First_Formula

I've been putting more and more parts into my 305 and a few times I've had to put the same damn thing in multiple times because the factory gave me **** parts. Usually I trust Delphi but they've shafted me a few times lately, and AC Delco (i believe they're related somehow idk how though) seems to be lowering slowly in craftsmanship too. BWD has been pretty good.
So my question is does anyone know what auto parts brand is a good one to get for reliability and performance and what auto parts store (oreillys, napa, pep boys etc) sells that brand?

SMOKIN92RS

I work for an auto parts store in NEPA, we are a family-owned business that is not affiliated with any particular "Big-Name" store. We sell, and I use, Standard Motor Products for all of our electronic parts. We have always had very good luck with them, and even though you still get some bad parts out-of-the-box they are really good with warranties. I do believe NAPA sells Standard as well, but I'm not positive. I trust in Standard, and I think you would be pleased if you give them a shot. Hope this helps!

eseibel67

I work for Standard and yes, we supply NAPA.

WESTOF7

never put anything on your car that comes in a white box and research anything you buy. tryand stick with us made parts you can almost never go wrong with delco

First_Formula

Okay thanks alot guys!
Out of curiosity whats wrong with white boxed products?
Also does anybody trust BWD select brand? you can get them from oreillys I believe its their more expensive stuff.

SMOKIN92RS

Usually a part in a plain, white, un-marked box costs little, but is also cheaply manufactured.

BWD makes some good products as well. You would probably be ok if you went with them.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Delco = Dayton Electric Co = a formerly independent supplier that GM bought a LONG time ago and integrated into another formerly independent supplier that they also bought, AC Spark Plugs, when buying up suppliers and creating "vertical integration" was the way auto companies worked (75 years ago or more)

Delphi = an independent company composed of a bunch of the electric and other sub-assy supply divisions of GM, spun off as a way of getting out from under excessive uncompetitive cost structures that GM could only barely sustain when times were good, and couldn't afford at all any more when times got hard; it includes, among others, the old Delco division

So yes, they're the same thing, sort of.

Part of the problem is, these cars were "designed" and built at the end of the very lowest point of quality in the American auto industry. The "design", if I may be so bold as to use such a word to describe it, is inadequate to begin with, in many items. Starters are a good example: GM had been using the exact same starter since the 40s, and hdan't bothered to upgrade it until the 90s. Other parts of these cars were just as obsolete. Then, alot of the electric stuff espsecially, was NEVER "designed" to last this long; just think, alot of these cars, up to 86 this year, are LEGALLY ANTIQUES in most states.

IMO Delco isn't always the "gold standard"... that's the crap you're REPLACING because IT BROKE. Granted, if you buy another, at least you know it won't be MUCH worse than the one that already failed; but that's FAR from saying that it's necessarily BETTER than something else. I'll again refer to starters as the perfect example of that.

Borg-Warner, Standard, and Niehoff are all good dependable brands of electrical, emissions, and fuel system parts. In fact alot of OEM (Delco) parts, are actually made by some other company, such as those; just, "to Delco specs" or however you want to call that. Delco doesn't make EVERY SINGLE part they sell; they outsource plenty of it.

Alot of the "white-box" stuff mentioned above is Far East trash, made by people who can't read or write, make as much in a week as an American does in an hour, and who have probably never even SEEN the cars the parts are supposed to fit. Not all of course, but once you stray from the familiar names, it starts getting REAL HARD to tell what's in that box and how long it might last.

camaronewbie

I've never had any isues with anything bought from a NAPA store. I used to buy alot of CarQuest stuff as well (they used to carry GM parts and AC/Delco), but I've been told that lately their stuff is getting lower in quality - probably from trying to compete in the bad economy with the less expensive 'junk' items that are the first choice on the screen at AZ/Advance/Oreilly.

eseibel67

Post #7 is very close to accurate. GM did sell off Delphi a few years ago. Tried to sell Delco during the chapter 11, but no takers so they still own it.

Borg Warner (BWD) is also a Standard brand. So was Niehoff, but the brand was discontinued in 2009.