Tori has done the work: cars, mower carburetors and small engines from his C5 Lawn Care days, plus plumbing and house fixes like fill valves, faucets, and O-rings.
Tori formerly owned C5 Lawn Care, rebuilt his own mower carburetors, and has years of practical car and handyman experience — oil pan gaskets, CV axles, transmissions, brakes, hubs. He holds a CDL, rides motorcycles, and fishes when he can get the time. He is also a husband, a dad, and an Uber driver who knows what it means to watch every dollar — and he's told he's a good cook, soul food especially.
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Buying the part yourself? Read the Parts Shelf first — how Tori prices factory vs. aftermarket before spending a dollar. ↓
One rule runs this whole page: price BOTH — factory (OEM) and aftermarket — then pick with your eyes open. Sometimes factory is worth it. Sometimes it's the same part in a dearer box. Here's how Tori tells the difference.
After a crash, Tori's 2015 Chrysler 200 needed the passenger-side headlight — and his car takes the Xenon/HID version, not the cheaper halogen one most listings show first. A parts yard quoted him $530 for a used, hazy HID unit. He said no — and priced it properly instead:
✅ Used HID, correct part: $153 total • ✅ New aftermarket HID housing: $139.99 shipped (bulb & ballast usually not included — know before you order) • ✅ Used factory OEM: $242–$275
Three lessons in one hunt: know your exact part (HID ≠ halogen — the $114 lamp he was first offered was the wrong system entirely), never take the first quote, and price both roads before you pick one. Prices checked October 2026; part prices move, so every hunt gets checked fresh.
Made by (or for) the company that built your car, in the maker's box. Best fit and finish, usually the highest price. Worth it for sensors, electronics, and fit-critical pieces.
Known brands that often supply the makers themselves. For brakes, filters, suspension, and most wear parts, this is where Tori's money usually goes — same job, saner price.
Fine for trim, housings, and things that can't strand you or hurt you. Never for brake hydraulics, steering, or anything your safety rides on. Cheap is only cheap if it works.
How Tori buys each kind of part — the pick, and the budget pick that's still good.
Pick: known mid-grade brands stop a daily driver as well as factory parts. Budget pick: the store brand's premium line — not the cheapest white box on the shelf.
Pick: name-brand oil that meets your car's spec, with a real filter brand. On-time changes beat fancy oil changed late. Budget pick: store-brand full synthetic that meets the same spec.
Pick: buy the warranty years and a fresh date code, not the label on the case — a handful of factories make nearly all of them. Budget pick: mid-tier with a 3-year warranty. Always check the date sticker.
Pick: real bearing names (the Timken / SKF / Moog class). Tori has changed enough hubs to know: the bargain hub comes back howling in a year. Budget pick: mid-grade with a warranty — this shelf is not the place to bottom-dollar.
Pick: factory OEM, or the brand that supplies the factory. Cheap sensors throw ghost codes and eat weekends. Budget pick: honestly — this is the buy-it-once shelf. Save somewhere else.
Pick: match the exact system and trim first — HID vs. halogen is the trap that caught a $530 quote. A clean used factory unit often beats a new cheap copy. Budget pick: quality used OEM with a clear lens.
Pick: the Custom Accessories Deer Alerts 2-pack — chrome bumper whistles, about $8–$13 at the parts stores, Walmart, and Amazon. Straight talk: independent studies have never proven these stop a deer — even the package hedges with an asterisk. Plenty of Michigan drivers run them anyway because they're cheap. Run one if you like, but your eyes are the real protection: slow down and scan the ditches at dawn and dusk, especially October through December, when deer are moving most.
Pick: the Autostop Eliminator — about $100–$110, built for your exact year, make, and model. It plugs in and remembers your OFF choice, so the engine quits cutting off at every light and you quit stabbing the button every start. No wiring or programming changes, and unplugging puts it back to stock. Watch-out: it is vehicle-specific — order by your exact car or truck, and skip the bargain diagnostic-port plugs; those are the ones with the check-engine-light horror stories.
🚩 The wrong-trim trap: same car, same year, different part. Trim, engine, and options change the part number — check yours before ordering, not after the box arrives.
🚩 Counterfeits are real: fake spark plugs, sensors, and filters flood online marketplaces. Buy from known stores and sellers, not the cheapest listing on Earth.
🚩 Core charges: alternators, starters, and calipers often carry a core fee you get back when you return the old part. Budget for it so it doesn't surprise you.
🚩 “Lifetime warranty” usually means lifetime replacements, not refunds — and only with your receipt. Keep every receipt.
🚩 Never take the first quote — not the dealer's, not the yard's. Price both roads. That's the whole game.
Where it sells: Advance Auto Parts • AutoZone • O'Reilly Auto Parts • CarParts.com — store buttons switch on at launch, once Tori's signups are done. And the yardstick Tori checks first on any part: RockAuto — often the price to beat (they run no link program; we list them because honest is honest).
Rather have Tori hunt it for you? That's Find It — tell him the car and the part, and he'll price both roads near you. Got a repair question instead? Use the Fix It form above. Mower down instead of the car? The Mower & Small Engine Shelf is right below. ↓
This shelf is firsthand: Tori used to run C5 Lawn Care and kept his own machines alive — including rebuilding his own mower carburetors when most people would have bought a new mower. His first rule here: most “dead” mowers aren't dead. They're gummed up, starved, or one $8 part away from running.
Small engines live and die by their numbers. Before you order anything: the engine model is stamped on the engine (often on the valve cover or blower housing), and a rider's deck/machine model tag hides under the seat or on the deck. Every real parts site — Jack's, PartsTree, eReplacementParts — starts with those numbers and shows you the exploded diagram for your exact machine. Guess by looks alone and you'll own a very nice wrong part.
And the #1 killer Tori saw at C5: stale fuel. Gas goes bad in a month or two, and ethanol blends gum up small carburetors and eat old fuel lines. Fresh fuel, stabilizer for storage, and ethanol-free gas for equipment that sits — that one habit prevents half the no-starts in America.
The pick, and the budget pick that's still good — same as the car shelf.
Pick: rebuild the carb you have — a kit is a few dollars in gaskets, needle, and seat, and it's the job Tori did on his own fleet. Budget pick: a complete aftermarket carb when the body itself is worn or corroded — often cheaper than one hour of shop labor. Photograph every linkage before teardown.
Pick: the OEM-spec blade for your deck — mulching blade if you mulch, high-lift if you bag. Budget pick: quality aftermarket in the exact length. The classic wrong part: right length, wrong center hole. And a sharp, balanced old blade beats a new one installed bent.
Pick: the exact OEM size — mower belts are sized in half-inch steps and the good ones are Kevlar-wrapped for a reason. Budget pick: aftermarket Kevlar belt in the exact size. “Close enough” belts slip, glaze, and shred — usually mid-yard.
Pick: air filter, spark plug, fuel filter — every season, no debate. A name-brand plug, gapped right. Budget pick: the tune-up kit sold by your model number. This is the cheapest horsepower you'll ever buy back.
Pick: replace the rubber before it fails — ethanol turns old lines brittle and primer bulbs crack right on schedule. Pennies a foot. Budget pick: a small-engine fuel-line kit with clamps and an inline shutoff. Keep spares in the toolbox; they always quit on a Saturday.
Pick: test before you buy — most “bad starters” are a dead solenoid, a corroded connection, or a tired battery wearing the disguise. Budget pick: the solenoid (cheap) before the starter (not cheap). Check the battery's date code like the car shelf says.
🚩 Safety before everything: pull the spark plug wire before your hands go anywhere near the blade. Every time. No exceptions.
🚩 Stale fuel lies to you: a mower that “ran fine last fall” and won't start in spring is telling you about its gas, not its engine. Drain, refill fresh, then diagnose.
🚩 A dull, unbalanced blade vibrates the deck and eats spindle bearings — sharpen and balance, or replace.
🚩 Springs bite: self-propel drives and belt tensioners hold springs under load. Note where they hook before you unhook them — photos again.
🚩 Don't feed it car parts-store guesses: if a listing doesn't ask your model number, it's not a small-engine part — it's a gamble.
Where it sells: eReplacementParts • Jack's Small Engines (now part of the Northern Tool family) • PartsTree • tune-up kits also ride Amazon.
Mower acting up and you're not sure why? Ask in the Fix It form — pick “Mower / lawn equipment” and tell Tori the model number and what it's doing. Rather have him hunt the part? That's Find It.