OEM vs. Aftermarket Parts for German Cars

Getting your german car fixed is never really the cheapest thing: you have labor, parts, fluid and shop supplies all added up… and so some people think to themselves “ I wonder if I can find the parts cheaper?”. The answer is yes, you can definitely find the parts cheaper. But that will not help you in most cases. There are hundreds of aftermarket brands for automotive parts! The problem is, most honest shops will not use those parts or take customer supplied parts. In our experience, the best quality parts come from OEM manufactured companies. Now there are multiple reasons though why independent shops will only use OEM parts… 

Durability and Warranty purposes… OEM manufactured parts are designed to exact specification of the vehicle, ensuring a precise fit. They also seem to be of better quality, made with high quality materials and having gone through rigorous testing with every single vehicle that part is put on. Now for warranty purposes, a lot of shops offer their own warranty on the parts they get and the labor they apply to the job. So bringing in your own aftermarket parts ultimately defeats the warranty they can offer, which is there to ensure a smoother transaction if a repair that has been done, has failed. Another reason why we specifically don’t take customer supplied parts is because if the customer supplied part fails and the customer supplied part has its own warranty, we can’t take the part off and leave the vehicle broken and unfinished in a bay waiting for the replacement part to be shipped to the customer and then brought back to us. Automotive shops are fast paced, multiple cars getting scheduled day in and day out and multiple cars needing to be moved around. Help us(independent automotive shops), help you, by allowing us to do the repair the correct and efficient way. But most importantly, help yourself by allowing the better quality part to be put on your vehicle. Quality will always cost more but it will also last much longer! 

Another reason shops prefer OEM parts over aftermarket is the fitment and compatibility. OEM parts are a guaranteed fit! The most common thing automotive shops see with aftermarket parts is horrible fitment and poor quality. Even if there is a warranty on the aftermarket part, why would you want to replace poor quality with even more poor quality? 

A HUGE reason to use OEM parts over aftermarket is Safety, especially for safety-critical components like crumple zones, airbags and reinforced frames. Using OEM parts is crucial to maintain the vehicle's original safety standards! 

Now, not all aftermarket parts are bad. In very slim but certain circumstances an aftermarket manufacturer can produce a better-than-factory part to address a weak spot on the OEM parts known weak point. That being said though, please let the automotive repair shop make that decision and purchase the part that way parts and labor can be warranted under them if so said part fails. 

In summary, let the professionals handle it, and know that OEM parts might cost more but they are designed to last much longer! 

www.fahrenheitmotors.com