Guides
Guides for the Motor Trade
Practical, plainly written guides on identifying and sourcing vehicle parts — for garages, bodyshops, restoration specialists and automotive professionals. Written by REMCAM Automotive Ltd from the questions trade customers actually ask.
All guides
Updated · 10 min read
What Is Parts Sourcing?
What parts sourcing means in the UK motor trade: what a sourcing specialist actually does, how it differs from a dealer or motor factor, and when a workshop needs one.
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Updated · 12 min read
How to Source Hard-to-Find Car Parts
How to source a hard-to-find car part in the UK: the sequence a specialist works through, the nine supply channels and what each is good for, and how to buy used genuine parts safely.
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Updated · 10 min read
What Are Manufacturer Repair Methods? OEM Repair Explained
What an OEM or manufacturer repair method is, what it contains, how it differs from a researched repair method, and how a UK bodyshop gets the right one.
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Updated · 9 min read
Car Parts on Back Order: What It Means and What to Do
What 'back order' means for car parts, how a national back order differs from NLA, what a VOR order is, how long a back order takes and what to do meanwhile.
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Updated · 11 min read
How to Find Discontinued Car Parts (and What to Do If You Can't)
How to find discontinued car parts in the UK: check the supersession first, then overseas stock, heritage programmes, new-old stock, used genuine and remanufacture.
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Updated · 10 min read
How to Find Car Parts by VIN or Registration Number
How to find the right car parts from a VIN or UK registration: what each identifier reveals, where the VIN is, why photos help and what to send a specialist.
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Updated · 9 min read
Genuine, OEM, OES and Aftermarket Parts: What's the Difference?
Genuine, OEM, OES and aftermarket car parts explained for the UK trade: who makes each, how to tell them apart, warranty and insurer expectations, NLA options.
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How we write our guides
Our guides are written by REMCAM Automotive Ltd — the organisation, not an invented expert — from the day-to-day work of identifying and sourcing parts for trade customers. We explain what we know from that work and we cite public sources for the rest.
- Facts about VINs, registration documents and vehicle records are sourced from GOV.UK and DVLA pages and linked in each guide.
- We do not publish statistics without a source. If we cannot source a figure, we leave it out.
- Manufacturer names are used only to identify vehicles. We are an independent sourcing specialist and are not affiliated with, approved by or an authorised agent of any manufacturer.
- Guides carry a “last updated” date and are reviewed when regulations, programmes or our own service change.
- There is no sponsored content. Guides link to our own services where they are relevant, and say so.
If a guide is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it. For the services the guides describe, see parts sourcing and manufacturer repair methods.
Can't find the part? Let us find it.
Send us the registration, VIN or part number and we'll search our sourcing network.