The problem is that hte market has gotten so competitive and sales are made on price.

Most rebuilts come from a handfull of suppliers. So you may parts from the same source no matter where you go.

I'm sure there are some quality rebuilds out there. I stopeed keeping track of that a while ago.

Same gripe with alternators and as others have mentioned starters. Parts that should be replaced dont. Replacments parts are foten sub standard. Esp in alternators! My favotite is the insulator washer for the manin terminal gets replaced with a "new" one thats a lot softer plastic.

With heat and time the plastic flows and you get a loose connection. Nothing worse for an alternator than the voltage spike it sees when it gets disconected and its charging.

Same experiance with calipers... The pistons in some of the rebuilts were worse thatn my old calipers!

I have gotten lucky. Rock Auto somtimes sells new master cylinders in a box that says rebuilt. Better is its the factory OEM brand part at the rebuilt price.

Dems the breaks. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

Kevin










All that for one silly pun <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/oink.gif" alt="" />

Lifetime Warranty = lifetime of changing the part. Found that out the hard way with there crappy starters. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

I've never had a bad experience with Advance. The autozones here try really hard (Roanoke is Advance's home turf) to do good, but they just don't cut it on service.

A coworker of mine needed a battery and took it to AutoZone. They f'ed up her car pretty bad.

As I was hoping that this would be the last time I'd have to deal with AutoZone, it then occurred to me that 8yrs ago I also replaced my starter with an AutoZone rebuild. I'm sure it won't be long...

Also last year, I replaced my fan clutch with the cheapest AutoZone part I could get because I was in a bind and it was the closest store. Granted, not a rebuild - I didn't maintain high hopes for made in China unit, but it still runs strong to this day. Conversely, the made-in-America Bech-Arnley unit that I'd purchased from NAPA years ago, failed about every 6mos - and reliably so. The oil began leaking out of every clutch and soon the fan just spun openly. Got a full refund on that one despite NAPA's protest. AFAIK, NAPA no longer does business with Bech-Arnley... at least not the one in Naperville.

Last fall I purchased a rebuilt alternator from NAPA... for no reason at all, if not for just the fact that my old one is approaching the 10yr mark. Swapped them out (kept the old one). One month later, the bearing went bad. Got a full refund on that too.

I just don't get it how these rebuild suppliers and the marketing chains can play this numbers game if the quality is so low. With as many bad units as I've seen in the last 5-or-so years, you'd think they'd be taking a loss on all that craptastic quality. The only other thing I can imagine is that it's now a game of psychology and they know that most consumers will just put their tails between their legs and walk away... temporarily until the next time they walk in the door for more abuse. "Thank you sir, may I have another?!"

And you'd think that having an inspector's quality assurance tag on the box would mean something. Apparently it means you'd better check it twice, then rebuild it anyway. Especially concerning brakes, you'd think they'd put a little more effort into it considering the potential liability.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> -> All this talk of quality assurance has me remembering my issues with Jasper Engines. Another remanufactured part that failed reliably. The last rebuilt unit I got delivered to my doorstep, tore it down, and re-rebuilt it myself. It's been working fine and strong for the last 5yrs now. Much longer than the one I had replaced every year under the 3yr warranty! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

The Mitsu parts to rebuild my rear calipers cost the same as a rebuilt unit from Advance or Autozone. I don't mind the minor work involved to do it and I'll have refreshed calipers with Mitsu parts in them <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I went through numerous autozone alts. Luckily I kept my Mitsu unit and got it rebuilt in the end. No more problems with that. I have to say one store I returned an alt to were fine (had to go back later that day as they didn't have enough cash in the register <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> ) and another store were p!ss'd off about it. No idea why. To me a lifetime warranty means I get my money back if it breaks, especially after 2 months of mediocre voltage output.

They don't replace brake pads under the lifetime warranty either. That's the 'limited' part. I wasn't surprised. Imagine buying a set of brake pads once for the whole time you own the car <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> That would be too good to be true.

Besides, most parts at those places are not really cheaper than the stealer. I'm getting along nicely with my local Mitsu parts guy. I can call him to order parts without paying over the phone, he calls me when they arrive. Simple. The other day I picked up some brake parts and had paid when I remembered I wanted an oil filter and crush washer. He said won't worry about it and gave them to me for free <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Needless to say, I will go back there again and again.

My new OEM Mitsubishi idler arm was $90. Kragen was $146.

Always check OEM first <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Gotta love that <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> The only time I buy aftermarket these days is when I need a part in a hurry and the dealer cannot get it in time.

The Kragen part likely had a lifetime warranty. And even the OEM's don't last long. If you actually go four wheeling that is.

I kid.

John B.

Hmmm... I bought a set of liftetime warranty front brake pads for my 2001 Aztek from Autozone. Every 2 years, I go back for a new set, absolutely free <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

there are still azteks on the road?