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I have just received the shock of my life, OEM parts purchased in Australia are cheaper than from overseas!

Example:
Manual window winder with the circlip $10.00 each, price from Daniel Krosch (Metro Ford Distribution Centre, Eagle Farm 07-3021 8613). Total cost $20.00

Same parts from MX5 Parts UK would $48.00!

I received the same price shock for lower control arms complete with bushes, ball joint and alignment bolts.

Your talking Mazda MX-5 parts not Ford parts!!

AP Eagers owns the Metro Ford parts distribution. AP are one of the biggest dealer networks up here they have a finger in nearly every pie.
Add to that Ford owned a 33% stake in Mazda until recently (now around 10% I think) and they shared the same parts pool for most of the 80's early 90's. Ford just slapped badges and different seat cloth on most models...

Funny thing was we used to source parts from Grand Prix Mazda when I worked at Byrne Ford because their prices were cheaper than ours... For the exact same part the sticker on the box just had a different logo on it.

That's Great news Magpie, might be time to put them back on the call list when it's time to go shopping. I really had given up on local because even Bursons have been getting expensive when comparing to overseas...

just a couple of weeks ago GRAND PRIX Aspley sold me the selector bush at the end of the gearstick for one third less than the cheapest EBAY price.i couldnt believe it.

Duck around the corner to MX5Plus $7.60. worth it just to look at all the bits you can't afford in the showroom!

Plus the possibility of seeing Danny's build and other builds that make your wallet shake with anticipation

There are OEM parts and then there are OEM parts. When I've bought a part from MX5Parts.co.uk or a US Mazda dealer it comes in a blue Mazda branded bag with a small "Made in Japan" printed at the bottom. On the odd occasion when I've bought the same part from Mazda Australia it's come in exactly the same style bag but it has a little "Made in Vietnam" on it and the quality is nowhere near the Japanese item. I'm not sure if the buyer at Mazda Australia ticks the "Send me cheap crap parts" box on the corporate website or if he shops on ebay but Mazda here does seem to have lesser parts than the USA and UK.

It would be interesting to see where your guy is sourcing his from, magpie.

I'll get a photo of the winder handles and see what it says.

There's probably only one source of specialised MX5 bits like winder handles. My genuine vietnamese copies have been more common replacement parts like seals, filters, gaskets, bearings, etc.

I've also found you can push Ford or Mazda for better pricing - doesn't always work, but sometimes the guy says "I'll do it for trade price" and 10-20% comes off