Garage

[towat_8714]

I buy quite a few car parts and accessories for my car here and realize that I have a lot of returns due to the fact it says what I purchased fits my car when it doesn’t and the reason is you don’t have my exact make and model. My car is a 2012 mazda3 hatchback model I sky active and all you have to choose from is model gs sky active. How do we fix this 

[gator08041971]

@towat_8714 

All you can do is research the parts you need.

Best choice is to call a Mazda dealer with your VIN, you can get the exact part number from them for your vehicle. With that number you can then proceed to search for that part.

I buy parts for a body shop on eBay all the time, but I use a lot of references before ordering parts from here.  I will pull up pictures, compare them to my part, and use more than one site for confirmations, as well as verifying the part with a dealer if need be.  I also sell parts on here now and take a LOT of steps and effort to make my listings as accurate as possible.

Some vehicles can have multiple versions of a part based on models of the vehicle.  Side mirrors are some of the worst to have multiple versions for a car.

eBay's "garage" system is only as good as the info it has put into it.  A lot of that may be congregated by sellers over the years, but it would be nice if parts were cross matched to official sources such as OEM and larger parts suppliers.

Bottom line you are still responsible for verifying your part.  Never assume that ANY place selling parts will have the right part.   You are at the mercy of the individual seller potentially making mistakes, errors with the garage selections, and potential misinformation from other sources as well.

Good luck.

[quicksilverdiecast]

The compat chart has never been right from day one, nor will it ever be right. As for a source for correct accurate information that could be used with the comp chart, there is none and never will be. While Hollander manuals are decent they are NOT to be considered as the gospel(read the fine print) And as time and tech moves forward it will only get worse...For the last maybe 10 years if you walk into the factory dealerships parts department and want a part for you car or new car, you must supply the VIN so the parts man can order the correct part for that vehicle. When the VIN is sent to the main Parts system(in Detroit example) they will generate a print out of the exact parts that particular was assembled with at the factory...and you get the correct part...If you are a seller who has a handle and experience at what they are selling, knowing what is and is not correct, and having a buyer who is certain the issue with his vehicle is with the part he just purchase, you have a successful transaction and hopefully a repeat customer. BUT when you have, shall we say, Casual sellers who list an item and relies on the information in the compat chart which the seller assumes is correct, otherwise why would it be included? And chooses what he assumes is a correct vehicle and moves on not knowing....then a buyer who shoots from the hip at what is wrong with his vehicle orders the part and finds out it was not the problem at all....things begin to go down hill fast from there.