Need help finding a car part - no one seems to be able to order it.

Shadowfire

About a month ago some ice fell off our roof and broke the tail lamp assembly on my wife's car (a 2007 Focus ZX3, 2 door hatchback). We've been looking for a while but we can't find a place to buy a replacement part. We've checked the usual sources (autozone, pep boys, etc). The weird thing is our mechanic hasn't been able to find one either. Do you folks know any other sources we should be checking at this point? I've reached out to the local dealerships and still haven't heard back from them, but I'm looking for any other ideas before we get pulled over for the problem.

darqness

Have you tried junk yards? It would be the cheapest solution as well.
I would also try finding a Ford ZX3 forum and asking there.

MushroomStick

Google led me to this. Does that look right?

Arikado

Where do you live?

You definitely want to check out any nearby junk yards as tail lamps tend to go for cheap for most domestic makes.

Shadowfire

No... that's the part that I keep finding, but I believe it's for the wagon version (there was a coupe, wagon, and hatchback). Also, parts stores list the Focus as S/SE/SES/ST models, but they're actually ZX3, ZX4, ZX4 ST, and ZX5, as far as I can tell. Hence nothing is matching up. :\

wmelon

if your car looks like this


Ebay has a few on offer.

iRevert

darqness wrote: »

Have you tried junk yards? It would be the cheapest solution as well.
I would also try finding a Ford ZX3 forum and asking there.

+1

I use "ABC Car Parts/Junkyard" out of Chicago, crappy name but I've had great luck dealing with them and the quality of the parts coming from them.
[http://www.abcap.com/parts_request.asp]

I've had excellent luck with them in ordering parts, when I needed a steering pump WITH the pulley on it (everyone sold them without it) and asking them if they were certain the guy I was dealing with headed back and pulled it and checked it and pretty much checked it over while on the phone with me. Shipped mighty quick and twas plenty happy with it.

I usually pickup parts from a junkyard to use on my beater and not so beater, but still cheap enough that you don't get new parts beater and for each of those cars whenever I do a junkyard search (online) if ABC is listed its been my first choice.

EDIT:

http://www.car-part.com/

Check and see if the 5 door hatch or 2 door coupe shares tail lamp design and go from there.

MushroomStick

Shadowfire wrote: »

No... that's the part that I keep finding, but I believe it's for the wagon version (there was a coupe, wagon, and hatchback). Also, parts stores list the Focus as S/SE/SES/ST models, but they're actually ZX3, ZX4, ZX4 ST, and ZX5, as far as I can tell. Hence nothing is matching up. :\

If I'm reading wikipedia right, zx3/zx4/etc. refers to body style (2 door hatch/4 door sedan/ 4 door hatch/etc.) and s/se/ses/st all refer to trim levels. So for example, your car could be a ford focus zx3 se and that would mean you have a 2 door hatchback with air conditioning, a cd player, power windows/locks, and a few other luxuries. You might need to know if your car is an s, se, or ses, I don't know if any of them have different tail lights.

Fats

Indeed, the S/SES/etc are trim levels, separate from the ZX3 which is the body style.

Give Rockauto a try, from my brief glance it looks like they have all sorts of tail lights (under Body-Exterior -> Tail Lamp Assembly). I've ordered a bunch of stuff from Rockauto, they're a decent company.

Sir Carcass

I'll just give my vote for junkyards and my anecdote:

Many years ago I had a crack in one of my headlight lenses for a 10+ year old car. They wouldn't pass it for inspection, so I went about trying to replace it. I called my local Mazda parts department and they quoted me something like $300 or $350. My dad found exactly what I needed in a junkyard for $15 or $20.

Shadowfire

No idea why I hadn't thought to check a junkyard before now.

Thanks for the ideas guys. Going to call a couple junkyards tomorrow and, if not, I'll hit eBay (also another site I never thought to check).


Now, one other question. Is what I'm dealing with here common on a relatively new car? It seems like I can find this tail lamp assembly for almost any other car, but suppliers are suddenly not selling this anymore. Anything I should be watching out for here?

Spudge

Wow RockAuto doesn't have it (and they usually have everything)

Only thing I can add to you is any (ANY) ZX3 taillamp will fit, 2000-2007

As for being worried, nah it's just the Ford product cycle. The 2000-2007 is now 2 generations old, so parts are going to become more scarce. You could get them from your local Ford dealership, but be ready to pay a hefty fee

wmelon

for some reason the zx3 taillights were difficult to find originally. There seems to be a thriving aftermarket for them though. If you wanted to replace both you could probably find some that don't look horrible.

adytum

iRevert wrote: »

http://www.car-part.com/

I had a similar thread a few months ago, and within minutes I was able to locate and purchase the parts I needed at a junkyard with that website.

:^:

L Ron Howard

If you have no luck with the junkyards, I know the guy who is in charge of one of the largest Ford warehouse distribution centers in the world. It might be long distance, if you don't mind making a call to Minnesota, but I can all buy guarantee you he can get it for you.