Pudupet, Chennai - The best choice after new genuine parts

[kbalii]

I searched hard for a topic that would actually talk about Pudupet (an place in chennai) in detail but couldnt find one. So I am taking the liberty of starting a thread for the benefit of fellow TBHPians as I found a lot of value in pudupet in the recent days.

First of all, for the benefit of people who dont know what I am talking about, pudupet is a place in chennai where scrapped cars go to be stripped and possibly reused. This is not the cleanest place in the city; In fact, no where near it, but I felt very comfortable walking there as I was seeing everything that I loved to see. Car Spares!!!

It all began, when a friend travelled abroad. He requested me to service his Ikon while he was gone. He said that the injectors might be a problem. I promptly called a trusted mechanic and asked him to find out what was wrong with the car. He drove the car and said that the coil that supplies power to the spark plugs had given up and it had to be replaced. I called ford and the coil price was Rs. 4500 and wheel cap was Rs. 400 ( The car was missing one wheel cap). The mechanic also suggested that we could check the pudupet alternative, where we can find a genuine used coil. I was itching to take that alternative and we set to pudupet. We went to different shops and found a coil that we were confident would work. Paid 1500 and walked away; Also found the a wheel cap for Rs.90. We came back and in 10 mins the car was turned from a grumbling wife to a sexy girl friend (you know what i mean). For the record, I am happily married

The mechanic also mentioned that the car didnt require an oil service. He charged me Rs 200, wiped the car clean and I was on my way.

A few months later, another friend called me and was complaining that his waggy was not responding to throttle or there was a delayed response. Instantly I remembered the Ikon story as it was similar complaint. I called my mech and we went to my friends place. Again he confirmed that it was the coil and that the waggy had 2 coils, one for 2 pistons. When we saw it, It was more like plug and play, not as complicated as the Ikon. I was happy when I heard this and off we went to pudupet. We found a brand new waggy that was about to be scrapped. It was new but rear ended so badly that the rear seats were totally damaged. We struck a deal for Rs. 1300 and Voila the problem vanished.

Now I was keen on trying this with more cars. Unfortunately my cars did not need anything that was to be replaced. So I spread the word, to contact me if any of my contacts had problems with their car.

A week hadnt passed, and I received a call from a relative at around 9 PM that their Fiesta had a fire accident and the right side headlight had burnt. I was there in 30 mins. My mechanic was there in 1 hour and we examined the damage. Apart from painting, RHS head light, Drier, Compressor clutch assembly, wires and sockets, pressure switch from the compressor had to be replaced. I was looking forward for first light the next day as this would be a real challenge to source.

We decided to source the parts in pudupet and in the meanwhile paint the right front plate, adj to the head light. Reaching pudupet, we first sourced the head lights. After, huge bargaining we concluded a deal where we paid INR 1900 for a new head light, the adjusting motor and the dust cap on the RHS and changing the front plastic cover of the LHS light. This dealer had atleast 3000 head light of different cars ans was cleaning, polishing them continously. Name the car and model he had headlights for it. We were sane enough to take the LHS light along. Then started the search for the rest.

After hunting for approx 2 hours, one dealer told that they had just stripped a 1.6 sxi and took us to his godown. We walked through crooked lanes and dingy pathways before we entered his godown where there were atleast 50 cars but completely stripped with all the chassis on one end, the engines on the other, doors, complete cables that ran through the length and breadth of the car, seats etc. On careful examination we understood that the car had a major collision on the LHS. We found everything that we wanted and then it was hard bargaining. We hard bargained for like 90 mins and finally paid INR 6700 for all of it and walked away. We had entered pudupet at around 10:30 AM and it was 5 PM then. We came back to find the car painted but still wet and carefully changed the coil/pulley/clutch of the compressor, fitted the drier filled oil/gas and checked the AC. Worked like a charm.
We then started with the cables for the head light, soldered them in place, fit the light and tested it. Again, worked like a charm. It was nearing midnight and we callled it a day.

The next day morning, we took the car back to the painter for rubbing and polish and delivered the car in the afternoon with a bill of under 12k and under 48 hours, which if done by Ford would have costed nothing less that 40k and 5 days.

From then on, I have done atleast a couple dozen visits to pudupet to source many parts for different automobiles for many friends. Though it is easy to get haggled and cheated there, I am now comfortable in knowing many dealers and know exactly where to find what. Though, sourcing a clutch is not advisable there are so many spares that used but as good as new here.

If you are in Chennai and need cheap but genuine spares, please visit pudupet. If you are not in chennai or need help to visit, PM me and I would be happy to work out a convenient time.

[MutantX]

Kballi, i will agree with you. Pudupet is THE place to source parts but you need to be really careful and know people before you could source/buy them. Let us say that Pudupet is like Ritchie street for automobile parts. I am looking for a few parts for my all new swift (purpose of experiment). Could you please tell me if you know any car spare parts dealer in here?

[abhijitl]

Yes I agree. We also have this kind of place in Mumbai at Kurla. I have sourced full engines , steerin racks etc from there. Works pretty cool. But some times especially with electric parts it ca be tricky since you can't test them while buying.

[bala80]

@Kballi - Good thread. I wouldn't go to the extent of saying it is the place after service center for "genuine" parts, infact there are quite a few reputed shops in GP road where you can purchase these parts after-market at almost half the price. But then, you get the same (and more) in pudupet for 1/4th of the price, it makes the deal very hard to resist. From my experience (I used to deal with them when I had a modded yamaha RX-100) - following need to be kept in mind

- You need to know trust worthy people there, else its just not worth the risk. There are enough people around who would look to cheat you at the first given opportunity. Usually the mechanics have contact's there whom they used to source the parts from. Its best to follow that route, instead of trying to deal with them directly.

- Apart from the car's that go to scrap, there are lot of stolen cars that gets stripped apart there. It's usually the place most of the stolen bikes in chennai end up with. I have heard cars from delhi are brought over here and spares are sold this way.

- Extremely notorious place. You need to be very careful with your belongings. Once I parked my bike by the tea-stall and was talking to a friend when I saw a small boy, who was lurking around near my bike. I was watching his movements and after a while, he took a tool set from his trousers and started removing the front tyre of my bike! If you park your bike by the road side and come back after an hour or two, no one can guarentee what will be left of your bike when you return

[ashphil]

Pudupet! A gourmet offering of spare parts for the mechanically inclined. I used to frequent the area in the Eighties for second hand spares for my Bullet as my wallet used to be very thin at that time. (It still is!) It used to be the hub to pick up expertly done up ex-army bullets. I wonder if it still is?
Jafs , one the most well known Bullet mechanics has his workshop there. One had to be very careful parking one's bike at Pudipet as the guys were quite capable of rendering a bike into spares in no time at all. Gone in sixty seconds!
Regards,
Ashok

[Visaster]

All said right. Pudupet is like Shivaji nagar gujili in Bangalore.
Same funda and mode of operation.
You have to be smart to find the right part and bargain hard.
People who sell know how much its costs in a showroom at they start at that price. If they quote anything lesser then you should doubt its ingenuity.

I have not had much time as I wish to spend there to get all I need like my college days in Shivaji nagar Gujili.

Though, I have sourced a lot of parts for my Yamaha's 1st Rebuild in 2008 over there.
Got a set of 4 original brand new rims for my santro here for half the price as it was in a showroom. 4 years now and I happy with the deal.

Watch it! During my search there were a lot of shop walas who were repairing old rusted rims and painting it to its glory.

This place is a no no for a new fish.

Hope to visit this place some time after bunking work.

[shankarggp]

I agree . I sourced lot of parts from pudupet. When my Contessa Power steering broke down in coimbatore, my mechanic order used Kit with Testing guarantee from Pudupet, we paid in bank and we got the Steering kit Volvo - TRW next day by bus. It is working fine more than 5 years with out any problems. I personally visited twice for some bike parts.I know 1 shop guy there, He took me to most of of shop and helped to get used good parts at best price.They are giving priority to regular customers and mechanics.Some shops they are giving priority to outside guys since the inquiry to sales conversion rate is high.

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by kbalii

If you are in Chennai and need cheap but genuine spares, please visit pudupet. If you are not in chennai or need help to visit, PM me and I would be happy to
work out a convenient time.

Thank you very much kbalii. Any idea if I would be successful in sourcing a used roof carrier for my XUV for under 3k.