Aftermarket UEL reliability?

[Submarinesonce]

im running the CNT uel, lots of autocross, drag strip a few times, planning to finally do a real track day this year. i wrapped the header, because i believe higher underhood temps could lead to coilpack failure...but ive got no hard evidence. just go for it.

[Zentec]

OP,
As long as you buy a quality product and install it properly you should have no problem. I would do research to find out what parts will work the best for your specific goals. If it costs a little more save to get quality. An oil cooler will help in over all longevity and helps keep oil pressure stable.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by NRXRaptor

Do you have data to back those numbers up, because I can pull numbers from my colon as well.

Also OP, JDL offers a lifetime warranty on their products

For OP a lifetime warranty is great, just have to ship to/from the Philippines.

Aftermarket warranty claim percentage vary wildly by industry. For OEM, here's a reference as you requested. I'm sure tcoat can chime in with his own internal figures if he wants to.

http://www.warrantyweek.com/archive/ww20150409.html

Note the supplier percentage being relatively consistent, but OEM data being up and down. Many claims on the OEM side is not passed onto suppliers because they decided to eat the cost or it's part of a recall.

Japan suppliers would probably see a similar percentage, if not less.

[NRXRaptor]

Originally Posted by mav1178

For OP a lifetime warranty is great, just have to ship to/from the Philippines.

Aftermarket warranty claim percentage vary wildly by industry. For OEM, here's a reference as you requested. I'm sure tcoat can chime in with his own internal figures if he wants to.

http://www.warrantyweek.com/archive/ww20150409.html

Note the supplier percentage being relatively consistent, but OEM data being up and down. Many claims on the OEM side is not passed onto suppliers because they decided to eat the cost or it's part of a recall.

Japan suppliers would probably see a similar percentage, if not less.

Shipping to/from the philippines and burger land would be terrible I didn't notice that. Good luck finding data to show the failure rate of aftermarket parts though. This link to me does not prove that OEM parts are more reliable than aftermarket parts. It all depends. To me, it depends on who makes the part and who installs the part. Very few things that have gone wrong for me have been due to a defective product. The only thing that comes to mind is a liquid cpu cooler that started leaking within days of my installing it. I returned it and got one that was backed by a nice big 6 year warranty, which is an eternity for a computer component.

If something goes wrong its usually because I use it incorrectly. For instance, last year I damaged my headphones by repeatedly picking it up by the "can" as opposed to by the headband. It was repaired under warranty. For what its worth, I'm generally pretty good at treating my things well. Electronics that I own last much longer for me than those owned by my brother

As far as cars go, nothing on my car has gone critically wrong, not in its stock state nor in its modded state that can be attributed to manufacturer defect unless you count a chirping high pressure fuel pump. So far the only things that have gone wrong were due to the dealership not wiring my foglight switch correctly and me stupidly not insulating wires with electrical tape. In both instances the fuse box did its job. My opinion is that most things go wrong due to user error

All that being said this is just one giant anecdote that may or may not mean anything to anyone

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by NRXRaptor

This link to me does not prove that OEM parts are more reliable than aftermarket parts. It all depends. To me, it depends on who makes the part and who installs the part. Very few things that have gone wrong for me have been due to a defective product. The only thing that comes to mind is a liquid cpu cooler that started leaking within days of my installing it. I returned it and got one that was backed by a nice big 6 year warranty, which is an eternity for a computer component.

I can be very specific on examples of warranty claims and percentages, but then I'd reveal 90% of the OEM makers for aftermarket performance brands out of Japan, Taiwan, and most of Southeast Asia that do not manufacture their own products in-house.

This would cover a lot of brands you and I are familiar with, and it would burn many, many bridges for a lot of people.

The percentages aren't pulled out of nowhere, I used to (and still am) dealing with aftermarket parts warranty claims. The biggest difference between OEM and performance aftermarket is that OEM have much higher QC at the manufacturing level (and thus lower levels of outright failure), whereas performance aftermarket usually have higher profit margins and thus outright replacement of a defective product is honored immediately.

In the end, the end user gets the same result.

You did point out one major factor that goes unnoticed by most: "who installs the part". Too many DIY/armchair mechanics install their own products with no real idea of how to diagnose a problem.

For full disclosure, the segments I've been involved in include exhausts, wheels, suspension kits, suspension components, engine components, head gaskets, body kits, OE Performance brands, and if you want to count non-automotive, I've worked at a top 3 OEM MB/VGA maker, as well as in multi-billion e-commerce handling direct vendor accounts.