In recent years car manufactures have responded to the green movement by producing hybrid and electric cars. These vehicles are highly sought after as they significantly reduce and even eliminate fuel costs, but many electric car owners report finding it difficult to find electric car replacement parts. Check out these 3 tips to finding the right electric car parts:

Finding Electric Car Parts

Do Your Research

Make sure you are familiar with the specific details of the electric car part for which you are shopping. Not only do you need to know the make and model of your car, make sure you know the name and serial number of the electric car part you need. You do not want to spend time locating and ordering a part just to learn that you in fact ordered the wrong one.

Shop Local Classifieds

Browse the classifieds in your local newspaper and check out sites like Craigslist.com to see if the parts for which you are looking are being sold locally. While this is viable options make sure that you do not buy used electric car parts because they will not come with a manufacturer guarantee.

Browse Online

There are many online car parts dealers who specialize in electric car parts. If you search the web you will find a number of reputable, licensed electric car parts dealers. During your search pay attention to prices in order to determine which dealers are the most competitive. It is also important to research return policies, the dealer with the lowest price may have not be as easy to deal with should you have a problem with a part.

When shopping for replacement parts, OEReplacement.com is a one stop shop for all of your replacement part needs. OEReplacement.com is a leading provider of OEM electric car parts to both commercial and private buyers. Nowhere else can a customer have access to such diverse product line of OEM replacements at a guaranteed low price.
If you are in the market for OEM parts for an electric vehicle, or any car for that matter, visit OEReplacement.com online today.

The frequency with which you should change your cabin air filter is dependent upon the quality of air in which you drive. It is however safe to assume that you should be changing your air filter annually or every 12k to 15k miles.

Locating Your Cabin Air Filter
Air filters are generally found under the hood or the dashboard. If you cabin air filter is under the dashboard it is more than likely outside of the car’s air intake, next to the HVAC case or behind the glovebox. Some luxury vehicles have two or three air filters. The quickest and easiest way to locate your cabin air filter is to review your owner’s manual.

Replacing Your Cabin Air Filter
If your filter is located in the outside air intake, you must first remove the air intake screen. It is common to break the air intake screen when removing it so it is a good idea to have a replacement on hand when changing your air filter. You can now remove the cabin air filter. Use a vacuum to clean out the air duct before replacing the air filter. When recovering the cabin air filter, with the intake screen, be sure to seal it tightly to protect your filter from water damage. If your cabin air filter is behind the glovebox, you may not have to remove the entire glovebox to change the filter. You may be able to flex the sides of the box until it pivots and allows you to access the filter. In some case the entire glovebox does have to come out, which can be difficult. Again this is a time that referring to your owner’s manual will be of assistance.

Purchasing Your Cabin Air Filter
Using the proper replacement air filter is just as important as replacing your cabin air filter on a regular basis. OEReplacement.com is a leading provider of OEM replacement parts to both commercial and private buyers. If you are in the market for a top quality, cabin air filter visit OEReplacement.com online today.

Preventative maintenance is essential to the health of any vehicle. Following the scheduled maintenance outlined in your owner’s manual and regularly checking fluids and filters can save you time and money, down the road, and extend the life of your car.

Benefits of Preventive Maintenance:
• Ensures the safety of you and your passengers; a properly maintained vehicle is much less likely to breakdown or lose control.
• Maintains the efficiency of your vehicle.
• Saves on fuel costs, a car running at an optimal level uses less gas than one that is not.
• Saves on replacement part costs and repairs, a vehicle that runs optimally requires less repairs and needs less replacement parts.

Scheduled Maintenance
Every vehicle is manufactured to perform at its best when the maintenance schedule is followed. Newer cars are programmed to warn the driver when it is time for scheduled maintenance. It is extremely important to pay attention to the warning lights on your dash and react accordingly.

Oil Changes
Regular oil changes help your engine to run optimally. Depending on the vehicle, and your driving conditions, an oil change should be performed anywhere from every 3,000 miles to every 10,000. New cars are being designed to need oil changes less frequently. Consult your owner’s manual and be sure that you follow the recommended oil change schedule.

Air Filters
Changing your air filter(s) as recommended by your manufacturer is yet another important part of preventative maintenance. Cabin air filters clean the air that travels through your engine as well as your cabin. Regularly replacing your filter is again important for the health of your engine.

Regular Checkups and Repairs
When your auto technician completes scheduled maintenance it is also important to have them check for wear and tear. Replacing worn belts and spark plugs before larger problems arise is important for the health of your car and can save lots of money in repairs in the future. Be sure to use a technician that you trust to help you maintain the integrity of your vehicle and prevent unforeseen repairs.

OEReplacement.com is a leading provider of OEM replacement parts to both commercial and private buyers. If you are in the market for top quality, replacement parts, for the continued preservation of your vehicle, visit OEReplacement.com online today.

If you’ve been following our articles, at this point you might be wondering what the difference really is between OE and OE Replacement parts. It’s worth talking a look at the life cycle of car parts to make sense of it all.

First, the definition: Original equipment parts are the ones that come on a car from the factory. You might not realize it, but two identical cars, of the same make, model and year, could have different parts on them. Manufacturers make mid-cycle changes all the time, suppliers come and go, stocks run low and new designs get introduced. Original equipment doesn’t mean a specific water pump, for instance, but one that meets all the requirements for a new car.

There’s a lot of money in making cars, but automakers aren’t in the business of selling parts. In reality, it’s a long way from the days when Henry Ford owned the mines that produced his iron–there’s a lot more assembly than manufacturing involved today. They do own the patents and other intellectual property associated with the cars, however. And they do want high-quality parts to be available after they stop assembling cars. So they license the manufacture of parts to OE parts makers.

That’s what OE Replacement sells. When a supplier makes parts that are OE quality, they make them to at least the same standard as parts used in the original car. Sometimes, it is the same company that supplied the manufacturer; after all, the supplier had already gone through all the work to set up their manufacturing process. These are sometimes called Original Equipment Supplier (OES) parts, and they may or may not have the brand stamped on them, depending on the licensing agreement.

But other companies can manufacture the exact same part, too, if they obtain the license. They might not look exactly the same, but in fit and operation they will be identical to what came on the car. If a car or truck is still under warranty, that’s what a dealership is using for repairs. In fact, if they’re smart they’re getting their OE parts from OE Replacement, because OE Replacement doesn’t sell anything else.

Even a cautious, experienced winter driver with good tires can get into trouble, however, if the rest of the car isn’t up to the task. We already know snow tires are vital, but their effectiveness is dramatically reduced if they’re not also in good condition.

Tire inflation should be checked year-round. Proper tire pressure improves fuel economy and extends tire life dramatically, but in winter, it makes a difference in how well the tire grips the surface, whether that’s snow, ice or a cold road.

Tire wear is the next factor. A properly inflated tire will wear slower than an under- or over-inflated one, but alignment, camber, caster and other factors affect wear as well. Rotating tires–moving them from one corner of a vehicle to another–will to some extent ameliorate the effects of uneven tire wear.

Suspension parts, especially shocks and struts, should be in top condition for winter driving. They play a big role in keeping tires in contact with the road. They are a wear item and no matter how little a car is used, they will wear out in time. A new set of OE shocks or struts when it’s time for replacement is important for stopping ability and car control.

Speaking of stopping, brakes wear far faster in winter than in summer. Salt and continuous moisture take their toll. Even new brakes will develop a layer of rust after as little as a single day of sitting in snowy, wet conditions. If a brake job was approaching, winter will bring it on fast. In very salty conditions, seized calipers are not unusual, especially if a car is driven through salty slush and allowed to sit. Brake lines are vulnerable as well. Regular trips to the car wash will help, and slow down rust on body and chassis parts.

Heavy snow can even build up in and around wheels. This throws off wheel balance. Shaking or rumbling from snow packed into the wheels is not unusual, and sometimes it can become so severe it’s dangerous. Fortunately, it can usually be knocked out with a window scraper.

There’s law associated with winter driving. It’s the same law regarding weather as the rest of the year, but it means something different. Essentially, the law says that if you have a weather-related accident, it’s your fault, not the weather’s. Legally, you are required to do whatever it takes to avoid trouble in winter weather. And if you haven’t made the proper preparations, that might mean staying home.

Some parts of the world–Quebec comes to mind–have legal requirements for winter driving, like approved snow tires during certain months. Snow tires, certainly, are the most basic and most helpful item in your arsenal; as the old saying goes, “All season tires are no-season tires.” It’s not just the specialized snow treads that matter. Tire compounds are formulated for temperature. In the summer, road surfaces can easily reach 140 degrees F; rolling tires heat up much more. Summer tires are formulated with rubber compounds that resist heat; in the winter, they become hard and slippery. Snow tires, on the other hand, stay pliable in subzero conditions, and additionally usually have silica or other particles embedded that interact at a molecular level with ice to provide extreme grip. All season tires are a compromise, at best.

There was a time when if you lived in Louisiana, of course you didn’t need snow tires, but with major blizzards all across the south, and many feet of snow on the ground as far south as Georgia and Arizona, that’s no longer true. Everyone in the country has by now seen how useless all-season tires are in real snow, even on an all-wheel drive vehicle; after all, they don’t stop any better than any other car, and often worse, because of their weight.

That leads to the single most important factor in safe winter driving: awareness of your limitations. Anyone who lives in snowy areas has seen big four-wheel drive trucks and SUVs, driven by overconfident owners, on a flatbed destined for the crusher after going off the road. Expensive all-wheel drive cars give their owners a sense of invulnerability, but they do nothing about the laws of physics. Nor do they do anything about written laws, which also have a real problem with bad winter driving.

If the difference between OE and OE Replacement parts is subtle, the difference between OE and aftermarket parts is anything but.

That’s not to say there aren’t good aftermarket parts, and good aftermarket parts makers. After all, all performance parts are by definition aftermarket parts, even if they come from Subaru STi, Ford Racing or MOPAR Performance. They may be made by the manufacturer, but they didn’t come on a new car.

The consumer is on their own in the aftermarket arena. Many brands do offer warranties and take the time to research and test their products, but none of them has the resources of the OE manufacturer, whose parts have gone though the entire product development cycle of a new car. No offshore manufacturer is spending millions of dollars and thousands of hours testing their products, and we’ve seen the effects of that in Chinese tire recalls, and many other less spectacular failures of accessories and components.

Upgrades are one area where a consumer is likely to find a safe benefit from aftermarket parts. If a car didn’t come with HID headlights, for example, upgrading to a bright white or blue halogen aftermarket bulb, or even an HID conversion kit, can be a real improvement. Likewise, installing premium flat wiper blades is an easy way to improve visibility; after all, if it doesn’t work out, you don’t exactly have to take the car into the shop to put the old blades back on.

But when it comes to major items like water pumps, clutch kits or transmission, a cheap replacement could be a huge mistake. These are auto accessories that are vital for the operation of the car. If you know what you’re doing, you might want to install a performance aftermarket part, with the understanding that there’s almost always a trade-off in longevity or comfort. Using OE parts from OE Replacement whenever your car or truck needs new parts will give it a new-car feel literally forever.

When a parts store sells a belt, headlight, filter or wiper blade over the counter, consumers are resigned to a retail markup, usually a minimum of 100 percent–but on small items like bulbs, we’ve seen over a thousand percent markup! Can you imagine: A 37-cent bulb, being sold for $3.99? But that’s what the parts store would charge you; in fact, it’s not worth their while to sell something that costs less.

So you take your car to the dealership for work; surely they’ll treat you right. Well, they’ll treat you right as far as the work on your car is concerned, but they’re not letting car parts go without a profit–how many 37-cent items have you seen on an invoice? More likely, there’s an item that lumps them all in together, with a nice, convincing number attached. Your local independent garage might do better, but they’re at the mercy of the parts store, too.

You can get wholesale auto parts, however, direct from OE Replacement. There is literally no way to get a cheaper part, and at the same time guarantee 100% Original Equipment quality from a company that refuses to sell inferior car and truck parts.

So why not just go to the supplier and buy a part yourself? You’re welcome to, if you want to place an order for 10,000 car radiators. Yes, you’d get an excellent price…just back that rail car on up to your freight terminal….

OE Replacement, however, can buy directly from the manufacturer, and they do get that excellent price. Now, it’s like you’re the manufacturer, getting high-quality, warranted parts at wholesale prices. There’s no confusion about what the price really is, no question about whether it will fit or not, and no worries about quality.

Whether you’re a home mechanic who wants to get maximum value and quality at the same time, or an independent garage that wants to be able to state proudly that you’re using only the best while still keeping costs in line, OE Replacement is as close as dialing 877-OER-8778.

The auto industry has been hammered by bad news, seemingly for years now. First, there was the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler, bailouts and bankruptcies. Then in the restructuring, brands like Pontiac and Saturn were killed off, while painful, drawn out legal battles were fought over the sale and survival of Volvo, Hummer, Opel and Saab. Now, Fiat owns Chrysler, Spyker owns Saab and Chinese heavy equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong owns Hummer.

The industry was still reeling from that one-two punch, and now it was Toyota’s turn. Over eight million cars, and counting, recalled worldwide. Had they all been recalled in America, it would be three out of four cars sold in 2009. And more recalls of import cars from Japan and Korea were on the way.

People started to get scared, thousands of dealerships which had served their communities for decades closed up, and brands that had been rolling for over 80 years rolled no more. How would you get service and parts?

While it’s true that in some places there might not be a Chrysler or GM dealership nearby, you can still get original equipment quality parts as good as from the factory from OE Replacement.

But what happens when the manufacturer is gone? How do parts get made? Fortunately, OE parts don’t come from the manufacturer. They come either from Tier One original equipment suppliers, or from other high-end manufacturers who are making parts to the same specifications as those that came on your car. And if there’s a problem with, say, the accelerator pedal sticking, OE parts suppliers will address that in their manufacturing process, so they can offer an improved version without the need to wait for eight million other people to get their cars fixed.

OE parts supplies aren’t affected by the comings and goings of dealerships, CEOs or brand names. If there are cars and trucks that need parts, they’ll make them, and OE Replacement will sell them. There have been big changes in the industry and more are sure to come, but OE replacement parts are always a good idea.

There are great auto shows around the world: Paris, Tokyo, Berlin. But only one takes place in the cradle of the automobile industry: Detroit.

The North American International Auto Show–NAIAS–is not just a car show where you can go to look at the latest crossover, although it is that, too. Held every January, the Detroit auto show opens the new year with a look at future cars that might see production, concept cars that are flights of engineering or styling fancy, and examples of both the current cutting edge of technology, and dreams of what tomorrow might bring.

As exciting as it is to get a look at new models that won’t go on sale for months yet, the biggest attraction is usually the concept cars. All are styling exercises of some sort, but they can have very different intentions. A designer might want to showcase design language for the model, or maybe gauge public reaction to an idea. If a redesign of a car is upcoming, concepts can build interest and excitement. While some bear a relationship to a production model, whether it’s the complete shape or just a few lines, others are exercises in fantasy. They demonstrate new ideas in how a car or truck can be driven, how it can be used and how it can be propelled.

Hybrids, alt-fuel and experimental powertrains can be seen at the Detroit auto show. Sometimes, working cars powered by fuel cells, hydrogen or solar power will be displayed by the manufacturer, showcasing new technologies under development.

Detroit is also the first look that many reviewers get at new cars, before they drive them and write car reviews. Looking them over on the press days that precede the general show is a chance to see them within the context of the full model line, compare them to last year’s models, and get a sense of where the model is going.

Most of all, the Detroit auto show, held in the backyard of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, is a chance for American manufacturers to show that, once again, they’re making the best cars and trucks in the world.