To a person looking for a part for his or her vehicle, the catalog is the most important tool to know how to use. Automotive parts catalogs are what you make them--a confusing foreign language or an easy-to-understand reference to get the correct part number, and price the first time.
Almost all manufacturers of hard parts make a catalog listing the part number, application, and sometimes the price of the item. The catalog may take the form of a large book with thousands of entries if the manufacturer makes many parts for a lot of applications, or it may be as simple as a single card if the manufacturer has relatively few variations. If you are purchasing oil filters, air filters, PCV valves, belts, hoses, and similar common parts, you will usually find the catalog near the merchandise in the parts store, though from time to time they will disappear. Wherever they are located and whatever form they take, learning to use them will assure that you get the correct part the first time, saving a lot of time and energy to return parts that don't fit.
With the age of computer databases, more and more parts look-up is done via a terminal on the parts counter. It is important to supply the operator with the correct information regarding your vehicle as discussed earlier. He will enter the vehicle only one time and have access to many different manufactures parts, as opposed to looking up the vehicle, then the part in individual printed catalogs. You may also find mini-computers in product locations on the sales floor for filters, batteries, wiper blades, etc.
| Fig. 1: Parts catalogs, giving part number and application,
are provided by manufacturers for most replacement parts
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