OEM or Aftermarket Auto Parts?

There has been and probably always will be much debate over which auto parts you should buy. There are a lot of options out there for most applications, so how do you know what to look for and what price you should expect to pay?

OEM auto parts are the Original Equipment Manufacturer parts. They are manufactured by the same company that produced the parts for the automakers. These parts are usually the most expensive, but are exactly what came from the factory to begin with.

This can be either a good or bad thing. I will give you some examples. I have recently become aquainted with the 2000 Nissan Maxima. It is an excellent car, but I have discovered that it has ignition coils that are prone to failure. Many forums suggest replacing all six coils with the OEM coils to solve your proble. This might solve the problem in the short term (which may appease may of our readers) but essentially you are putting the exact faulty coil back in there and waiting on it to fail again.

In these types of situations, aftermarket auto parts have an opportunity to improve on the existing OEM product. Aftermarket companies can (and have in a lot of cases) create a product to solve the problem created by the original manufacturer. Such is the case for some of the Mitsubishi ECU's from the mid 1990's, especially the 3000gt and VR4's. These were known to have faulty electrolitic capacitors that cause premature failure, and some aftermarket companies manufactured products to correct the issue.

Aftermarket auto parts are often significantly cheaper than genuine parts, and they can be superior in quality as in the previous example. Many of the auto accessories
available for cars today are made by aftermarket auto parts manufacturers.

Car makers use outside independent companies to help them design their parts. But after a certain time frame the actual manufacturers of these parts are allowed to sell them to other wholesale distributors for resale. This time they come with the manufacturer's logo and not that of the car maker. So essentially, the identical part is now referred to as an OEM part.

Although aftermarket car parts are not made by the original manufacturer, they are manufactured to perform as well as the original. Aftermarket car parts are produced with the same machinery and materials as OEM and genuine parts. The companies who manufacture these aftermarket auto parts are credible. They legitimately buy the rights to manufacture those parts.

You can order aftermarket and OEM car parts online today. It's easy. It's a great way to save money. Furthermore, you can have peace of mind, knowing that you're not compromising quality in most products. You can visit our full line of aftermarket auto parts and accessories at Majestic Modifications Online Store.