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Dealer vs. NAPA prices-heater cores

cnugent

NAXJA Forum User
Hey guys,

I priced out a heater core at the dealer, then at NAPA. Dealer wants $424.00 for one. NAPA wants $70.00. Can anyone tell me why the huge price difference? I don't mind paying extra for quality, but this seems exorbitant. Is there that much difference between the two?

Thanks!

Chris
 
I run a Ford store and I can tell you our Factory heater-cores are as shitty as the Aftermarkets. You won't here me say that about any other parts. I think they are all made in China. If you can, find a Brass core, and they are out there if you look hard enough.
 
The main difference is the dealer's kids are going to Princeton while the NAPA franchise owner is sending his kids to community college.

Seriously, the Service and Parts departments are profit centers for a dealership, as are used cars. New car sales is break even in the best of times--and these aren't the best of times. Dealers are reluctant to raise labor rates as those are very visible to the customers, but raping people over parts is a quick way to keep cash flow coming in.
 
It has been a well known isue with all Stealerships that, if you were to go in and buy all of the parts needed to build any vehicle it would cost anywhere from 100 to 1000 (depending on make...) the cost of a fully assembled vehicle. Hence the name Stealership...

In the 70's/80's, the Japanese were actually the worst on this. Any part lubricated by oil must have been made out of "rip-u-offium" as the prices were beyond the pale. I had a friend that went to Honda to get a torsion spring for his 450cc bike and was told it was a $250 part. So, he scrapped the bike as it ws not worth that much to begin with.
 
Sorry, I don't believe in the "stealership" party line that everyone toes. I used to work in one and I understand the processes that take place in order to produce a quality part for a vehicle. Those processes are long and intricate, and they cost money. That cost is passed on to us, the consumer. I'm ok with that, as long as I understand why those costs are there. It does raise my eyebrow, though, when an OEM part is six times more expensive than an aftermarket part, especially one as simple as a heater core.

My question was intended to address the technical aspects of the part itself, and whether anyone had experience with using an OEM part as opposed to a NAPA or other aftermarket part, in this instance a heater core.

--Chris
 
I'm a mechanical engineer working in the auto industry, the OEM's get thier parts from third parties, and yes, the OEM is getting a HUGE markup to stamp the bowtie, blue oval, pentastar, etc. onto the same part you buy at the retail aftermarket outlets.
 
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