THE CAR EXPERTCar finance and buying advice

Years ago, if you needed a spare part for your broken car, you would go to your local High Street (or back street) motor factors shop or dealership and get them to source it for you.

But the massive growth in internet use, advances in technology and, to some extent, the Covid lockdown period, have all opened the (car) door to a much larger world of online shopping. And that includes motor spares.

Businesses have set themselves up exclusively to supply the demand for spare parts, and have computer systems, massive warehouses and fleets of vans and drivers just waiting to find, pack and deliver that elusive item you need, to repair your car and get it back on the road.

The Car Expert has put together this list of potential sites to visit for spares. This is for drivers who want to find the right part for their car, easily, conveniently and at a competitive price. If you’re looking for performance upgrades or sporty bodykits, there might be more specialist sites to look at.

You’ll notice that some of the sites have an asterisk next to their name. These sites are commercial partners of The Car Expert, so if you click through to their sites and buy anything, we may receive a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay, but helps us keep the site running.

Euro Car Parts*

Servicing the UK and Republic of Ireland, Euro Car Parts’ 10,000 staff operate in 300 branches, fulfilment centres and distribution hubs.

The landing page takes you straight to the shopping area: choose from categories including batteries, oil, wiper blades, bulbs and tools from the drop-down menus across the top. Or go directly to the part you need.

For this you can either enter your car registration number to get specific information on ‘top searches’ or in ‘departments’, or if you don’t have a specific car go in via make, model, year, engine and fuel type.

There are latest offers, ‘trending’ products, special areas of interest such as ‘winter accessories’ and ‘travel and leisure’ and a news and blog section to keep you entertained.

• Search for car parts for your vehicle at Euro Car Parts*

GSF Car Parts*

With a vast range of car parts, accessories, batteries, oils and tools available, GSF offers free UK delivery on all orders over £25. You can even click and collect at one of their 180 branches if you’re in a hurry for a part.

From the landing page, there’s the invitation to ‘search the entire store’ or you can use drop-down menus to narrow down your hunt for service parts, wipers, steering or lighting spares, for example. You can, as with other sites, enter your car’s registration number and call up spares that way.

An ‘accessories’ section brings up car security, technology and travel & leisure among other topics, while ‘tools’ will likewise present you with a wide range of well-known manufacturers to have a look through.

There’s a ‘knowledge hub’ full of guides and advice articles, a section describing GSF’s nationwide branches and details on joining the company’s VIP Club for excusive discounts.

• Search for car parts for your vehicle at GSF Car Parts*

CarParts4Less*

CarParts4Less have a wide range of stock in one of the largest online parts stores for cars and vans in the UK. They focus on offering the best prices and will price match other competitors subject to certain conditions. Free delivery over £30 is offered.

To search for parts there’s the registration number search or you can input vehicle make, model, engine and fuel type and look at the results that way. A drop-down menu on the landing page lists a cross-section of all the most popular parts while giving – if you need it – specific information on items such as wiper blades, batteries and engine oil.

‘Latest offers’ are listed on the landing page which also contains a breakdown of all stock, sorted into categories such as ‘service parts’, engine parts’ or ‘body & exhaust’.

Car care accessories and performance spares are listed separately and there’s a newsletter available to which you can sign up and receive discounts.

• Search for car parts for your vehicle at CarParts4Less*

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Autodoc

Operating in 27 European countries and with more than four million parts from 1400 for cars, vans and motorbikes, Autodoc is a big player in this arena.

Finding the right part is made easy by the fact that there are several ways to go about it. If you know the part number you can enter that into the search box immediately. Otherwise, input your vehicle registration number or look via the ‘make, model and engine’ search facility.

And if that doesn’t work for you, there’s the option to go to an online catalogue and search a category such as tyres, brakes, filters or body. If it’s engine oil you need add your car’s registration number and the Autodoc system finds the vehicle and the recommended lubricant, along with hundreds of other parts exactly for that model.

It even lists other recommended products for the car, right down to an indicator bulb. The site contains a help centre, advice blog and a news section.

Buycarparts

A German organisation, Buycarparts has teamed up with Autodoc to supply spare parts, the latter is where Buycarparts gets its stock and is also a partner for sales contracts.

The set is bright and simple to use: there’s an initial search at the top of the landing page for ‘product, vehicle or brand’ or you can input your car registration number and browse that way or just go straight to the category of product you’re after.

Products are also listed by ‘top car parts’, ‘top manufacturers’ for any part, or ‘top sellers’ if you want to know what everyone else is choosing and fitting.

Tyres and wheels have categories that are separated from the rest, there’s a ‘special offers’ catalogue while the ‘Tools’ section offers a vast range with ‘Top’ categories currently trending as the most popular.

eBay

eBay is a massive online sales tool that is known the world over. So it’s no surprise that there’s a huge and varied choice available if you’re looking for that precise part for your car.

The nature of eBay’s online marketplace means it’s not as direct or specific as going to a specialist car spares retailer, but you might find what you want from a private individual at a good price. If you are after several bits to fix your car, you’ll have to trade with a number of sellers, rather than getting everything from one source, but if you are prepared to do the legwork, it can be significantly cheaper.

Many parts are brand new while others will be second-hand, but there are bargains to be had. There is also the perennial concern when buying from any second-hand marketplace that there will be stolen parts being advertised for sale, particularly from private sellers.

Onlinecarparts

This online spare parts shop has a product range of more than two million items, including 5,000 tyres, 2,000 car battery models, and more than 2,000 oils. The website offers spares from 500 premium manufacturers in ‘original parts quality’.

It’s an easy website to use and searching for a part can be done via part name, car (registration number), item ID or OEM number to find spares easily. If you go via the specific car details you are presented with a huge list of categories for that individual model, such as damping, clutch, electrics, glow plug system and towbar.

Scroll down further and there’s the opportunity to search within a range of popular car brands while the chance to sign up for the company’s newsletter offers ‘exclusive deals’.

Amazon

Another huge, worldwide organisation, Amazon is known for its ability to make sourcing parts and having them delivered quickly (same day in some cases) easy and convenient.

Like eBay, Amazon doesn’t offer that bespoke individual parts retailing service but it does have the ability and know-how to find you lots of parts that you might need for your car.

Typing in, for example, ‘ford puma wiper blades’ will bring you a large choice of relevant items to look at and consider, many of them with free delivery. Specialist car parts businesses have even taken to offering and selling their stock on Amazon now, which demonstrates the strength and reach the site has.

You might need to go to different suppliers for a list of wanted parts but if you have an Amazon account, and many people do, you won’t have to keep inputting your name and address details.

Mister Auto

With more than a million parts in stock and a claimed 5.5 million customers, Mister Auto is another large Europe-wide parts retailer, operating in more than 20 countries.

From the landing page, a ‘cover-all’ search engine will look for products, reference numbers or brands of parts, or you can search using your car’s make, model, engine and fuel type. ‘Most common brands’ are listed to help with this.

Scrolling down, the products are listed in sections such as filters, spark plugs, locks and steering. Once you have found your car, a list of available parts is shown – there’s a further ‘refine’ tool if you input the vehicle’s first registration date, although you can skip this.

It’s an easy-to-use site with pictures of products to assist and a simple design and display. A ‘top spare parts’ section lists the most commonly looked-for products, like tyres and brake pads, and there’s a good advice and maintenance section.

YMF Car Parts

YMF Car Parts (York Motor Factors Ltd) was founded in 1969 by a husband and wife team out of an old butchers shop in York. Today the business operates from six sites in the North of England. They have a fleet of delivery vehicles plus there’s a trade counter collection service if you are close enough to one of their outlets.

‘All we need is your reg number’ says the message on the landing page: inputting that in the search box starts your hunt for parts for your specific vehicle. The smart-looking site is illustrated well by neat pictures and explanations of many of the parts.

Once you have found the spare you think you need, a click through to ‘view product’ helps you decide if it’s definitely right, with technical details, pictures and, of course, the price.

It’s a friendly site with offers of help along the way courtesy of a chat line. Free delivery is offered over £30 and there’s the option of signing up for a newsletter with ‘discounts and ideas’.

My Motor World

Motor World has been around for more than 25 years on the UK’s High Streets and was one of the largest chains of motoring stores in Britain. Today it offers a claimed 70,000 vehicle parts, car care products, accessories and tools, all available on-line under the ‘My Motor World’ banner.

The landing page shows you immediately the offering: across the top are drop-down menus for a range of products such as ‘Car parts, ‘Car care’, ‘Engine oil’ and ‘Wipers’. Of course, there are many different manufacturers, styles and price ranges to consider, so to make things simpler the website features an easy number plate look-up system.

Type in your car’s registration number and then, no matter which part or set of parts you’re looking for, you’ll only get choices related to your exact vehicle. No licence plate number? Just use the ‘entire range’ search box.

It’s a busy site but easy to navigate around. Products are shown well and pricing is clear, and if you become a ‘member’ there are discounts to be had.

Halfords

A well-known name in the worlds of car parts, servicing, maintenance, cycling and leisure activities, Halfords has a UK network of Autocentres providing parts and repair services.

But its online shopping experience is just as comprehensive. ‘Never beaten on price’ the site says and you’ll see offers such as ‘£5 off today’ and ‘25% off’ dotted around the web pages.

It’s an easy site to use, especially if you have a registration number to input. Do that and you’ll be shown a huge range of parts categories to choose from including ‘Filtration’, ‘Suspension & steering’, ‘Body parts’ and ‘Ignition’.

Click on any of these and the lists become more specific until you drill down to exactly what you need. Then, if there is a choice, you choose the price that’s right for you. It’s a good site to navigate around – simply add products to your basket and when ready, go to ‘Pay’.

Online Automotive

This internet-based business promises to use the ‘vast knowledge of its employees’ to help you find the best deals. It’s a modern approach, it says, but it hasn’t lost sight of the traditional values of customer service.

First things first then… enter your registration number in the parts search box. If you don’t have a license number, there’s a drop down section asking for make, model, engine size and other items to help with the search.

With number entered, the next page opens up to clearly set out the parts categories for your particular car. It’s simple and easy to use. Click on a section such as ‘Exhausts’ and a new page offers items such as ‘Catalytic converters’, Exhaust clamps’, ‘Silencers’ and a host of other items.

If you don’t see exactly what you want, there’s the option to email or inquire directly via the site to locate your part, which Online Automotive say ‘the chances are’ they will have.

SES Autoparts

A lot has changed since Southern Exhausts Supplies opened their doors in 1991. Still based in the south, SES Autoparts now offer much more than just exhausts – a full range of parts are available to order online.

From the home page there’s the opportunity to enter your car registration number or input the vehicle’s details using a variety of drop down menus. You can alternatively have a browse by clicking one of three other main drop downs.

There’s ‘Car parts’, ‘Tools’ and ‘Brands’. Click for car parts, for example, and you will be shown a big list of categories with all the usual choices. Choosing tools does a similar thing with a vast range of equipment listed, while the brands sector offers a list of manufacturers if you have a specific product in mind.

Once in the ‘Checkout’ area you have the option of ‘Click & collect’ or ‘Delivery’ to receive your goods. It’s a bright and attractive site offering great choice.

This article was originally published in February 2023. Last updated February 2026.

*The Car Expert has commercial partnerships with CarParts4Less, Euro Car Parts and GSF Car Parts. If you click through to their websites and make any purchases, we may receive a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay.