Severe drop in parts quality

[OM605]

Basically more than half of the new aftermaket parts i've bought during the last year or so are just crap that fails 6 months later. Last in date being a Febi driveshaft carrier bearing that failed after a few hundred kms. Bought the new parts again but at the dealer this time and decided to go at a friend's since he has a trench.

Guess what happened when climbing a 10cm concrete slab in reverse to park the car over the trench? The passenger motor mounts just gave up, i guess from the torque applied. The motor mount is a 6 months old Lemförder. Just ordered a new one at the dealer.

At this point, buying anything aftermaket is a guarantee i'll have to do the job twice. Am i extremely unlucky or some of you in the same boat? I started installing new parts to improve the car but is has done the absolute opposite.

All the issues i have with the car are due to the quality of the new garbage parts while the old 400,000 km 28 yo parts that are not completely toast are still holding on just fine. I've heard about a drop in quality but this is wild. When i say aftermarket, i'm not talking about oscure brands but mostly Febi, Swag, Lemförder and such.

I'd like to know if this is specific to euro cars or if it applies to asian and american vehicles. I think most Febi boxes used to contain a german parts but it isn't the case now, i think they just put their brand on dubious generic chinese parts.

Lesson learned: 1- Don't throw the parts canon at it. 2- Buy only dealer parts for anything critical (costs less since you end up doing it all over again anyway). 3- Do it yourself and do it the right way.

 

[supton]

At least if you do it yourself, you'll now know how to do it again, later. So you have that in your favor.

 

[edyvw]

Basically more than half of the new aftermaket parts i've bought during the last year or so are just crap that fails 6 months later. Last in date being a Febi driveshaft carrier bearing that failed after a few hundred kms. Bought the new parts again but at the dealer this time and decided to go at a friend's since he has a trench.

Guess what happens when climbing a 10cm concrete slab in reverse to park the car over the trench? The passenger motor mounts just gives up, i guess from the torque applied. The motor mount is a 6 months old Lemförder. Just ordered a new one at the dealer.

At this point, buying anything aftermaket is a guarantee i'll have to do the job twice. Am i extremely unlucky or some of you in the same boat? I started installing new parts to improve the car but is has done the absolute opposite.

All the issues i have with the car are due to the quality of the new garbage parts while the old 400,000 km 28 yo parts that are not completely toast are still holding on just fine. I've heard about a drop in quality but this is wild. When i say aftermarket, i'm not talking about oscure brands but mostly Febi, Swag, Lemförder and such.

I'd like to know if this is specific to euro cars or if it applies to asian and american vehicles. I think most Febi boxes used to contain a german parts but it isn't the case now, i think they just put their brand on dubious generic chinese parts.

Lesson learned: 1- Don't throw the parts canon at it. 2- Buy only dealer parts for anything critical (costs less since you end up doing it all over again anyway). 3- Do it yourself and do it the right way.

I have Lemforder motor mounts for the last 10k miles, and they are fine. OE were not shot or collapsed at all. I made assumption they should be changed just because. OE are also Lemforder.

 

[OM605]

I have Lemforder motor mounts for the last 10k miles, and they are fine. OE were not shot or collapsed at all. I made assumption they should be changed just because. OE are also Lemforder.

It looks like it's not the case anymore for some MB cars. They don't even look the same in my case. A few years back, some Lemförder mounts had the MB star removed and where obviously the same part in different boxes.

 

[edyvw]

It looks like it's not the case anymore for some MB cars. They don't even look the same in my case. A few years back, some Lemförder mounts had the MB star removed and where obviously the same part in different boxes.

Yes, that is common for OEM to have scratched logo for OE purposes. Same is on my TRW M3 wishbones.
But in general I agree that OE is always safe bet.

 

[Charmet37]

Especially Thermostats, I stay away from Motorad stats for any make or model.

 

[redhat]

Especially Thermostats, I stay away from Motorad stats for any make or model.

I’ve learned this on my GMs. As of late I only seek out Delco replacements. Actually seeking out more Genuine or true ACDelco parts more and more.

Even those parts I’ve had failures on, but at least they’ve been more “good when they’re good”.

 

[Oillover]

Recently I saw a video by Uncle Tony's garage discussing this topic.

His statements echo that of OP and mentions this as the main reason why many young fellas don't wanna get into the auto mechanics as a trade.
Comebacks used to be a taboo thing that rarely happened. These days, even dealerships are struggling to deal with inferior OEM parts which lead to repeated comebacks of items that should be reliable, but clearly aren't.

 

[jeepman3071]

For certain things, I trust good used OEM parts from ebay more than I do new parts.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Basically more than half of the new aftermaket parts i've bought during the last year or so are just crap that fails 6 months later. Last in date being a Febi driveshaft carrier bearing that failed after a few hundred kms. Bought the new parts again but at the dealer this time and decided to go at a friend's since he has a trench.

Guess what happens when climbing a 10cm concrete slab in reverse to park the car over the trench? The passenger motor mounts just gives up, i guess from the torque applied. The motor mount is a 6 months old Lemförder. Just ordered a new one at the dealer.

At this point, buying anything aftermaket is a guarantee i'll have to do the job twice. Am i extremely unlucky or some of you in the same boat? I started installing new parts to improve the car but is has done the absolute opposite.

All the issues i have with the car are due to the quality of the new garbage parts while the old 400,000 km 28 yo parts that are not completely toast are still holding on just fine. I've heard about a drop in quality but this is wild. When i say aftermarket, i'm not talking about oscure brands but mostly Febi, Swag, Lemförder and such.

I'd like to know if this is specific to euro cars or if it applies to asian and american vehicles. I think most Febi boxes used to contain a german parts but it isn't the case now, i think they just put their brand on dubious generic chinese parts.

Lesson learned: 1- Don't throw the parts canon at it. 2- Buy only dealer parts for anything critical (costs less since you end up doing it all over again anyway). 3- Do it yourself and do it the right way.

I'm probably wrong but it seems that Lemforder has split its OE line into two separate channels. OE for automakers manufactured in Europe and OE for everyone else manufactured in China.

M539 Restorations (YT Channel) bought some Lemforder control arms on a late model BMW. He remarked about the significant differences between the Euro part vs the Chinese part. He was so unhappy with the Chinese part that he returned it and obtained a Euro part (dealership maybe?).

 

[JHZR2]

I don’t know what Lemfoerder mounts you bought. The MB diesel ones are the same as OE unless you bought some questionable Chinese thing. Climbing the trench shouldn’t have broken it unless you did something weird.

Febi has been reboxing more and more Chinese junk.

 

[OM605]

I don’t know what Lemfoerder mounts you bought. The MB diesel ones are the same as OE unless you bought some questionable Chinese thing. Climbing the trench shouldn’t have broken it unless you did something weird.

I've always been very disappointed by the vibration. Lightly pushing the gas pedal in reverse made something snap inside the mount.

 

[subyski]

I've seen it as a hit or miss for as long as I remember. Probably some of the larger declines I've seen are remanufactured parts from major suppliers and auto parts stores. The price that is charged now for these reman parts don't seem to justify their use vs "cheaply made" new parts. These supposed cheaper quality new parts seem to last longer and many offer the lifetime warranty anyways. That's my experience anyways.
OEM is likely the way to go if the part is still available and price is not too much higher than aftermarket.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

It's not specific to Euro. It applies to Asian and American cars too

 

[redhat]

For certain things, I trust good used OEM parts from ebay more than I do new parts.

Agree with this. Also I wish there still were abundant old timers who had starter/alternator repair and rebuild shops near me. Those were always great products.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

They have to sell those new cars somehow!

 

[ripcord]

Agree with this. Also I wish there still were abundant old timers who had starter/alternator repair and rebuild shops near me. Those were always great products.

Big amen. There used to be an older guy that ran a radiator repair shop out of the barn in his back yard down the road from me. He was always busy when I was a young fellow and did great work. I guess with today's plastic disposable radiators there isn't much call for that work.

 

[loneryder]

Basically more than half of the new aftermaket parts i've bought during the last year or so are just crap that fails 6 months later. Last in date being a Febi driveshaft carrier bearing that failed after a few hundred kms. Bought the new parts again but at the dealer this time and decided to go at a friend's since he has a trench.

Guess what happened when climbing a 10cm concrete slab in reverse to park the car over the trench? The passenger motor mounts just gave up, i guess from the torque applied. The motor mount is a 6 months old Lemförder. Just ordered a new one at the dealer.

At this point, buying anything aftermaket is a guarantee i'll have to do the job twice. Am i extremely unlucky or some of you in the same boat? I started installing new parts to improve the car but is has done the absolute opposite.

All the issues i have with the car are due to the quality of the new garbage parts while the old 400,000 km 28 yo parts that are not completely toast are still holding on just fine. I've heard about a drop in quality but this is wild. When i say aftermarket, i'm not talking about oscure brands but mostly Febi, Swag, Lemförder and such.

I'd like to know if this is specific to euro cars or if it applies to asian and american vehicles. I think most Febi boxes used to contain a german parts but it isn't the case now, i think they just put their brand on dubious generic chinese parts.

Lesson learned: 1- Don't throw the parts canon at it. 2- Buy only dealer parts for anything critical (costs less since you end up doing it all over again anyway). 3- Do it yourself and do it the right way.

I agree.

 

[burbguy82]

Basically more than half of the new aftermaket parts i've bought during the last year or so are just crap that fails 6 months later. Last in date being a Febi driveshaft carrier bearing that failed after a few hundred kms. Bought the new parts again but at the dealer this time and decided to go at a friend's since he has a trench.

Guess what happened when climbing a 10cm concrete slab in reverse to park the car over the trench? The passenger motor mounts just gave up, i guess from the torque applied. The motor mount is a 6 months old Lemförder. Just ordered a new one at the dealer.

At this point, buying anything aftermaket is a guarantee i'll have to do the job twice. Am i extremely unlucky or some of you in the same boat? I started installing new parts to improve the car but is has done the absolute opposite.

All the issues i have with the car are due to the quality of the new garbage parts while the old 400,000 km 28 yo parts that are not completely toast are still holding on just fine. I've heard about a drop in quality but this is wild. When i say aftermarket, i'm not talking about oscure brands but mostly Febi, Swag, Lemförder and such.

I'd like to know if this is specific to euro cars or if it applies to asian and american vehicles. I think most Febi boxes used to contain a german parts but it isn't the case now, i think they just put their brand on dubious generic chinese parts.

Lesson learned: 1- Don't throw the parts canon at it. 2- Buy only dealer parts for anything critical (costs less since you end up doing it all over again anyway). 3- Do it yourself and do it the right way.

I agree

 

[GMBoy]

I get bit often with the inferior quality of parts. If it wasn't for AZ paying my labor to replace bad parts I would be hurting financially and time wise. I think firing the parts cannon has taking on a new meaning lol - - fire it off and hope to hit the "quality good part" target!