The Forester we are signing the paperwork on Tuesday is going to need a new alternator.  To keep the price of the car down, my mechanic saved a couple of repairs for me and that's one of them.  Simple to do in about 5 mins but in searching for the part, the new ones are $112 and the "remanufactured" ones are $85.  

Is this a time to spend the extra $30 or save it?

Thanks

-Emt1581

New typically = all Chinese crap

Reman = oe guts remanufactured with Chinese crap

I vote third. Well tested junkyard unit

ETA

On a newer vehicle this may not completely be the case. But on older stuff like my 90 burb the state of aftermarket parts is absolutely deplorable

remanufactured alternators require a core

some new do but its a lower priced core

Junkyard hopping could bring a better score but know that alternator its out in the elements with no care. might go through many duds before you get one that works

Reman with warranty if its easily replaceable.

I'm confused.  Usually when I buy a part...it's a complete part.  Unbolt the old part, bolt on the new part...win!  

So with this....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alternator-Output-75A-Fits-99-00-Subaru-Impreza-99-02-Forrester-5S-/350956393483?fits=Year%3A2001%7CModel%3AForester&hash=item51b6a1940b&vxp=mtr

What exactly do I have to do other than install it...so that it works right??

Thanks

-Emt1581

That's a complete alternator.  You just bolt it on.  Unless the engine compartment is crammed or the engineers hid the alternator somewhere stupid, they're really easy to change.  

Buy a Haynes, Chilton, or Clymer repair manual for your car for $20.  It will show you how to do it, and also how to do lots of other stuff.  Everyone should have a repair manual for their vehicle.

There are basically 4 levels of reman parts.



Cheap house brand with 1 year warranty, only use if you are desperate



Cheap house brand with a lifetime warranty, usually same part as above in a different box



OEM reman with lifetime warranty, ie AC-Delco or Motorcraft. This is the level I buy. They are rebuilt back to factory specs. If the shafts are worn they use over sized bearings and they use OEM quality parts.



New I guess this could be categorized twice as well. New aftermarket, ymmv, could be decent but more than likely some Chinese knockoff full of cheap crap. OEM new if you can afford it is great, however I don't see the sense in paying the premium increase over the OEM reman.

I haven't seen the oem remans or new available in YEARS

parts houses stopped carrying them and I doubt dealerships do either for something 15 years old. That's what I've been bitchin about, nowadays you just have the first two options and THATS IT

I guess I am lucky, we have a local AC-Delco parts house, I can usually find a Delco for just about any vehicle. If I cant, I order online. Even my old 69 F100 has a delco starter and alternator lol.



 

delete

AC-Delco used to be a good product, but anything other that vehicles 5-6 years old and it is the same junk as the cheap line from Auto Zone, you just pay more. I was long time good friends with the Delco/Motorcraft distributor in Cali. A dealership I was at replace 5 steering boxes from Delco, all were junk, very poor quality still nearly worn out, passages plugged. Finally the had me put on the gauges and drive it. Since the core was so bad, we went and got a Car-Quest steering box and it worked really good.

Anyway a week or so later was at the Delco/Motorcraft distributor, and mentioned about the steering boxes. The manager too me in the back, they had 3 PALLETS full of defective boxes to send back. Who ever had the contract for Delco had no idea what they were doing. Same with parts for older vehicles, just reboxed junk that Mighty sells.


I haven't seen the oem remans or new available in YEARS

parts houses stopped carrying them and I doubt dealerships do either for something 15 years old. That's what I've been bitchin about, nowadays you just have the first two options and THATS IT

This !! I bought a real Nippondenso for my Honda . You can get a good product and do it once or gamble with less

I bought a reman alternator for my 98 Frontier from Auto-Zone when the stocker went out at 110K miles.
That lasted for 14K, then it went out.


I bought a new factory alternator, installed that and it was going strong when I sold the truck with 136K.

I prefer to buy new as much as possible.  Quality of rebuilt parts are all over the map.  

Starters are usually ok rebuilt.  If they are Denso starters they usually only need the starter contacts anyway.  

I do NOT install rebuilt AC compressors.  Not worth the hassle IMO.  

For a $30 difference, I would only install the new alternator.

Did you read the post right above yours?

-Emt1581

for $30 given the cost of labor or your time, no brainer...

modern vehicles can be much more picky about alternators as they are computer controller.   I probably paid 3x for a Ford unit vs. Autozone crap, but it finally fixed my charging light and my voltage went down to +/- .1-.2 V at idle vs 1.1V.

Electrical issues are a pain in the ass and one of the times OBDII codes aren't very informative or accurate.

Whatever you do, stay the fuck away from Advance Auto reman parts!  Lately I've been getting better luck from O'reilly's Auto Parts.  I expect once word gets out their parts are holding up, they will switch to a POS reman facility. Honestly, see if the dealership can get you new if you plan on keeping the car long term.  Cry once.

The more a pain in the ass a part is to change, also get the better, more expensive part. OEM new or salvage yard is much better than remanufactured or parts store brands.

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When I worked for the shithole that we know as AutoZone, they would pass out flyers that boasted the features of the reman stuff sold under the house brand.  I distinctly remember noticing that the only parts replaced were the brushes and bearings.  Everything else was TESTED and CLEANED.  Thus, you could be buying an alternator with stator windings on their last legs, or solid state voltage regulators that were a few hundred miles from going out...point being, as long as that component tested OK at the time the rebuilder tested it, they reused it.  I saw alternators brand new out of the box with voltage regulators that you could clearly tell had been used.  

Hell I went through three reman starters for my trans am before I sold the car (not related to the starter issue).  It sucks but it is what it is.