Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 705
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:48 pm
I just returned to this old thought of mine after I bought aftermarket wipers for Murano. And they work worse that the ones I replaced….
Many people on many forums do prefer aftermarket parts. Looks like using OEM parts sounds like a bad taste for many. Things like oil filter or especially air filter are universally accepted to be better aftermarket. People passionately argue whether AEM is better than K&N or vice versa.
I really feel myself being an oddball on this matter. I use OEM parts as much as I reasonably can. When I first needed to replace brake pads on my first civic, I could not really find neither OEM nor aftermarket ones in Moscow at that time. Civic was really rare specie in Moscow in the mid-90th, and those less than a handful of parts stores that featured OEM civic parts sold them at exorbitant prices. No aftermarket support, either.
I had to buy pads for Russian “Niva” and to file them to fit my car. It was doable, and they even worked fine, but those pads lasted about 2-3K miles, and I had to replace them every month or so!
Then I managed to find some aftermarket product for my car for a reasonable price – I don’t remember the brand now – and they lasted whopping 5-6K miles! At least I did not have to file them to make them fit. When I finally visited US and bought OEM pads, and they really lasted and lasted and lasted like Energizer bunny (I think I sold the car with this same pads set, about 30K miles later), I made my mind about aftermarket parts for a long time to come.
Last edited by Misha on Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:01 am; edited 1 time in total
...actually I kinda agree with you on this one, to a point.
Lots of companies rate vehicles based on their value. A big part of that rating is reliability and maintanance costs. Car companies know that a good or bad rating could equal millions of dollars in future sales. Aftermarket parts suppliers don't have that same watchdog system looking over their shoulders. Therefore it's reasonable to say that they aren't going to invest as much money in making sure their products last.
That being said. there are some aftermarket brands that build quality parts. They're the ones that cost about the same as the oem parts.
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 705
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:07 pm
And cost even more if they are considered "performance". But average person installing performance brakes from brambo or performance clutch from exedy will never use it to its full potential - another waste of money
I've heard that the expensive brake PADS are great because they don't wear out as fast as stock. Those aftermarket big brake kits are a waste of money though. One piston calipers WILL stop your car just fine, mine have been doing it for years.
I've never driven a performance clutch. I've heard that they're a bit of a joke on little civics like ours though.
One thing I'd really like to try is a performance shifter. I don't want it for the .001 second improvement on possible shift speed though, I'm interested because they supposedly have a really nice feel to them
This may be a bit off-topic, but I've had pretty good experiences replacing stereo stuff with aftermarket parts. I blew out my rear speakers in my 98 Mazda 626LX (which had a great factory speaker system b.t.w.) and replaced them with some knock-off brands I'd heard discussed and diagrammed somewhere on <LINK>. They seemed to work every bit as good, if not better than the factory ones, so I was quite pleased.
Perhaps it is not the same since I was talking about electronics, and you all seem to be talking about mechanical parts, but I've haven't done much installation of aftermarket parts. I usually just do routine maintenance only.
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