Is it only me? New parts that are defective right out of the box.

[ponyup]

Tipped over the edge. The brand new tire and rim package for my 65 arrived today, paid for mounted and balanced guess what not balanced. was told that they were mounted and balanced when they left shipping.
Last week installed a brand new fuel pump "name brand" guess what , didn't work . told bad batch.
Month a ago installed the brand new a/c condenser, guess what it had a leak, return it we will ship another.
Three months ago installed a brand new power break booster, guess what it was defective told that they have been having problems with them. Take pictures send it back for replacement "still waiting"

It's like a bad relationship, keep coming back for more =LOL

 

[cv_72mustang]

Nope, please don't get me started! It's not only car parts, but household appliances, AC units ... etc...etc Hard working folks are getting tired of this!

BTW: that's why you always hear the folks on this site rebuilding things like alternators and steering boxes or whatever else they can trying avoid buying junk.

 

[Steve McMahan]

You should stay away from Vegas

 

[Hemikiller]

I'll admit that in the last two years I've had to return more defective or misboxed items than ever before. I'll chalk some of it up to the law of averages, in that I have bought an awful lot of stuff lately.

MSD distributor gear - 302 part boxed as 351C
Oil pressure sender - failed after five minutes - that was a moment
Axle u-bolts - wrong size in the box, and the replacements were wrong as well

Three years ago when I bought new wheels and tires, it took 9 rims to get 4 that were actually round. Fedex kept beating them to hell, and Summit's packaging was crap.

Saturday a buddy when to replace his alternator - DOA out of the box and bearings were noisy. Went back to exchange, store was closed two hours before their posted time on the door. Went back Sunday, the only unit they had in stock was locked up and didn't spin. Had them order two. One was also locked up, the other spins and charges, but you can hear a slight bearing noise. Worst part is his dad used to own an auto electric shop, and he rebuilt hundreds of alternators in his teens.

 

[droptop73]

It's an issue with getting workers who care about what they do. There are too many "bare minimum" employees out there.

 

[c9zx]

I've had a string of "new" parts being bad out of the box. There has always been some of that in the past but, the frequency of it happening has greatly increased over the last 10-15 years. When there is no penalty for poor performance/behavior you will certainly get more of the same. Evidence of that is all around us. Chuck

 

[piper62j]

You are all correct. I've been in the auto repair industry for well over 50 years and have seen the changes you are experiencing lately. Replacement parts from well-known manufacturers are mostly made overseas and mainly China.. They do not have the quality control in place from years ago when parts were made here in the U.S. I've even had some Moog parts that fell apart after a short time. I recently purchased a Motorcraft ignition module and found it to be a Standard Motor Products part, not original Motorcraft, made in China.

We as a country should be bringing domestic manufacturing back so that not time is wasted in waiting for replacement parts and the cost (to someone) of shipping them. I would rebuild an alternator, starter or carburetor back in the day.. today, you can't do that because repair parts are very scarce.

Final word!! Keep sending the junk back until you get a replacement part you are happy with. OEM was and always will be the best you can buy.

 

[1973grandeklar]

Tipped over the edge. The brand new tire and rim package for my 65 arrived today, paid for mounted and balanced guess what not balanced. was told that they were mounted and balanced when they left shipping.
Last week installed a brand new fuel pump "name brand" guess what , didn't work . told bad batch.
Month a ago installed the brand new a/c condenser, guess what it had a leak, return it we will ship another.
Three months ago installed a brand new power break booster, guess what it was defective told that they have been having problems with them. Take pictures send it back for replacement "still waiting"

It's like a bad relationship, keep coming back for more =LOL

It is not only you. It seems we are all experiencing the "new" normal. I am over 50 and never thought we would see the junk designs, lack of intelligence, or plain carelessness that I am seeing in manufacturing. I work for a medical device manufacturer and am starting to see signs of this happening in this field as well. We are screwed for sure.

 

[Stanglover]

Commented on before, but to add to the pile, I had a brand new, never been out of the box Pertronix Ignitor II module that sat on a shelf for 3 years before I had some ignition issues. That's when I found out it was DOA. When I tried to get it replaced under "warranty", I found out it was 2 months past, so I was out 185 bucks (Cdn). Nice Eh!
Then there was the time I had the car stripped and painted. The windshield was badly sand blasted, so I decided to replace it. Not caring about concours or OEM, I had the shop order a new one. Well, it took 6 fastback windshields plus one that was for a coup before they got one that fit. The curvature was wrong on all of them. Guess where they were made folks!

 

[Retired2014]

Tipped over the edge. The brand new tire and rim package for my 65 arrived today, paid for mounted and balanced guess what not balanced. was told that they were mounted and balanced when they left shipping.
Last week installed a brand new fuel pump "name brand" guess what , didn't work . told bad batch.
Month a ago installed the brand new a/c condenser, guess what it had a leak, return it we will ship another.
Three months ago installed a brand new power break booster, guess what it was defective told that they have been having problems with them. Take pictures send it back for replacement "still waiting"

It's like a bad relationship, keep coming back for more =LOL

I ventured down the wheel/tire balance rabbit hole and after several unsuccessful balance cycles I learned that the reproduction Magnum 500 wheels are “lug-centric” not “hub-centric” and when balanced using the correct 5 stud balance device on the computer balancing machine (instead of the conical center hub) it solved my problem! In my youth I watched the Ford mechanics spin balance the wheel/tire on the car using a friction wheel from an electric motor pressed against the tire. A gizmo was attached in the wheel center that was hand-tuned to smooth out the vibration. That gizmo deciphered what weights were needed and where. Seemed archaic by today’s standards, but it performed lug-centric balance to that wheel assembly on the car perfectly! They knew how to compensate for out-of-round wheels in that fashion. They also used a sharp tool to ‘shave’ rubber tread off out-of-round tires too.

 

[Kilgon]

The last one I got whines and makes the oddest of sounds and only works sometimes. I tried to return but they wouldn't take back - oh, sorry - I thought we were talking about wives!

 

[Stanglover]

The last one I got whines and makes the oddest of sounds and only works sometimes. I tried to return but they wouldn't take back - oh, sorry - I thought we were talking about wives!

I wish someone would have taken my first wife off my hands. Second one's not so bad, I'll keep her!

 

[midlife]

That's why I like 50+ year old wiring, despite butchering from prior owners. I know if it lasted this long, i can make it last even longer!

 

[will e]

Had a name brand vacuum gauge read 8 inches off out of the box. The problem is I had it on the shelf for a couple of years before I installed it.

Part of the problem is a large number of people, I would say most, shop on price. So businesses try to provide the lowest price products. The hidden costs of using bad parts is not always understood.

 

[dawson357]

Have run into that a few times myself. The bad thing is, when starting a rebuild, you gather parts you'll need along the way and put them on the shelf for months or maybe a year or so. Then, when it comes time to install, your $200 part is a failure. Too late, past the return date.

 

[SteveO_71]

I sometimes wonder if "bad parts or wrong parts" in the box are something thats been returned before. i.e. someone needs a part to replace one they have, they order one and its correct, they put their bad not wanted part in the box and return it. I doubt that returns get checked and probably just get put back on the shelf waiting for the next person.
Can electrical items like gauges or Pertronix even be returned? Maybe returns are all tossed out?

 

[Kilgon]

Several things I have gotten into the habit of is if I purchase a part in person, I try to have the old part with me to make sure that the new part matches and even if I don't have the old part I inspect the new part before I pay for it. I also go over and open anything I order over the internet as soon as I get it/them. I got burnt on a set of deluxe TMI door panels that came in an interior kit from CJP. They were actually an off brand, and I didn't catch it until 2 years after I got them when I got around to installing them. Didn't even get a reply from CJ when trying to get the correct ones.

Also as mentioned by others, you get what you pay for most of the time. Although I try to save money like everyone else, I take two things into consideration - how important is the part and how hard is it to replace. For example, I'll use an off-brand over a name brand for my parking lightbulbs (easy to replace), but I will only use top name brand for my instrument lightbulbs (pia to replace).

 

[Steve McMahan]

While not always the easiest way to do things, I only buy stuff when I’m ready to use them, at least stuff I worry could be a problem (see stuff cited already). I did purchase an exhaust kit to make my own exhaust system: I took my chance on that and so far, the only thing defective is my welding skills.

 

[351c1971]

I had a litany of problems with clutch pressure plates in both my 71 and 01 Mustangs. I now only use Centerforce products. The ball bearings in the pressure plate also provide for a very linear clutch release.

 

[boxgranch]

One of the most frightening things about all of this is the mark up on car parts. It sometimes exceeds 400% from the cost of the shop to list which is what some shops charge.