We recently had an established dealer in town pick up the Mitsubishi franchise that another had let go. I went in to try and order some pieces (most importantly the radiator stop-cock at the bottom) and the parts guy looked at me like I had two heads when I told him I had an 87 Montero.

He looked and looked and looked and finally said, "they must not have made that model in 87 because I can't find it."

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

I tried, at the same place, to find a throttle body rebuild kit for the Starion motor, but this time, I called on the phone instead of wasting the time to ride by there. The first thing out of the parts guy's mouth was "what's the VIN."

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. The engine's not in a Starion," I replied.

"Our policy says we have to have a VIN before we can look up any parts."

"Ok. Bye."

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

I called O'Riley's who had the rebuild kit in for me the next morning.

Still haven't found a stop-cock, though.

The long and short of it is, apparently Mitsubishi's not interested in supported their older vehicles anymore and is shoving most of that stuff to the aftermarket.

I used to use Walker Renton out of WA state way back in the day, but I think thety gave up their franchise awhile ago.

Since then I price check all the sites including those mentioned above, but parts.com always seems to come out ahead - at least on parts pricing. I think I recentlat had some specialty bolts and trim clips on order - stuff that didnt even make up a lb. - and they still ended up charging me $11 for FedEx Ground. Apparently $4.95 small USPS flat rate isnt an option. That and anything they order has to go to them first - no 3rd party drop shipping. So yeah no wonder you have to pay twice the avg price on shipping!

All kidding aside, their OK - just hard to get a hold of outside the internal messaging system.

That and another plus is they can order parts from just about any OEM - incl. Porsche accessories! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Another good pricing example... I needed a new exhaust manifold for my 90 Max 2.4L - no one on the boads volunteered theirs so I shopped it around... local Mitsiu dealer wanted $320, other online OEM dealers charged about $220-250. Didnt wait to check their freight rates, but Parts.com's price: $152 + $40 shipping for this and a few other misc parts.

Shop around, especially if the parts get expensive.

I'll never use Parts.com again if I can help it. Bad service,,, and charging extra ripoff charge for giving bad service,,, will keep me going elsewhere.
Ordered 1 KOYO OEM U joint. It came in a Giant box(like 16"x 8" x8",,,no suffing in the box, so it banged around putting holes in the box. Looked like FedEx must have wrapped it up in tape before or maybe after the U joint busted thru.
They charged $12.00 shipping and an additional $4.00 for packageing.
It wouldn't have cost anymore (possibly a couple bucks less) and I wouldn't feel screwed if I would have gotten it from Korum.
Sorry for the rant,,but folks should know.