“Best” Dealer for NA Parts?

Hi All,

I’m going to need a few odds and ends while doing some planned work soon and wanted to know if anyone had a dealer west of I-91 that they use for parts with good success. We have one in Danbury which I have not gone to yet as I usually order online but wanted a “local” place for when I cannot wait or cannot find something.

Thanks

Rob

Discussion

Rob,

I know this thread is ancient but I figured I’d give my experience at Colonial in Danbury. I needed a valve cover gasket for me 93 LE and I wanted OEM, so I called them up. They told me they had 1 in stock, so I drove over. As I was checking out, I confirmed “This is for the 1.6l, right?” and the parts kid told me “All first generations between 1990 and 2005 have the same motor”.

I know a little but I’m no expert so I asked “Was the 1.6l just bored out to 1.8 or something so they use the same gasket?” and was told “Unless you have a Mazdaspeed, all first gens use the same motor”. Well… 1990-2005 is the NA and NB, and there’s absolutely a 1.6l and 1.8l, which I told him.

He got frustrated and told me the computer says this gasket will fit. I don’t like arguing with people so I trusted the computer. This was a Thursday, and my plan was to pull the cover, clean, paint, and replace during the long Memorial Day weekend.

Come Monday, I find that the gasket is for a 1.8l, not a 1.6l. I go back to return it (Days later because parts is closed and I am traveling that week) and they have to conference between 3 people to determine whether they should let me return it. They do, and I go elsewhere to get the proper one.