Talk about price!

[Falcon_LS]

I'm going to be replacing the engine coolant temperature sensor in my truck. Although it's a Mitsubishi, it shares a lot of parts in common with Hyundai, so I tend to go with Hyundai parts where I can. They tend to be of higher quality, especially their filters, and cost a bit less.

I called up the parts guy I deal with at the Mitsubishi dealer, and he quoted me $40 for the CTS. I thought I'd check with the parts guy at the Hyundai dealer, just to see if there's any difference in price. I was expecting the usual $2-3 difference, but he quoted me $13!

I asked him to double check the part number and he confirmed the price!

With a price difference as big as this, I was kind of wary. Apparently, GM also uses the same part in their Holden and Opel vehicles, so just wanted to check with the GM dealer to see if their price is just as sky high. The ACDelco part costs $15, whilst the GM part costs $18.50.

I just went with the Hyundai part, since Hyundai used a lot of Mitsubishi 6G7 engines in their vehicles. Checked the price online for the Mitsubishi part, to see if it was just the dealer, and the list price is in fact $46. With the discount, it's $32 and some change. But wow, Mitsubishi is charging up the nose for this part!

 

[The_Jeff]

Clever!

 

[Silk]

I haven't noticed Mitsi parts being excessively expensive down here,although I used to use the Hyundai trans filter as aftermarket was not available.The parts market is very competitive here as the fanchise dealers don't have a monopoly,so dealer prices are often cheaper than aftermarket.It always pays to shop around,unless you want something regardless of price.

 

[Falcon_LS]

There are quite a number of aftermarket parts here sourced from Japan, such as Aisin, Denso and Mikuni. But there's also quite a number of counterfeit parts that look exactly like the Japanese aftermarket parts. Although one can usually tell by price, it's not uncommon for some crooks to sell you counterfeit parts at the cost of an aftermarket. You also get a lot of aftermarket parts coming in from places like Malaysia, Taiwan, etc. but one is wary of their quality and service life.

Unfortunately it's the same with quite a number of American aftermarket parts, such as Moog and Fel-Pro (seen quite a few counterfeit ones of those in particular). So I tend to stay as far away as possible from the automotive aftermarket, unless I am purchasing it online directly from the States myself.

I tend go with the main dealers, Mitsubishi, Hyundai or Chrysler, if I'm buying locally and see who carries the cheapest part. If an ACDelco part is available through the GM dealer, I sometimes opt for those too.