OEM parts vs. Aftermarket parts
Published Thursday, 27 January, 2011 by Gabriel Montano. Categories: Parts, New Inventory, News.
If anyone out there is like me, you like to do some of the simple maintenance on your car yourself. Oil changes, wiper blade changes, belt replacements, etc? You probably take great care of your vehicle which is something to be proud of. I personally would like to see my car turn 250,000 miles before I have/want to purchase a new one. So when I am doing work to my vehicle I make sure that I am using the correct parts and doing the job correctly.
One of the main ways I ensure the quality of my work is to use quality parts. I have purchased oil filters from a variety of different auto parts stores, and I have found that not one of them has ever left me without a few drips of oil on the garage floor every night.
I thought that maybe I was doing something wrong (not me, I know everything, haha) so I took it to my Englewood Toyota Dealer, Groove Toyota, to have it inspected. Only 10 minutes had gone by when then Service Consultant came to me with a question; "do you do your own oil changes?" Obviously I answered "yes". He then took me back to the shop where my car was being worked on and showed me that the o-ring on the oil filter was not seated properly. They proceeded to complete the oil change and replaced the faulty filter with a Toyota OEM filter. For the next 3000 miles I didn't have a single drip of oil in my garage.
Time comes for the next oil change; I figured that when I put on the oil filter last time I must not have had the o-ring seated properly like I was told at my Toyota Dealer in Englewood, Groove Toyota. So I go through the normal routine of stopping at the local auto parts store and picked up the same brand oil filter I had used in the past. I took extra precaution to ensure the o-ring was in the track on the filter prior to installing it. Cool, I can do my own oil changes again, right? Nope, the next morning I go to the garage and again, there is that horrid sight of oil drips on the floor. How could I possibly have done it wrong, again!
I took my car back to Groove Toyota and explained that when they did my oil change I had no drips at all, but I had just done an oil change the night prior and I already had drips. The Service Consultant took me and my vehicle back to the shop and had a technician put my car up on his rack. Once again, the leak was coming from a bad seal on the o-ring. I asked them how that could be possible when I made sure that it was seated properly. The answer I got shocked me, but in a good way. It had nothing to do with my quality of work; it was a problem with the filter itself! They explained that aftermarket filters are made to the specs of each manufacturer, but they do not always get measurements exact. Being that I had just done an oil change the night before, the Service Consultant offered to replace the filter with a Toyota OEM oil filter at no charge to me. I wasn't totally convinced that it was something as simple as an aftermarket filter vs. an OEM filter; until the next day, week, and month went by without a single drop of oil in my garage.
Sold! Since then, I have continued to do all of my own oil changes, but I always stop by my Englewood Toyota parts department at Groove Toyota and purchase a Toyota OEM oil filter. And, since then, I have not had one drop of oil on my garage floor.
If there is anything that I can pass along from this very frustrating experience; it is that you should always try to use OEM parts when making any kind of repair to your vehicle. The production quality of the parts is of a much higher caliber than those who produce aftermarket parts in mass quantity.
One of the main ways I ensure the quality of my work is to use quality parts. I have purchased oil filters from a variety of different auto parts stores, and I have found that not one of them has ever left me without a few drips of oil on the garage floor every night.
I thought that maybe I was doing something wrong (not me, I know everything, haha) so I took it to my Englewood Toyota Dealer, Groove Toyota, to have it inspected. Only 10 minutes had gone by when then Service Consultant came to me with a question; "do you do your own oil changes?" Obviously I answered "yes". He then took me back to the shop where my car was being worked on and showed me that the o-ring on the oil filter was not seated properly. They proceeded to complete the oil change and replaced the faulty filter with a Toyota OEM filter. For the next 3000 miles I didn't have a single drip of oil in my garage.
Time comes for the next oil change; I figured that when I put on the oil filter last time I must not have had the o-ring seated properly like I was told at my Toyota Dealer in Englewood, Groove Toyota. So I go through the normal routine of stopping at the local auto parts store and picked up the same brand oil filter I had used in the past. I took extra precaution to ensure the o-ring was in the track on the filter prior to installing it. Cool, I can do my own oil changes again, right? Nope, the next morning I go to the garage and again, there is that horrid sight of oil drips on the floor. How could I possibly have done it wrong, again!
I took my car back to Groove Toyota and explained that when they did my oil change I had no drips at all, but I had just done an oil change the night prior and I already had drips. The Service Consultant took me and my vehicle back to the shop and had a technician put my car up on his rack. Once again, the leak was coming from a bad seal on the o-ring. I asked them how that could be possible when I made sure that it was seated properly. The answer I got shocked me, but in a good way. It had nothing to do with my quality of work; it was a problem with the filter itself! They explained that aftermarket filters are made to the specs of each manufacturer, but they do not always get measurements exact. Being that I had just done an oil change the night before, the Service Consultant offered to replace the filter with a Toyota OEM oil filter at no charge to me. I wasn't totally convinced that it was something as simple as an aftermarket filter vs. an OEM filter; until the next day, week, and month went by without a single drop of oil in my garage.
Sold! Since then, I have continued to do all of my own oil changes, but I always stop by my Englewood Toyota parts department at Groove Toyota and purchase a Toyota OEM oil filter. And, since then, I have not had one drop of oil on my garage floor.
If there is anything that I can pass along from this very frustrating experience; it is that you should always try to use OEM parts when making any kind of repair to your vehicle. The production quality of the parts is of a much higher caliber than those who produce aftermarket parts in mass quantity.
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