Parts are Parts, Right?



WRONG! Remember the old Pennzoil commercial where the old man says, "Motor oil is motor oil"? The point was that there is a difference between various types of motor oils and they are definitely not all the same.

Now, more than ever, the same is true of automotive parts. Parts are not all the same. Over the last decade, there has been an unbelievable proliferation of poor quality parts in the market. They come from all over the world, and a brand name does not necessarily guarantee that the part is a high quality part. Due to the expansion of low cost parts, even reputable parts manufacturers now offer a "value" line of parts. They have done this because they were losing market share to the importers of low price, low quality parts.






Oil filters are an excellent example.Oil filters range can vary in price and in quality. Below is a picture of 2 major oil filter brands with the outer shells removed. As you can see, the oil filter on left the uses only a small spring and spring steel to retain the oil filter on its seat, while the filter on the right uses a heavy spring. If you look at the how the filter element is held together, on the left it is merely glued to a cardboard backing, while on the right it is held together inside a heavy metal cartridge. Although the photo does not show it clearly, the filter on the right also has around double the pleats of the the filter on the left and is made of a sturdier material. Obviously the consumer can't tell by looking at the outside of the filter there is a difference, but as you can see, on the inside there are major differences.

Any more questions?

Direct them to mike@robinsonautomotive.com