Don’t Buy Aftermarket
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009One thing I learned when I worked in an aftermarket auto parts store was… well, why you shouldn’t buy aftermarket.
It became pretty obvious to me pretty quickly that what people said about aftermarket parts really was true — they don’t last as long as they should. I can’t even tell you how many warranty returns we had. Sure, we offered free warranties, so it didn’t cost the customer anything — except gas to drive to the parts store and the time it took to do the repair.
The time that it takes is the thing — and not knowing whether the part you just put in is going to last a while, or leave you stranded on the side of the road within the next year. That’s why I now tell people it’s a better idea to just get genuine Mitsubishi parts, or Toyota, or whatever. Ford parts are the most critical — I can’t tell you how often I saw people replacing electrical parts on their Fords, brake switches and headlight switches and the like.
People often say that working in fast food makes them realize how nasty that food is, and makes them not want to eat it ever again. Working in an aftermarket auto parts store was like that for me: When it really matters, I now buy genuine OEM parts for my car!
