Bando Belts - OEM vs Aftermarket

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My niece's 2007 Acura TSX came with a Bando drive belt. Acura sells this belt for $45 whereas the Bando aftermarket belt is about $20. I asked Bando if there are any differences between the $45 Acura belt and the $20 aftermarket belt. Without hesitation, they adamantly said the two belts are identical. Is it possible that Acura maks up their drive belts over 100%? Thanks.
 
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Originally Posted By: another Todd
Absolutely. All auto manufacturers do the same thing, that is part of the reason aftermarket parts sales are so strong.

They will never admit that their aftermarket line is an inferior product.

For instance, there has been plenty of discussion over on iATN that Gates A/M belts will not last anywhere near the Gates OE line.

The aftermarket line will usually have fewer part numbers to cover a wider range of applications, so some applications will have slightly longer or shorter belts. In addition, sometimes, the materials will be different.

Without hesitation - I would get the OE Honda/Acura belt from the dealer.
 
Thing is, has there been any advances in belt tech in seven years? Any cheapening? Is a replacement bought in 2014 as good as a 2014 OE, or better or worse than a 2007? Will this vary between OE stream and aftermarket? How are we ever going to pin this down?
laugh.gif


I suspect when they nearly finish the design of a belt drive system, they can alter the tensioner or idler pulley diameter to match a predetermined belt size and "sweet spot" on the tensioner spring.

I'd get the Bando.
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History: There's an engine from which an idler pulley is commonly removed. This shortens the belt.
I had to change the belts on two of these engines.
By the time 2 short belts were in hand I had gotten an education on quality range.
7 belts from as many shops gave us something to talk about.

The point is: There are more than 2 choices. Gates is the brand to buy if you're going aftermarket.
The flimsy, seemingly unreinforced vinyl ones are out there too. They are inexplicable garbage.
I saw others which were slightly better but still MUCH MORE THINLY CONSTRUCTED.
If you're not SURE, or don't have access to good ones, go with OEM. Kira
 
If it says meets OEM spec then it is designed to go the manufacturers service interval.
The weak link in a timing belt job usually isn't the belt but the idlers, tensioner and WP.
Bando are good belts.

BTW Dayco is doing some good things, we see less Chinese no than in the last years, i just did a VW timing belt job and they supplied a German made tensioner and an Italian made belt.
Nice stuff. I looked at it at AA before buying, ordered it right there in the store on my iphone with a code and picked it up right then. Out the door price was $53.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I'd get the Bando.
wink.gif



Yes, I plan to get the Bando but my question is Bando aftermarket or Bando from the Acura dealer? Bando says they are exactly the same.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: another Todd
Absolutely. All auto manufacturers do the same thing, that is part of the reason aftermarket parts sales are so strong.

They will never admit that their aftermarket line is an inferior product.

For instance, there has been plenty of discussion over on iATN that Gates A/M belts will not last anywhere near the Gates OE line.

The aftermarket line will usually have fewer part numbers to cover a wider range of applications, so some applications will have slightly longer or shorter belts. In addition, sometimes, the materials will be different.

Without hesitation - I would get the OE Honda/Acura belt from the dealer.


+1 I learned this with Toyota parts as well. Now I look up all the part numbers and buy on-line from a discount Toyota dealer in Boston. The OEM parts are better quality.
 
Originally Posted By: artbuc
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I'd get the Bando.
wink.gif



Yes, I plan to get the Bando but my question is Bando aftermarket or Bando from the Acura dealer? Bando says they are exactly the same.


The Bando and Mitsuboshi for the Subaru and Toyota are exactly the same as the ones from the dealer, i cant see why it would be different for the Honda.
 
I put a Bando belt on my previous Hyundai Sonata. It was made in Japan, appeared to be very good quality and worked great for many tens or thousands of miles.

I won't comment on the OP's claim, but I like Bando and they're now one of my top belt choices.
 
Belt manufacturers will run a cheap line and a quality line. Dayco has branded Dayco then Drive Rite. The OE belts that Dayco makes for the OE's are the same quality as the branded Dayco. I'm sure it's the same for the other manufacturers. If a dealer says they aren't the same it is because they know you can get their OE belt at lots of other places.

I worked in the auto parts industry for 30 years. I've seen enough and talked to parts reps. Save your $$$ and get the aftermarket one.
 
I used to buy my Honda parts, including Bando "OEM" belts from hondaautomotiveparts.com for about the same price as Gates aftermarket belts.

If you don't need the part "right now" look around for dealerships that sell parts - at well below dealer retail prices - online.

The aforementioned web site is actually Majestic Honda in Rhode Island. The parts manager told me that they sell their online parts at 25% below Honda suggested retail. He said most dealerships sell their parts well above the OEM's "suggested retail."

With that said, I never found those OEM belts to last any longer than the aftermarket Gates or Bando belts I used.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: another Todd
Absolutely. All auto manufacturers do the same thing, that is part of the reason aftermarket parts sales are so strong.

They will never admit that their aftermarket line is an inferior product.

For instance, there has been plenty of discussion over on iATN that Gates A/M belts will not last anywhere near the Gates OE line.

The aftermarket line will usually have fewer part numbers to cover a wider range of applications, so some applications will have slightly longer or shorter belts. In addition, sometimes, the materials will be different.

Without hesitation - I would get the OE Honda/Acura belt from the dealer.


Often you cannot get OEM quality even from the dealer. An xyz belt of any American manufacturer installed on a new car is usually better quality that what the dealer sells, even though it is the same brand and part number. They are not the same. The dealer often sells the same AM part you can buy elsewhere for less. A Bando belt bought from a dealer is the same Bando belt bought from a parts house, but possibly different from the Bando belt put on from the factory. Gates, Dayco, Goodyear,Bando all make belts that will easily go the factory service interval.
 
One should change belts as part of PM, not when they "appear" to be worn out. For most, 90-120K miles is adequate. Just do it. Buy one of the brands mentioned here and you'll be fine for the next 100K miles. I am willing to go out on a limb, here, and state that the majority of you won't still be in the same vehicle when they need to be changed again.
 
The rule of thumb is if it is a part that is hard to change or you cannot do it yourself, you buy what you feel is reliable.

Instead of spending all these time trying to find out if they are the same, why not learn how is the belt routed, try to do it yourself and see how hard is it (or easy), and just buy a good quality aftermarket if it is easy to do?

I've used Bando OEM, Gate aftermarket, AC Delco aftermarket, Mitsuboshi aftermarket, etc and so far I've good luck with all of them, but then again The Critic have had bad experience with Gate aftermarket once, so YMMV.
 
Originally Posted By: another Todd

Often you cannot get OEM quality even from the dealer. An xyz belt of any American manufacturer installed on a new car is usually better quality that what the dealer sells, even though it is the same brand and part number. They are not the same.


This is the same in ALL components in all production vs retail industry.

OEM uses enough to know when the quality drop, and would reject a whole batch or stop shipment immediately if you screw up. Retail customer would accept a 5% failure rate but OEM may specify 0.5% or they return everything to you and charge you a bill to rework or compensate their lost yield.

I used to work at a hard drive manufacturer and whenever a large PC maker disqualify a batch of drive, because they failed more than a certain small percentage (i.e. 0.5%), they would go straight to retailers with rebate. Most of them would still be good drives, because the customer would still be happy to get a new replacement if it fail within a few days.
 
Originally Posted By: Dohc98vteC
I picked up an AC/Delco drive belt for my TSX, are those decent quality overall?


Yes, The ones i have used were high quality and a good fit, the tensioner marks are right where they are supposed to be. No problems.
 
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