Aftermarket radiator minefield

[STL_G8GT]

2004 rx330. Decided to swap the radiator because very fine white dots were showing up inside the fan shroud, indicative of a pinhole(s) leak.

Ordered a koyorad from rockauto. Arrived with the fill neck bent completely off, looked barely attached in the first place. Side bent in where it was bent while attached. It was shipped in a box secured with a wrap of soft 1/8" foam. No bracing of any kind. Returned, wasted a week.

Needed faster than 1 week shipping, and not wanting to pay shipping, found the Denso unit AND a CSF unit on Walmart.com. Ordered both.

They arrived today. Denso damaged in the exact same way as the Koyo, but not broken off. Face of the side tank dented in where it bent the fill neck. Secured in box with craft paper packaging, no bracing.

CSF had a small hole in box. Bent a few fins, but didn't impact tubes thankfully. It was secured in box with styrofoam ends and top/bottom braces.

I'll go with the CSF. It looks well built, necks are welded instead of pressed.

In a perfect world, thick cardboard front/back sheets AND styrofoam end tank supports with center top/bottom braces would be nearly bulletproof and would've saved incredible shipping and broken material expense.

I'm beyond disappointed with the packaging on the Koyo and Denso. I probably could've braised the necks back on, but I didn't want to learn (haven't done it before) in a vehicle we need to be 100% reliable. I don't know what's happening to the world and parts, but I'm SO OVER the poor quality post-Covid. I can't wait for the free market to remove these lazy manufacturing / packing / shipping practices.

 

[Dino01]

When it comes to part quality these days…

 

[Chris142]

CSF would be one of my top choices

 

[STL_G8GT]

CSF would be one of my top choices

It is definitely well made based on what I received.

 

[CDX825]

I will never understand how the people packing these things think that its acceptable to put something like that loose in a box with just few pieces of bubble wrap or brown packing paper.

I ordered replacement fenders for my Ranger. It took 7 times before I got ones that were not damaged in shipping because they were just shipping them loose in a box.

 

[Lubener]

Un fortunately radiators are still packed with styrofoam inside which doesn't hold up well to shipping with today's rough handlers who toss boxes around into their trucks.

 

[Donald]

One would think that when a company gets a lot of RTMs and has to eat the cost of a damaged product that they would make changes to how they pack the radiators from the factory. If I owned the company manufacturing them I sure would.

 

[Kira]

Years ago, I needed a new radiator as the local radiator / gas tank repair shop didn't have "core" in my size.
My choice was between phone calls / waiting / delivery OR having a completely new radiator delivered from a nearby warehouse in a real box.
It was a Friday.
Can you guess which route I took?

 

[NibbanaBanana]

I ordered head gaskets for my SpeedAire compressor from Grainger. They were in a very sturdy, unbendable, bubble envelope. They were broken into pieces like somebody had crushed them in their hand. Called Grainger. They sent a replacement. Same exact condition. Third time: same result. Forth time I talked to the warehouse manager and told him these are being damaged before they're ever shipped. He assured me I'd get good ones. Same result. These were not damaged in shipping. They were shipped damaged.

Got refund. Made new gaskets like I should have done in the first place.