Choosing between aftermarket cheap auto parts and OEM auto parts creates more questions than it can answer. When repairing a car, describing an auto part that is being replaced, expensive is an understatement.
Aftermarket auto parts are actually cheap auto parts that are not made by the OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer. They are made by some other company but just not by the ones who made the auto parts originally for your vehicle.
Aftermarket or cheap auto parts are often quite less expensive than their OEM counterparts. It is a conventional thinking that these aftermarket parts might be of lesser quality when compared with the originals.
This might not be the case always. The quality of aftermarket parts has improved over the last couple of years. However, bear this in mind that they have their set of pros and cons.
Advantages of cheap auto parts:
Being aftermarket, the prices of cheap auto parts are always less than their OEM counterparts. Sometimes way too cheaper.
Unlike an OEM auto part, that gives you only one choice, aftermarket cheap auto parts have hordes of choices for you to select from. Bigger selection sometimes brings more convenience. You are more likely to find the aftermarket version of the auto part at your nearest auto garage as compared to the OEM version, which might be available in the dealership’s shop, at a higher rate.
Some of the things that you should keep in mind before buying cheap auto parts:
Quality is always an issue with cheap auto parts. If the aftermarket auto parts have a top-notch quality (almost as good as or better than the OEM auto part) then they cannot be termed as cheap auto parts. Thus, here comes the part of consistency. Higher selection of cheap auto parts often leads to lower quality standards. Lower quality is related to finishing problems that affect the shelf life of the auto part and causes trouble more than their worth. Hence, be safe and pick a popular brand name that offers cheap auto parts of good quality.
You don’t have to worry about the warranty of OEM auto parts, as the come with some level of warranty protection, which usually lasts a year. Cheap auto parts don’t have little or no warranty. This is because of the low-quality standards of cheap auto parts.
To conclude, you will have to do your own little research, weight pros, and cons from your side before going for low quality cheap auto parts. It all depends on which auto part you are replacing, and will the quality of that auto part compromise the safety standard of the car?