Fitment checked against the vehicle, not the number
A counter that asks what the lorry is before it sells you a part. Stock is visible from the trade counter before you drive over, and an unfitted part comes back inside a fortnight.
What is on the shelf
Six categories, held rather than indented. Anything else is a two-day order and we will say so rather than quote you same-day.
Braking
Linings, drums, valves and hoses for the common commercial platforms. The fastest-moving shelf and the one where fitment is checked hardest.
Suspension and steering
Leaf packs, bushes, tie rods and kingpins. Heavy, slow and stocked anyway, because a workshop that has to wait two days sends the whole job elsewhere.
Electrical
Alternators, starters, sensors and looms. Returns are highest here, which is why the counter asks two extra questions before selling one.
Filtration
Air, oil, fuel and cabin. Priced by the box and by the piece, and the box price is on the shelf edge rather than only on the trade counter.
Engine ancillaries
Pumps, belts, tensioners and gaskets. Where a set is cheaper than the two pieces you asked for, the counter says so.
Consumables
Oils, greases and workshop chemicals. Low margin, carried because a workshop buying them here buys the rest here too.
How fitment is checked
Four questions, and they are the reason the queue moves slower than it could.
The vehicle, not the part
Make, model year and chassis series. A part number read off an old box is a number for the part that was fitted, which is not always the part that should have been.
What it is doing
A symptom rather than a diagnosis. About one order in twenty changes at this question, usually to something cheaper.
Checked on the terminal
Against the vehicle, in front of you. If the catalogue is ambiguous the counter says it is ambiguous rather than picking the likelier one.
Marked on the invoice
The vehicle it was sold against is printed on the invoice. That is what makes a return in a fortnight a two-minute conversation.
The counter, counted
From the stock system and the till, not from a survey.
Trade terms
Four answers, and the second one is asked most and liked least.
Do I need an account to buy?
No. Cash at the counter or a card gets you the same price list — there is no walk-in premium. An account gets you thirty days and the ability to see stock before you drive over.
Will you match a price I have been quoted?
No. Our price is the same for every workshop on the road, which means the one time you cannot get here we are not undercutting you either. A counter that negotiates is a counter where somebody is paying more.
What can I return?
Anything unfitted, in its box, inside a fortnight, against the invoice that names the vehicle. Electrical that has been connected we cannot take back, and the counter says so before selling it rather than after.
Can you deliver?
Twice a day inside Ludhiana on an approved account, and not at all outside it. A parts van running to Jalandhar would be a promise we would break in the first week of a strike.
Open a trade account
Thirty days, stock visibility and twice-daily delivery inside Ludhiana. Ten minutes at the counter with a GST number is the whole process.