| If you need a part for last year's Ford Focus, it's not | | | | The other market that is aided tremendously by online |
| hard to find. Any Ford dealer and some independent | | | | shopping is parts for foreign cars or parts for cars no |
| mechanics probably have them on their shelves | | | | longer sold in the US that are still being manufactured in |
| waiting to pop them under your hood. | | | | other countries. Speaking the universal language of |
| But if the love of your automotive life is a 1966 | | | | commerce, foreign car sales databases carry parts |
| Mustang or your father's 1986 Cadillac, the part you | | | | and equipment, including metric tools and gauges, |
| are looking for is lost in a maze of grease-lined | | | | available to any buyer. For restorers of the classic |
| storage boxes in someone's warehouse. In that case, | | | | VW Bug, this is welcome news. The old Bug is no |
| finding the right part for your car isn't just mechanics, | | | | longer sold in the United States, but is still |
| it's art. The internet has taken that art and made it | | | | manufactured, serviced and driven in Mexico. Parts for |
| accessible to mechanics and car collectors with its | | | | US mechanics don't require a trip across the border, |
| vast collection of databases, car club forums, and | | | | just a click and some international postage. The |
| dealer web carriers. | | | | internet's range of reach ensures any part you need |
| Everything Old Is Still Available | | | | can be secured no matter what nation your car hails |
| Car part shopping for older model cars is made for the | | | | from. |
| internet. Searchable databases allow you to specify | | | | By the Dozen |
| year, make, model and special designation so the right | | | | A final plus to internet car part shopping is the ability to |
| part for your car can be found no matter how old the | | | | buy in bulk. No longer do independent mechanics need |
| vehicle may be. No more frustrating days of hearing | | | | to go to distributors to buy a case or gross of a part, |
| the mechanic say, "They don't make that gasket | | | | they can now process the order through an online |
| anymore." Now a car part not acquired in a local store | | | | facility and let that company deal with the hassles of |
| can be searched for and found in the storage houses, | | | | distributorship. While taking out the middle man is a |
| junkyards, or garages of pack-rats anywhere. Car | | | | national past-time, sometimes putting the middle man |
| restorers have found this feature of internet shopping | | | | back in the process can save you time and effort so |
| most appealing for finding original parts to complete | | | | you spend your efforts under the hood where they |
| their masterpieces. | | | | belong. |
| Across the Miles | | | | |