Cheap aftermarket parts have always been around, but in the recent years there has been a huge increase in cheap replacement parts for all car models under the sun. The question is, is it better to buy second hand genuine parts or one of these cheap aftermarket parts?

The answer depends on several factors.

The biggest thing to take into consideration when looking at replacement parts is what happens if it breaks again very quickly. Depending on the part, this may not be a big deal. But some parts are a pain to replace, and may require a couple hours of labour. You don't really want one of these breaking in a hurry, because it will cost you in either time or money to replace it again.

So in this scenario you are faced with the decision of either trusting an old part, that is sometimes decades old, but has been built well and is quite likely to be perfectly fine, or a cheap but brand new part which could be perfectly fine, but also runs a high risk of being low quality and actually breaking before the second hand part.

That decision is one that will have to be made by the personal installing the part on their car. We can only make you aware of the options you have and the things you should consider.

If safety is a factor, then we always recommend going with the higher quality part. Even if they are second hand, often they were produced with the possibility of failure in mind, so should they fail they will do so safely. Cheap parts don't necessary have this feature, and due to their cheap manufacturing methods could break unpredictably, so it's rarely a good idea. For example, there is a big difference between a ball joint wearing out and need replacing versus the whole control arm snapping in half due to cheap manufacturing.

If you are looking for quality second have parts, give us a call on (09) 829-2618 or pop into our yard at 50 Fremlin Pl in Avondale and we will be able to help you find what you need!