money for a new car, you should also think: will the officials last for the entire warranty period? A wide selection of non-genuine parts takes a significant part of the owner’s headache. More opportunities to save money and not run out of spare parts at all.

What’s scarce?

There are no problems with consumables for each MOT, brake pads and belts. With a strong desire to “cut” you can save up to 10 times the cost of the original.

The difficulties already start with candles and chassis parts. There may be no alternatives at all, or they may not be much more profitable.

The bulkhead of the engine and gearbox was an expensive pleasure, but frankly it got expensive. Worst of all with body parts and – especially – LED headlights. An accident easily ruins now if a heart attack from the prizes you see isn’t enough right away. LED optics quickly became fashionable, but they are not in a hurry to become cheaper as a spare part.

There is not yet a serious shortage of spare parts and consumables. But the delivery time of the order has been extended. Parallel import can save quantity, but not quality

How to save?

We have selected more than a dozen popular models in Russia and four details for them:

oil filter (change at every service)
brake pads (rare replacement consumables)
shock absorber (rare replacement consumable)
headlight (an expensive part that suffers even in minor accidents or by stones).

We looked at prices and assortment in three large online stores and one aggregator. The prices entered in the table are the minimum of the prices found and the number of replacements is the total for all sites viewed.

The sample was made for Moscow.

Prices for some spare parts for popular models in Russia

Fashion model	Position	Price of the original (minimum, rub.)	number of replacements, st.	Price of substitutes (minimum, rub.)	Savings	Remark
Lada Vesta	oil filter	375	46	194	– 48%	There are plenty of replacements, as it should be for a domestic car. Significant savings do not work on shock absorbers. The original brake pads are from Renault, so the price is relatively high.
	Front brake pads	1 890	29	498	— 74%
	farah	14 145	6	7 270	– 49%
	shock absorber	2000	22	1 865	– 7%
Kia Rio	oil filter	337	88	192	– 43%	Wide range of non-genuine consumables. I was surprised by the extremely cheap original oil filter. If you have a fresh Rio with LED headlights, it still feels like there are no alternatives.
	Front brake pads	4 300	64	946	– 78%
	Headlight (LED)	42 780	no	no
	shock absorber	9000	12	3 930	— 56%
Hyundai Crete	oil filter	337	88	192	– 43%	The situation is identical to the Kia Rio: there are plenty of alternatives, except for the headlights. And here we have taken an element especially for ancient Crete, where there are only LEDs in the navigation light. But still expensive.
	Front brake pads	3 926	134	821	– 79%
	Headlight (Lens)	50 370	a	24 830	– 51%
	shock absorber	9 790	ten	1 890	– 81%
VW Tiguan	oil filter	850	55	249	– 71%	The model was unpleasantly surprised by the cost of the original brake pads and the lack of stock shock absorbers (both original and replacements).
	Front brake pads	14 150	80	1 290	– 91%
	Headlight (LED, adaptive)	63 224	a	52 200	– 17%
	shock absorber	12 466	3	4 183	— 66%
Skoda Octavia	oil filter	850	55	249	– 71%	Many consumables are identical to other models of the group. Headlights on the latest generation Octavia are better not to be beat. Basic LED optics aren’t much cheaper, but there’s no substitute for them either.
	Front brake pads	14 150	80	1 290	– 91%
	Headlight (LED, adaptive)	127 513	no	no
	shock absorber	16 055	a	4 828	– 70%
Renault Duster	oil filter	389	>100	175	– 55%	There are so many alternatives to basic consumables that it’s easy to get confused. The headlight, taking into account the halogen filling, is unimaginably expensive: most of the offers start from 42 thousand rubles!
	Front brake pads	5 770	96	970	– 83%
	farah	25 000	3	10,000	– 60%
	shock absorber	9 323	7	3 593	– 61%
Toyota Camry	oil filter	791	22	202	— 74%	Substitutes abound only for basic consumables. With long-life spare parts, the situation is more complicated. Although the presence of an alternative to an expensive native headlight pleases.
	Front brake pads	4 300	44	839	– 80%
	Headlight (LED)	84 609	four	24 000	– 72%
	shock absorber	11 839	a	14 109	19%
Nissan Qashqai	oil filter	514	95	157	– 69%	It is impossible to find a replacement for an expensive headlight. An expensive shock absorber is possible, although there is almost no choice. The minimum prices for consumables from alternative companies are such that Lad owners will be jealous.
	Front brake pads	5 300	72	735	– 86%
	Headlight (LED)	80 652	no	no
	shock absorber	18 588	four	3 231	– 83%
Mazda CX-5	oil filter	800	86	133	– 83%	LED headlights do not offer to carry even under the order. Only one offer found – more than 10 times more expensive than a replacement. Like the Camry, the single non-genuine shock absorber costs more.
	Front brake pads	8 380	89	807	– 90%
	Headlight (LED, adaptive)	no in stock	four	18 475
	shock absorber	13 711	a	18 268	33%
BMW 3 Series (G30)	oil filter	1400	elf	572	– 59%	A sufficient range of basic consumables so that you can save. For reference, the model also has laser phosphor headlights. One costs 250-300 thousand rubles.
	Front brake pads	11 600	16	1 721	– 85%
	Headlight (LED, base)	151 376	no	no
	shock absorber	25 982	a	29 775	fifteen%
mercedes benz E-class (W213)	oil filter	800	28	399	– fifty%	The most deplorable situation with parts that are not essential at competitive prices for the original.
	Front brake pads	6 989	28	1 565	– 78%
	Headlight (LED)	180 966	no	no
	shock absorber	21 696	no	no

What must we do?

After price monitoring, the following advice emerges. When buying a new car you don’t have to worry too much, the serious work is still a long way off. If the age or mileage of the car is reasonable, at least ask in advance about the suspension bulkhead and the cost of “long-playing” consumables.

And we highly recommend Casco. Classic, so-called full contracts have recently become much more expensive. But insurers have options with limitations that allow for significant savings.

Start stealing parts! Old-fashioned (and not only) methods of protection are here.
“Behind the wheel” can also be read on VKontakte.

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