12/10/2025
So... Lets talk about car parts today. you know, the stuff we bolt on your car and charge you money for. we have several options when we estimate and quote your job. 1 Dealer parts .Usually extremely expensive and if your car is a couple years old they have probably deleted them from inventory. 2 Aftermarket parts sold by somewhat reputable suppliers. Often these parts are " acceptable ". 3 Crappy trash parts that are sold by online suppliers and parts stores who cater to the individual. Everyone remembers the economic recession of the late 2000's. Lots of layoffs, people down on work and money and so on. up to then, you were pretty safe with aftermarket parts. Well, to save a buck, the first thing the parts manufacturers did was layoff ALL the quality control staff. Before that, the parts were inspected and if all was ok, they were stamped ISO 2000 certified. I haven't seen an ISO sticker in almost 20 years. So, what happens now that we have gotten your approval for the job, ordered parts and they have showed up at the front counter. That's when the fun begins...Tech " Are my parts here??" Counter staff "Yes, but the box they are in has already been opened and taped back up numerous times. Now we open the to see the "new" part has already been bolted on someone else's car and taken back off for whatever reason and returned to the parts store. The next time that happens, it is actually a used part stuck in the box and returned. Why does that happen?? It usually happens because the parts store employee doesn't have the knowledge to even look in the box when it's returned. The more common scenario is that the part is new, bolted on your car to find out it's completely defective. Or..... It lasts 2 weeks and fails. Now I have an unhappy customer, a pi**ed off tech, and the shop is left " holding the bag." You may ask, why don't we hear more about this? Perhaps from the trade magazines? Lol, guess who are the biggest financial supporters of those mags? If you guessed the parts suppliers, you would be 100 % correct. Our shop sees 60 to 80 cars a week for service and repair. Virtually EVERYDAY we have a parts warranty issue. Last Tuesday we had 7 issues. Now you may ask, who's on the hook for this mess? Basically, everyone involved. 1 The customer, though the job is warrantied, has to wait longer for his repair, or make a second trip back to have the job "warrantied". 2 The parts suppliers. Yes, they will replace the part free, and some may pay the installer a small amount to redo the job. Since they thrive on volume only, they play the odds and usually win. 3 The repair shop. We are the biggest loser. Most of the time, we are doing the job over for no profit. We also lose any revenue that the tech and bay could be producing while the warranty issue is resolved. The shop could also lose credibility with customer. In their eyes, the shop is only as good as the parts we supply. And the shop loses again as the office staff has to smooth things with the customer as well as deal with the parts store on warranties. My staff will spend 2 to 5 hours a week doing this. So, please bear with us as we doing our best to take care of you, the customer. Solution... bring back quality control and force the suppliers to provide a better part. To that I say GOOD LUCK!!!!! I know this one is long, but this is my biggest grief in the business. Next week we will talk about cars. They don't make them like they used to!
