Recently I found my car unable to start because of some mysterious problem.  After taking the car to mechanic, I was told the throttle body was broken, and need to be replaced.  The mechanic gave me two options: 1. order replacement part from original dealer which costs $500+; 2. order a used throttle body from third party, which costs much less than from original dealer.  Although the 2nd option is cheaper than 1st one, I was told that taking the 2nd option essentially means gambling.

Having spent $1000+ last year on repairing my not so old car with less than 100k mileage, I found with a surprise that my car repair expense ranked 3rd high in my year-end expense summary after apartment rental and gasoline.   So my priority this year was to keep the car repair cost low, under this guideline, I decided to do some research myself on auto parts

Amazon offers a wide selection with a handy auto parts finder tool below:

However, Amazon doesn’t allow you to search a particular part for a certain make, for example, for 1997 Honda Civic, it could you 1500 replacement parts listed, however, you are not able to search within these listings with a keyword.

Here are some additional sources of car parts dealers:

• PartsGeek.com – its car parts finder is pretty easy to use
  
• Autogeek.net – Polish your car to perfection with the Ultimate Detailing Machine Car Polisher!
• Tirerack.com – revolutionize tire buying
• 4wd.com – Shop 4Wheel Drive Hardware For All Your Jeep Needs
• empirecovers.com – The Lowest Price for Truck and Car Covers. Large Selection of Budge, Covercraft and Tyvek Products
• usaautoparts.net – Ensure optimum performance in your car with premium grade auto parts from US Auto Parts.
• AutoPartsGiant.com – 10% Off All Auto Parts
• partsamerica.com – Automotive Tools and Garage Equipment