Cheap, Cheap, Cheap

[Need4speed]

Okay so I've been reading a lot of threads and I see when people ask about parts the first thing that comes out of peoples mouths is "Don't Go Cheap, Cheapies will cause harm to you and others!" Now my question is what do you consider cheap and why?

[sulimed]

no name non brand name parts, or parts with catch phrase words in the name that most time having nothing to do the job the part performs. (turbo, super charger, power, JDM)

[wherm]

One thing I keep in mind when I buy parts is where they are made. Many other countries don't have the same quality standards we have here, or in Germany, or in Japan, or whatever. When you hear about "cheap Chinese steel" and stuff like that you need to know that there IS a difference. It's all about how the steel is made, the grain structure, mild, high strength, ultra high strength, alloy, tinsile strenth, yeild points, all of those things are important when manufacturing steel. Inferior steel parts won't posess all of the qualities a part needs to last, and be considered safe and roadworthy.

[deevergote]

When you go on reputable performance sites and find parts that are worth $500, then you go on ebay or little no-name sites and see similar parts for $50... yeah, that's cheap.

No-name knockoff crap will almost ALWAYS do one or more of the following:
1) fit poorly
2) break quickly
3) give little to no perforamce gains (sometimes actually cost power!)
4) cause damage to your car
and the most important of all:
5) be dangerous (this goes for suspension, brakes, and tires especially, and those are the things that people tend to cheap out on the most!)

Furthermore, by supporting the knockoff companies, you'll be showing the makers of the quality parts that you aren't interested in what they have to offer. One person may not matter, but hundreds? That sends a message. Those companies will soon stop making quality parts, and nobody will develop any new ones. Once that happens, the only things we'll have for our cars are those cheap parts (which will eventually go away too, with no new products to copy), or beat to shit used parts!

[h22sparkle]

When you go on reputable performance sites and find parts that are worth $500, then you go on ebay or little no-name sites and see similar parts for $50... yeah, that's cheap.

No-name knockoff crap will almost ALWAYS do one or more of the following:
1) fit poorly
2) break quickly
3) give little to no perforamce gains (sometimes actually cost power!)
4) cause damage to your car
and the most important of all:
5) be dangerous (this goes for suspension, brakes, and tires especially, and those are the things that people tend to cheap out on the most!)

Furthermore, by supporting the knockoff companies, you'll be showing the makers of the quality parts that you aren't interested in what they have to offer. One person may not matter, but hundreds? That sends a message. Those companies will soon stop making quality parts, and nobody will develop any new ones. Once that happens, the only things we'll have for our cars are those cheap parts (which will eventually go away too, with no new products to copy), or beat to shit used parts!

Yeah it makes alot of sense. I say not only dont go cheap but you also must remember quality over quantity. You keep buying things that break overtime you will have spent more than or equal too that very same product you sought to purchase before. Patience is a virtue I say if you dont have enough to buy that product save up the money until you do.

[deevergote]

Exactly.
I can compile a list of cheap-o "performance" engine parts that will have a total cost rivaling that of a Bisimoto header, and all those parts combined will offer less of a gain!

[vietkid_2006]

Cheap isn't necessarily cheap when it breaks and causes more problems than you would have to fix it totaling more than what it would cost to buy the more expensive item.

[Need4speed]

well put fellas,i know for myself i don't like cheap stuff, if i do a job once i don't want to do it again unless i'm upgrade to a newer better stuff.

[drummerwill]

Being cheap to me is buying something that seems too good to be true for the price. Also another way I think of it is this: if you buy something to put on your car, would you put that same thing on your girlfriend/wife/son/daughter's car and feel alright with them driving it hard? If there is a bit of doubt about that part then dont buy it.

Also when in doubt about whether a "good deal" is really cheap crap you can always ask on the forums here and I'm positive that you will get more than enough help from everyone. I mean that's half the reason forums exist. Lastly a good person to go to is your trusted car mechanic, a good trusted mechanic will tell it to you straight and not let you get yourself into a can of worms.

That being said you dont always have to spend an arm and a leg on your parts. Look around and you'll get a feel for what is good and what to avoid. Often times you can find excellent deals from small brands that are just starting out, they'll tend to keep prices low and craftsmanship quality high to get people to buy them and spread the word around. Just do some research before you go buy something to be sure you are getting what you really should be getting.

[Losiracer2]

I consider a part "cheap" basically by looking at the craftsmanship and how often it needs to be replaced. A part can still be cheap in cost and perform effectively well....this is a plus and what you should search for. But most of the time, when a part is cheap in cost, it means cost-cutting measures are taken somewhere.

You just need to learn either by doing your own research or asking other members on here, whether or not a part is accepted as being high quality or substandard quality.

Generally, when you see a trend of bad reviews, you should ask questions and do some background research to find out why exactly that part is so poorly rated.

Other than that, you can always rely on OEM Honda parts to be the exact fit part for the application...but there are always other options....hence why the aftermarket is so big.

[Fleetw00d]

Case in point. Ordered heavy duty Y pipe from AutoZone (Bosal) for 93 EX coupe, $220. Pipes were smaller, flex section half the length, whole thing half the weight of the original - just looked cheap next to the original. Returned it and bought OEM from Majestic ($377 - yeah, ouch). I figure the original lasted 18 years, so should the replacement and I plan to keep it that long.

Same thing with the converter. I had to cut the studs on the original to separate it from the Y pipe, so I ordered a Davico (on the recommendation of a trusted mechanic) from some discount converter online store ($100 including shipping). Got that and it looked like a coffee can with two pipes on the end - I returned it. Inside of the old converter looked great, so I drilled out the old studs and got new ones from Majestic. In a moment of weakness I even installed new OEM heat shields on the cat (old ones were long gone). Installed OEM B pipe and muffler (lifetime warranty from Honda) a month ago.

[deevergote]

Bosal is supposed to be good stuff, too!

The OEM stuff is definitely worth it in most cases. People assume that OEM is crap, and needs to be "upgraded"... but very often an upgrade is worse in terms of reliability and fitment, and often not as great in terms of performance.

[tru2037]

^ I agree especially when it comes to Honda - OEM is the way for replacement and sometimes is cheaper (price) than the autozone/advanced one.


Cheap will always give you problems....


This is that cheap ass china steel that broke upon install, the guy told me he's never seen this problem so he replaced it and it broke again. It looks like they made the bolts out of pot metal. I don't normally cheap out but these to me looked pretty basic - some steel brackets with some bolts, guess I'm glad they broke now so all I lost was shipping costs to return them.

sulimed- agreed, watch out for that shit. Ebay listings will throw JDM and other bs to fool you in the listing, if you look sometimes they will have the same product with a jacked up price to make you think its a high-end part. What I don't understand is how these guys have great feedback who the hell would give positive fb on a electric supercharger???

[drummerwill]

Junkyards are cheap, but full of many good parts!

Grab your toolbox and take a walk around the fields of mangled metal and plastic. Like what's been said before, OE parts arent bad parts, and junkyards are full of OE parts just waiting to be used again.

A junkyard around here charges around $200 for any longblock you pull yourself, no matter the car or motor, they dont care what it is. Now you'd have to rebuild it yourself but that's an excellent deal in my mind.

As far as other parts go you can find pretty much anything you need, want, or something you really arent sure as to why anyone would've stuck on their car. like a sofa replacing the bench seat in an old chevy truck, not bolted down or anything, just sitting in there. (maybe that's why there was a hole through the windshield in front of the broken steering wheel? )