Parts: Manufacture vs. Aftermarket

jakepressley · **Posted:** Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:21 pm

I'm wondering what people's opinion are in regards to paying the extra cash up front for manufacture's parts vs. getting an autozone/napa shelf part.

My family rig is an older 7 series BMW. A close friend and crack BMW mechanic laughed when I said I'd order some plug wires at the Autozone. He is a strong supporter of mail ordering from Germany.

My track rig is an American (they made a billion of these so everything's cheap) kind of a car. I have noticed a huge difference in using parts from Ford; clutch cables, plug wires, VALVE COVER GASKETS, bushings, wheel bearings.... but wonder where to draw the line?? Hoses? belts? fuel pump? lug nuts?

I suppose a debate about craftsman vs. snap on is comprable. Or... how many of you have used a Harbor Freight piece once and thrown it away :wink:

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

I've always used factory lug nuts. The Ford lug nuts have big seats that don't dig into the lug bolt holes on alloy wheels.

Get the light blue Goodyear silicone hoses, and you can stop worrying about them pretty much forever.

There are some parts you can't buy new from Ford any more for your car, like brake hardware (booster, MC, calipers)

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

I would suggest you get to know the OEM manufacturers of the parts for your cars. In my experience with BMW parts, stuff from Mann, Febi, Graf, Brembo, Balo, (even Lucas), etc, etc all tend to be good stuff. If it comes in a white box or with a non-German name on it I'll think twice, especially if it's hard to replace. Most of my stuff for German cars has come from Worldpac, and 95% of the time I have been very pleased. For Jap cars everything I have gotten from Advance Auto has been great, as long as I'm a little cautious about the manufacturer.

The 2 things from personal experience I will always go to the dealer for a BMW -- water pumps and exhaust hangers. I'm sure there are other things that I will eventually learn that I "wish" I had gone to the dealer for.

My $0.02

jakepressley · **Posted:** Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:29 am

Arthur McDonald wrote:

I've always used factory lug nuts. The Ford lug nuts have big seats that don't dig into the lug bolt holes on alloy wheels.

Get the light blue Goodyear silicone hoses, and you can stop worrying about them pretty much forever.

There are some parts you can't buy new from Ford any more for your car, like brake hardware (booster, MC, calipers)

I'm happy to say that I've now got rear discs!!! so I'm happy that I won't need to track down any drum bits and pieces anymore. I purchased a used 4 lug kit and slapped them on in a weekend. BUT along the same line of reasoning... I went with a cheaper aftermarket company instead of getting the brakes from ford or steeda. I hope it doesn't bite me in the a$$.

Thanks Mike.... I'll bookmark worldpac... funny that Advanced carries adequate stuff for Jap cars. Are BMW's that fickle.... This is my first.

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

MikeWhitney wrote:

Most of my stuff for German cars has come from Worldpac, and 95% of the time I have been very pleased.

So just how do you buy from WorldPac? I have used a favorite mechanic to order stuff for me from WorldPac, but is there a surreptitious way to order directly without having a resale license and being in the automotive business? I have closed my business and rejoined the corporate world and no longer maintain a resale permit.
Charlie Guthrie

Dustin Fredrickson · **Posted:** Sun Jul 19, 2009 9:48 pm

Charlie Guthrie wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

Most of my stuff for German cars has come from Worldpac, and 95% of the time I have been very pleased.

So just how do you buy from WorldPac? I have used a favorite mechanic to order stuff for me from WorldPac, but is there a surreptitious way to order directly without having a resale license and being in the automotive business? I have closed my business and rejoined the corporate world and no longer maintain a resale permit.
Charlie Guthrie

Call Carquest. They own worldpac, and any CQ store can get WP parts within hours, just like our favorite repair shops. Use autopartswarehouse.com as a proxy for the WP catalog (maybe not all the parts, and not exact prices, but pretty close for the stuff I've ordered). If I'm not in a hurry, I just order from autopartswarehouse, as they offer free shipping options and since there is a hub in Raleigh, parts arrive next day (2 days max) with UPS ground if the order is early enough.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:42 pm

I believe Adam at Black Forest Industries can get stuff from Worldpac ridiculously quickly.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Dustin Fredrickson wrote:

Charlie Guthrie wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

Most of my stuff for German cars has come from Worldpac, and 95% of the time I have been very pleased.

So just how do you buy from WorldPac? I have used a favorite mechanic to order stuff for me from WorldPac, but is there a surreptitious way to order directly without having a resale license and being in the automotive business? I have closed my business and rejoined the corporate world and no longer maintain a resale permit.
Charlie Guthrie

Call Carquest. They own worldpac, and any CQ store can get WP parts within hours, just like our favorite repair shops. Use autopartswarehouse.com as a proxy for the WP catalog (maybe not all the parts, and not exact prices, but pretty close for the stuff I've ordered). If I'm not in a hurry, I just order from autopartswarehouse, as they offer free shipping options and since there is a hub in Raleigh, parts arrive next day (2 days max) with UPS ground if the order is early enough.

Black Forest in Cary is also a Worldpac shop, they get same-day.

I should mention that I've been ordering a lot of stuff from Bimmerworld lately too. They have been beating the BFI/worldpac prices on lots of stuff, seem to use the same parts manufacturers, and stuff arrives next day for me via UPS.

Kevin Harvey · **Posted:** Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:18 pm

Jake,

On the subject of your track car, I have mixed reviews on Ford parts for the Fox body cars versus the New Edge cars.

When I had my 91 GT, I used aftermarket parts exclusively. Places like LateModelResto, Mustang Unlimited, Summit, Year One, etc. all had just as good if not better parts much cheaper than Ford OEM parts. I think a lot of that has to do with the HUGE aftermaket following of the 79-93 Mustangs. You can darn near build a Fox body car from the parts offered from several catalogs.

For my 99 and 01 Cobras, there are some parts that Ford still has the best offering and there are others that you just have to buy aftermarket. Clutch cables, injectors, gears (although they are made by Motive for Ford), throw-out bearing, pinion bearing, and cross-over pipe o-rings are a couple that come to mind that I think Ford has the best out there. Heck, even the halfshafts aren't bad if you don't drag race. In fact, I am ordering another one in a few minutes. But then there are a lot of parts I get from vendors.

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Parts: Manufacture vs. Aftermarket

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