That is one of the more uninformed and ignorant (not an insult, look it up) statements I have ever read. A dealership isn't "out to get you" just becuase they "know you will never question cost". There are several factors to consider in relation to dealer pricing.

1. Factory parts are of the highest quality. You have the peace of mind that the parts will fit right the first time, and fix your problem without causing any additional problems. You know that the alternator you buy wont have to go back to autozone 3-4 times because the generic rebuild isn't operating, or doesn't fit your 22RE.

2. You dont ever pay shipping. Imagine how much it costs for them to ship that fender or hood you wanted from Japan. Probably a LOT of money.

3. Dealerships either have the part IN STOCK, or can get it next day for most things. With many aftermarket companies, you have to wait a day or more for many of those parts, and again as stated in #1, you're never sure they will fit. What is your time worth to you? I know mine is worth more than the cost difference

Are dealership prices high? Sure. And sometimes, it doesn't make sense to pay their prices, depending on what you are trying to do with your rig. IE if you have some beater wheeler that you are just trying to get back on the road, and dont have any money to spend, the dealer isn't likely your best option. However, if you have a really nice truck, say a 1st Gen 4Runner with 39k miles on it, you can justify paying the prices to keep your rig beautiful and running well.

 

I agree with you except for #2. I would suspect that cost IS reflected in the price of the part.

I always try to compair cost vs. value. DC makes a good point about the total cost of ownership. However, It wouldn't make sense to buy a $700 radiator if you were trading in the vehicle the next day (unless you would get your money or more back for it in the trade).

OE parts are the best and there are also some good aftermarket options. You just need to choose what is best for your situation.

 

Well, with other companies you get hit for shipping AND handling, etc etc. And they can charge whatever they want on top of the price of the part.

I guess what i meant was they dont charge additional shipping, etc etc.

 

I got a visteon radiator for i think 150 and its a high quality part. it also has a lifetime warranty as well. If it ever breaks or clogs I get a new one for free. How long a radiator lasts also depends on how you maintain your vehicle and the climates you drive it. If you never change your coolant then no radiator will last very long.

 

I've never had a radiator fail that I didn't knock a hole in myself with the fan or a stick.

 

I am not going to lie, you guys are all very uninformed. While I do not know everything about radiators I am more involved in this market than most people.

DeathCougar is right in the fact that the OEM radiator is of the highest quality, however so are many aftermarket radiators, truth is most aftermarket radiators are OEM radiators in different boxes.

For example Many AC Delco radiators are OEM for General Motors, same exact radiator... different box. Visteon is a division of Ford, as OEM as is gets. Performance Radiator builds OEM radiators for many Hondas, however you can buy them aftermarket for much less. They are assembled and then put in who's ever box ordered them. There are many more examples of this, that are not arguable.

Radiator.com and 1-800-Radiator are the same exact company. In fact about 30 other websites are that same company, by flooding the internet with all those website it guarentees them more business. I can bag on that company all day long about all their faults, but I have no interest in that. As long as the customers are happy I could care less.

I hope this helps a little.

 

Let me throw a little more information on aftermarket radiators out there. Lets start with the fact that aftermarket radiator companies build all OE radiators.

First of all Toyota like all car companies is only a designer and assembler, most parts are contracted out, Toyota installs them. Lets look at 96-04 Tacomas and 3rd gen 4Runners. Originally from Toyota I believe Japan built 4Runners/Tacomas have a Denso Radiator, I am not near mine right now so I can't look. However US made ones have a Harrison radiator, which is owned by Delphi, which builds many parts for General Motors. Delphi and AC Delco parts are usually the same part in a different Box. So if you were to buy an Delphi, Harrison, or Denso you have an OE part for your Toyota at less cost.

Now lets look at the statement of OE quality being the best. Toyota as far as I know has always had very good manufacturers. In Dodge Durangos and Dakatas they used a brass and copper radiator alloy that was too soft, leading to the failure of almost everyone of those radiators at the headers, I personally know and have worked with an engineer that designed an aftermarket radiator much better than that stock one, since then dodge has discontinued that production.

In general motors 90's CK 1500 series trucks that same engineer designed a radiator that will outcool and outlive the stock one, Cheverolet Parts dept actually buys those ones instead of Cheverolet's in most cases.

There are many poor aftermarket radiator companies, however there are very good ones as well, it is extrememly hard to compete with the bad companies and that is why most good ones don't try, they can make more money OE.

Here is a list of good radiator companies although there are many more.

Koyo, Delphi, Denso, Performance Radiator, Harrison, CSF on some part #'s, Visteon, Behr, and many others.

I hope this clarrifies ideas and if anybody else has any questions please feel free to ask, if I don't know the answer I will not try.

 

I ran across this thread via a google search for something else and thought I'd add some info since I am a former franchisee for 1-800-Radiator and we have a Toyota truck that we used for deliveries.

Here's the take on aftermarket vs OEM from my standpoint. I'll actually use a real-life example--my own radiator replacement in my 1994 Accord LX.

The Accord uses a DPI 1494, which is a very standard radiator in the aftermarket industry. Myself and my business partner were curious as to how "good" our various aftermarket parts were, so we bought an OEM rad from Honda and compared it to 5 brands we had in stock.

What we discovered is that on a cooling basis, there was actually a good chance that 2 of the aftermarket designs would cool better than stock. And price-wise, the aftermarkets were over half in cost.

But I still installed the OEM radiator we bought from Honda. Why? Because it all comes down to specifications. A manufacturer like Honda has a specification for their part that includes a failure rate. A Honda part (made by any manufacturer) that meets Honda's specs meets the failure rate spec as well. My original lasted 13 years, and only died due to some negligence on my part. I wanted another 13 year radiator.

Aftermarket companies are not held to that standard, and can have failure rates as high as 12%! (I've seen this documented.) Even if the part is identical to the OEM part and also made by that manufacturer (such as Delphi/AC Delco), it can come off a different assembly line or a different plant. Manufacturers are as hard-pressed as everyone else for making a buck. Why scrap that part that failed OEM specs? It still works as an aftermarket...

That being said, one of the strenghts of 1-800-Radiator is their internal quality control department (which I recently heard that they dissolved, but that's another story). As a franchisee, we saw around 55 come back for warranty claims, and that amounted to less than 1.5% of total parts sold. But even with that low failure rate, there's a reason I'm not a franchisee anymore--and that's a discussion in itself.

Here's some insight on the 1-800-Radiator lifetime warranty--DO NOT lose your invoice number. It is your warranty. Without that you may not get anything from anyone.

If anyone is interested in getting an aftermarket rad for their Yoda really cheap, I believe we still have some in our leftover inventory that we need to get rid of. They're probably identical to the CSF model that was mentioned earlier in this post (probably 1-800-Radiator part number 945CS). Just PM me with the make, model, year, and engine size and I can check. We've got some other stuff too if you need something else.