Do you trust rebuilt parts?

i work at a shop in town that remans starters and alts. i am not a re-builder. so i dono much about the process. i know that my shop does a lot of them and have a low rate of failure. we have a 1 year warranty on are stuff. and back it. good luck with your lifetime if you don't keep your paperwork. I'm on the service side of are shop and have had more than one rebuilt in are shop test OK on the bench but not in the car. thats fun i tell ya. the thing about starters and alts is its a lot of parts that do one job. its hard to get some parts that are made in the US. but we put more new parts in them than the chain stores or parts stores do. theres few hambers here that use us. we do good work fair price. i run are stuff in my cars. and i need them to work just as much as you. go to your smaller reman shops. most are more than willing to make things right.

 

There's a small shop here in The Bronx called "Bronx Ingition" they rebuild everything in house and do it right. And will answer any question you have, even if the answer doesn't net them a profit.

Good honest shops like this are rare these days.

 

Well, I have been in the parts stores for nearly 30 years and yes, it's true, you get what you pay for, walking into a m*** marketer store is like going to Wallyworld, the mom and pop stores or independent jobber are the best bet as they DO CARE about your success! We often have folks come in with stories of less then perfect parts and I will tell them up front all parts new or rebuilt have some defect rate, the key is how much!?! In the old days one of the trade publications used to list the warranty numbers but as you can imagine that didn'nt last long! If we have a problem with our reman unit we will either question the manufactuer or discontinue the problem area. Period! And yes, on old cars concerning brake parts what is your life worth? New master cylinders are expensive in comparison to what? Get to know your local parts guys and tell them what your concerns are you will be suprised at the information you get in return.

Waterloo Auto Parts
Your local NAPA jobber
Serving the motoring public since 1988

 

I have a good shop I use for electrics in Babylon NY, Montrose Automotive Rebuilders, great service all the time and I've never had an item of theirs fail on me. For carbs, I use Allstate Carburetor in Central Islip, nothing beats having MY core rebuilt.

If you look around in the yellow pages, you probably have a place close by that does wholesale as well as "carry in" service. Who really knows what you're buying from the chain stores? The only one I like is Napa where people behind the desk know their onions, at least the one by me does.

Bob

 

i agree with many on here about supporting local rebuilders in your area. usually these are small father and son businesses that have been around for years and there is a good reason for that, because they care and rely on you're business and want you coming back and most importantly, they want referals. buying anything rebuilt is a ****shoot.

 

In Houston I used to use RPW(Rebuilt Parts Warehouse) on Polk on the east side across the street the Maxwell House Coffee Plant, which was the early teens Ford ***embly plant for the Model T and was closed before the Model A was introduced.
RPW supplied many independent auto parts stores and was the source to get pieces rebuilt that were no longer available elsewhere. You bring in your water pump, alternator etc and pick it up the next day. We would occ***ionally get chrome-plated pumps, starters, etc. at the parts store as cores then buy the cores for $3 each, take them to RPW and have them rebuilt.

 

The brand name CARDONE was the major big rebuilder/remanufacturer in the US nationally.