European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 the stars and stripes tuesday october 25,1994 cafes customers have More than 600makes ant a Wells of cars and trucks registered m Europe. The average age of each vehicle is seven year and every car or truck Isi Nade of approximately 20,000 differ edit v parts than can bred or Wear out. This presents a tremendous Challenge for cafes Europe to help service members take care of their cars and i Iii deter lined to meet the Challenge. A like to begin by answering some of air customers most frequently asked quest oils. Q. How docs cafes get parts overseas a. There have been several improvements in the Way cafes purchases and distributes automotive repair parts. Most significant is cafes contracting with a major  parts  the heed to y Stock Auto parts overseas installing computers at All the parts stores provides an electro pics parts Catalon for instant parts look up and pricing. When customers request a particular part cafes associates look up the part and order it directly from the association of automotive aftermarket distributors Mada stateside automotive warehouse distributor Alai supplies All cafes facilities worldwide putting consistency into our automotive parts program. / q. I Low Long docs it take to get a part. Overseas?.-", / "-.,- v a. Aal is Humpe places 200 to 300 special on Lei even working Day. These orders Are received electronically and about 90 percent ait1 shipped from the sup Iii of within. 24 hours. The other 10 percent for uncommon parts Are ordered from outside sources the same Day. At times a part May not be immediately available but will be shipped As soon As it becomes available. To ensure Quick delivery Aafke sends most parts by priority mail Glass is transported by air. Parts that Are too Large to Send through the like engines and transmissions Are shipped via Ocean transportation. The majority of parts arrive at the Europe parts suit s in about eight Days. Parts needing special handling such As windshields Are first shipped to the overseas distribution warehouse and then to the store arriving within 14 Days from the time the order was placed parts shipped via Ocean transportation take about three weeks. Q. What s the difference Between original equipment parts oem aftermarket and House Brand parts a. There Are three different Price Levels to choose from on nearly every Auto part made. Usually the most expensive parts Are the original equipment parts from the Auto manufacturers. Aftermarket parts from Well known manufacturers Are moderately priced and House Brand parts produced for the retailer by lesser known manufacturers Are the least expensive. Ohm parts Are designed for a specific Type of vehicle. They have limited application and emphasize Quality Over Cost. Some parts such As body panels Are Only  have Noci voice but to pay the higher prices. Aftermarket parts Are designed for More Universal use than oem  Are any part made and sold by a company other than the vehicle manuf Oiiver and include most common repair pails such As water pumps loses and spark plugs. Because of the broader coverage the part can be produced in larger number at lower Cost. Although these parts Are less expensive than ohm they live comparable Quality House Brand parts Are the least expensive meet minimum oem requirements and have few frills attached to them such As advertising promotional Elbr Svetc. A a for example when purchasing wheel bearings for a 1983 Ford Mustang a customer would have the following choices oem part $42.95 after Market part $38.20 House Brand part $32 88  Type of part can i order a. Currently cafes Europe customer Only Haw the option to order oem or after Market parts. New computer technology however will soon permit customers to order a House Brand known As the " ivus Liziie from a Aix the Trust line offers a Broad Range of coverage i.e., mufflers shocks brakes water pumps etc., with a narrow Range of a pliability it will provide a significantly lower priced alternative to name Brand parts to our i Stomei a with the most popular makes of cars. It s important that the customer specifies which Type of part is wanted when placing an order it s cafes Europe s policy to routinely order aftermarket parts unless the customer sped fies otherwise. Q. Why Are Auto parts cheaper in the . Than overseas a. Customers often ask Why ifs cheaper for someone to Purchase a part at a stateside Auto parts store and mail it than to buy it at an overseas cafes Auto parts store. The part bought stateside May be a House Brand or rebuilt part compared to an aftermarket or oem part at the cafes parts store. It May be hard to Tell the difference if the packaging appears similar. But prices May differ significantly. Additional costs to stateside family members include the time and Effort it takes to Purchi Lse the part at a local parts store then package insure and mail the . Cafes parts prices include shipping and handling charges. When you add it All up you la realize the cafes prices Are reasonable.,. Cafes parts stores guarantee you ii be satisfied with your Purchase. We take returns on All pans except electronic pails such As computer units. Electronic parts Are so sensitive the slightest error can damage Plieni. For Ahjit reason it s a Good  to have cafes install any electronic parts.--. Q. Why Are foreign car parts cheaper on the Economy currently cafes has not been successful in obtaining discounts on in country. Foreign Auto parts such As those for Bow or Mercedes. To obtain foreign parts we must Purchase them on the local Economy. I o compensate Pur pick up and handling expenses we add a surcharge to the Cost of the part. If you own a foreign car you can probably buy the part at a lower Price on the local Economy. Q. Why does labor Cost so much a. Aai is Europe prices hourly labor in local currency and converts to dollars using the Exchange rate in effect on the Day the customer picks up. His or her car from the . Attracting and maintaining competent mechanics Means our garage must pay competitive wages therefore each garage bases its hourly labor charge on a Survey of commercial garage labor prices in the surrounding area less taxes. That Means laboi4 charges Niay vary Between cafes for most major automotive work our garages use commercial Flat rate manuals such As motor s or Chilton to determine labor times. The Standard Job time is multiplied by the established hourly rate to estimate the charge. Labor guides put consistency in automotive repair labor pricing. All charges Are not based on hourly Rafe manuals. Recent changes such As package pricing have reduced the Price of Many services q. What is package pricing a. Earlier this year Mes managers worked closely with the 26 garage concessionaires to find away to promote consistency in automotive repair labor pricing within  system and give customers the Best Deal possible. Their solution was the package Price. Re " several automotive repair packages were introduced to customers in Dennany and the Netherlands providing savings up to 30 percent on labor for routine car Sei vices such As stadia Ixl lube and Oil change to tune . For example be fore the new Price schedule if priced from the labor guide the average labor Price at Wes Europe garages for air conditioning service had been do 200. The new Price is do 145, saving customers 55 Deutsche Marks or 27 5 percent. Other labor prices and savings Are As follows service avg. Price pkg. Price savings Brake service 2w- do 252 t m 165 dm87 i Brake serv-ice4w m 478 dm.325 do 153 a wheel bearing pack dm53 dm35 dm18 34% broke service -. Vibe Oil & filter a ,dah7.85 do 38 dm9.85 21% Lune-lp.41. Dm2451. Dm135 v do 110 .44% q. What can customers do to help a. As the commander i want to ensure you that cafes will make Ever Effort to provide the parts required to keep cars in Good shape. However customers can help Wes and themselves with a1 regular maintenance program that detects problems before a car is disabled Robert f. Swarts major general . Air Force commander cafes