Bought a 180$ center link off hawks listed as a Detroit Speed part and it came in a moog box with a Detroit Speed label over the moog one. I peeled back the DS sticker and sure enough its a Moog part DS1049- which normally sells for under 100$.

Summit and Jegs all have this same part listed as a DS, but it's clearly the moog one you can buy elsewhere for cheaper. What gives?

 

Sticker costs $80 I guess

 

Did You Contact Hawks And And Let Them Know

 

For $80 upcharge you would think they could at least change the branding on the box so you don't feel like you were hustled.

 

I'd return it and then hit up rock auto. This is absurd.

 

Maybe they applied the Detroit Speed magic grease.

 

That's just wrong, hopefully hawks replies to this on here. Do they even still come on here that much since they rebranded away from only thirdgens?

 

Welcome to the world of retail markups.

 

This happens all the time.
Case in point. A temperature switch manufactured in some corner of the world (maybe even the U.S.) sells for $10 under a major brand. Go to an aftermarket "cooling system specialized" company and the switch is re-branded, given a new PN and sells for $30.
It's up to purchaser to do their due diligence and determine whether a said vendor is also a manufacturer. Then your getting the real goods. Or as is the case with Detroit Speed, they're obviously not manufacturing their own centre-links so that should be an indicator right there.

I'm not bashing the OP here. Just saying that this selling practice, as distasteful as it is, isn't uncommon.

 

It's got to be the grease! Definitely the grease. That's really lame. Not surprising but lame.

 

It is a shame that they are doing people like that. Thanks for the heads up.

 

That's some BS there! $175 for a part you can get from Amazon for $77. For my build I decided to take a chance with ProForged, bought my parts before they were sold to Holley, at least with the coating they offer you know what your getting, of course who knows if your getting a MOOG or another brand that's just been coated.

Apparently DS is now a brand of Holley?

 

Detroit Speed became part of Holley in 2021. Strange that it would be a Moog part considering Holley also owns Proforged.

 

That's something I didn't know.

 

Hawks just drop ships products like that, who knows if they even know

 

Yeah I missed that but that's probably cause I'm to cheap to buy DS parts, they're a little to pricey for me

 

They got even more pricey since Holley bought them. Some parts are worth it but others like this center link are available at other sources much cheaper.

 

I dont mind paying a mark up per se. ... i want to support these companies. But be honest about it on the website or at least give me a different box or something to make me feel special lol. I have a bunch of UMI stuff that i absolutely love, and have bought other things, it's just a good, fun thing to buy stuff for your car it's part of the hobby but yea beware. That being said it's a real nice piece and seems better than the OE one I had on there.

 

Has Holley or DS responded to this?

 

The old adage is, " You get what you pay for."
In this case it would seem, not so much.
Caveat emptor is the rule.

 

I doubt they would. Or maybe with some doublespeak to cover their asses.

 

Caveat emptor, does that apply when the seller is deliberately being untruthful with their selling practices?

 

Even more so.

 

Been racing cars for 4 decades. I only use Moog or Speedway Engineering suspension. At least it isn't a Chinese copy.

 

This happens with everything. I’d be pissed that they feel they can do it without even changing the box.

it happens with tools too. My coworkers pay big money for Matco, you can get the same tool under a different brand for way less. Rebranding.

 

it's a very nice piece. I have never had an issue with Moog either.

 

I can tell you that the last shop I worked at stopped using moog completely due to early ball joint failures. I even experienced it in a personal truck of mine. I would bet whatever issue they had has been resolved, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to use moog either.

 

Once trusted brands like MOOG and AC Delco aren't what they used to be.

 

I bought some DSE tie rod sleeves on an impulse buy. One of them wasn't even threaded deep enough and I couldn't use it. That was my very first DSE part and haven't bought another since. Their prices border on snobby.

 

Like any company selling disposable products that cover many platforms, DSE is trying to offer a one stop shop. Not saying they are at fault or not but their application specific parts are incredible. Their drop shipped sourced parts will be no different than any other company selling "complete" kits for these cars.