Cheap Parts Cost More

Like any automotive repair shop, we have a lot of cars come in with a check engine light on. Sometimes out diagnosis will lead to a malfunctioning PCV valve, which is easily repaired. However, occasionally when we phone the customer with a repair estimate, they inform us that they just had the PCV valve replaced at a tire shop or an oil change place. Nine times out of ten, what has happened in this situation is that the customer took their car to a quickie oil change place, and the service writer upsold them on a new PCV valve by telling them that there was something wrong with their old one, even though their check engine light is not on. Then they remove the perfectly good factory PCV valve and install some Chinese piece of garbage in its place. Well, low and behold, the cheap valve breaks down and the customer needs another one.


This method works ok for Joe Quickie, who runs the oil change place, because no one really expects quality work from a garage like that (which makes me wonder why people let them touch their cars at all, but they do). People won't usually go back to demand satisfaction because all Joe Quickie is going to do is offer to install another crappy PCV valve that is going to break again. But if you are trying to establish a good reputation and the return business that comes with it, take this lesson to heed: Cheap parts cost more than expensive parts.


I see this phenomenon most often when it comes to brakes. We often have customers come in complaining that their brakes are squeaking, but an inspection will reveal that the brake pads have plenty of life on them. The reason for this is that cheap brake pads are manufactured using harder materials, which causes them to make noise for their entire life. So the customer is left with two options. 1. Pay for the right pads just to make the noise go away, or 2. Put up with a grinding noise for the next seven years. Where I work, we call them "compressed camel poop" brake pads. I don't know where the nickname came from, but it stuck.


My shop follows the same policy when it comes to batteries. We only install high quality batteries that have a 72 month warranty. Unfortunately this brand of batteries cost about twice as much as a cheapo brand. I tell my customers. "They are not the cheapest but they are the most reliable." Occasionally, somebody will decide to go get a cheap battery and put it in themselves. But most customers are willing to pay more money for greater reliability, particularly if they feel that they can trust their service writer to not rip them off.


Every vehicle reacts differently to different brands of parts. It should be the service writer's job to use the right parts for each vehicle. The technicians can install a cheap part about as fast as a quality part. But, both your customer and your mechanic will be unhappy if the part has to be replaced free of charge.