My First Aftermarket Parts Rant

[doitmyself]

Having a concurrent thread started about choosing aftermarket struts for my Caravan, I am a bit perturbed with a failing Gates belt tensioner I installed about 8 months ago. I think I may be able to warranty it....I have to check.

Lately I have been noting numerous people complaining of the quality drop of name brand components. MOOG comes to mind immediately. And, of course, The Critic is always on the pulpit explaining how OEM/dealer parts often cost just a bit more than aftermarket (not for my Dodge, it seems).

Grrrrrr......it sucks that we can no longer trust aftermarket quality by name brand.

 

[eljefino]

The only belt tensioner advance stocks for my car is a dayco that says right on its box that it's "light duty". Would say so; there's a reason my plastic bodied car has a metal pulley on the tensioner, why did they choose plastic?

 

[johnachak]

I am very lucky to have a AC Delco & Motorcraft parts dealer. he is independent but gets the genuine parts.

In many cases he is within a few dollars of the aftermarket parts from the chains. In some cases I was surprised when the genuine parts were cheaper then the inferior aftermarket parts.

 

[brelandt]

Every part I have gotten from World Pac has worked flawless. The auto parts store on the other hand is more hit and miss. allied usually but not everytime sends the wrong part!

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: johnachak
I am very lucky to have a AC Delco & Motorcraft parts dealer. he is independent but gets the genuine parts.

In many cases he is within a few dollars of the aftermarket parts from the chains. In some cases I was surprised when the genuine parts were cheaper then the inferior aftermarket parts.


In many cases Motorcraft/AC Delco parts are not identical to the genuine Ford or GM labeled parts. To get those, you have to buy them from a dealer and make sure to get the Ford or GM labeled part.


Originally Posted By: brelandt
Every part I have gotten from World Pac has worked flawless. The auto parts store on the other hand is more hit and miss. allied usually but not everytime sends the wrong part!


I'll second World Pac, but the prices can be hit or miss. Many Carquest stores can get World Pac parts, since Carquest owns World Pac.

There's some decent stuff in NAPA's Altrom line, too. But it also can be pretty expensive.

I order many of my parts online so I can get good quality brands at better prices than the local aftermarket stuff. My local Hyundai dealer's parts manager won't give any discount on parts below MSRP, so I order most of my genuine Hyundai parts online.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
My local Hyundai dealer's parts manager won't give any discount on parts below MSRP, so I order most of my genuine Hyundai parts online.


Same for my local Chrysler dealer. Is it not worth it for these guys to attempt to be more competitive and have higher sales volume? bdcardinal?

 

[mechanicx]

The thing about tensioners is that OE oftentimes are just barely durable enough and the aftermarket ones are usually only much worse. The problem with OE parts prices is the MSRP is a lot of times set too high. The quality is almost always better but is it at sometimes up to as much 3x the price better?

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
My local Hyundai dealer's parts manager won't give any discount on parts below MSRP, so I order most of my genuine Hyundai parts online.


Same for my local Chrysler dealer. Is it not worth it for these guys to attempt to be more competitive and have higher sales volume? bdcardinal?


That's my perspective. I've brought in printouts from online dealers to show I can get the parts cheaper elsewhere. I haven't asked them to meet those prices, just make an attempt to budge on price.

The parts manager always says "Hyundai sets the price, I don't have any wiggle room," which is complete B-S. While Hyundai does set the MSRP, the dealer chooses what to charge. I know they give discounts to shops, but they generally won't even offer me a small discount.

I found another dealer in a nearby town that did give me a few bucks off when I asked, so I plan on stopping there from now on when I need a part. The MSRP on Hyundai coolant is about $23.95. The dealer quoted me that price, I asked if they could do any better than MSRP. They said $20. I said ok and bought it.

It just sucks that I have to plan in advance to buy my parts when I'm in the nearby town.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
My local Hyundai dealer's parts manager won't give any discount on parts below MSRP, so I order most of my genuine Hyundai parts online.


Same for my local Chrysler dealer. Is it not worth it for these guys to attempt to be more competitive and have higher sales volume? bdcardinal?


It all depends on the volume. If I sold everything at cost +10% I would be out of business in a couple months. Those online dealers, like Tasca Ford, tend to be huge and the online parts sales are just a small part of the overall business. A small dealer can't afford to do things like that.

Plus not all parts carry a decent markup. There are body parts from Ford that if I give the usual 20% discount to a shop, I am selling it for 5% under my cost from Ford. There are mirrors that list for $56 and our cost is $45, not a lot of room to give a discount. Ford's way around that is saying we can be on a Crash part program where we buy parts by the semi load. That is all well and good, but I don't have room for that. Also the owner would be all over us for idle inventory that he isn't making money on. Remember, the dealers buy the parts from the manufacturer, they aren't supplied the parts. If I have to return a part, I get charged 18% of list to return it to Ford, so I have to charge a restocking fee to recoup that.

That being said, there can absolutely be discounts. If you are a regular customer that buys from us I will be more than happy to cut you a break. I have a large amount of people that will only talk to me because I know exactly what they drive, I have a customer that as soon as I see him i say "Mr XXX 1993 Mazda 626 LX V6 5speed manual". He gets the biggest kick out of it. But if I have never seen you before and you say that you get a discount because you own a Ford, sorry no dice. Its all about being nice too, if you are a total jerk to the counter guy and get mad and make comments when we ask questions like engine size and 2 or 4 wheel drive you are gonna get MSRP plus.