Date:         Wed, 1 Oct 2008 23:27:31 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Reliability of AutoZone (Duralast) alternators
In-Reply-To:  <m1fxnfsthw.fsf@cs.indiana.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

> They are rebuilt, and I use that term loosely.  More like
> cleaned, spray-painted, and perhaps tested.  Not unusual for
> them to fail frequently, the lifetime warranty is the only
> reason they can sell them.

The discount auto parts chains (not speaking of AutoZone but in general) buy
their rebuilt electrics strictly on price. Whoever can deliver a truckload
of electrics for a wide range of models, quickly and for the lowest bid, is
who stocks their shelves.  Then the chain store tacks on a "lifetime
warranty" to sell the product. They know that in 90% of the cases they will
not need to make good on that warranty, even when (not if) it fails. Right
off the bat you may not have the proof of purchase handy when you need it.
And if you do, you may break down at a time when obtaining a replacement
quickly and near where you are stranded matters much more than finding the
nearest XYZ Auto Parts location who can honor the warranty (and has one on
the shelf).

From the discount store's standpoint, given the unlikelihood of actually
having to make good on the warranty, it's more profitable for them to sell
you crap adorned with a "lifetime warranty" than to pay for a thorough
rebuild in the first place.  From your standpoint, however, it's smarter to
buy a quality product that won't need that warranty to begin with.  When you
break down in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, the fact
that you'll get another free crap alternator after wasting hours of your
time and paying $100 for the tow will be little consolation. Especially if
it happens more than once. I have had customers tell me they went through
three or four discount-store rebuilds before the finally bought a Bosch.

Not that Bosch is the only good product. Many of the non-Bosch rebuilds I
carry come from a rebuilder I've trusted for years - an independent
specialist who has done nothing but VW electrics for 25 years. I have put
his rebuilds on my own Vanagons without hesitation.  Also, in some
communities you can still find local mom-and-pop auto electric specialists
who can individually rebuild your existing unit to quality standards at a
reasonable price.

In your case, you were stranded and you did what you had to do.  Broken down
200 miles from home on a Sunday night, I'd probably have done the same. I
can't say I'd personally go as far as pulling it out of my Vanagon once it
was there and working.  Who knows, maybe it will last years.  But I'd keep
that receipt in the glovebox just in case.  Sorry if that wasn't the
resounding resassurance you wanted to hear, but it does seem to be
consistent with what others are writing as well.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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