auto parts stores and their brands

[mrcow]

so i am in the market for a new brake master cyclinder, clutch master cyclinder, and slave master cyclinder. so i was browsing Victoria british and comparing their prices to autozone and oreillys.

are the brands at autozone and oreillys any good? brakeware, Fenco (reman though), Beck Arnley, Cardone, Brakebest, wagner?

What brand is victoria british selling? is it always OEM?

[Fun_in_my_z]

Dont go to auto zone they are way overpriced. I picked up a brake mc from Napa.

A cool 50 bux and brakes that work! But i cant think of the brand name off the top of my head.

[hls30.com]

Also compare rockauto.com

Sometimes great prices, sometimes good prices, sometimes painful prices.

All of the biggies are on line, and you can shop prices all night to buy the next day-save that $3 a gallon gas until you need to pick up the parts.

Search the manufacturers too.

Will

[zman525]

im lookin through my victoria british LTD magazines and i cant find anything on what brand they use ( if its OEM or not) but ill tell u one thing... there prices are cheap =) If i find out ill repost

[sblake01]

I bought a console from VB a couple of years ago and it was an OEM Nissan item. I guess it would depend on what part you are buying from them.

[mrcow]

well the price really isnt the issue i have right now. what i really want to know is wagner the best, beck/arnley, or something else? have people on here have issues with the parts from the local auto stores or have they been pretty solid pieces? i have seen several posts about the auto stores giving out the wrong parts but that isnt my concern either. i looked at rockauto.com and compared the prices to oreillys and rockauto was $5 cheaper on all the parts. after tax on oreillys and shipping on rockauto it left a $16 difference.

[CoastGuardZ]

Not all companies make all the parts. Most of the time they repackage the part with their name. For instance, I just bought a Clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder from Advance. The slave is in a Beck/Arnley Box but the part is manufactured in Japan by NABCO, I already installed the master and can't read the name on it but the package says Tru-Torque, which I highly doubt is the manufacturer. Furthermore, I have a good friend that works at a Gates rubber plant that manufactures belts and hoses. He said that about 1/3 of the parts that come out of the plant have other names on the part... like Goodyear just to name one. I have always had good luck with Beck/Arnley and McQuay-Norris packaged parts (Z or otherwise).

Nate

[mlc240z]

ditto on the beck-arnley, seems to be a good mfg. same for wagner and standard (elect).

always had good luck with napa parts also but i don't know who makes them.

One company i advise you to stay away from, if they're still around is KEM. Especially avoid their electric/electronic parts, unless you need the practice by replacing the same part in a year. i don't know who was the 'real' company behind them, but they across-the-board sucked. used to be sold by a parts store called KarParts out here (wow, amazingly went out of business), but i have a sneaking suspicion they were a division of advance auto parts.

hope this helps,

bart

[sblake01]

Never had much luck with certain Autozone parts for the Z or 810. I went through 3 water pumps from Autozone because in 2-3 months they developed a squeal. Oh, they still cooled okay but the noise was annoying. I talked them into a refund and bought an OEM unit from Nissan and have not had a problem since. And their fan clutch never did work right. Took it back, purchased and OEM and no problem. I tend to stay away from the chain stores when it comes to things other that brake pads, oil and filters, spark plugs (though some of them don't carry NGK), waxes and cleaners, etc. But to answer the question, mrcow, for the parts you mention I would try to find OEM, unless I had compelling testimony from someone that had used something else. I always ask MSA or VB or whomever, who makes the part. If they can't tell me, I'm not buying.

[Fun_in_my_z]

I bought a valve cover gasket from carquest. It was to small so i took it back. They wouldnt give my money back becouse the package was open.

If you dont put a part on how do you know if it wont fit?