I copied the following post because "Clarmstr" isn't registered, so he won't get Email responses, and I wanted to reach him (and others) who are interested on OE parts at discount.

>>posted by  someone claiming to be on Clarmstr  Wed Jan 5 14:35 EST 2005<<
Wanted to pass along some info on taillight replacement parts for 240 wagons. . . .I tend to use genuine or OEM parts whenever available. . . . since I couldn't find a Genuine taillight online in stock, I went to the dealer. To my pleasant suprise. . . I ordered it around noon yesterday and picked it up at 10 this morning. Now it wasn't cheap. Walkout price was $187, but unlike some of the aftermarket assemblies the Genune part comes fully loaded with bulbs and holders. Overall not too bad of a deal.

My edited response:
>>posted by  lucid   on  Tue Jan 11 08:36 EST 2005<<
If you want a better dealer price, I recommend you join the Volvo Owners Club of America (VCOA) for $25 per year. VCOA members get discounts at various places, and I usually shop for OE parts at Beechmont Volvo in Cincinnatti, where they give a 20% discount and free shipping to VCOA members.

Example—Beechmont's wagon taillights list at $167.02 each. My recent discount price was $133.62 and I had them via free UPS in a couple of days. (Clarmstr's dealer was $20 higher, and thus his cost was $54 higher.)

I compared Beechmont with Borton Volvo (often recommended here on the board) on a harmonic balancer/pulley and they were about the same. Beechmont's free shipping saved a few bucks.

Check out www.vcoa.org for club information.

P.S. Mixed emotions here. What if Beechmomt gets swamped with VCOA member orders and pulls the plug?
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Thanks for the info. I was just browsing the old posts and saw your original reply also. I used to do the same thing with my BMWCCA membership. Might be time to join VCOA. Sometimes the dealer is still the only place to get what you need when you need it.

"Sometimes the dealer is still the only place to get what you need when you need it. "

That's why I choose to live right near FCP Groton! Been getting good service from them for over 20 years. They beat the pants off the dealer!

(Oh, and guess who the local Volvo dealer buys their brake calipers from?)
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!

Rob,
I agree that FCP provides top-notch service. But they don't make the parts, and probably can't afford an incoming quality inspection process. I just had to return two A&B header pipes in a row (see post below) that should have never made it to FCP in the 1st place.

I've been trying to get this '93 wagon ready for my daughter for weeks, and I'm sick of playing "parts roulette", so I went to Beechmont for an OE pipe because Nick said he "couldn't touch" their VCOA discounted OE price.

I also just got a rebuilt Nu-Geon 940 front caliper with a binding slider pin, right out of the box. Sure, Nick would have exchanged it if I'd asked—but the car's been down for a week due to an order slip-up, so I made the slider work by rotating it to a certain position and locking it there.

My point is that it seems like every aftermarket look-alike part is suspect these days. And the dealer is the only way I know of to avoid the hassle of trying and returning shoddy parts—till I get lucky.

And I don't understand why a dealer would buy calipers from FCP, unless the dealer offers a lower (non-OE) price option to the customer. Because recently, FCP couldn't match Beechmont's price on OE rebuilt rears either (anything beginning with 500 is rebuilt).

I like FCP and the people there.
But my dislike for a growing number of aftermarket parts increases as their quality declines.

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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Sometimes the dealer is still the only place to get what you need when you need it.

How true that is. I'm waiting for an OE headpipe at this minute, after returning two (2) Canadian aftermarket pipe in a row. The 1st one had the weld-nut on the bottom of the pipes (OE is on top) and it was so far off-center that a bolt couldn't be started. The 2nd one's mounting flange was so high-centered that, depending on how I tightened it, I could seal only one pipe or the other—but not both.

Must be their Quality Control straight-edge was out for calibration on that one.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

We don't need no stinken straightedges.
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90 744ti, Airbox, K/N, Cold air, G-Valve, Dual boost control, VDO, Modified exhaust. 88 745 gle.