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According To You: Automotive Products That Are Worth Every Penny
Last week we asked the Hagerty Community about products they believed were worth every penny that was required to purchase them. I suggested that gasoline was one such product, but you chose items that weren’t low-hanging fruit. And I thank you for that, as your additions were indeed priceless. Perhaps that suggests these are priceless automotive products, as they keep our passion for motoring alive and well.
What did you come up with? Have a look below and chime in with more suggestions in the comments!
Replacement Parts That Aren’t Junk
Jeepcj5: Electrical parts (ignition coils, starter solenoids, pickup coils, points) that actually work. Too many are bad right out of the box these days.
Gary B: OEM or aftermarket parts at least as good if not better than the original. Finding parts that are lesser than the original is all too common these days.
Isaiah: I’m so happy if a part fits right and works well just by bolting it on. Heading into the garage to try to spend hours fixing a bolt-on part: rumble seat hinges, as either the trunk deck mounts are off, or the Vintique holes and angle are off. Either way, I can’t get all the screws in and they are hanging down into the trunk at a weird angle.
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Tires
DUB6: Years ago, I remember being pretty happy if I got 30,000 miles out of a set. Recently, I replaced a set with just over 60,000. For “miles-per-dollar spent”, I view tires as worth every penny. Yeah, I know that the type of tire, type of vehicle, and type of driving will affect the math, but I also think that tire compounds and designs have improved hugely in the last 40 years to where it’s fairly easy to get twice the life out of them than we used to.
hyperv6: I agree on tires. Many people today don’t understand that you used to get several flats on a trip out of state. This is why some cars had more than one spare. 10k miles were great. Today with computer designs and up to three compounds on a tread face they are very advanced. Yet today they are still assembled by hand, each and every one.
Another is the metals used. Piston rings and bearings were 30k miles in the 30’s. The metals in the cars to make them stronger but add less weight. These materials are very advanced.
Aftermarket Fuel Injection
David C: About a dozen years ago, I updated my BMW 2002 with electronic fuel injection using Megasquirt as engine management. It’s probably the best modification I have ever done. It’s made the car more usable and efficient in all weather. It’s not for everyone, but for me, it’s been worth every penny.
Battery Jump Pack
Carol S: A battery-powered jump starter.
Kyle Smith: I’ll admit I didn’t understand how handy battery jump packs are until I bought one. Now I make sure it moves to whatever car I’m driving regularly. They are very handy.
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I’ve found that dealerships for vintage car parts are all but Useless -they won’t even Try to help find the parts–even parts store that “Say” they can get the parts tell me they Only deal with XYZ supplier & if that One company doesn’t have IT they can do Nothing– I once worked as a partsman & we would make the Effort to search out suppliers till we found it–
You hate the system, don’t take it out on the little man. Dealerships exist to sell cars and do warranty work. Parts houses are forced to sign contracts with suppliers specifically so they can’t do what you are asking for. I’m sure when you worked the parts counter it was a different time.
sat com would be my number one indispensable item;
I have a 66 Corvette I purchased in 1979. It is a driver and over the years had several replacement parts. Always bought the lifetime warranty parts. Have purchased new shocks just twice same with the water pump by turning in the old ones. A couple extra bucks for the lifetime warranty has paid off several times!!
Usually, but not always, and this applies to most everything in life, you get what you pay for,
I thought this was an interesting YouTube video about parts. I think that the Chinese CAN make good parts if you want them to which equates to how much you want to pay.
As someone who has spent the last almost 25 years dealing with VW, Audi and Porsche cars both as a professional mechanic and also in the parts world. I stick with oem parts or parts from oe suppliers and that’s it. Rarely will I go aftermarket unless I know it’s an improved version of the oem failure prone part.
I’ve had too many issues with aftermarket parts tying up the car on my lift and German cars are very finicky. Hell even when I repair my fathers 25 year old Jeep Cherokee, I use either oem or something upgraded from the off road world. Had bad luck with aftermarket ignition parts years ago on his rig, never again.
when wrenching in the 80s & 90s at dealerships, i hated using non-oem parts. i used to be a dyed in the wool, pro-oem parts only mechanic for customer’s and my vehicles. years later, parts were coming up unavailable or excruciatingly expensive. now, most of the time i go with name brand parts such as moog, hitachi, motorcraft, ngk, etc. the parts may still come from china or other 3rd world countries, but i find the quality to be better overall than that of off-brand makes. no, this logic isn’t 100%. but with my experience, it works out fairly well. but i cannot deny having good luck going with some no-name products. for example, i bought an oem fuel level sender & pump ass’y for about $350 through my work (nissan) for my truck at 300k mi (the original pump was ok – replaced because of high mileage only). this was the dealer’s cost. that pump lasted 6 yrs/75k mi. i then went with an off-brand sender & pump assembly listed on ebay for $120 – no sales tax!. it wasn’t a perfect fit, but i got it work ok. coincidentally, it’s also been 6 yrs/75k mi, but it’s still working. regardless, i’ll still go with oem or name brand first.
I bow to all u mechanics. I have a phenomenal mechanic who specializes in electronics. I only drive my vehicles and pay him. One point that I will not change, is using Amsoil for over 25 yrs only. I swear Amsoil has made a difference with my 221k mi, SSR, running like a top.
I agree with all 4 of the items identified in this article. Good quality aftermarket parts keep cars in the road. I have always prioritized tires of proper fir and design. After all, that’s literally where the rubber meets the road. I love my battery jump pack. I always travel with one. My jump pack has saved the day a few times. I take it with me on trips that require flying too. It’s a great reservoir of power to charge phones and other devices, and what’s worse than arriving at your car after a long flight only to find a dead battery. It’s great peace of mind to have one.