What has happened to quality on parts!

I say it's hit and miss on quality. I been ordering from Rock Auto lately and have had no issues. I am actually impressed with their customer service. Some things I can't wait for in the mail so all I cn do is inspect it and hope for the best. I know Pep Boys has nothing BUT junk. Napa is pricey and the quality is just slightly better than the rest. I stck to OReiley though on counter purchases because they keep a record and the price isn't too bad.
I ordered a coolant tank from the dealer that I pick up tomorrow for my Ram. My origional lasted just under 10 years whereas it still has the origional belt with 213k. I replaced the upper and lower hoses about three years ago. They are scary thin.

 

LOL. Black box Dorman brake kits. We wont order them anymore. Your dead right. Bare metal springs and the hold downs dont spring just like u said.

 

From my experince...NAPA and CarQuest are the only places I can buy something and know it will hold up for a reasonable amount of time.

 

Well I ordered these from Summit, Spectre Performance hoses, I would have thought they were pretty good quality but now I wonder, it also states they have a 1 year warranty so I'm gonna check in on that.
Just got off the phone with Summit and they said they would warranty it for me, I'll send it back and go and buy new hoses (2) and keep the warrantied one for a spare, I figure the other one will be going out soon.

 

When I was in auto parts and a guy was looking for a belt set you ALWAYS checked the lot number to be sure they will be the same length. There will be variations if they are from different lots, they could have been manufactured on different drums.

We had trouble with A-1 when I was selling parts and I haven't been in an auto parts store since 1992.

The one major downfall of mail order, you have to pay shipping (or do you?) to warranty a failed part. Even if you don't pay shipping you have to wait.

 

I had one new heater core and one new radiator leak at a tank seam...I now have them pressure tested before installing...
I had another radiator that had one of the side mounting brackets on wrong. took it to the rad. shop and had it removed and installed correctly...

 

I went through two fuel pumps on the mav, now good for a long time. The bad thing i had was on the Courier pickup (master cylender) all new EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING! NEW! Brakes hoses lines wheel cylnders Rebuilt the already clean calipers myself it worked for a day, So i Bleed the brakes again. LIFETIME guaranty on the master cyl, The master was bad from the start. I love working on the mav, the Courier not priceless.

 

I have a hard time trusting the quality of a company that is stupid enough to ruin a perfectly good maverick by putting a toyota engine in it...

Ok but all joking aside I have bought a few Spectre products and I have come to the conclusion that they are just another knock off company, got a spectre rubber shift boot in my car right now that i put in because it was the only one autozone had in stock with the square hole to go over my shifter. Well in the 6 whatever months I have had it on my car the rubber is already going hard and splitting, I just think they buy their rubber components from the lowest common denominator and put a semi popular name on it, make it shiney put it in the parts stores and plenty of people line up to buy their crap.

 

I deal a lot with Advance Auto Parts here, and tend to buy stuff that they list as being upgrades, if given a choice, and have had good luck. If you buy online, there is always a discount code somewhere, too.

I definitely stay away from Auto Zone. Last thing I bought there was a fuel filter that I needed quickly .... it wasn't even manufactured right. Put together at the wrong angles, you couldn't install it, one end was rubbing the frame where the fuel line was supposed to attach, and this was a vehicle-specific part.... Mexican-made replacement part for a Japanese vehicle ....

 

it's this way with everything...someone builds a part, someone else improves on it for less. that means it's made cheaper, with cheaper materials.
it's driven by the way we look at things...
someone invents something cool...we waite for someone else to make it and sell it cheaper...

look what happens to the Mav/Comet parts that try to be made...
we don't want to pay what it cost to have them made....we want them at an "affordable price"(cheap)...and
"Made in the U.S.A."...

 

Like I argue with service writers: You can have it Good, Fast, or Cheap. You can only choose ONE...

 

It all comes down to $$$, everyone wants everything cheaper.
Around here, at one time, we made everything, Fram, Gates, BF Goodrich, Firestone, my Mom retired from Seimans, she made heating & cooling fans for GM, Chrysler, & Ford. It's all gone, to Mexico or parts unknown. Within a 1/2 hour drive of my house, I could probably find 25 empty factories, including the St.Thomas Assembly Plant

 

Originally Posted by RMiller
The one major downfall of mail order, you have to pay shipping (or do you?) to warranty a failed part. Even if you don't pay shipping you have to wait.

True, by the time I box it and ship it, not worth the time and trouble, I'm just gonna go buy some new hopefully better quality ones, might as well pick up that new starter solenoid while I'm there.

 

Actually.....you can pick TWO....but if you do, you just won't ever get the third.

 

If you bought it from Summit, they may not even want it back, I've bought a few things, called and complained and they just credited my card.