Amazon Auto Parts Scam You Need to Know About

The old saw of “You Get What You Paid For” is nowhere more true than when it comes to auto parts with name brands on them that eventually prove to be inferior quality parts. Here’s the latest on why you should avoid any significantly less expensive auto parts regardless of the name brand claim---even if the seller swears it came from a name brand parts manufacturer.

Why Some Auto Parts are Bad

In a previous article we’ve learned about why OEM parts are preferable to aftermarket parts when it comes to car repairs and upgrades.

Related article: Aftermarket Auto Parts Warning Says This Mechanic

While part of the problem is due to counterfeit look-alike auto parts that are sold as the real thing, sometimes the real thing is not so good and is the reason why some car owners wind up with a bad repair because of the part replacement choice a mechanic made.

The Practice of “Binning”

How you can wind up with a bad part aside from overseas counterfeiting has to do with quality control (QC) practices used by manufacturers.

Parts that fail a QC test are discarded (binned) and typically not passed onto the parts supplier contracted. However, those “binned” parts do not always go the way of the landfill or even recycling as we would like to believe. As it turns out, a mechanic with a lot of experience in parts ordering points out the likelihood that those rejected parts are sometimes rebranded and sold to another supplier of auto parts.

Here's an example and discussion of the problem by a popular mechanic on the 100PercentJake YouTube channel who attempted to track down where his failing part came from and how this happened to him.

Please note the pertinent info is viewed from timepoint 0:00 to 9:40 on the video.

Don't get SCAMMED on AMAZON!

And finally…

The message here is that while you MIGHT get some perfectly good auto parts through Amazon at prices significantly less than from a dealership or other local storefront source, it is only a matter of when---not if---in which you will eventually get burned by a bad part and even wind up with additional repairs that go well above the cost of going with the OEM to begin with.

However, even bad OEM parts can slip through QC and in your garage. The saving grace here, however, is that legitimate parts suppliers typically guarantee their parts and offer protection for their customers when repairs go bad due to a faulty part they sold.

For additional articles related to buying parts for your car repairs, here are three for your consideration:

• Everything You Need to Know About Saving Money Buying Toyota and Lexus Parts

• Toyota Maintenance Non-OEM Parts Warning

• The One Toyota Part You Do Not Want Replaced Because There is an Easy Fix

COMING UP NEXT: Should you Buy a Toyota Camry Hybrid Advice from a Toyota Mechanic

Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

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