It's not just car parts...

[1 Wild R/T]

Just happened to click on this & I can 100% relate.... Bet you can too...

 

[kiwigtx]

You also have to wary of new parts returned by customers because they are faulty, and the seller puts them back on the shelf to sell to someone else.

My mechanic friend has that happen a few times. One occasion he actually got the same brake cylinders back that he returned about 2 months earlier ...... he had put a mark on the box and the parts.

 

[HawkRod]

Yeah, we talk a lot about poor quality stuff; the vendors are so bent on pulling cost out of the manufacturing process that the parts end up being near junk. Maybe usable but barely, and with a very short lifespan (too many parts broken right away means they sell nothing, so the parts must marginally work).

Look, I'm not thrilled paying big bucks for quality parts, but I'm definitely NOT happy having to do a job again because the crappy part I recently installed failed. Problem is, the general population votes with their wallets, and that keeps those vendors in business (and sometimes the good ones out of business)...

 

[YY1]

Seems like they are gambling that customers just won't take the time and effort to complain and/or return them.

Just like ID theft and bogus bank account and CC charges, where the authorities/institutions have decided it's too expensive and time consuming to find and prosecute the thieves, and much easier to simply replace the funds and pass the costs of doing that along to all their customers.

 

[Detective D]

Keep this in mind next time you are asked which part you want and one option is "lifetime warranty". They aren't selling you a lifetime quality part. They are selling you a part that they KNOW you will bring back to pay prorated replacement for.
My personal record for lifetime warranty is 9 months, 7k miles on an alternator in my 98 expedition years back. I did not get the replacement, I ate the cost and told them so, told them what a POS it was and they had lost a customer for life. I also explained when you have a shrinking customer base of people that fix things themselves maybe selling them junk is not a good business model.
Example two: father in law got 19k miles out of a "new" lifetime warranty water pump in his GMC 2500. Factory pump had lasted 155k miles.

Where it is made still matters. Price point is a consideration, you get what you pay for, but keep in mind when 3 factories on the planet make something one sets the bar and the other two undercut the price, but only enough they can still sell and they make up the rest by pulling quality out. So sometimes the price is close on all of them, and you have to research, a lot, to make sure you aren't ripped off. That is what and how globalist trade works.

 

[Charged440]

In the case of something simple like a water pump, how many more resources would have been expended to make it last as long as the original? All other things aside, it's just plain wasteful.

 

[Kern Dog]

You also have to wary of new parts returned by customers because they are faulty, and the seller puts them back on the shelf to sell to someone else.

My mechanic friend has that happen a few times. One occasion he actually got the same brake cylinders back that he returned about 2 months earlier ...... he had put a mark on the box and the parts.

Uncle Tony did a video on this regarding hydraulic lifters. They were returned and awhile later, he went to the same store and bought them again by accident.

 

[69a100]

Example two: father in law got 19k miles out of a "new" lifetime warranty water pump in his GMC 2500. Factory pump had lasted 155k miles.

That's no example to go by at all! Belt tension has a lot to do with how long a H2O pump will last, I bet there was very little, to no give on that belt!!

 

[kiwigtx]

Uncle Tony did a video on this regarding hydraulic lifters. They were returned and awhile later, he went to the same store and bought them again by accident.

I was actually at my friend's shop when he got the return parts.....he wasn't happy. Cost another lost day for his customer.

 

[Kern Dog]

This reminds me of that song Pina Colada”! Where a guy is tired of his woman and seeks another, only to find his newest prospect to be the same woman.

 

[eldubb440]

Where a guy is tired of hose Oman

I hate hose Omans ....... they really suck

 

[Kern Dog]

Ooof.
Trying to see this small screen without my contact lenses in. Autocorrect and my failure to proofread conspired to that result.
Son of a bitch.
Edited to meet my standards.

 

[YoungGun87]

In the case of something simple like a water pump, how many more resources would have been expended to make it last as long as the original? All other things aside, it's just plain wasteful.

I think it's them not wanting to make a quality part to be honest. It would be bad business on their part (in their mind) to make a part that lasts 10, 20, or 30+ years like way back in the day. They figured they can make more money by selling an inexpensive part that will break in a few months because they know they'll sell more of that part. That's why I try to buy Made in the USA parts as much as I can - sure it may cost $10 or $20 bucks more but it's a) keeping the money in the American economy and 2) a better, quality made part that lasts significantly longer than Chinesium. Businesses want an empire these days that lasts generations instead of making enough to live a comfortable life and settle down somewhere.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

That's no example to go by at all! Belt tension has a lot to do with how long a H2O pump will last, I bet there was very little, to no give on that belt!!

Yeah, but so do a lot of other factors not the least of which is the quality of the part IE the attention to detail by the part assembler....

 

[Budnicks]

Problem is, the general population votes (are cheapskates or pricepointshoppers/buying the cheapest Chinese made ****, making ecusses for the rest) with their wallets, and that keeps those vendors in business (and sometimes the good ones out of business)...

Very well said...
I'm with ya' 110%

I added a lil' to it...
Just for clarification, reality's sake...

Those buying/condoning the infiltration of that junk, car parts or otherwise
Chinese cheap-*** pricepoint crap, are the problem...

Buy American-made, spend a lil more & support 'American-made'...
Made in the USA, it may keep someone you love or care about,
employed to...
Enough of the globalist BS market crap/scam, supporting/funding our adversaries,
fleecing someone in DC, it's killing US one cheap *** part at a time & our way of life...
It's way beyond car parts too...

 

[Detective D]

That's no example to go by at all! Belt tension has a lot to do with how long a H2O pump will last, I bet there was very little, to no give on that belt!!

It was a newer truck with a serpentine system and automatic tensioner. The belt was factory tension, and brand new at time of install.

 

[bearman]

Watched a 4000.00 dollar fan clutch go south in a week. Now to get the replacement I have to pay for shipping to return it. Parts 3 out of every 10 suck. American made quality has left the building.

 

[beanhead]

Watched a 4000.00 dollar fan clutch go south in a week. Now to get the replacement I have to pay for shipping to return it. Parts 3 out of every 10 suck. American made quality has left the building.

Huh? If I needed a $4000.00 for a fan clutch I'd think shipping would be the least of my worries!

 

[bearman]

It belongs on a vip motor coach. Two years ago I paid 2800.00 for the same part and better quality.

 

[beanhead]

It belongs on a vip motor coach. Two years ago I paid 2800.00 for the same part and better quality.

Ouch!