If your car or van is in need of some TLC then you may consider looking at local scrap yards to see if you can find any of the parts you need. If your vehicle needs some cosmetic work doing e.g., to remove a dent or scrape then it may be cheaper to replace the panel (if it is a wing or bumper for example) than to have it filled and resprayed.
Some car yards advertise the vehicles they have for breaking online, so make it easy to find what you need, but if not it only takes a quick call to find out. I recently had to replace a rear door on a Renault Kangoo Van as the glass had been smashed and was going to cost £200 to replace. Other doors were selling second hand for £60 but from spending a little bit of time contacting local scrap yards I quickly found one that was only £20. This not only saved me money but added value back to the van.