Autozone or Napa Echlin, Quality?

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Rice Nuker

Rice Nuker

Let the Coal Roll!
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U.S.A.! Near Jackson CA
Howdy,

well I am going to buy a new ignition key switch and key cylinder for my Duster column that I am refurbishing. Napa Echlin is 30 percent higher than autozone. Whats ya'alls thoughts on the Napa Echlin brand parts? Are they worth the extra 30 percent?

Here are pictures of my quick fab steering wheel puller. Also my thumb, I cut a tendon with a hacksaw.. Good times..

Any feedback will be appreciated, but not regarding my safety practices, they are exemplary!

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I worked at a Napa for 4 years .....we very very rarely had any issues with the echlin line and when we did it was generally ignition items. If it was me id pay the extra 30 % extra
 
salesman for 3 years at napa. Echlin uses a better plastic and brass instead of aluminum. They will both work the same out of the box the echlin will last longer
 
AutoZone has a pretty sorry rep on here for electrical and suspension parts. You need to post the pics of your steering wheel puller on the homemade tools thread!
C
 
Standard Motor Parts is now a major component supplier of ignition and switch/relay parts to Echlin, who reboxes them. Standard used to be sold under the Blue Streak line of ignition/electrical auto parts. I worked for a while at a NAPA store where some of our part numbers came in mistakenly packed in Standard Motor Parts boxes; both Echlin and SMP parts are of good quality, but Auto Zone ignition/switch/electrical stuff I use only when absolutely necessary.
 
If I'm not mistaken Standard is the low line & Blue Streak is the high line. Both are Echlin.

Pay the extra coin.
 
Cool, thanks for the advice and replies folks.. I guess it generally is better to select the higher dollar part, but it helps that you guys explained the differences in manufacturing, now I know where those extra dollars go.. :) heheh..
 
Most things from NAPA are better quality. I rarely go to Autozone anymore. I hate replacing the same parts every year (sometimes less). O'Reilley's just put in a store near me and they seem to have some good parts. Some cheap Chinese crap too.

That is a nifty homemade wheel puller.
 
We use NAPA parts at the shop ,occasional Car Quest or O'Reilly parts.The only time I go to Autozone is for stuff like oil,lubricants,spray paint,gaskets,light bulbs,fuses,air fresheners,lol,etc but I do not buy electrical parts or mechanical parts there unless its for acar that im fixing for a quick sale.I have friends that work at Autozone and are very knowledgeable with cars,just dont deal with the "redshirts" at Autozone.If you ask them for "blinker fluid",they might ask"for what year of car?",lol
Bottom line is,you get what you pay for,so get a quality part.Save Autozone for if you ever feel a need to put neon lights in your Duster :toothy10:
 
Most large chain store parts come frome the SAME source and are packaged differently. Too many stories about the counter jocks lack of knowledge about parts, all major stores use a computer system and you get what you ask for. If the parts are not listed in the computer, stores have catalogs where the parts can be researched manually and special ordered. Its a good practice to call at least three stores to compare prices, Autozone can sell cheaper because they order larger quanties and have a larger discount structure. Kragen-O'reilleys is next then Probably Pep Boys. NAPA stores are generally franchises and cannot discount as much as others, NAPA also uses a GM refurbisher for used parts (so do the others just less). Always give the Chrysler dealer a shot especially if you have the part or casting number available. Rockauto.com is an excellent source for older cars, they have various sources for the same part and will identify he manufacturer. Buy American if at all possible we need the jobs.
 
FWIW, the cam sensor on my wife's PT failed and Autozone was the only place that had one in stock. When I opened the box at the store to make sure it was the right part it was a MOPAR branded part in a plastic bag with a Mopar part number on it.

Also, early in my career I worked for a company that made thermostats and automotive electrical parts. We supplied to GM, Ford, Chrysler as well as the major parts store lines including NAPA. NAPA always wanted the same part we supplied the OEMs. The funny thing in our thermostats the line we sold to all the discount houses actually worked better than the OEM part.
 
dgc333 said:
FWIW, the cam sensor on my wife's PT failed and Autozone was the only place that had one in stock. When I opened the box at the store to make sure it was the right part it was a MOPAR branded part in a plastic bag with a Mopar part number on it.

Also, early in my career I worked for a company that made thermostats and automotive electrical parts. We supplied to GM, Ford, Chrysler as well as the major parts store lines including NAPA. NAPA always wanted the same part we supplied the OEMs. The funny thing in our thermostats the line we sold to all the discount houses actually worked better than the OEM part.
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i guess you were lucky8)Im mostly talking about starters ,alternators as Ive had nothing but crappy luck with parts like those from Autozone.I bought a alternator from Autozone for my GLH and it kept going out,took it back 3 times ,my electrical system was fine,battery was brand new until I decited to just get one from the dealership.This was 6 years ago and the alternator is still working .Had alot of problems too with their starters and water pumps.
 
I think the more important question here is what the hell did you do to your thumb that a paper towel and electrical tape band aid couldn't handle?
 
Yea, in the past when I shop at autozone, I pull the part out of the box, if it says made in somewhere besides USA, I tell em to keep it. Sometimes if you have them bring a hand full of the items to the counter you can find old stock that is made in the US. I did this on my tie rod ends for my Duster.. Picked thru the pile until I found all US units..
Unless I have exhaustified my options, I will simply hold out to buy US products. Problems is, freaking dealerships are selling outsourced parts too. I was at Ford, prepaid to order a part, got a position sensor, it came in "mexico". Paid extra to send my money to mexico.. I was really pissed off. Mother Fing dealership.. No integrity in this country it seems.. Of course like everyone says. All anyone does in these massive companies is buy the cheapest shi# they can to meet the minimum quality standard.
I just wish there was an auto parts chain that catered to people who care about buying US products. Also, I order online allot, so thats why I am looking at NAPA. Can get the parts delivered to my door. Hopefully getting more US parts from Napa, maybe.


1BadDodge71 said:
i guess you were lucky8)Im mostly talking about starters ,alternators as Ive had nothing but crappy luck with parts like those from Autozone.I bought a alternator from Autozone for my GLH and it kept going out,took it back 3 times ,my electrical system was fine,battery was brand new until I decited to just get one from the dealership.This was 6 years ago and the alternator is still working .Had alot of problems too with their starters and water pumps.
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The key is to get the wound sealed and immobilized as quickly as possible. Then keep it sealed and immobilized until the skin grows back together. Then just wait for the inner workings under the skin to heal (maintain very limited mobility to prevent under-lying tissues from separating).

Thumb is still numb, nerves never really grow back when you cut them in two.
Should have had the object in a vice, but I don't own one. You can bet I am in the market for a vice now. :)

Dang local hardware store wanted 80 bucks for a chinese vice. I was like "how about you find me an American vice and I will pay you 100 ... son"
Dang chinese vice. What the F?.. I would give them 50 bucks to launch that thing from a turbo diesel powered catapult, at a rate of 10,000 fps, over the boarder into mexico! Seriously I would.

I swear one day, I am going to be out there digging a moat around this Country and fill it with Alligators with friggin laser beams on their heads..

360scamp said:
I think the more important question here is what the hell did you do to your thumb that a paper towel and electrical tape band aid couldn't handle?
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NAPA nad korean bearings for my 8.75"
Autozone had Timken Made in USA for less than half the price!!!! in stock!!! LMAO!

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE! HYPE COSTS EXTRA! IT'S NOT FREE TO HYPE YOUR PRODUCT ON THE TV AND ON THE SIDE OF A RACECAR!:cheers:
 
I bought Timken brand bearings for the front of my Barracuda when I swapped to disk brakes. One said Made in USA, one said Made in Romania and the other two said Made in Malaysia. If I recall correctly the Timken brand seals were Made in Singapore.

I have purcahsed Moog parts and had them say different places of manufacture for the same part.

As far as alternators, starters and water pumps I always buy rebuilt parts just because the come with a life time warranty vs 90 days for a new one from the dealer that cost twice as much to boot. Also, I never had any issues with them either in my 30 years.
 
yup, it's like if ya really want made in usa, you would spend a lot of time saying no to parts.

My bearing story was from about 12 years ago.
I had a similar thing happen with a drive axle. Quick version: 2 drive axles, 1 from napa 1 from AZ. napa $125, AZ $75.....they come in the same box from the same reman house....lol
 
mopar340dave said:
yup, it's like if ya really want made in usa, you would spend a lot of time saying no to parts.
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haha, yea, this all sucks. Uniformity is gone. Cant depend on nothin. Have to draw from all available sources and just scrutinize every dang thing as you go.. Dang bearings made in where the heck ever. I don't want no Malaysian molecules rotatin' around my axles. I want American steel molecules with the sweat of a hard workin well paid Americans on the dang things. I gotta get off this thread..
 
I know I'm late to this discussion but I just joined this group and saw the bearing comments. I work for Timken and I can tell you that the "Made in USA" is deceptive when it's on their product. All it means is Assembled in the US. They get their components from all over the world, ship them here and put them together, then call it Made In USA. They avoid tariffs and can label the parts differently. The bearing plants that made the best bearings in the world were closed over the last 6 years because they had Union employees and the Timken Company hates the Union.
I have a friend who rebuilds semi transmissions and he said that over the last 10 years his expected mileage from a rebuild has gone from about 300K miles to about 175K. He uses the same Timken parts in the same color boxes with the same part numbers. When they went to non US manufactured components they loosened up the tolerances because they couldn't make them the way we did here in Canton, Ohio. So much for quality and truth.
Buy where you get the best price, more than likely the parts in the box are pretty much the same all over.
 
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