Thermostat Housing, Fusion, Mazda6, Milan, MK-Z

[Spazdog]

I mentioned in another topic that my thermostat housing failed on my Mazda.

The spot where they injected the plastic into the mold was weak and was starting the weep. I thought I might be able to save a few bucks by getting the part at the Ford dealer (the part has a Ford oval and a Ford engineering number on it) It's the exact same part but it was $20.00 less at the Mazda dealer.

$20 is $20.

The odd thing about it was that the Mazda box was labeled, "Made in Mexico" but the part itself had a big Maple Leaf sticker on it that said "Made in Canada". Maybe the box or the part number label was made in Mexico.

 

[mechanicx]

I'm guessing the part was made in Canada and was shipped to Mexico and later boxed there maybe? What's with GM and Ford charging more for their parts than the Japanese makes do?

 

[Spazdog]

That's the funny thing. It's the exact same part. I thought the giant, high volume, huge service facility Ford dealership would be less expensive than the relatively tiny Mazda dealership wedged between a Subaru and VW dealer.

I would check to see if it's less at the Lincoln dealer but that is the Ford dealer now.

I didn't know GM was doing this too.

 

[javacontour]

Or the other way around, they made a bunch of boxes in Mexico, shipped them flat (takes up less space) and then folded them into boxes and packaged the newly made parts.

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I'm guessing the part was made in Canada and was shipped to Mexico and later boxed there maybe? What's with GM and Ford charging more for their parts than the Japanese makes do?

 

[MNgopher]

I don't know that I'd be so quick to say Ford has the part priced higher. The Ford Dealership you went to did. I know I find a fair amount of variation on parts pricing here depending on the dealership for the same part.

Only other thought is that the Mazda dealership may move that part in volume, thus the lower pricing, versus the Ford Dealership that does not. I'm not familiar with the same Ford application, but its a thought.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
I'm not familiar with the same Ford application, but its a thought.


There are a lot of Fusions. Exact same part.

http://www.fordpartsgiant.com was the only one that was close. About .50 cents less than Mazda(before shipping).

8592 Connection - Water Outlet **2Z-8592-CD From: 08/01/2005 To: 02/04/2009 2006/ 2009 1
$85.96
$59.48


The Mazda dealer may have just been undercutting everybody else. I didn't check the other dealer because I didn't want to drive to Fort Worth or Irving. You may be right. It could be $179.00 at the other Mazda dealers...and need to be shipped in from Hiroshima.

 

[mechanicx]

The online Ford dealer shows the list or MSRP price that they are discounting from. Most dealers charge at least list for retail. The manufacture sets the list price and I wouldn't be too surprised if Ford has a higher list price than Mazda on some parts.

 

[MNgopher]

Again, I'm not familiar enought with the cross-applications of the part to know how common or uncommon it may be. Just a piece of the puzzle.

Yes, Ford does have a suggested retail price for parts. Mazda probably does too, and I'd not be surprised if they are different. On top of that, the dealership could very easily charge a different price. On the towing package transmission cooler I just purchased, there was a $50 variation in price between the four dealerships I priced it at (suggested list was about $190). Two were at the retail list price. The other two weren't. One of the luxories of living in a metro area I guess - easy enough to shop around.