Cheap Part Regret/Success
- Thread starter amateurbob
- Start date
Which level of Mevotech. There are three.
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2025
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- 166
For myself, l would be concerned going aftermarket on that kind of repair but l also have been impressed with the quality of manufacturing from Taiwan. Please keep us updated.
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I used the Mevotech, Supreme line for front lower control arms for my Honda and they have been fine now for ~15k miles.
Thanks that's good to know. I see their website calls them TTX, Supreme, and Original Grade. But I'd be surprised if their Original Grade is equal to OEM?
I’ve had no regrets with buying cheap tires and having them siped at 50%.
Correct. Original line is just to get it back on the road. Supreme if you plan to keep it.
Thought of another- water pumps. Every cheap water pump I’ve ever used has failed shortly after install. I’m very picky about water pumps anymore. No store brands, GMB, or Dayco. I’ll use Gates on older domestic cars, Aisin or Yamada (if you can find Yamada) for older Asian vehicles. Otherwise, OEM only. Overheating is not good.
Success: Dorman lockup duty solenoid for my Subaru Impreza when it threw P2764 and P0700 codes. Subaru only sells complete valve bodies to the tune of $800-1000 to DIY. I got the vehicle back on the road and it is still on the road (since September 2024) for a whopping $60. I’d call that a win.
Got burned on in tank fuel pump. Sparta (Delphi) pump on clearance, paid for installation, it pumped but no sender to indicate level.
Got burned on an A/C dryer, four seasons on clearance, paid for evac and recharge. Leaked due to bad welds. Past 30 day return window.
Go burned on multifunction switch on clearance, again missed 30 day return window.
Those are the only fails in purchasing non-oem parts last 20 years. Maintain 9 vehicles.
Got burned on an A/C dryer, four seasons on clearance, paid for evac and recharge. Leaked due to bad welds. Past 30 day return window.
Go burned on multifunction switch on clearance, again missed 30 day return window.
Those are the only fails in purchasing non-oem parts last 20 years. Maintain 9 vehicles.
Sometimes I run a little 'stock' and have been burned once or twice because of sitting on the shelf and long out of any warranty.
I suppose I’ve had mixed luck overall when I’ve cheaped out.
I put a GSP CV axle on the wife’s Q5, it’s been holding up well and gets driven a lot. Cost was around a hundred bucks.
The Napa water pump I put in my old 6.0 Chevy box truck had the most absolutely atrocious looking casting I have ever seen. I would have returned it for being such a painfully ugly piece of crap if I didn’t need it RIGHT NOW. It’s been in for a couple years now with many miles, still pumping along.
The Oreilly alternator and radiator in the same box truck are doing well too. Both of those were right now kinda deals too.
One that didn’t work out was some absolute crap aftermarket DISA valve I bought for a BMW N52. It lasted about a week. The engine was very close to ingesting the flapper valve and shaft from it! Almost a very expensive lesson.
Also a passenger side motor mount from carquest for a Ford Focus. Holy crap it vibrated worse than the worn out original one. I returned it and got an OEM one.
I put a GSP CV axle on the wife’s Q5, it’s been holding up well and gets driven a lot. Cost was around a hundred bucks.
The Napa water pump I put in my old 6.0 Chevy box truck had the most absolutely atrocious looking casting I have ever seen. I would have returned it for being such a painfully ugly piece of crap if I didn’t need it RIGHT NOW. It’s been in for a couple years now with many miles, still pumping along.
The Oreilly alternator and radiator in the same box truck are doing well too. Both of those were right now kinda deals too.
One that didn’t work out was some absolute crap aftermarket DISA valve I bought for a BMW N52. It lasted about a week. The engine was very close to ingesting the flapper valve and shaft from it! Almost a very expensive lesson.
Also a passenger side motor mount from carquest for a Ford Focus. Holy crap it vibrated worse than the worn out original one. I returned it and got an OEM one.
I just received a Febest rear lateral arm for my '01 Volvo S60, and initial impressions are very good. The part packaging is impressive, from the branded plastic bag the part was wrapped in to the hologram sticker to the laser etched branding and part number on the arm itself.
Made in China and cost $29 shipped to my door vs. $100+ for an OEM part. I'll take my chances, given it's just a stamped steel arm.
Made in China and cost $29 shipped to my door vs. $100+ for an OEM part. I'll take my chances, given it's just a stamped steel arm.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2024
- Messages
- 236
I put a $30 "A-Premium" Chinese wheel bearing (Amazon) on my kids Toyota Matrix with 260k miles last summer. No regrets - yet, working great 8k miles later.
I forgot to mention my awful VEMO experience.
I thought VEMO was a decent aftermarket brand for German cars. Well, I replaced a faulty idle air control (IAC) valve in my old BMW X5 (M54B30) with a new VEMO unit and it didn't solve the idle problem, transmission failsafe, etc. After that I thought the code must be caused by something else and started firing the parts cannon. Four weekends in the garage and $500 in parts later I threw my hands up, took it to my local indie (the first time in over 20 years that I took my car to a mechanic) only for them to charge me another $500 to identify a faulty IAC. Shame on me for not realizing the code was still correct, but those old BMWs throw a lot of codes that don't mean anything.
The worst part was that RockAuto argued with me about the part -- and then charged me return shipping.
I generally always use OEM parts for the very problems you stated. Its not worth saving $$ on parts.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2025
- Messages
- 288
I bought a lot of aftermarket part the past ten years for three vehicles in my family.
1.My 06 Nissan Xtrail
2.Brother's 04 Toyota Matrix
3. Other brother's 2014 Corolla.
Only one cheap part that lasted less then a week and pretty much imploded was the rear LED brake bulb for my Nissan.
When I rechecked my online order sheet....''Made in China''.
On my brother's Matrix, he needed new tires so I took him to a good tire shop I deal with. I usually research my own tires before buying, but my brother was in a rush so we went with the tire shop manager's recommendation , based on my brother's maximum spending for four all season tires. Got them installed , paid and we left. A week or so later my brother complaining the tires to greasy in the rain. A month or so later, bit better-broken in, I drove it and I agree they seemed like inferior tires due to tire grip/braking in the rain. Googled the brand and they were Chinese tires.
Now on all three vehicles I have ordered online all sorts of parts, mostly aftermarket '' THIS PART FITS YOUR VEHICLE.''
Spark plugs, coils, air filters, wipers, cam/crank sensors, oil filters, much more.
Sometimes I think i'm getting a good ''American brand'' and I later find out made in China/Mexico. Happily, all parts have performed as intended and nothing went wrong.
I have been ordering online from Rockauto, Amazon.CA, online and in-store here in Canada, From Walmart, Canadian Tire, Lordco, etc.....these parts are made all over the world. Sometimes you just don.t know what you are getting and need to take a chance.
Having said that, I was watching a Youtube video from The Car Care Nut and he had a customer horror story with a Lexus oil filter job that went to hell with non Toyota parts and he said always use Toyota parts from a Toyota parts department.......
1.My 06 Nissan Xtrail
2.Brother's 04 Toyota Matrix
3. Other brother's 2014 Corolla.
Only one cheap part that lasted less then a week and pretty much imploded was the rear LED brake bulb for my Nissan.
When I rechecked my online order sheet....''Made in China''.
On my brother's Matrix, he needed new tires so I took him to a good tire shop I deal with. I usually research my own tires before buying, but my brother was in a rush so we went with the tire shop manager's recommendation , based on my brother's maximum spending for four all season tires. Got them installed , paid and we left. A week or so later my brother complaining the tires to greasy in the rain. A month or so later, bit better-broken in, I drove it and I agree they seemed like inferior tires due to tire grip/braking in the rain. Googled the brand and they were Chinese tires.
Now on all three vehicles I have ordered online all sorts of parts, mostly aftermarket '' THIS PART FITS YOUR VEHICLE.''
Spark plugs, coils, air filters, wipers, cam/crank sensors, oil filters, much more.
Sometimes I think i'm getting a good ''American brand'' and I later find out made in China/Mexico. Happily, all parts have performed as intended and nothing went wrong.
I have been ordering online from Rockauto, Amazon.CA, online and in-store here in Canada, From Walmart, Canadian Tire, Lordco, etc.....these parts are made all over the world. Sometimes you just don.t know what you are getting and need to take a chance.
Having said that, I was watching a Youtube video from The Car Care Nut and he had a customer horror story with a Lexus oil filter job that went to hell with non Toyota parts and he said always use Toyota parts from a Toyota parts department.......
The only one I can vouch for personally is those Harbor Freight Predator 212 cc engines. 99 bucks on sale (in the old days) and they function well and are quite durable.
