Ford vs Aftermarket
 

Check out today's homepage article about Ford vs aftermarket. What do you think? Does Ford have a point?

Each of the times that my cars have been to the body shop (thanks to my bride), only FORD OE parts are used as specified by my insurance company and myself whether they come from the factory or are pulled from a salvage is irrelevant.

As for mechanical replacement parts, I rarely use OE parts as they are extremely high priced and only carry the basic 12/12K warranty. The warranty is where the aftermarket industry kicks the OE guys square in the teeth.

I've also found over the years that if you bought a used non Ford from a Ford dealer and it needed repairs, the parts very likely came from Carquest or NAPA as they are less expensive, similar quality and more readily available.

Just my nickel's worth.

OEM is the only way to go for outside body panel parts. The aftermarket parts just don't line up correctly and are not of the same gauge thickness as OEM.

Would I want OEM or aftermarket parts? It depends. For safety components (i.e. the airbag video), I would only want OEM. As far as everything else goes, I think it all depends on the part in question and how much the vehicle is worth. I wouldn't pay twice as much for an OEM body panel on a x< $5k truck. If I had a $15k+ truck, I wouldn't want a $h1tty aftermarket panel that didn't line up properly. My take on mechanical components is the same.

My commuter vehicle is a Saturn (yeah...lol). I laugh at people on the Saturn board that say "only buy OEM parts." Seriously...you're talking about spending more than twice as much money (in most cases) for a OEM part...for a vehicle that is essentially disposable (mine is a 2002 and I only paid $2,200 for it). Now for my wife's Acura TL...yeah...I would do OEM. I'm not going to throw Autozone parts at that.

If you have experience with aftermarket body panels I don't think you would want them on a $1,500 truck. The metal is paper then, dents by looking at it. A used OEM panel is worlds better than a new aftermarket panel, IMO>

If I had a $1,500 truck...I wouldn't be wasting my money by replacing a body panel. :) That's why I would have a $1,500 truck...so I wouldn't have to concern myself with things like aesthetics.

To each his own. I know a lot of older F150's (pre 1980) that are worth $2,000 and at that I would not put on China made parts if at all possible.

i agree it really depends. often the price difference makes it a no brainer. also depends if your paying out of pocket or insurance is paying. if its worth a decent amount of money still then yeah a OE part is the way to go.

i know i used a aftermarket tailgate on my f-250 when i repainted it. have not noticed any difference in durability over stock. although it is much lighter it has held up to 4 years of work with no damage.

Think of it this way-

FORD is a world-wide manufacturer and also has assembly plants/foundry's in CHI-COM land.

So, is it cheaper to produce here or put on a container?

It is a crap-shoot as to the quality of any parts supplier nowadays. And there may be difference(s) in product quality between BLUE BOX and RED BOX.