jdawg1276

I bought a heater control valve from Autozone installed correctly didn't even drive 10 miles and one of the arm broke almost all the way off now have too take it off and exange it No biggy but just letting you guys know.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

Yup they all suck. I carry an extra one with me at all times!

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Bought a new alternator from them failed in two days, sticking to Napa. A bit more pricey but worth it

jdawg1276

Was it New or was it reman I never buy reman

jdawg1276

Well car had a 4 tree one with one hose plugged it started to leak around the trees this one the tree almost snapped off

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Brand new, never buy remanufactured ones solely for that reason

jdawg1276

It was new

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Lol no in reference to the alternator, I bought a new one and then boom goes out two days later

StevenB L98/LS1

If you can find a steel one your golden. Ive been through 6 heater valves in 4 years. They all suck. Stay away from factory air ones. The only reason i keep replacing mine with there's is because of the warrenty, i just always defect the bad one out and grab another one off the shelf at work.

jdawg1276

I know that or copper if they make them where can you get them? I mean I love Autozone never had a problem and you get cash for spending cash but they missed the ball on this one

zenish

i bought a remanufactured alternator because id rather have repaired gm parts than a whole alternator made in china.

Dakota W.

I'm surprised more alternators don't let go. If you've ever taken one apart, you'll see that there's A LOT that can go wrong on them.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

I highly doubt they use gm parts, but I'd just rather use Napa a bit more pricey but quality is way better

zenish

a rebuilt alternator starts with a gm alternator.a new one is all chinese made.

hdavis2005

I bought mine from O'Reiley more than a year ago with no problems. Always buy the one with a lifetime warranty. Cost a few dollars more but you only buy it once.

Dakota W.

All of our alternators are lifetime warranty, starters too. Knechts and autozone don't have the warranties that O'reilly does.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Good info good to know

T/Aperformance

How many times have we all heard stories about Autozone and there bad product, I know they have cheaper prices, But it's because of cheaper products. Durast is a joke, it should be neverlast. How much are you really saving if you have to do the repair twice or more times. I will pay more for quality products and do the job right the first time.

actarnoff

iTrader: (1)

I replaced my original with a ACDelco one about 6 years ago.

It hasn't broken yet.

kmcn47

hey now hey now its not made in china, its made in mexico with chinese parts guys come on now read the stickers or the box and yeah most of them do start as returned originals or returned as core other off brand, hell i went through 5 alternators from us too but when i finally got one that had "Delco Remy" on the case it never went bad again........ as far as i know i sold the car, and while i work for autozone but do not like to support them (not a fan of our policies) where else can you get most of the parts for most of the cars on the road for 9.99 with a lifetime warranty so you never ever have to worry about your car, but hey why should you most customers only know what color the damn thing is

zenish

I had a ford starter from auto zone that wouldn't turn my engine but they wouldn't replace it because it spun fine in their tester.I bought another starter at Napa and never went to that auto zone again.

Dakota W.

A customer came in the other day with a bad battery, he told me that it would charge for hours at Autozone. I thought it was weird that it just charged and charged on their tester, so I put it in ours, and within a half hour it was done...and bad.

StevenB L98/LS1

Back in commercial at advance auto parts our district manager just tells us to take care of the customer. Most of the people that deal with the front DIY customers are screwed because there under different management and go by harsh rules. We dont do check engine lights anymore, we refer them to a close commercial garage that will do it for free when they mention we sent the customer. So many different policies at different auto parts store, i find it ridiculous. Just help the customer and be on your way is my policy, and i always get the same people coming back to me, because they know my policy.

Btw i do need to check with southern distributors that carries motorcraft and ac delco parts only if they have heater control valves for our cars. If they do i'm sure they 10x better

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

IDK about the heater valve... That thing was the first part I replaced on my 87 in 2003 and it is still good even now. Yes, the cheap plastic one. But I can't use it any more with the new setup (4th gen heater controls don't have the vacuum switch for it), so it's somewhere not being used, if I haven't already sold it to someone.

As for the starter that was supposedly replaced on that car before I bought it, I've been through 3 starter drives now. Motor's fine, but the drive keeps crapping out. Hopefully having a good solid mount will cure that, but I'm not going to hold my breath. And yes, that was another AZ part.

As for alternators, been through a couple of those as well. Which is why I learned to rebuild it. Replacing the parts is a TON cheaper than spending $100 on an alternator (because they NEVER keep the thing in their records and of course the receipt fades out by then so it can't be scanned for return!).

Right now, the ONLY battery I use in my car is an AZ Duralast Gold. Until I graduate to an Optima or similar (when I can afford it). Cheaper batteries are terrible.

kmcn47

oh receipts are only good for 90 days anyway

Dakota W.

As a customer, unless they take your information, you don't have a warranty. So tell them to track the purchase, that way you can actually use your warranty.

Arvizu9618

iTrader: (1)

In regards to the Vatozone Heater Valve, Whats the part number???

rusty vango

as far as aftermarket parts supplyers go, AZ has the worst parts.followed closely by advance.in my experience (and I buy a LOT of parts for customers cars) o,reilleys and napa still sell quality parts.everyone else,,,not so much

novaderrik

is it bad because it's an autozone product, or is it bad because you chose the cheap one instead of the good one to save a few bucks?

kmcn47

only real difference is price and warranty, most of the parts are the same, almost ALL of the parts from all of the stores are made in THE SAME FACTORIES where you buy it matters not

ringo234

I'm on my 3rd autozone, LT1 remanufactured starter, from Autozone in 6 mo. it has a lifetime warranty but I'm getting tired of changing them and calling AAA for a tow home . It started it's life as an AC Delco. I'm getting my money back and trying O'Reilys next time it goes bad. Brand new from summit $340, that's why I went rebuilt for about half.