With any vehicle, maintenance is important and drivers need to have comfort too, especially if they drive long distances. There is a large market in car and truck accessories. Some of these items address questions of security. There is a wide range of goods available and many people send accessories as gifts.

Some motorists have a weekly regime of washing and waxing the car. Proud owners buy polish and turtle wax to get that perfect finish. Rust, the enemy of all car owners, can be a problem but there are rust proofing kits to combat it. The application of the product gives the vehicle a weatherproof skin.

Every motorist should be prepared for emergencies and a tool kit is an essential parts accessories. Tire depth gauges, foot pumps, and tire valve repair tools can be bought individually or as part of a set. Utility lights and halogen spotlights are also on sale.

Getting around on the roads is more difficult during winter conditions. Any purchase of car and truck accessories should include the necessary products when snow and ice comes. An ice scraper and sponge may be needed on early mornings. Other winter parts  accessories for trucks and cars include de-icers, winter screen wash and windscreen cover and car cover.

Sometimes, the vehicle just won’t start and booster cables for jump-starting are needed. There are also jumpstart amps that will start petrol or diesel vehicles. A battery charger is another must to prevent a battery going flat. If things really go wrong, a car towrope will come in useful. A vehicle fire extinguisher is another precaution for safety. Car and truck accessories must prepare for the worst situations and a flashing beacon will give a warning if the vehicle breaks down. The beacon is magnetic and will stick onto the vehicle roof, plugging into the cigarette lighter. Vehicle theft is an unfortunate problem and many drivers invest in locking wheel nuts, steering wheel locks and locking fuel caps.

Truckers carry their home with them for long periods of time. A 24v electric coffee maker will make up to six cups of coffee on the road. Other truck accessories include a 24v electric mini cooker and a 24v cooler / heater box for keeping food and drinks cool or hot, as required. No self-respecting trucker would be without his or her air horn or CB Radio speaker. Windscreen banners are also popular and can be personalized with the driver’s name. They can also bear the name of a favorite sports team. Customized grilles also lend a personal touch to the truck. Other car and truck accessories a trucker may want to buy include sidelights, wheel covers and heavy-duty air dusters. A portable ventilation fan will keep the cabin cool in hot weather.

Car and truck drivers may also want to buy something to keep the air in the vehicle, nice and fresh. One of the most popular parts accessories of recent years is the air freshener, with scents such as leather, coconut and apple.

As the economy has collapsed, various industries have taken it on the chin one after another.  The latest, and most spectacular collapse, has been General Motors.  Once the greatest corporation on earth, it was said in the 1930s that “What’s good for GM is good for America,” it’s now entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a last-gasp effort to save the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are reliant on it.

Those hundreds-of-thousands of jobs aren’t only the GM workers themselves, but folks who work in related industries like automotive parts stores.  GM may be located primarily in the midwest, but their cars are sold throughout the world, and the world’s biggest market is the USA.  GM cars are everywhere in this country, and cars – all cars – break down.  Hence you need to replace certain parts, and there is a whole industry based upon that need.

This industry is now suffering as people buy fewer and fewer cars.  Up until 2008, Americans purchased about 15 million cars per year.  In 2008 they purchased nine million.  That’s a 40% drop – an indescribable, unimaginable abyss that has decimated GM and Chrysler, crippled Ford, and even taken a good chunk out of Toyota and Honda.

The losses are staggering – GM has lost sixty BILLION dollars over the past two decades – that’s more than their entire profit from the eight decades preceding it.  Since the drop-off in the amount of cars has been so precipitous, the drop-off in the need for replacement parts has mirrored it.  Auto part stores are suffering now, just as auto makers are.  It’s hard to imagine any industry thriving when demand tumbles that much.

The good news is that automotive parts stores like Napa, Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone all seem to have had better business models than the auto-makers they in part relied upon.  Part of that is that, while folks are buying fewer cars than before, that doesn’t mean they’re driving less.  So they’re holding onto their old cars, which will of course need repairs at a higher rate than newer cars would, which means auto part stores can actually find and somewhat exploit a new market.

The other side of that coin is that people are less willing to spend, so bargain hunting is the new American past time.  Prices have dropped as the various chains are competing for a smaller, more thrifty customer base.  If you’re part of that customer base – and chances are , you are – you should do some shopping and negotiating before you make any purchase, no matter how large or how small.

People who do their own tune-ups or auto repairs usually have their favorite auto parts store. When you need some auto parts, you just zip down to your regular auto parts store and pick up what you need, right? What you may not know is that, as with supermarkets and many other retailers, prices may differ on certain products. Store managers set a percentage profit goal for their entire inventory, not per product. That’s why it pays to shop your automotive parts prices at a number of stores before you buy. The savings can be substantial.

For example, that’s why one grocery store may sell shampoo at a premium price, while selling another product at a reduced price, or running specials on popular items in order to draw customers in to shop. Chances are good that you’ll complete all of your shopping at that store. You may stock up on that special on chicken and maybe pick up some of the inflated price shampoo or other products at the same time. The retailer meets his overall profit goal by using this pricing strategy. This is why you won’t find much of a difference in the total bill by shopping at any one store. However, if you shop all the sales at each store, your total can be up to 30% less.

It’s the same with auto parts prices. One auto parts supply may sell spark plugs and oil at a higher price than a competitor, while selling some accessories or bigger ticket items, such as a battery charger, at a lower price. For the auto parts store, it all works out in the end. They simply want to meet their profit goal.

One easy way to shop auto parts prices is to pick up a catalog from each store. Get on their mailing list, so that you always have the latest auto parts prices at hand. When you’re on their mailing list, you’ll also receive notices of monthly or seasonal sales items.

Another strategy is shopping online. If you regularly do your own tuneups, it’s likely you’ll save on these standard auto parts. Air filters, spark plugs and distributor caps don’t weigh much, so shipping costs are minimal. When a tuneup is coming due, order ahead and save on these reduced auto parts prices. The online automotive parts vendor has less overhead and can pass these savings on to you. Here again, see if you can get a print catalog for auto parts price comparisons with other brick and mortar retailers in your town.

Let’s say you’ve decided you need some new car seat covers. Breeze through your catalogs and see who has the best price on what you want. You can easily save several dollars on your purchase. On something like a portable battery charger, you may realize a $20 savings, between one retailer and another.

Use the same strategy for finding the best prices on tires and batteries. Stores which sell nothing but these items almost always offer a better price than an automotive parts department in your local ‘superstore’.

Shopping your auto parts prices doesn’t take much time, but will surely save you money. Over time, your savings can pay for that new set of tires!