The unanswered ? - how do buyers check quality?

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Buyers for auto zone, napa, oreillys etc, and others -how do they monitor quality of the chinese manufacturers in any way?
I have never seen or read an article on that subject. or is it just buy the cheapest?

do they monitor returns?
or do they rely on the manufacturer for that ??!!
 
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Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I would think they compare sales numbers to warranty claims. I do the same thing unofficially at my work with our parts suppliers.


This is standard practice and the info is hush-hush proprietary so they can negotiate better deals next year with the same or other vendors.
 
I guess the cost is so little and the mark up so high that they really do not care what the idiot customers say.
 
Of course they monitor returns on warrantied parts since it's a PIA for them to handle these and get reimbursed by their suppliers.
They don't so much care about you and me as they do the shops they supply.
The average shop is going to eat the labor on a warranty replacement or two but at some point will be looking to the store to reimburse labor or they'll take their business elsewhere.
Shops are a more important source of revenue for any chain auto parts store than are DIY guys like you and me, which is why they all have delivery vehicles to shag parts to local shops.
The chains quickly learn who supplies bad rebuild/reman as well as new parts and put those firms on their avoid list.
The parts business is largely self-policing.
For the record, I've had zero problems with cheap new or rebuilt/reman parts from Rock, AAP or O'Reilly.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
I guess the cost is so little and the mark up so high that they really do not care what the idiot customers say.


I expect that you are right.

I worked for a company that designed consumer electronics. The boards were made by companies in Taiwan and China. The details of the cost side were isolated to the employees that needed to make their specific decisions, but I once saw an internal design guide about selecting voltage converter components. The prices they were using were less than 10% of the large quantity prices from U.S. suppliers such as Digikey.

I can buy a air temperature sensor from BMW that lists for $55 (and is marked up by the local dealers). Unlike the original, it is made in China. I can buy an unbranded sensor from O'Reilly for $46, and they tend to be a few dollars less than Pep Boys and local parts stores. Or I can buy the same sensor for under $2 on eBay, shipping from China included.

The large chain parts store price has to be under $1, perhaps well under that. Their shipping and distribution cost should be well under mailing an individual package. At that mark-up, the failure rate is unimportant. The failure rate would have to over 95% before it would have a real impact on profits. The only limit is how upset they make their customers, not the cost of the replacements.
 
Originally Posted By: djb


Originally Posted By: CT8
I guess the cost is so little and the mark up so high that they really do not care what the idiot customers say.


I can buy a air temperature sensor from BMW that lists for $55 (and is marked up by the local dealers). Unlike the original, it is made in China. I can buy an unbranded sensor from O'Reilly for $46, and they tend to be a few dollars less than Pep Boys and local parts stores. Or I can buy the same sensor for under $2 on eBay, shipping from China included.



This is ironic this topic came up, because I just went through this sort of song and dance yesterday. While doing a four corner strut job on my wife's 2000 ES300 this week, I accidentally dropped the right rear suspension down too far and damaged the ABS wheel speed sensor wire.

This generated an ABS light on the dash, and I quickly realized that it was my earlier actions that caused the wire to rupture.

Anyway, I went online to price the factory Lexus part. Now before I tell you the price, keep in mind this is an ABS wheel sensor. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a small sensor that sits in the rear hub, and features a two foot harness and a couple metal brackets to bolt it to the wheel well. Really, it is nothing fancy at all.

The price from Lexus: $216.00. Yes, $216.00 USD. Plus shipping.

I hate buying aftermarket parts for the most part, but I just had to see what was happening in the aftermarket price world. Most of the places I looked at listed the sensor for about $100.00, give or take. Alright, so we are down $116.00 bucks already. But I was convinced that these $100.00 sensors were all made in China.

Next, it is off to eBay. And get this: $10.99 for the sensor. Complete with the plug, the metal bracket, everything. In fact, the picture of the part looked no different at all to the $216.00 Lexus part.

So, I said to my wife: How many guys could possibly be making these things? I can't confirm the Lexus part is made in Japan, but I doubt it is.

If the Lexus part is made in China, then there is a $205.00 difference on made in China parts.

For some reason, I just never thought about things this way, and never realized just how big of a price difference there could be on a given part.

It's a wheel speed sensor...how much different could they actually be?
 
This stuff with sensors is out of this world crazy, I am all for using OE stuff but jesus over $300 for a Honda parking sensor and thats online local is almmot $350.

https://www.hondapartsdirect.com/oem-par...CFcpMDQodqxkDGg

I needed 2 due to the fact they were missing from bumper damage, that's over $600. I was flipping the car so I didn't want to spend more than double for sensors than the OE bumper so I bought the ebay ones for IIRC $15 ea. USA seller but obviously a well done knock off with the Denso label and all.
Its been almost 2 years and they Still work perfectly no problems at all, I saw the car just last week and had a chance to look it over.

These are the same as the ones I got from another seller. It signals at the exact same range as the OE and you cant tell them apart visually and no codes or lights triggered. The OE is made in China also so I cant imagine where there is almost $300 difference each in quality.

ebay sensor
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
This stuff with sensors is out of this world crazy, I am all for using OE stuff but jesus over $300 for a Honda parking sensor and thats online local is almmot $350.

https://www.hondapartsdirect.com/oem-par...CFcpMDQodqxkDGg

I needed 2 due to the fact they were missing from bumper damage, that's over $600. I was flipping the car so I didn't want to spend more than double for sensors than the OE bumper so I bought the ebay ones for IIRC $15 ea. USA seller but obviously a well done knock off with the Denso label and all.
Its been almost 2 years and they Still work perfectly no problems at all, I saw the car just last week and had a chance to look it over.

These are the same as the ones I got from another seller. It signals at the exact same range as the OE and you cant tell them apart visually and no codes or lights triggered. The OE is made in China also so I cant imagine where there is almost $300 difference each in quality.

ebay sensor


Wow. This is exactly my recent experience. I am glad, Trav, that you reported that the $15.00 sensors are still working fine two years later. As I just made the purchase of the cheap sensor, I have no real world experience yet. But if it lasts even two years, I'd be happy to buy another at $10.99!

There is no way that Lexus is going to get $216.00 from me for a wheel sensor...
 
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I wonder if some of the cost is in the warranty (or rather lawyers).

Some of those sensors are stupid crazy. Same sort of operation but but the guts are crazy. Many different flavors.
 
FWIW I bought a $50 Hitachi IAC controller for my 1998 Mustang GT I'm fixing up (supposedly the OEM for Ford but w/o the Motorcraft label). The dealer wanted close to 200 bucks for the OEM sensor. Lots of markup with sensors.
 
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Brick and mortar stores have extremely high overhead. IIRC, when I worked at AZ, the monthly rent for the building was $20k.

I got a chance to look at P&Ls from several stores during staffing shortages. The average store operates on a pretty thin margin. Its not unheard for some individual chain stores to operate in the red more often than not.


Dealers are notorious for gouging. Just think of all the inventory tax they have to pay on their stock.
 
It used to bother me when I would go to the local Infiniti dealer and get quoted prices that were higher than MSRP. I have yet to buy sensors directly from China.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I wonder if some of the cost is in the warranty (or rather lawyers).

Some of those sensors are stupid crazy. Same sort of operation but but the guts are crazy. Many different flavors.


The more I think about it $700 for 2 simple sensors retail that weigh only a few grams total are more expensive than if they were solid 24K gold. Talk about a hosing.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: supton
I wonder if some of the cost is in the warranty (or rather lawyers).

Some of those sensors are stupid crazy. Same sort of operation but but the guts are crazy. Many different flavors.


The more I think about it $700 for 2 simple sensors retail that weigh only a few grams total are more expensive than if they were solid 24K gold. Talk about a hosing.


I am convinced manufacturers price parts like that crazy high since they know that it is mostly insurance companies picking up the tab.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: supton
I wonder if some of the cost is in the warranty (or rather lawyers).

Some of those sensors are stupid crazy. Same sort of operation but but the guts are crazy. Many different flavors.


The more I think about it $700 for 2 simple sensors retail that weigh only a few grams total are more expensive than if they were solid 24K gold. Talk about a hosing.


I am convinced manufacturers price parts like that crazy high since they know that it is mostly insurance companies picking up the tab.


Yup and many repair shops will do the same thing. The insurance companies figure this into their risk equations and that's why rates keep going up.
 
Originally Posted By: propuckstopper
Originally Posted By: djb


Originally Posted By: CT8
I guess the cost is so little and the mark up so high that they really do not care what the idiot customers say.


I can buy a air temperature sensor from BMW that lists for $55 (and is marked up by the local dealers). Unlike the original, it is made in China. I can buy an unbranded sensor from O'Reilly for $46, and they tend to be a few dollars less than Pep Boys and local parts stores. Or I can buy the same sensor for under $2 on eBay, shipping from China included.



This is ironic this topic came up, because I just went through this sort of song and dance yesterday. While doing a four corner strut job on my wife's 2000 ES300 this week, I accidentally dropped the right rear suspension down too far and damaged the ABS wheel speed sensor wire.

This generated an ABS light on the dash, and I quickly realized that it was my earlier actions that caused the wire to rupture.

Anyway, I went online to price the factory Lexus part. Now before I tell you the price, keep in mind this is an ABS wheel sensor. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a small sensor that sits in the rear hub, and features a two foot harness and a couple metal brackets to bolt it to the wheel well. Really, it is nothing fancy at all.

The price from Lexus: $216.00. Yes, $216.00 USD. Plus shipping.

I hate buying aftermarket parts for the most part, but I just had to see what was happening in the aftermarket price world. Most of the places I looked at listed the sensor for about $100.00, give or take. Alright, so we are down $116.00 bucks already. But I was convinced that these $100.00 sensors were all made in China.

Next, it is off to eBay. And get this: $10.99 for the sensor. Complete with the plug, the metal bracket, everything. In fact, the picture of the part looked no different at all to the $216.00 Lexus part.

So, I said to my wife: How many guys could possibly be making these things? I can't confirm the Lexus part is made in Japan, but I doubt it is.

If the Lexus part is made in China, then there is a $205.00 difference on made in China parts.

For some reason, I just never thought about things this way, and never realized just how big of a price difference there could be on a given part.

It's a wheel speed sensor...how much different could they actually be?


UPDATE APRIL 2017: The $10.99 ABS wheel sensor has been on the car and working perfect for over a month.
 
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A dead short in a wire was mis diagnosed as a fried starter. I found a new starter on Amazon for $38. It is an exact duplicate of the OEM except shiny. Didn't rattle either. Been a yr so far,so good.
 
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