[dataway]

It's painful to hear, but one of the driving factors in the destruction of quality US brands is .... us. The consumer constantly puts pressure on manufacturers to lower prices, at the auto parts counter if they have a few choices they will pick the cheapest one. Companies have to go to greater lengths to turn a profit, cut quality, off-shore manufacturing etc.

Bear in mind WE here do not represent the typical part buying public, we consider quality, 99% of parts buyers only consider price.

Back in the days of no internet and less mobility people shopped at their local auto parts store, often only one was within a reasonable distance, there wasn't much window shopping for cheaper parts. Many auto parts stores only carried one brand or tier of products.

I'm not certain of it, but it sure feels like (inflation taken into consideration) that parts are cheaper now than they were 40 years ago. I remember things like alternators and water pumps etc being a not insubstantial amount of money (but then I probably had less money to spend back then)

Kinda like the airlines, if you wonder why a modern flight is like taking a standing room bus in a bad neighborhood ... we'll people got online and searched and searched for the cheapest flight .... that's what the airlines started providing.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by dataway

It's painful to hear, but one of the driving factors in the destruction of quality US brands is .... us. The consumer constantly puts pressure on manufacturers to lower prices, at the auto parts counter if they have a few choices they will pick the cheapest one. Companies have to go to greater lengths to turn a profit, cut quality, off-shore manufacturing etc.

Bear in mind WE here do not represent the typical part buying public, we consider quality, 99% of parts buyers only consider price.

Back in the days of no internet and less mobility people shopped at their local auto parts store, often only one was within a reasonable distance, there wasn't much window shopping for cheaper parts. Many auto parts stores only carried one brand or tier of products.

I'm not certain of it, but it sure feels like (inflation taken into consideration) that parts are cheaper now than they were 40 years ago. I remember things like alternators and water pumps etc being a not insubstantial amount of money (but then I probably had less money to spend back then)

Kinda like the airlines, if you wonder why a modern flight is like taking a standing room bus in a bad neighborhood ... we'll people got online and searched and searched for the cheapest flight .... that's what the airlines started providing.

I agree and this is one of the things I really appreciate about Rock Auto. They list the part you want to buy and all of the choices they carry. They start with the cheapest crap that will last a couple months in daily use and move up to the best stuff they sell, usually at the highest price. Then the customer pics what they feel is best for their situation and budget. I love to have choices. The problem is as quality legacy brands go bankrupt, are acquired by equity groups, or go away, those choices become fewer. A good example is an ignition rotor for our old points distributors. As far as I know, there are ZERO quality ones you can just go to a parts store and buy. Even the ones sold by NAPA under the Echlin line are the same crap they sell under their junk Performer line. Even looks like quality on line until you open the box. It's the same see through paper thin piece of crap for double the price. Old stock is the only choice now. That hurts us all and shops trying to do quality work. I stopped buying Cordone alternators and starters 15 years ago for the same reason. I have a local rebuilder that uses quality parts and does an excellent job. But no cost savings. Usually cost more than a pretty Cardone unit. But they are always busy.

[67Lemons]

Just as a point of conversation, you couldn’t give me a Cardone branded anything. They’ve been on the verge of bankruptcy and restructures so many times it is a well known fact that they have lost a majority of their business to other remanufactures due to a serious lack of quality, brands like Terrepower (BBB) are making much better quality remans, so much so that Cardone has lost some large customers due to quality concerns FWIW.

[78w72]

Just now seeing this & surprised by all the bad comments on cardone. I have used many AI cardone parts over the years as well as family & many friends, never had a problem with them, they may not be OEM quality or the best brand out there, but they have worked fine for everything Ive bought recently or in the last 15+ years, & if there is a problem they have a good replacement/refund warranty.

Just installed a set of their rear disc calipers for 79-81 Firebird and they were good quality, adjusted like they are supposed to & bled out good on the first try, much better than the "brake best" brand that sells these calipers. Used a Cardone alternator on my 4.0 jeep daily driver that lasted 13+ years for me and was still working fine when I sold it. Used many other parts from them, never a problem.
Im sure there are problems with them, just like almost everything out there nowadays... but also like most things, you only hear about a small % of problems, doesnt mean the entire brand is bad when theres probably millions of good working parts from them in service out there.

[mgarblik]

Rebuilt auto parts have a place in the repair world. So I hope some brand is always available. A1 Cardone private labels a large percentage of their stuff. So very likely many of the good parts and defective parts we have all used were from them. It also depends on the year of the car your working on, the specific parts, and the condition of the cores they have available. I could go on forever, but some of the crap I have purchased from them could have caused serious failures if the defects were not discovered.

[Elarson]

Here's a pretty detailed article on First Brands and it's shady founder.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...be60d846&ei=12

Eric

[besserspat]

The cardone stuff and the other "economy" brands listed when you browse on rock auto for your specific replacement parts is what all car flippers / peddlers install on the cars they sell.

You know when you see an ad on CL or Marketplace and there's a grocery list of balljoints, bushings, tie rods, shocks and brakes freshly replaced... those are the cheap replacement parts for purpose they serve, to fix and sell quick with a 30ft/30 minutes warranty.

Just ask yourself why someone would spend all that money to put new parts on a car only to sell it immediately after.

When I buy parts for my cars , I only buy the good stuff with lifetime warranty and even those sometimes will leave me stranded on the side of the road.

I cant imagine going on a road trip with 12$ Ujoints, 8$ brake pads and 24$ balljoints from the 30 days warranty economy crap.

Nowadays parts are cheap compared to labor costs, better put the odds on your side with a better part that youll pay only once to get installed.

Peter

[cmoc-bob]

Shady is an understatement - this is outright fraud to me.

[GOAT8U2]

This is only going to get worse as Evs have around 50% less total parts and each year their % on the road are going up.

For you OEM purists this is going to be a tough decision since the aftermarket updates aren't an option. These company's are going to really penny pinch like crazy.

[besserspat]

Originally Posted by GOAT8U2

This is only going to get worse as Evs have around 50% less total parts and each year their % on the road are going up.

For you OEM purists this is going to be a tough decision since the aftermarket updates aren't an option. These company's are going to really penny pinch like crazy.

As long as there will be a lucrative market for replacement parts, someone will produce them, will the choice get smaller, will the prices be higher yes,

But I can still buy new replacement parts for a 1961 Renault 4 in north america...so I am not too worried about popular muscle cars or trucks.

Peter.

[Formulas]

Honestly take a wider angle view of the consumer market in general for anything made offshore your likely to see major short and long term disruptions even
terminations of a lot of products with priority starting back up onshore given first to critical needs for our society....

I knew when the trade imbalance with the commies first started that it was going to get ugly in a matter of time because we couldn't sustain the path we were on and they strongly believe the world is there's so in reality posturing and negotiations will not get it done its going to take force either very strong economic or biological force or kinetic force with extreme prejudice .... Every now and then China makes a move clamping down on exports that matter to us and they have influence on other commie countries so don't focus solely on China.... So its a race for us to become self sustaining again to unleash the ultimate FAFO to the commie world.... At times we may be ahead or behind in this race and until its over it isn't over

Might want to get the parts you can foresee a need for while you can in a prudent manner of course.. This country may be building factories for drugs, electronics, bombs, rather than a water pump, starter, connecting rods for a 1970 Pontiac

[unruhjonny]

I have personally been believing that the market as a whole is going to collapse;
Fewer and fewer cars are being kept around via proper maintenance ect;
It seems like once cars hit about fifteen years old - if they are kept running that long - their days are numbered;
with the increased complexity, and electrification of vehicles, I expect this trend to get exponentially more drastic.
(hopefully that made sense)

Another way to summarize my opinion;
What was once a large market of private vehicle maintenance/repair has been shrinking by the year for probably twenty years now, and I expect the rate of reduction to amplify.

The only factor which might serve to reverse the trend is that the unbelievably high market price of new vehicles stays put… that and that alone might convince more people to to maintenance/repairs.

[mgarblik]

Today I got my first taste of what the AI Cardone part of the bankruptcy may look like. Pricing some drive axle shafts for a customers GMC 4X4. Brand new axle shafts were about $40.00 less each than the re-manufactured units from Cardone. This is pretty unusual. Also, the overall cost of the parts are up about 50% from a year ago. Sticker shock has begun in the repair business.

[67Lemons]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Today I got my first taste of what the AI Cardone part of the bankruptcy may look like. Pricing some drive axle shafts for a customers GMC 4X4. Brand new axle shafts were about $40.00 less each than the re-manufactured units from Cardone. This is pretty unusual. Also, the overall cost of the parts are up about 50% from a year ago. Sticker shock has begun in the repair business.

This will continue as quality cores have increased in cost/value over the last 10 years, the labor cost to remanufacture the part increasing plus the large majority of shops, dealers, jobbers, etc prefer to NOT deal with cores due to cost and liability (of having huge sums of dollars sitting in a pile waiting for credit)

Add the fact that the American consumer always prefers new and shiny to rebuilt, reman, etc and there you go.

[Shiny]

This cannot help

Link to Article - Tariff Fraud?

[steve25]

Most China made parts suck in my opinion.

Two days ago I just had an issue with Mopar heads I was finishing up.

I I got the two different type of freeze plugs for these 440 heads, all of which had the correct Doorman part number on them and 4 out of 8 that where stamped made in China where over .012” too big and of course would never go in.

[sdbob]

I myself when buying parts yrs ago would by top quality period price was not an issue. Fit and ccx reliability were. Now my 2015 GMC has been as good truck. Just recently the drivers side oxygen sensor went bad at 96k. I let the tire shop do the work. He knows what parts work. Lately 'Life of 'Reilly is getting more of his business over NAPA who was there forever and they bought from NAPA totally. I havent been NAPA for months.Just saying. I'm stopping at O'Reilly today for some grease,why? Easy in easy out location. They put a tonnnn of money in that new location!!!!