Just came from auto zone with a new opti which is complete by the way ready to install, the opti itself looks cheap, but for 130 and a lifetime warranty i guess you can't beat that. I also got a heater core which looked hella shabby, but has a lifetime warranty. I think that my heater core bypass was killing the water pump. I ran thru 2 used waterpumps in a week, so I got the csi, almost easy install only cause I don't own a dremel.

 

I bought a heater core from autozone, and three months later, itis once bad again. I have yet to replace it, I thought it was only warranted for 90 days? I hope your right, cause I don't feel like spending another 100 bucks on another. So thats my thought on quality of theirs, of course changing one isn't bad, but 3 months is a little short.

 

i bought 2 altenators from them and both went bad within 2 weeks. no more auto zone for me

 

ive had good luck at my autozone.

 

unfortunately almost every part I ever bought from autozone crapped out. Waterpump after 8 months. Alternator after 10 months, blower motor after 4 months. All covered under warantee, but wtf, I have better things to spend my time on rather than repeat my work. If I have to replace anything else, I would rather spend a little more money for a better quality part.

 

Considering how much I hate "maintainence" v. upgrading and how hard it is to work on a 4th gen, I always use OEM parts (thank you, Dal) unless upgrading to an aftermarket piece.

Rich Krause

 

Wait a minute, you built a blower motor from autozone? Please tell me your kidding

 

Autozone usually has at least 2, and sometimes 3 options on the parts they sell. There are the low end rebuilt parts, which I wouldn't buy, and a new part with a lifetime warranty. And sometimes there is a middle grade part in the middle of the two. The counter person should inform the customer of the options available. When I worked there, Autozone had genuine AC Delco replacement parts. Most wouldn't buy them because of the price. Believe it or not, the AC Delco parts would fail too. The key is buying the best you can afford, no matter where you buy. Keep in mind that most of the parts, no matter where you buy them, are most likely coming from the same parts manufacturers and rebuilders, only under a different name. This refers to oem type parts only, and not aftermarket specialty/performance parts.

 

Why would you spend $130 on a non oem rebuilt opti when you could spend about $200 for an AC Delco and not have to do it twice? Warranty or not, doing the opti sucks...

 

yeah, havent you seen Tommy Boy!LOL

 

Lol, my 92 Chevy 1/2 ton eats both the front half-shafts once a year. I got some from AZ about 5 years agao, and they just keep giving me new ones, lol. I tried some Delco ones about three years ago, and they lasted just as long as the AZ ones (1 year). I dunno, if you have the free time, the lifetime warranty is hard to beat.

 

New members

Cmon ya gotta be kidding, a blower motor for the heat, DUH

 

When I worked at advance auto we covered a lot of the same sort of situations... Lifetime warranties on a lot of parts... and sadly people brought in "Autozone" cores and many were not nearly the same quality s the parts we had. Luckily we had very few complaints on bad parts...

Do a search on the web for oil filter comparison. It's amazing how many brands are made from just three or four original manufacturers. Same with Motor oil... And same with almost everything else.

From looking at the "Lifetime warranty premium parts" that Advance has and comparing them to some of the AC Delco we had in stock (which never had the same warranty and were usually a bit more expensive) they were usually the same quality, and many times the same castings!

Electrical wise, when it came to electrical, GP Sorenson isnt too bad, but down to something as Fugly as the Opti - Id go OEM or nothing... I've yet to see an aftermarket that is at all decent - but I hear the dynaspark is worthwhile...

But in general, Aftermarket is never as nice as OEM. Try to compare axle seals and (espicially mitsubishi) OEMs blow away the aftermarket pieces of trash.

I'd return the opti and by AC Delco unless your car is eating them every 500 miles... because that might be another problem all together...

 

I used the AZ opti w/ LLT warranty. Caprice ran like crap, then replaced the opti w/ AZ unit and now runs great!. I also have used two AZ rebuilt waterpumps on two different cars. 1st has 3+ years on it and works great. 2nd has only been on for couple months and still works fine. Although they both did require some cleaning of the threads and flanges from the rebuild process.

no problems here.

 

To quote Tommy Boy if you want me to crap in a box and stamp it with a liffetime warranty i will trust me i've got time ! I've had nothing but problems with parts from Auto Zone. Spend a little more and get oem you will spend a little more but it is better to do once than multiple times.