Aftermarket Parts Issues Driving Me Up A Wall!!!

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There are days I want to set the place on fire (sometimes just customers cars) ok just kidding. I seem to be getting a streak of problematic parts lately. I am so tired of reps telling me about quality, oem specs, warranty blah blah. My main supplier is AAP. Here are some examples below.

- 2000 wrangler needing rear axles due to bearing failure. Ordered Dorman axles and both had fitment issues where once installed the differential pin wouldn't fit in due to improper clearances on the axle. Ordered another brand online Yukon Axles.

- 1995 Lexus SC300 (mint cond, low miles) Felpro valve cover gasket was manufactured too thick and didn't fit in the groove on the valve cover. Ordered from Lexus and fit fine.

- Forgot the year (Chrysler van) water pump with a pulley that wobbled and even the online reviews had the same issue. 

- 1993 Wrangler water pump machined incorrectly where once bolted to the block, the ears of the pump where the ps pump bracket bolts to was not machined correctly and if you tried to bolt it on it would bend the water pump. Ordered AC Delco (i think) from Cold air distributors and worked fine.

- 1999 Lexus ES300 front left brake hose manufactured incorrectly. Ordered another brand, probably Raybestos from Cold Air Distributors, and all is well.

- 2003 Taurus 3.0 OHV timing cover from Dorman 635-117. Online reviews had some issues but the oem unit was expensive. I ordered 3 before I found one that was machined good enough then installed. Came back a while later leaking. I ordered a replacement under warranty and the quality control was horrible. Just ended up getting the ford one and looked and seemed to work great. Time will tell

- 2005 Honda Element Monroe struts all the way around (these are the ones) in the front like the civics where the strut has the bracket where the tie rod bolts to. Left front was fine. Right front couldn't get aligned properly as the bracket for the tie rod was welded on at the wrong angle. Went through a couple from the local parts store then I think Monroe sent me a strut that was tested to be ok on their manufacturing/ quality control/ measurement jig and it still failed. They paid to have the old Honda part sent back for inspection. I think i ordered KYB for the front and all was well. 

I use the AAP Wearever Platinum which have been great brake pad material and braking, but lately they don't fit properly and I have taken video to show the reps and I believe when the backing plate is cut, there are imperfections where it wont fit into the caliper bracket without me grinding the backing plate on the edges. The actual manufacturing company for them sent a rep to a local AAP BBQ event and I talked to him and he is very aware and they supposedly changed the manufacturing process to address this issue but recently I did a brake job and had the same issue then installed Akebono and all was well. I am considering switching to the Wagner TQ which they stock as well. They give me an across the board pricing on the Platinum pads of $34.99 on most vehicles. Has anybody got a good pricing structure on the Wagners?

AAP gives a 3 month parts and labor warranty on pretty much everything they sell. The labor is reimbursed on my parts account at 1/2 my shop labor rate times the book time. The problem is I still have to write up an invoice showing that I replaced the part and didn't charge the customer, and spend time calling their hotline and explain what happened, then fax or scan and email the original invoice, warranty invoice, original parts invoice with the claim numbers and I still have to call and check in to make sure the claims have been processed and paid out. This takes time and is not very encouraging. Otherwise the parts themselves have the standard warranties, 2 year, 3 year, lifetime, etc. though this still requires me to redo the repair that should have been successful the first time.

I am the owner and mechanic and I waste so much time in the office dealing with parts, Calling manufacturers tech support lines, taking measurements, sending pictures of parts problems. Then if I cannot get it resolved having to research another part. The Dorman timing covers were terrible. the metal was porous and i sent them a screenshot of their website talking about "High quality plastic or metal construction resists warping, cracking and porousness". I am surprised that these companies don't look at the reviews of their own products and correct the issues. I do need another technician so I don't have to wear so many hats but in the meantime how do you folks deal with these types of issues. 

The other issue is because I am not a high volume purchaser, although it is getting better as I grow, I have to purchase the majority of my parts from AAP to keep myself on a reasonable tier level. If I spread my purchases around then I can fall off the tier level in a short time. I like AAP and they have a warehouse near me and have a vast inventory available locally as opposed to other suppliers. Most of the stuff I get is name brand stuff to avoid junk parts. I like Moog, National, Motorcraft, Delco, Etc so its not like I am trying to be cheap on everything, I just seem to get burned a lot. When the commercial reps come by, it is usually to check up on business and try to sell me something or a service or a package deal, however when I show them the issues I am having, they really don't or cannot do anything other than listen and tell me about their "quality parts". I ask for the numbers to the engineering departments to try and at least get some of these issues resolved and I cannot get through.

How do ya'll deal with these situations?

[Wheelingauto]

As a technician you are great at solving problems. Now, put on the owner/manager hat and start solving business problems. We are always going to run into problems when dealing with aftermarket parts. What you learn and the decisions you make will cause a significantly different outcome. I am not a tech, never have been. As I read about the issues you describe I think of solving them differently. Dorman?? Junk...absolutely last option. AAP....deals in a lot of junk IMO.  Time to find and create relationships with quality vendors.

3 month labor warranty at half price and ALL the paperwork to collect. hmmm...it seems to be if you cut your prices in half and had no warranty you'd be in much better shape....not a consideration though? Then who the heck cares about a labor warranty...(BTW it's built into their pricing)

As a tech you should be billing out somewhere between $3-$4 an hour. As an owner you need to figure out how to keep the tech billing....is the tech calling the parts company trying to get them to fix manufacturing issues? Thats a LOT of time wasted by the tech....owner needs to get techs head on correctly. You make it sound like quality parts are more difficult to obtain, if so the repair process needs to be streamlined to account for it rather than wasting all that time trying to push the boulder uphill. Order parts ahead of time, get a couple of loaners so customers can wait for the right parts to show up..... there are a lot of creative ways to solve the problems other than doing the same ol same ol....

[[email protected]]

Which vendors have you had luck with? Do they give better warranties? Better quality parts?

[Truett]

Find a new vendor. AAP and AutoZone are junk, for me last resort. Dorman quality dropped to junk after they moved production off shore.

We use mostly AC Delco and are a PSC Dealer. Have a 2 year part AND labor warranty from them.

As with my old computer programming days, “Junk in, Junk out”.

[Wheelingauto]

10 hours ago, [email protected] said:

Which vendors have you had luck with? Do they give better warranties? Better quality parts?

The vendors who are my current suppliers are an AC Delco/Motocraft warehouse, World Pac and my local Bumper to Bumper store. I have no idea what is available to you locally but my thoughts are that you need to spend your time not attempting to fix manufacturing problems but spend it finding suppliers who can get you quality parts. Warranty? I am curious why discussion is what warranty a supplier has? Any supplier I have has some sort of program with a warranty attached. Bumper to Bumper has a 2 year nationwide warranty. Great if they break down more than 50 miles from me, but if they do not and I have to fix it they pay up to 3 hours and a discounted rate and supply a new part. I dont have time to chase labor warranties. IMO you will waste a lot of time chasing down discounted labor dollars that could be spent chasing down retail labor dollars.

When you do a job and give a warranty to the customer, who's warranty are you giving, yours? or the vendors? We offer a 3 year/36k nationwide warranty on all of our repairs. We do this because we do things right, we don't cut corners and we use quality components in our service. Our warranty costs are built into our pricing and we have less than a 1% warranty rate and most of it is customer satisfaction anyhow. I have not written a labor claim in years and I don't plan to. When I have a part that fails I usually get a new one no questions asked. My vendors know how I do business and I've already told them what I expect if they would like my business. I take care of it and move on. When I run into a manufacturing problem I may tell my vendor about it but if my guys dont like something we find a new line to deal with.

Keep in mind the cost of a line that we like is not put up against a line we dont. For instance of Centric brake parts are 20% more than Wagner but we have next to 0% complaints or defect from centric and 10% from wagner WE DONT USE WAGNER. We also dont complain to the vendor who sells Centric that we can get shit parts a lot less. We do negotiate discounts from our vendors if we are loyal to a certain line.

 

 

[tirengolf]

This a serious issue with me also. It has gotten so much worse the last 5 to 10 years. I installed 3 calipers on a 13 Accord, all 3 of them were leaking, they came from Oreillys. I am in the Panhandle of Florida and really do not have any other options for my parts. I was using World Pac some although when the change occurred they cut my salesman off and basically just told me to call the 800 number, then the freight was a issue. Any ideas od some good wholesale internet parts houses would be appreciated. I am afraid this is just the beginnings of these problems.

[tirengolf]

11 minutes ago, Stevens Automotive Service said:

I have 7 parts suppliers that I choose from and order about 99% myself per job in Mitchell. I always go for top quality and have very few issues.   

I have the hardest time identifying the good from the bad anymore. I have actually got some very aggressive dealership parts companies in my area, I have been buying factory alternators and AC compressors. I have heard they are now carrying 3 lines, Good Better Best. I guess the China guys will figure it out in the end but dang this has been a nightmare. 

 

 

[[email protected]]

On 7/18/2018 at 8:19 AM, Truett said:

Find a new vendor. AAP and AutoZone are junk, for me last resort. Dorman quality dropped to junk after they moved production off shore.

We use mostly AC Delco and are a PSC Dealer. Have a 2 year part AND labor warranty from them.

As with my old computer programming days, “Junk in, Junk out”.

What is a psc dealer?

[tirengolf]

On 7/18/2018 at 9:21 AM, Wheelingauto said:

The vendors who are my current suppliers are an AC Delco/Motocraft warehouse, World Pac and my local Bumper to Bumper store. I have no idea what is available to you locally but my thoughts are that you need to spend your time not attempting to fix manufacturing problems but spend it finding suppliers who can get you quality parts. Warranty? I am curious why discussion is what warranty a supplier has? Any supplier I have has some sort of program with a warranty attached. Bumper to Bumper has a 2 year nationwide warranty. Great if they break down more than 50 miles from me, but if they do not and I have to fix it they pay up to 3 hours and a discounted rate and supply a new part. I dont have time to chase labor warranties. IMO you will waste a lot of time chasing down discounted labor dollars that could be spent chasing down retail labor dollars.

When you do a job and give a warranty to the customer, who's warranty are you giving, yours? or the vendors? We offer a 3 year/36k nationwide warranty on all of our repairs. We do this because we do things right, we don't cut corners and we use quality components in our service. Our warranty costs are built into our pricing and we have less than a 1% warranty rate and most of it is customer satisfaction anyhow. I have not written a labor claim in years and I don't plan to. When I have a part that fails I usually get a new one no questions asked. My vendors know how I do business and I've already told them what I expect if they would like my business. I take care of it and move on. When I run into a manufacturing problem I may tell my vendor about it but if my guys dont like something we find a new line to deal with.

Keep in mind the cost of a line that we like is not put up against a line we dont. For instance of Centric brake parts are 20% more than Wagner but we have next to 0% complaints or defect from centric and 10% from wagner WE DONT USE WAGNER. We also dont complain to the vendor who sells Centric that we can get shit parts a lot less. We do negotiate discounts from our vendors if we are loyal to a certain line.

 

 

Wheeling , Would you mind sharing with me who you are purchasing your Centric pads from. Thanks

[Truett]

25 minutes ago, [email protected] said:

What is a psc dealer?

A AC Delco program. Stands for Professional Service Center . Delco backs a 2 year, 24000 mile warranty. Also better pricing for me and rebates. Many other benefits too. Been one for 3 years now. Get credit for any ac Delco products from both aftermarket suppliers and GM dealers.

[tirengolf]

19 minutes ago, Stevens Automotive Service said:

I use NAPA ADO brake pads when I can never had an issue. Delphi AC and Ford fuel pumps etc.   What I am getting at is always try to use OEM supplier parts. Again OEM supplier parts not your local dealership all though if you look some of there pricing is right at or sometimes better than others (yes rare) but it happens.  

How do most shops price OEM parts. There list to cost ratio is so low.

 

[Wheelingauto]

17 hours ago, tirengolf said:

Wheeling , Would you mind sharing with me who you are purchasing your Centric pads from. Thanks

Local vendor who sells primarily Centric. Foreign car parts. 

[GEORGE Spitzer]

Need to start looking for quality parts. Doorman should not be making car parts. It's not  even in their name. Some times is better to go to a dealer for quality part. 

[slowtech]

We are also having an increase in parts issues concerning fit and function. It seams a list of use this, not that, would be helpful.

[GEORGE Spitzer]

There has been more and more problems with aftermarket parts. Lot of parts are just cheap, bad quality and poor fit. We specialize in Volvo repair only and more then ever we are choosing to go with not just OE (that doesn't mean anything now days), but VOLVO parts from a dealer. There is a lot of parts in aftermarket world, that are genuine Volvo parts, but a lot of them are parts that have been superseded and parts that did not passed QC and we're not good enough to be sold to VOLVO.

We've established good working relationship with local dealers and unfortunately spend a lot of money with them. However, we can rest assured that our customers get what they paid for. More so, it is less expensive to fix it right the first time, then deal with parts warranty and at the end, we would pay out of our pocket to put in a Volvo part anyway and technicians wage.

It is difficult to depend on brand name of parts. There are brand name parts that we've used 20 years ago and they we're top notch, but now days it is a hit and miss. It's so sad and makes life so much more difficult.

[stvstbsvc]

Think of a FUTURE with Autonomous cars and Dorman Proximity Sensors!  🙂  We are a NAPA Autocare and an AC /Delco PSC.  As much OE ignition and sensors / electronics as possible.  Minimal Dorman / NAPA "OE".  NAPA Adaptive One pads or we seem to have noise issues.  As for Wagner pads - we call them Thermo-Squealers!  I agree - parts are becoming a BIG ISSUE for any mechanical shop in 2018! 

[Twilight]

We buy from Cold Air. They have good service. and when you call and the put you on hold the message says same price to everyone only wholesale. I will say my biggest complaint about them is light on inventory. Also since you're in Florida try The Parts House. Retail parts stores are good for WD-40 and spray paint and little else.

[[email protected]]

5 hours ago, Twilight said:

We buy from Cold Air. They have good service. and when you call and the put you on hold the message says same price to everyone only wholesale. I will say my biggest complaint about them is light on inventory. Also since you're in Florida try The Parts House. Retail parts stores are good for WD-40 and spray paint and little else.

I buy from Cold Air in Longwood, Fl. I see "The Parts House" drivers every once in a while. never really inquired about them. I should check into them. BTW Cold Air has been dealing with inventory issues and I just talked to them yesterday about that and they are swapping/updating inventory and also prices are reflecting the whole tariff issue but hopefully that changes soon.