So you are trying to buy trim pieces for your vehicle, hopefully used trim pieces to save some money, and you found us, now what?
Good news, this blog post will give you everything you need to know about how to buy miscellaneous trim pieces for your vehicle from Pete’s Auto Parts or from any other automotive recycling facility, so you can purchase like a pro!
Doing Your Homework
When buying any new or used car part, including trim pieces, you want to make sure the parts are the right fit for your vehicle! Many major component parts have what we in the industry call “interchange” – basically the fitment of the part across vehicle models and years. Determining the interchange of a major part, say a hood, will allow us to source the correct part whether the donor vehicle was an exact match or not, for example all 2015 Tahoe hoods are the exact same hoods from the OEM as all 2016 Suburban hood. Things start to get a lot more complicated from there, though. On an F150, for example, from 2015 to 2020, there were three possible doors your vehicle could have come with, as in the door shell (manual windows, electric windows without a keyless entrypad, and electric windows with a keyless entry pad. These same options were available for the F250 and the F350 and all the Raptor versions of Ford’s trucks from 2015-2020, so if you need the door SHELL, and you have a 2015 F150, you can buy a 2020 F350 door and it will be a perfect match. However – if what you need is a little miscellaneous trim piece for your door, the range of options is not quite as broad. Ford, Chevy, Toyota, and most of all the manufacturers will often change the interior trim and make small changes from year to year. So do your homework. Know your trim level. You can call the dealership and ask them if you are unsure, just make sure to have your VIN.
In the example below, the F150 / F350 door structure is the same, but the trim is different. If you are looking to buy trim pieces for your F150 door, here are two door trim panels that technically both fit, but you can see one has a fancy wood trim and silver handle, whereas the other has a plain black trim and handle. They are both tan interiors, but one has more black. Both of these parts will bolt right on, but only one will look right. You can click the pictures below to go to the main vehicle pages and compare more parts if you want.
Use Diagrams!
The best way to make sure you get the exact right trim piece is using diagrams. At Pete’s Auto parts, we can send you an exploded diagram of your vehicle part so you can point out to us if you need just #4 or if you need the entire #1 shown below! We used the example below because it highlights the points we make above and farther on in this article on how to buy trim pieces: trim level matters, what part you have matters (you can see there are multiple different door panels that look the same in the diagram but they have different OEM part numbers!) AND make sure you know the new cost, so you know if you are saving money or not. In the example below, the price of the part labeled as #1 varies from $660 to $1,054 – big difference! This is an example of when you buy trim pieces used you can save big. We sell these same parts used for literally $74!!!
The point isn’t how much you can save when you buy trim pieces used, it’s that you need to get the CORRECT trim pieces and sometimes it’s hard to do that just by describing it. “I need the little plastic cover guy that goes back behind the third seat!” (Actual customer request) That part is hard to find, but if we send you a diagram and you can say oh I need part #8, then we can send the technician after the exact part. When you buy trim pieces used, whether it’s from us or not, we recommend using a diagram. Your supplier should be able to send it to you by text or email.
Don’t be Afraid to Google the New Price
At Pete’s Auto Parts we save a lot of people hundreds and thousands of dollars over new parts, all the time! But we don’t mind if you want to do some research before you call or text us, so you know what a good price is for the used car part you need. Often our customers save 40% over new! Occasionally, there will be a part like a fender that might cost the same brand new as it does used — just make sure you know whether any body piece you are buying new is painted or just primed, as paint expenses are a huge driver in choosing a recycled OEM part over a new primed part. When you want to buy trim pieces, you might find that the dealership actually has the small piece you need for a really reasonable price. It doesn’t hurt to call and ask them! In the example above, when you buy trim pieces used and you need the whole door trim panel, you can source that used trim panel for $74, whereas from the dealer it is $600-$1000 – however if you only need #14 on that diagram, what Ford calls the “Lower Filler” that part is only $22 new at the dealership! We can’t send match that price, so it makes sense to find out what the part is going for new so you don’t overpay when it comes tome to buy trim pieces.
Start with Your VIN
Many customers call or text Pete’s Auto Parts for used car parts and and they are surprised by all the questions we ask them. For you to buy the trim pieces you need and have them be correct, we’ll ask a lot of questions to make sure we get exactly what you need. MOST people do not have a clue how many inches the wheelbase of their vehicle is or what their paint code might be! That’s ok, you don’t need to get out a measuring tape or get underneath the vehicle, if you provide us with your Vehicle Identification Number, the VIN, we can *usually* look up the options by your VIN and ensure the part you order is the correct fit for your vehicle!
Paying Ahead when you Buy Trim Pieces
These days most stores have you pay for your purchase up front, and our process is no different. Once we have found the trim pieces that you want to purchase and agreed on the pricing and availability, we will text or email you a secure payment link. You’ll find this is the case with most used auto parts stores. No one wants to work for free, so at most salvage yards they will not send someone out into the yard to look for your trim pieces until the order is paid for. This might seem counterintuitive, why pay before they are sure they have the parts and they are good and correct? Well a refund can always be issued if it turns out that the pieces are not right, or are broken, but over the years we’ve had too many customers ghost us to not get payment up front. Whether you are shopping with us or anyone else, you can expect to pay in advance when you want to buy trim pieces.
At Pete’s Auto Parts, we utilize Stripe for our payment processing, and by doing it this way, we never receive your credit card information, only Stripe does. Stripe is the nation’s second largest credit card processor, with 21% of the market share, second only to PayPal. If you are uncomfortable paying by clicking the Stripe payment link, you can instead send us a PayPal payment at www.PayPal.Me/petesautoparts/ If you don’t like PayPal OR Credit cards, you are welcome to come down to our location at 2544 Port Sheldon St, in Jenison, Michigan.
Some customer balk at paying for used car parts in full before they can pick them up or have them delivered. For those customers, we are happy to accept a deposit to start the order instead of payment in full. We do not start on an order until there is at least a deposit on the order, we have just had too many people order parts and not pick them up. If you ghost us, you lose your deposit! Of course when the parts arrive and you come in to look at them, if you are not satisfied then we can find a different part or refund your payment or deposit.
What about Self Service or U Pick? Can I Look for Myself?
Going to a self service location is always an option. Generally, you pay a low fee ($1-$5) to get into the yard, you walk the vehicles and remove the parts yourself with your own tools or tools you rent from the facility, and then you pay less for those parts because you did the work to find and remove them! Visiting a self service auto recycler to buy trim pieces is a great way to save money. At Pete’s Auto Parts, we don’t let anyone into our yard, so it’s not an option here, we’re a full-service auto recycler, only our techs remove parts in our yard. We help customers whether they have the ability to go to a self service store or not (many customers don’t have the time or the tools, but if you do, it’s an option!) The downside of driving out to a pull-it-yourself place is that you may go through the effort and expense of driving there, paying to get in, and not find what you need. The upside is you will probably save some money if you do find what you need!
Summary: Buy Trim Pieces
We hope you enjoyed this blog post on how to buy trim pieces and that you are ready to now call us, text us or email us, with your VIN. At Pete’s Auto Parts we really believe that buying used car parts is the best choice for many reasons: to save money, to help mother earth and be a good steward of the environment, because used parts are reliable and available, and because the best parts for your vehicle are the same parts the manufacturer intended to be on your vehicle — they made them after all! This is as true when it comes time to buy trim pieces as anything else for your vehicle. When you choose used when you buy trim pieces you are repurposing the plastic and other materials so new doesn’t have to be created. Buying used auto parts in general is a carbon negative action, including when you choose to buy trim pieces used!
If you need ANY used car parts, please reach out to Pete’s Auto Parts by calling or texting 616-669-6592 to learn more about our top-notch used car, truck, van and SUV parts. Or if you prefer to search our site, you can do that now on our search page. Even if you decide to go with someone else, like one of our competitors, we encourage you to buy trim pieces used when you can, over new, to save money and because it’s better for the earth!
Contact Pete’s Auto Parts Any Way You Prefer
We are here for you to buy trim pieces on the phone, by text, email, skype, even facebook messenger! Some of our clients like to walk into our office and speak to a salesperson face-to-face instead of calling or texting, and that is just fine by us! Amy and Tommy are available in the front office 9am to 4pm Monday through Friday, besides their lunch breaks of course. We have five salespeople on the phones and responding to online messages throughout the day, with staff available from 8am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday. You can always call or text our main number 616-669-6592, but f you want to contact someone specific directly, here is the info in alphabetical order:
- Brian: 616-797-7978 brian@petesauto.net X216 (works from home)
- Dan: 616-797-7973 dan@petesauto.net X213 (works from home)
- Lindsey: 616-797-7969 lindsey@petesauto.net X210 (office in our sales and business office) ella habla español
- Tommy: 616-797-7964 tommy@petesauto.net X224 (office at Pete’s)
- Amy: 616-797-7962 amy@petesauto.net X231 (front counter at Pete’s)
You can also see and hear vehicles run at our Youtube Channel.
