OEM? (was: Cheap oxygen sensor pricing policies)

[Shaun Folkerts <fiatlancia@earthlink.net>]

Actually, those 124 coils are pretty expensive. ;^) But your point is taken.

Regarding the OEM issue, the parts I ordered aftermarket had certain words
filed/scraped off of them. We all know what those words were. I understand that
this is because the aftermarket supplier buys from the same source as the
dealers, but cannot sell the parts as such, so references to Audi, part
numbers, etc. must be removed first.

So far, no problems.

Then the other day I bought the turbo-to-intercooler hose _from the dealer_. I
didn't notice until I got home that the part number and Audi name (I assume
that's what was there) were neatly carved off with a razorblade. It also says
"xxxxxxxxx Germany" where I assumed the "x"s were originally "made in" before
being whittled off.

I have two guesses where this hose came from.

1. Someone bought an "original aftermarket" hose from an aftermarket company,
and an original hose from Audi and returned the former to the dealer, wanting
the OEM with the numbers but without the price.

or

2. The dealer bought the "aftermarket original" hose from the same place that I
could have and is selling it to me with their markup added (it was ~$85, btw).
Wouldn't the dealer be able to get the hose from the "source" cheaper than the
aftermarket supplier (who would basically assume the role of middleman in this
case)? Was the source out of stock and forced the dealer to buy aftermarket? Or
do sources sometimes feed only the aftermarket and leave the dealer out of the
loop?

The hose, in either case, will be returned to the dealer. I should be able to
buy aftermarket for about half what the dealer charges, for the exact same
product (i.e. "razorblade-modified"). My hose was not bad yet, but based upon
SJM's experience and recommendations on his webpage, I thought I'd replace it
and carry the old one as a spare.

Any listers out there with the inside info enough to give me the correct answer
as to what is going on here? I need to learn (as I'm sure other listers do as
well) how to buy parts the right way.

Shaun Folkerts
'89 2CQW



isham-research.freeserve.co.uk@pop.pol.net.uk wrote:

> > I was wondering if it was a wide spread practice for an auto supplier to
> > charge more than one price for the same item in different applications? I
>
> I think you would pay a little more at a Lamborghini dealer for an
> ignition coil than you would if you went to a FIAT dealer and bought
> the same coil for a FIAT 124.  And the Lambo needs two of them.
>
> There's a guy here in the UK (Pete Reeve, quattro Corner) who's making a
> tidy living discovering the original manufacturers of Audi parts and
> dealing directly with them.  Dealerships have a book called the "Damage
> Number Catalogue" that lists all of the logos stamped onto bought-in
> parts and the corresponding manufacturers.
>
> Curiously, this works in odd ways.  The ur-quattro air filter is off a
> VW van, but is now half the price of the (same) van filter.
>
> --
>  Phil Payne
>  UK Audi quattro Owners Club
>  Phone +44 7785 302803  Fax +44 870 0883933