I was just informed by Ford that my 2014 Focus has a collapsed/broken motor mount $310.00 and a crack in the coolant bottle $352.00 it’s never over heated, there’s no rattle or shaking of the engine. It only has 80k miles, am I being played?
Ford Corporation? Or your Ford dealer?
I’ll assume dealer. No way for us to determine if you are being “played” or not. We can’t see the engine mount nor can we see the coolant bottle. The dealer’s mechanic can see the parts, and so can you if you ask to see them.
The price seems a bit high but if you drove it in, you can drive it back out and take it to a well-rated independent auto service shop - no chains - and get a second estimate. You don’t have to get your car serviced at the dealer. You still want your parts to come FROM Ford, though.
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Ford doesn’t make the motor/transmission mounts nor the coolant bottle.
So why would you suggest that?
Tester
The $100 ford labeled motor mount for my kids focus is soft/quiet. The $20 non ford labeled one buzzed/rattled like a mofo. Does ford dealer sell non-ford labeled motor mounts? So the mount that has a ford logo and came in a ford labled bag is a counterfeit model that ford has in their supply system? Like a $40 Gucci purse you buy on CL?
That would be the same as buying a Motocraft oil filter from the Ford dealer. Ford didn’t make the filter because Ford doesn’t make oil filters.
A filter manufacturer made the oil filter. They just put the Motorcraft logo on the filter body and the box it came in.
So yes!
Tester
Ford is going to use a quality filter manufacturer.
If you get XYZ brand motor mounts from a parts store it could very well be a grossly inferior copy. As Cavell pointed out, the generic mount buzzed/rattled, while the Ford mount was a quality product.
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No.
Ford is going to purchase the oil filters from a supplier who submits the lowest bid for the oil filters.
That’s how the auto industry works.
Tester
But those parts will also meet or exceed Fords minimum specifications.
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Lowest bidders still need to meet specifications.
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And that’s why when you purchase an aftermarket auto part, you demand that it means or exceeds the OEM’s specifications.
This is not rocket science.
Tester
We weren’t talking aftermarket parts that meet or exceed. We were talking cheap generic versus brand name.
However my FM mufflers certainly do NOT meet or exceed Ford specifications for sound reduction.
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Then that means you get what you pay for.
Right?
I’ve been repairing vehicles for almost fifty years. And very rarely do purchase parts from the dealer. I’ve rarely had a problem with aftermarket parts.
Tester
Rock Auto has 2 coolant bottles for your car, one is $26 the other $42. I would think that would be a pretty easy do it yourself fix. The motor mount I would take to an independent repair shop.
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So they don’t use sub standard parts.
And as far as aftermarket parts meeting factory specs - the factory doesn’t publish those specs. The aftermarket is reverse engineering the part and that is not always easy or accurate. The aftermarket is also trying to service as many cars as possible with the same part and so fit is not always as good as factory. The aftermarket part may work while not being as good as the OE supplier part, unless, of course the OE supplier sells aftermarket.
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Read and learn.
Tester
I have no issue with aftermarket parts, if I can be certain their quality is as good or better than oem. That’s the problem, it’s hard to know. At least with oem, you’d think you could be somewhat certain that the part quality would be as good as what came on the car.
I have experienced problems using aftermarket sensors and electronic parts. The aftermarket purge valve solenoid I put on my truck was more expensive than the AC Delco part. It failed open in about 2 weeks, making the check engine light come back on. I replaced it with an ac Delco unit and all has been well.
The Dorman crash sensor I used on the truck has been fine, though. And was much cheaper than oem. Not sure if the airbag would come out if I had a crash, but at least the airbag light is gone!
So it can be difficult to choose. If the oem price isn’t outrageous, I try to stick to oem parts. However, they can be bought elsewhere for 1/3 to 1/2 what most dealerships charge.
The last part I bought at the dealer was a plastic brake pedal bushing. It was only a few bucks, so I didn’t price shop. The same dealership wanted crazy money for brake shoes and pads, so I bought those elsewhere.
Another thing to realize is, for some people, the closest dealer can be 100 miles a way. Where as, the parts store in town is only a couple of miles down the road.
Tester
I try to avoid “the zone” from past experience with some of their house brand parts.
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So I am to believe this is the end-all-be-all definitive tome on aftermarket parts vs OE? Written by a copywriter who is currently a sports writer in LA?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brady-klopfer-1031a585/
I read, I didn’t learn anything more than my 27 years of actually designing OE parts for automobiles from Brad’s article.
I didn’t see any real rebuttal to this comment from you or from Brady.
As for price, Ford seems to price things pretty fairly - not like Mercedes Benz or GM’s huge markups. The hydraulic mount RockAuto calls “OE” from DEA/Marmon Ride Control is $50 while the actual Ford OE part is $72. I’ve found that to be true of my local Ford dealer. Their prices on replacement parts is very often in line, if not cheaper than the exact same part sold by Napa or O’Reilly’s. That’s one reason I recommended a Ford part for the OP’s car.
Marmon Ride Control’s own website says this about them:
Provides a variety of motor mounts to the automotive aftermarket. The company’s products are sold by leading auto parts stores and used by repair and installation specialists.
Which means they are not an OE supplier by their own admission so the mount is aftermarket, not OE and is not privy to Ford’s design specs for that mount. Marmon’s product is a copy. It might be just fine, it might not. Given the price comparison, why not buy the actual OE part?
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For something like the motor mount, where the replacement is long and involved ($$$), I’d go for the Ford part. For the coolant bottle (assuming it’s not hard to replace) I’d go Rockauto all the way.
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