You have no items in your shopping cart.
Dear Start My Car,
One of the exciting aspects of being in the online space is that we can get immediate feedback from you and that we can work to improve the experience. Over the last few weeks we have worked on some of the details of the ordering system, so that we can deliver with greater accuracy and efficiency. I have included some details below in order to explain how and why we did what we did.
I would love you to try it and give us feedback; no matter what it is. This is how we can continue to do better week after week after week.
As always, please also have a look at some of our amazing specials.
Mostly, drive safe!
Regards,
Baruch
Website Enhancements on Start My Car
It has been a busy few weeks at Start My Car, as we embarked on a programme to update our product listings. You may have already noticed some of our new product on popular ranges.
As we phase in the new listings and phase out the outdated ones, I thought it would be a good opportunity to explain how the new listings work.
Before that, it is probably useful to take a step back and explain the necessity of what looks like a long and complicated listings. It is vital that there is certainty that the part you buy fits your vehicle. We want to avoid the headache of you ordering the wrong part. As such, we have added as many descriptors as we are able to, to the listing, so we ship what you need and that your vehicle can be up and running in record time.
The line below is a typical product listing:
• BMW X1 [E84] 2.8I (N20B20A) (16V 180KW) 11-15 -BRAKE PAD – FRONT {FERODO}
The listing corresponds to the following:
• Manufacturer (BMW)
• Model (X1)
• Generation/Model Code (E84)
• Variant (2.8l)
• Engine Code (N20B20A)
• Engine Descriptors – Valves and Power Output (16V 180Kw)
• Model years (11-15)
• Part Type (Brake Pad)
• Part Position (Front)
• Vendor (Ferodo)
Don’t panic! You do not need to have all the information. It might look daunting but there will be information supplied so that you will be easily able to identify your car.
In terms of searching for your part, typing in the manufacturer, model and part type should be more than sufficient to find your part. Example searches would be:
• Toyota Corolla Brake Disc
• Audi A3 Cam Belt
• Nissan Pathfinder Glow Plug
However, we have made it even easier. On our homepage you should see the following block.
The system is designed to be intuitive and user friendly. Simply start typing in the input field and it will provide suggestions as you type in your query. The autocomplete menu drops down below the search bar as you type and changes with each keystroke to provide increasingly accurate predictions.
The best way to see how this works is to give it a try. As with anything new, there might be some confusion as we phase in the listings and phase out the old ones. We have tens of thousands of parts for you, and we are doing our utmost to relist them as soon as possible. You are always welcome to message us if you cannot find your part or if there is any way we can assist you. But given your response to our site so far, we know that you already know that .
GUESS THE PART
LAST WEEKS WINNER:
ERFAAN ABRAHAMS
ANSWER:
PISTON HEAD
SILLY SPARES
Some more random facts:
There are currently over 1 billion cars on the earth.
For many cars, the “new car smell” is actually toxic. It is composed of over 50 volatile organic compounds.
Washington D.C. has the worst traffic in the United States, with commuters waiting 82 hours a year in traffic.
U.S. highway congestion costs over $160 billion a year, including wear and tear on vehicles, gas burned while idling, and lost productivity.
A dashboard was initially a piece of wood attached to a horse drawn carriage to prevent mud from splattering up from the horses and onto the driver.
Daniel Craig, as a reward for playing James Bond, can take any Aston Martin from the factory for the rest of his life.
The best selling car of all time is the Toyota Corolla, with over 30 million sales since 2009. One Corolla is sold every 40 seconds around the world.
Airbags move at up to 4500 miles per hour and deploy within 40 milliseconds of a crash. They are designed to deploy at an impact speed of 19 miles per hour.
Nearly 1.3 million people die in car crashes each year around the world, which equals about 3,287 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million people are injured or disabled each year.
Approximately 5 months of a person’s life is spent waiting in a car at red lights.
A man in Springfield, Massachusetts drove his 1928 Rolls-Royce Roadster for an impressive 82 years.
The name “BMW” stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works.
The name “Hyundai" means “the present age” or “modernity” in Korean.
The Porsche logo features the colors of the German flag, the name of the city where the company is based (Stuttgart), and also depicts an image of a horse to denote power and speed. The word “Stuttgart” literally translates into “stud farm.
The six stars in the Subaru logo are a reference to Pleiades, a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. Subaru is also Taurus’s name in Japanese.
Mercedes’ three-point star in its logo represents its mission to make transportation easier on land, on water, and in the air.
Weekly Deals
Workshop Wisdom
Pump Up the Jammy
Electric fuel pumps are the heart of the engine – treat them well
Ask any motorist what pushes fuel to the engine of their car and they’ll reply with all manner of answers, like, “erm, the fuel tank,” or “the fuel injectors”. And they’re usually half-right in those answers. What they generally don’t know is that the fuel pump is the primary ‘pushing’ component in the fuel line – the prime mover of fuel from fuel tank to engine. What’s even less known is that most cars today have an electric fuel pump that resides inside the fuel tank!
You, a professional mechanic, probably know this. But, are you aware that electric fuel pumps in both petrol and diesel-driven car and LDV engines are most often subject to failure not caused by simple wear and tear but by negligence on the part of the motorist.
Wow! Here’s why. The fact that in-tank electric fuel pumps are gravity-fed and require sufficient fuel above them to work effectively for prolonged periods is largely unknown to most motorists who frequently allow their fuel tanks to run into reserve. This lack of direct downward pressure to the pump from low fuel volumes results in reduced pump performance with a corresponding reduction in lubrication and cooling of the pump.
Dirty fuel and dust particles from gravel roads entering the fuel tank via the breather pipe also compromise the performance and longevity of the fuel pump, often causing electrical problems that are not immediately detectable.
The solution is twofold...
Firstly, educate your motoring customers on fuel pump properties, location etc. and the adverse effects on the fuel pump of running on a near-empty tank. Basically, tell them to always have a tank above half full. Besides the fuel pump risk, running out of gas is no fun, right?
Secondly, you, the workshop doctor, should have access to OE-quality aftermarket electric fuel pumps that perform as well as original equivalents but cost a whole lot less.
Visit www.startmycar.co.za for the DOE range of petrol and diesel electric fuel pumps. They are ISO-accredited and engineered to OEM specifications, incorporating 85 integrated pump modules for leading European and Japanese car and LDV brands.
Bottom line – it’s all about heart, the car’s, your customer’s, and of course, yours too.
HAPPY CUSTOMERS
"Wow what great service, wasn’t expecting it so soon, willmake use of your services definitely again 10 out of 10." -Cobus Potgieter
"Nice to have a site like yours, makes life very easy. I received the package yesterday and will be installing them over the weekend." -Rudolf Prinsloo
