Anyone dealt with Part Werks?

[ROWSC]

They are a company out of Illinois and seem to have a lot of parts on eBay.

[Colby]

Not yet. I am in NW Indiana and plan to take a trip up there next week to go parts shopping. They claim to have a ton of stuff. Once I get up there, and get a feel for what they're about (knowledgeable, friendly, etc.), I'll post again.

Colby

[targa88]

I have bought a number of parts from them over the last year - mainly trim. Missing, obsucre parts for my 88. Selectively there prices are pretty good. Lots of stuff, old new stock.
Not the most organized bunch - Pelican is head and shoulders above; and certainly more knowledgeable - but good, friendly service.

[kumma]

well i dealt with them a couple of years ago. it seemed like a family business, they had about 4 porsches in the yard of the home i meet him at. they had a friggin huge warehouse a couple miles away, lots a 944 parts i thought. the guy was pretty nice and easy to deal with.

[Rick Lee]

I'll endorse them. I bought a part from them on eBay and have an order in with them for turbo tie rods right now. They're very responsive to emails and their prices are selectively good. I'll use them again.

[Jack Olsen]

I've bought a lot of parts (mostly used) from them. Very nice people. Fair prices. Poor to midlin organization. Sometimes you have to keep on them about answering your email, and such.

Through ebay, I got a right-side 73 chrome rear-view mirror from them recently for about $80. This is not the cheap reproduction that sells for more (and used to grace my passenger side), but a new (old stock) factory part. A very rare piece, that they let go for a song.

------------------
Jack Olsen
My Rennlist page • My Pelican Gallery page • My Porsche Owners Gallery page

[david c.]

I've bought some used trim pieces from them. No complaints about the parts but they aren't the best with communication or expediency of delivery.

Overall, an endorsement from me.

Dave

[echocanyons]

Ok so heres my little story,
I think Jay from partwerks is a pretty shady guy I would stay away.
I bought a used muffler from them, They claimed it was a bursch for a 914 it arrived it looked like it was somebodys welding project. When I tried to put it on my car(1.8l) it wouldnt fit I also tried to put it on a (2.0l) that has a different muffler set up than mine it also wouldnt fit.
When I contacted Jay he would not refund my money and insisted it was somehow my fault.
I tried for about a month and finally gave up exhausted from his double talk.
I now I have an ugly, worthless big hunk of muffler taking up space in my garage. He did however offer me Pelicans list price on a new muffler, Pelican will surely get my business in stead of Partwerks.
I have heard of others having the same problem and I am sure I am not the only one he has gouged.
Partwerks is a very noncustomer service oriented business who will do nothing (except double talk) to help fix there mistakes. If Pelican cant get it I surely would not use Partwerks.

you asked....


Kelly

below is a small excerpt from the 356reigstry talk digest on this matter:

..------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------.
| Message 17 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: PartWerks of Chicago-BUYER ALERT
From: RICK ZAVALA
Date: 27 Jul 2001 13:49:15 PDT

To the List:
It looks like I ran into another carrera classics clown off of ebay. Thou=
ght I
was buying an original Uni-Syn (pictured with the box) from England. I wa=
s
unpleasantly surprised to find a copycat version (without any of the UniS=
yn
trademarks or patent numbers under the bowl) and a made in china sticker =
on
it. This was such a bad knockoff effort that they copied the Edelbrock
instructions and did not even remove the Edelbrock name. When I called th=
e
guy, he professed to be a Porsche guy and therefore was not familiar with=

Edelbrock (the US license holder to the patent on the UNISYN) or any hot =
rod
stuff. He further stated that all his new Bosch parts are coming in from =
China
and gave me a long song and dance that I didnt know what I was talking ab=
out.
The business name is PartWerks of Chicago (owner is Jay) and are located =
in
the Chicago suburbs (address/phone if you need it). His ebay seller id is=

partwerks9@aol.com. I have since called Edelbrock and will be forwarding =
the
item to them with all the particulars. BEWARE OF THIS BUSINESS.

..------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------.
| Message 18 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: Re: PartWerks of Chicago-BUYER ALERT
From: Bltblt@aol.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 16:54:45 EDT


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I had dealings with this guy about 5 years ago in connection with the sale of
a whale tail and deck lid for a 911. He was slippery back then as well.

Barry Thompson
'65 SC Cab (under construction)






[This message has been edited by echocanyons (edited 08-23-2001).]

[black911]

I bought a used CDI unit from Parts Werks. It was defective. I am in the middle of a big hassle with there return policy. I also ordered a airflow meter gasket from them. It took 5 weeks to get to me. I gave up and got one from the dealer in 3 days. I am pissed at this company. If you want defective parts and long shipping times by all means buy from them.
Dean

[RarlyL8]

I wish I could have seen this post earlier.

---------DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS CLOWN---------

Made the mistake of buying a motor from this one horse outfit a few years ago. Theft recovery, mechanic certified, no rebuild needed. What he failed to tell me was the Police blasted 2 TWO HOLES IN THE BOTTOM OF THE CASE. Didn't discover this until I got the motor on the stand. After many unpleasant conversations he agreed to send me a used case, and he did, FROM AN SC. I sold that case and found a Porsche race mechanic who could repair the damage. He said the racer 930 guys throw rods thru cases all the time, if a web isn't damaged it's a go. This mechanic did what can only be described as nothing less than an incredible job. You can't tell there was ever any damage. 'Corse it cost me THREE GRAND for the trouble.

Come to find out my mechanic knew of this outfit - and had nothing but bad to say of them. He had sold them some parts, they paid him, late, after confrontation, with a bad check. He went up to Chicago after the jerk. When he got there he was horrified. Said "Part Werks" runs the business off his back porch! Has a serious cash flow problem, and cannot afford to refund anything.

SO, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

[ChrisBennet]

Hopefully my own sad experience with Part Werks will be over soon. I bought a "mint, 35K motor" from them a month ago that I was supposed to get in "10 days". The motor I received 3 weeks later looked like it had been stored outside for the last 10 years. Deep corrosion on the fan housing, thick rust on the flywheel, dented and rusted engine tin, and the plug wire holders were bleached white from the sun. Now P.W. never saw the motor (they drop shipped it from the yard they bought it from) so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but it certainly _seemed_ like once they got my $6250 they lost interest in getting me the motor. The motor is going back tomorrow.
-Chris

[TargaEuro]

Stick with Pelican....TargaEuro

[Wayne 962]

Yikes, I had never heard anything bad about these guys until this post...

-Wayne

[cstreit]

I've only dealt with them once. Got a used pedal cluster for a rebuild. It was VERY used, but rebuildable like I wanted.

The parts were late so I went down to pick them up.

Jay (at PW) was very nice and helpful, even gave me a tour of the warehouse... (More of a barn with loads of stuff.) There are PILES of old parts, aluminum swingarms, WHeels, doors, glass, etc...

Remember guys, this is a Porsche Boneyard. They strip stuff off old Porsche's. I wouldn't go looking for new/quality parts here... But if you want somethign that you intend to rebuild/refurbish.. The prices are good.

FYI, they did not bill be untill I received the part.

[Rick Lee]

I'm starting to feel bad for these guys. They've treated me right in the past and I have an order in with them now. There were plenty of satisfied customers at the top of this thread. What happened?

[cds72911]

I've only purchaed one part from them and it was as advertised. They were friendly on the phone when I called in my payment information and sent the part promptly. They packed it very well and it arrived undamaged.

My only negative feeling was that they way "over packed" the part. The shredded paper they used was 10X the weight of the part and it wasn't a frail part (fuel line). Because of this the shipping cost about $10 (the part was only a $20 part). The positive side of it, that I chose to accept was that this certainly prevented any damage in shipping - the part arrived in pristine condition.

I would definitely buy from them again.

Charlie
'72 911 T

[964Cab]

I don't have a problem with the quality of the part that I got but I do dislike (unless I'm wrong ?) 20% re-stocking fee for returned items that are not opened. I can see a re-stocking fee for an opened product but un-opened' why charge 20% for unopened returns. Also, any refund $$ is toward future product credit $ only.

[This message has been edited by 964Cab (edited 08-24-2001).]

[ROWSC]

I was interested in them for the reasons many of you noted, small used pieces. I have dealt with Pelican Parts on several issues and agree that they are very good, they just don't sell the used little pieces.

[Howard Nelson]

I live in Chicago and have picked things up / browsed in warehouse several times - they have a large (rather unorganized) selection of used parts. I bought a tachometer for a '72 that didn't work - Jay exchanged it for another (working) and gave me the other one for parts. For what they are, I've been pleased with PW, however, I like to be able to inspect the used parts before I buy.

------------------
1972 911T Coupe

[Greg-slant/cab]

I have bought parts from them in the past. It took awhile to get them but ne never charged me for them until he sent it. For used parts my best luck and customer service has been with Parts Heaven in the San Francisco area and with Los Angeles Porsche Dismantler, I was amazed at the parts he had on hand.

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Greg-slant/cab
http://www.geocities.com/gregslantcab/