Thinking Outside The Usual Box...

Post by **Eddystone** » 07 Jul 2020, 10:06

Just to prompt people who might not usually block the conventional wisdom regarding replacement parts, has anyone found any inexpensive alternatives to the Name Brand (Sachs, Bilstein, KYB etc) manufacturers that have worked well?

For example, there are about a hundred different brands of struts offered on Amazon that potentially all come out of the same Chinese factory complex. Are these just all junk, or are some of them okay?

We've discussed the inexpensive heater core to death, so maybe we can pass on rehashing that. Some think it's fine, and some would never touch them.

I am pretty well convinced not to buy Uro rubber parts, but if you want the clips for the heater hoses, I'm not sure there's any difference, and Volvo dealers don't stock them.

I buy most of my Volvo OEM and other parts from FCPEuro and get them fast where I live. I do pick up name brand stuff on Amazon sometimes, though.

I'm just wondering if there is anyone out there who is willing to buck the conventional wisdom and post something positive about off-brand parts they have found to be good.

bronco · Post by **bronco** » 07 Jul 2020, 10:11

i'll buy anything . People swear by certain brands , those brands could be making their stuff on the same assembly line as Uro and just marking it up 3 times as much.

yanga001 · Post by **yanga001** » 07 Jul 2020, 11:20

If anyone is doing an hid swap then i would say there is very little difference between the Amazon bulbs, aliexpress bulbs, and morimoto. I paid like 27 cad for the ballasts and 14 for 2 bulbs and it worked as well as a 60 dollar kit. There were minor quality differences but both still light up the street well. Projectors may differ depending on how long you use them but I've had no issues with the cheap ones I have been running for a year. In terms of led's I do not know but if you can find some with a good waurantee then I'd pick those up. We paid 150 cad for a set on another car but they come with a 5 year full return waurantee which we have cashed in once already. They were sylvania from canadian tire.

Also I would recommend oem rims as they center on the wheel hub properly. Aftermarket caused wiggle on our wagon.

I also found Nissens radiators to work well and were cheaper compared to OEM.

Post by **erikv11** » 07 Jul 2020, 11:37

bronco wrote: 07 Jul 2020, 10:11 i'll buy anything . People swear by certain brands , those brands could be making their stuff on the same assembly line as Uro and just marking it up 3 times as much.

For things like timing parts, seals etc., they aren't.

It is definitely the case that parts get re-boxed and re-branded, but a big advantage of a forum like this is you don't have to rely on "some people swear by certain brands." Instead use the input of many people to track and communicate which specific parts are good quality and which are junk. That's what this topic is about.

Otherwise I don't actually have a good answer to the OP though - but interested to hear!

Post by **Eddystone** » 07 Jul 2020, 15:36

erikv11 wrote: 07 Jul 2020, 11:37
Otherwise I don't actually have a good answer to the OP though - but interested to hear!

Some of these things are real head scratchers to me, especially since the OEM Volvo part that lasted 20 years on my car was probably not sourced from the same factory that the current Volvo OEM part came from. I recently saw a post saying that aftermarket coolant reservoir tanks are no good and will get soft when hot and leak. I just found a crack in the reservoir of my 1993 940and will have to see what's available on the market. I also have to wonder about the green reservoir caps. Does Volvo actually manufacture these, or do they source them somewhere else? Are we sure that the OEM parts we get from Volvo now for 25 year old cars are the same as they were when manufactured 25 years ago in large quantities for Volvo to Volvo specs.

One thing I am really suspicious of are parts made with hard rubber like engine mounts that are manufactured in China. That has nothing to do with them being made by Chinese workers, but it does have to do with the apparent lack of standards in the formulation of the rubber. That applies to all other kinds of standards. Things made in China are made to a specification supplied by the contractor, and then we hope that they are actually made to that standard. And then there are companies that have things manufactured by the lowest bidder and don't check on the true quality of the materials.

Some things can simply be looked at to know what the quality is. I just bought an electric hollow body jazz guitar made in China around 2006, and the quality is spectacular. The company that had these made and marketed them also went out of business in about three years. This guitar is the equivalent in beauty, materials and quality of construction to big name instrument makers and sold (and now sell) for a fraction of the cost of those guitars. I can check this instrument out and know what it is.

Hand me a Chinese motor mount for the end of the engine down by the crank pulley,and I have no way of knowing what it is made of or how long it will last. As was said above, the value of this forum is to hear which things fail quickly or are problems right from the beginning based upon actual user experience. We know there are people on here who will say that only OEM parts should be used for this or that. I listen to them. There are also people on here who go to the grave insisting that only the most expensive parts are even minimally acceptable. Obviously, if you always buy the most expensive parts available, you are likely to have few failures. That doesn't mean that some parts that cost half as much won't be working just as well five years from now as the expensive parts.

callahanoffroad · Post by **callahanoffroad** » 07 Jul 2020, 20:12

I'm a dirty boy and I use URO coolant lines. I've also used cheap shocks and struts. Gasp. But my car was until recently used exclusively for delivery. So every penny counted. But I've put over 70,000 miles on my URO coolant hoses without an issue. Now that I think about it, it's probably about time to replace them anyways. Hahahaha

Post by **abscate** » 08 Jul 2020, 05:09

I put a $25 an hour value on my Wrenching time to guide my process of balancing my parts money against my time.

If I have a $50 cheaper part and a 2 hour job, that’s a wash and I’ll buy Volvo.

URO makes a great air dam cover , you only have to drill three extra holes in it to make it fit.

URO cooling group parts? Ugh.

callahanoffroad · Post by **callahanoffroad** » 08 Jul 2020, 05:55

abscate wrote: 08 Jul 2020, 05:09 I put a $25 an hour value on my Wrenching time to guide my process of balancing my parts money against my time.

If I have a $50 cheaper part and a 2 hour job, that’s a wash and I’ll buy Volvo.

URO makes a great air dam cover , you only have to drill three extra holes in it to make it fit.

URO cooling group parts? Ugh.

I think that's a pretty good way of looking at it. That's how I look at repairs as well, what is my time worth per hour vs the part dollars I'm saving. Of course working on your own car saves you $100/hour in labor from the get go so there's the extra parts $$$ haha

Post by **Eddystone** » 08 Jul 2020, 07:32

abscate wrote: 08 Jul 2020, 05:09 I put a $25 an hour value on my Wrenching time to guide my process of balancing my parts money against my time.

If I have a $50 cheaper part and a 2 hour job, that’s a wash and I’ll buy Volvo.

Not sure what the math is here. Are you saying that a "good" part won't have to be replaced a second time? Otherwise, what diff does your time make if the part fits?

The problem with no-name parts (or name with no reputation) on Amazon is that you have no info whatsoever. Usually, the reviews only tell you that the part fit the car, not if it lasted a month before going bad. However, Amazon does sell parts from companies like Moog and TRW that have a reputation to maintain. If I can get Bosch cheaper and get it next day from Amazon, I'm likely to go for it. If I have gotten counterfeit parts, I have never caught on to it.

I think there's enough of a track record for Uro pipes and hoses here to recommend against buying them. On the other hand, I just installed a Dayco lower radiator hose, and I'm not sure I know that it's any lower quality than the Volvo part. It's also what I could get the next day at the parts store. The Volvo dealers in my area are priced significantly higher than the volume Volvo dealers on the web. I still go to the dealer for certain parts, but local dealers are not stocking as many parts for cars built in 1998, and FCP is just as quick and cheaper if it has to be ordered because I am one "UPS day" from FCP if I hit the free shipping number.

Post by **abscate** » 08 Jul 2020, 11:26

I pretty much rely on reviews here and no where else. There are guys here with 100k on brand name parts and will tell you how many times they have failed.

The labor rate helps me fight the price anchor effect a cheap part has on you.

Volvo part 666 is $50
The Unknown brand $15
Say 4 hours to install.

Now I process

Do I want to spend $115 and four hours wth this part or $150 and get a Volvo part?

As an older guy my life isn’t as hectic as it used to be so waiting for the weekend for parts keeps me off Amazon

If you have ever had a problem with a part at FCP vs Amazon, that will keep you coming back to them, too.