I'm replacing an alternator on an old Ford Ranger truck, and I have three choices:

1. Cheap Reman, some old internals mixed with new internals, used case, around $100
2. Premium Reman w/all new internals, used case, around $160
3. Brand new everything including new case, $200

I'm thinking #2 or #3, prob not #1. I don't buy for warranty for car parts but use it instead as a gauge for quality of materials and build. Like batteries, better batteries have longer warranties, so I'm thinking similar behavior for certain types of car parts.

God I hope the better ones are not made in China.

What do you guys say ?

For $40 bucks, I'd go new.

How much do you rely on your truck?

The small difference in price for new makes the decision easy.

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
For $40 bucks, I'd go new.

Me too.

I would either take it to a trusted shop and have them rebuild it or buy a new one from the original equipment supplier. Some new alternators are still Chinese crap. I went through several alternators for a Honda until I bought one from the dealer. They would not take an aftermarket alternator as a core. It had to be an original equipment manufacturer unit.

I'd go new.

I've put 3 reman alternators on my daughters Rav4 over the past year and a half.

Got them from Advance Auto, first one was lifetime warranty reman, lasted 6 months and completely died. The 1st warranty replacement lasted 8 months until it died, and I've got 4 months on the 2nd warranty replacement. No, there isn't another issue that is killing them (all the other accessories are fine and a new serpentine belt and tensioner are on the vehicle, voltage regulator is internal on the alternator and the battery is new), they are just junk. The counter guy at Advance Auto says that their return rate on stuff like this is 2-3 times what it was before covid.

If this current one dies, I'll pony up for a new OEM Toyota one....

New is the only way to go.

New OEM. If you can find one.

I would also consider how difficult it is to change, in case the replacement fails.

New. God Bless !!!

1) "old" Ford Ranger - if it's nearly stock, the charging system isn't under heavy stress. Not sure if Ford did it the same, but S10s had hand-me-downs from full size, making them over-engineered/under stressed. And cheap.
2) it's likely anything of 'old' vintage is from US, the remans are very likely US-done, but components might be from across the pond. New ones might be made of Chinesium. Reman from a national parts store chain can sometimes be hit-or-miss depending on supply & there's no guarantee where it will come from. You know the history of what's already in the truck and opening it up & replacing what failed + wear items will make it as good as new.
3) See #1 - I'd take your failed to a local shop & have them rebuild it while I waited or ran some errands. But I also have one nearby that I know will do it for me. Last time I did it (been a while) was well south of $100. I buy 'blem' batteries from them too. No warranty, but enough savings to cover the odd issue. Probably literally a ton of tractor/semi/car/truck batteries from the same place.
4) If 3 isn't an option, I'd save the Benjamin & roll the dice. Play with house money on something I didn't depend on & is that easy to change.

I am with the group on this one. Go new OEM if you can find it. I have used remanufactured and they seem to always go bad within a year or so. I usually have goods luck buying from Rockauto.com.

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan:
I am with the group on this one. Go new OEM if you can find it. I have used remanufactured and they seem to always go bad within a year or so. I usually have goods luck buying from Rockauto.com.

I like, and use, RockAuto, but that was the 1st place that came to mind when I typed 'hit or miss'. You might as well get whatever Advance/Oreilly/AZ have in stock vs wait for the same thing from RA.
In my area, Napa>Advance>Oreilly>Autozone. RockAuto is somewhere in the middle, maybe even with Napa on some things. They all pull from the same distributors, but RA has the advantage of listing everything available.

"New OEM" takes on different meanings once a part is EOL* It goes from 'OEM supplier with a track record' to 'whoever will make it and we don't sell enough to justify giving a shit'. *I assume that most parts ~>15 years old are EOL on vehicles that have been discontinued, like the old Ranger - although some are used on other models for way too long for inexplicable reasons.
Reman from parts store - taking something that has already failed & putting the cheapest parts in it to get it back to working condition by the cheapest labor available. Or in recent times, any warm body willing to show up & get paid (note I didn't say 'show up to work').
Rebuild from a Alt shop - Diagnosing & replacing failed/worn parts. Usually more skill/pride put into work.

I’ve never had a problem with new alternators or starters from rock auto. I will not use reman, ever.

For the little difference I’d buy new. But I do want to challenge your belief that products with longer warranties are generally better. In my experience the opposite is true. I’ve found generally that crappier products have longer warranties. Of course there are exceptions, but I’ve found generally that long or lifetime warranties are promoted for products that wouldn’t otherwise sell due to their poor reputation.

How long are you planning on keeping this truck? Short time, cheapo. Long time, do it once and weep only once, put the better one on it.

How far do you drive it? If it breaks down on you would that failure put you or another in a risky situation (traveling through a urban area, late at night trips, use it to drive across the desert.) If these apply, same advice, put the better one on it.

quote:

Originally posted by snidera:

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan:
I am with the group on this one. Go new OEM if you can find it. I have used remanufactured and they seem to always go bad within a year or so. I usually have goods luck buying from Rockauto.com.

I like, and use, RockAuto, but that was the 1st place that came to mind when I typed 'hit or miss'. You might as well get whatever Advance/Oreilly/AZ have in stock vs wait for the same thing from RA. ....

I hear what you are saying. My beef with remanufactured is the quality you usually get. Most are mass produced and not remanufactured as you wait and with quality like things used to be. I know around here finding someone that would do it, and do it well is almost impossible. Have I dug under every rock, no but usually word of mouth will help find quality work and it isn't around here. Also to add to my original post, the last remanufactured alt I purchased for my F150 was from the Ford dealership. It lasted 13 months. Luckily my year 07' was still readily available for the new OEM to be still available.

It is like anything you buy now. It is all a gamble. seems more turds get produced than every year. And now throw in the PC era (Post Covid) and it seems everything is "just good enough". Due to everything, nothing seems to be as good as it used to be. Has always been slowly going that way, but the VID hit the gas peddle on poor quality coming to the market.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
For the little difference I’d buy new. But I do want to cha llenge your belief that products with longer warranties are generally better. In my experience the opposite is true. I’ve found generally that crappier products have longer warranties. Of course there are exceptions, but I’ve found generally that long or lifetime warranties are promoted for products that wouldn’t otherwise sell due to their poor reputation.

2022-05-25_10-55-35 by Andy Snider, on Flickr

Local auto electric shops are closing all over, the labor costs have put the rebuilt price over the rebuilt in Mexico or new made in Chy-na.

I would just go with the local parts store reman with the lifetime warranty.

Probably 100-150, it is hit or miss, but if it doesn't last you do the work again and parts store hands you another one, they can all fail early.

Buy online, pick up in store for best price

That's what I have been doing myself lately.

IF it's a fairly quick/easy install I will usually do the lifetime guarantee rebuilt.

Only ever had to replace one of those once. When I took it back after a couple years they asked no questions and did not even test it or require a receipt. They looked at a label on the unit and looked me up on their computer, brought out another one and said here you go. I was in and out in five minuets or less. That was at Advance Auto.