A store on eBay has a new starter for my vehicle for $80.00. NAPA auto parts has one starting at $130.00.
Do you think buying a starter from eBay would be a good starter?
Does anyone have any bad experiences buying auto parts, like a starter from eBay?
The eBay store is located in the US, although the part is probably made in China. It will be shipped from the US.
I don't know, but I'm thinking if you gave the url it might help decide. Of course we might buy it out from under you.
Where will you be returning your old starter to recover the core charge? Or, are you expecting to forfeit that?
There is no core charge. They don't want the old one.
I'd be inclined to buy only the parts needed to fix the old starter and repair it. Bushes, the contacts, bushings if needed. Check out the youtube videos
The seller has positive feedback and has had man sales. I'd be inclined to go for it. To save $10, no, but for $50, yes.
Denso is the manufacturer and is a decent brand. Though, I'd buy from Rock auto first
They have a great reputation with more selections and prices to suit your need.
How do the warranties compare?
My goto is Rockauto -
rockauto.com
nice people- good prices- stand behind their products.
FWIW
I bought the good one from NAPA, and it comes with a lifetime warranty from any NAPA store on the US.
As for ordering parts online, I have and will continue to order name brand parts from Amazon, but not ebay.
Jon
I doubt this is really a Denso starter. In the beginning of the listing in the field for manufacturer, manufacturer's part number, etc it clearly says Crank-n-Charge. That means it's a cheap no-name, typically Chinese, that the lister is selling under their own house name. Later down in the description, it does say the manufacturer is Denso, so at the very least it's totally contradictory. Usually these kinds of listings don't flat out contradict, instead they list equivalent Denso, Bosch numbers to mislead you into thinking it's made by them. But this one, flat out says two different things.
It's been my experience on Ebay that when it's really made by Denso, Bosch, etc, then they put that right in the listing header, because it's a premium part and they want people to see it when they look at all the listings. Also, typically when it's a part from a major manufacturer, the picture shows it, has the manufacturer's name in the pic, a pic of the box, etc. This one has a generic pic. I wouldn't buy it. I only buy ones on Ebay where it's absolutely clear what I'm getting. There are plenty of cheap, crap Chinese parts out there. Even then I've heard some reports of people getting counterfit parts, where it's still Chinese junk packaged to try to look like a Lemforder, Bosch, etc.
Though, I'd buy from
+1I always look at local pricing too, eg Advance Auto. And as someone else mentioned, if a core exchange is involved, factor that in. Shipping back a core versus dropping it off locally can eat up the worth of the core.
+1 re Rock Auto
Also if its a DENSO starter, you might simply need to replace the solinod contacts instead of the entire starter.
Mark
The warranty is another aspect worth considering. Many of the auto parts stores, eg NAPA, Advance, Autozone, etc have lifetime warranties on some of their parts, including rebuilt. You still have to factor in some judgement, how difficult the part is to replace, if you're doing the work or paying someone. For example, recently I needed to replace the starter on my BMW X5. It's in the worst location I've ever seen. You actually need two people to work a ratchet with a 3 ft extension running over the top of the tranny to get to it. One person, can barely feel the socket and guide it with a flex joint onto the bolt. The other person is at the ratchet end to work it. You also have to remove all the intake system up to the throttle body. Given that, I found a genuine Bosch to put in even though it cost substantially more than I could have gotten a rebuilt one with a lifetime warrany from an auto parts store for. If you read online, there are a lot of people saying that they've taken several starters, alternators, etc back, getting a replacement every couple years, because they fail. Also, if it's sold under a house brand label, they probably can be using multiple sources for the part, changing suppliers, etc.
...Good advice snipped...
autoanything.com is another good source. They will match prices. I thought Amazon was cheaper for my rotors. When I mentioned this to a rep from autoanything she looked at Amazon and determined that Amazon was going to charge me tax which would actually make the price higher. She did her homework and got the sale.
I don't know if I've mentioned my advanceauto.com process in this ng.
I find the parts I need, then start a chat session. I ask a simple, generic question about my part to build rapport, then ask if there are any additional discounts codes available. Sometimes it takes a little persistence, but it is extremely rare that I don't end up with a better price by the time I'm done. An additional 10% is common.
I then order the part(s) for "pick up in store" and 1/2 hour later, I can pick them up. Depending on how busy the store is, sometimes they are already pulled and ready for me, other times they pull them when I get there. They already have all of the part numbers so it goes pretty quickly.
I dealt here for a MAF sensor: Hitachi part (new-same as OEM), US warehouse, good communication, and guaranteed. Saved about one-third the cost at the discount auto stores.
I from now and then go to a wrecking yard called "you pick" We can bring our own tool or rent tools there. Once my wife's Mitsu. AWD mini wagon windshield wiper transmission ass'y needed a replacement. I went there and found an identical vehicle, I took out the whole ass'y. Cost 20.00. They lined up the wrecked cars by brand and model. Fun place to go. It all depends on what you need. Some eBay sellers have good reputation. Also eBay protects your money in case you got bad stuff.
...snip...
+1If you look at the starters at the crankncharge website, their descriptions typically look something like this:
CRANK-N-CHARGE NEW 12 VOLT STARTER REPLACES KTM 60040001000, DENSO 428000-1560
"Replaces" does not typically mean OEM.
In addition, for what it's worth, the crankncharge search utility s-u-c-k-s. If you take that DENSO part number directly from their description and put it in the search field, you get:
Search Results for "428000-1560" Your search for "428000-1560" did not match any products. Did you mean: 40000 1500
How would you search for a replacement starter if their search engine can't find the OEM part number that *they* say the starter replaces?
It is a DENSO, here's a link to the picture. Although changing the solinod contacts would probably fix the problem, I've decided to just buy a new starter from NAPA since the vehicle is so old. I should be able to get one today, without having to wait days for one to be shipped. After clicking a few times the vehicle started, so I'm off to the parts store.
This link shows its a DENSO, and is a direct replacement for the starter that come on the truck. Here's a link to a picture of my original starter.
I've decided to go with a NAPA starter so I won't have to wait and can change it this weekend.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.