In the digital era, online shopping has become a staple in most houses. Even with this new form of shopping, a lot of people don’t utilize it for buying car parts. In this guide, I’ll explain why Amazon is such a great place to buy car tools and equipment.
Using Amazon for Car Tools and Equipment
You don’t need a special account to buy car tools or equipment through Amazon – it’s posted just like any other product on their site. I suggest getting Prime if you plan on using Amazon for a few different car parts. The money you save in shipping will almost immediately pay for the services.
If you’re not familiar with Amazon, here’s how it works: A seller posts a product on the website. As a buyer, you can search for certain terms, SKU numbers, or general products. You find one, add it to your cart, and check out. The product gets sent directly to you and you usually have an opportunity to get a refund if it’s not right.
With that cleared up, let’s talk about why Amazon is so great for people like us.
Why Amazon Is a Great Place to Buy Car Tools and Equipment
I’ll specifically be talking about car tools and equipment in this piece – I know, Amazon is a great place to buy almost anything. A lot of people don’t realize the benefits of shopping online through Amazon for all of their car needs.
Fast Shipping
With Amazon Prime, you can sometimes get the part the next day. Something like a cheap and effective plier set will usually be on your doorstep within a few days.
This is great news for people who are looking for parts quickly. A lot of online stores will subject you to a week or more of waiting around before your part comes in.
Breadth of Availability
Amazon is like Walmart on steroids. Almost anything you can think of is listed for sale on Amazon. This makes it easy to find the exact part you’re looking for. It’s equally easy to search for a general term and take a look at all the different options available.
You can search using a tool name, brand, or specific SKU numbers to find parts.
Find Rare Parts
When people are tired of their local auto shop saying “sorry, we don’t have that in stock”, they go to Amazon. I fell in love with a battery carrier that no auto shop within driving distance had for sale. I went to Amazon and what do you know, it was listed for sale, and had it in a few days.
You’ll find sub-model, year, and car-specific parts all over Amazon for sale. Since there’s no requirement to fit all the parts in a tiny shop (like your local auto shop), Amazon has the luxury of stocking a ton of different rare parts.
Get Quick Help
A lot of online shops make it borderline impossible to get help or find someone to talk to. Amazon offers a lot of resources to help you get assistance quickly.
If you received the wrong part, something’s broken or missing, or you bought something by mistake, Amazon will typically give you your money back with a few clicks. For more pressing issues, you can chat, call, or email them and get some answers.
Using a Reliable and Proven Website
It’s easy for someone to set up a phony website and sell you fake goods. There’s something to be said about shopping with a reliable and proven shop like Amazon. After all, you want that programmable key fob you bought to actually work when you sync it to your car.
Secure Option
Along the same vein, it’s important to shop at a reputable store. Amazon has been around for what seems like a million years, and you really never hear about people getting their cards scammed or stolen by shopping with them.
A guy like Jeff Bezos (the CEO and shot caller of Amazon) knows that a data breach would ruin his platform. They take security very seriously. This allows people like us to shop with some peace and assurance.
Fair Pricing
Here’s a little experiment to try: find a little tool for your car needs like a set of ratchets, wrenches, and Allen keys. Go to your local auto or tool shop and see how much they charge for it, then pull it up on Amazon (linked here).
I’m willing to bet that it’ll be cheaper on Amazon. In a lot of cases, you’ll find fair pricing on tools and equipment through Amazon. After all, they don’t have to pay salespeople or pay for a brick-and-mortar shop and marketing people to get the product in front of you.
It Shows You the Top Options
If you’re not sure what oil drain pan is best for you, what are you supposed to do? You can go to your auto store and aimlessly wander around the aisles for a while before choosing one at random. It becomes a game of “which product has the coolest-looking packaging”.
Maybe it doesn’t matter to everyone, but I never want to be ripped off. I want the best product every time – even something as simple as an oil drain pan. I want it to work for as long as possible and pay as little money as necessary.
Amazon has this perfect feature that lets you compare all the top options. You can pull up different categories and see which products are selling the best, which have the highest ratings, and which are recommended by the staff at Amazon.
It’s almost like you have tens of thousands of friends helping you make your suggestion. For example, the oil drain pan I recommend is the #1 best seller on Amazon. This feature really takes the guesswork out of making a purchase.
Read Other Peoples’ Reviews
Along with seeing what the general populace of Amazon says, you can also read what specific people have to say. They’ll assign a star rating from 1 to 5, and they have an opportunity to talk about the piece.
In most cases, the reviewer is someone who purchased and used the part before speaking about it. With enough reading, you’ll know the pros and cons of all the options you’re considering.
Conclusion
At this point, you should know exactly why Amazon is such a great place to buy car tools and equipment. You get plenty of benefits without any major downfalls as compared to other online shopping options. If you want to learn more information about owning and operating a car, check out the rest of our blog. See which products I recommend for your vehicle.
References:
Amazon
Keyless2Go Replacement for Keyless Entry Remote Car Key Fob
DEWALT Mechanics Tool Set, SAE & Metric,192-Piece
LUMAX LX-1632 15-Quart Drainmaster Drain Pan & Waste Oil Storage