[Amukherjea]

The poll is too restrictive. Either or scenario.
Actually all depends on which specific part one is talking about. Will any one buy tyres from OEM??
Will I ever buy safety related engine parts from some road side vendor. No.
Wipers aftermarket is ok. So is cosmetic and non structural parts.
As previous comments indicate it is a case to case basis. I have not voted as for me it is none of the above.

[RGK]

I always use OEM components for vital spares like brake pads, wheel bearings, and engine timing belts, but I use non-OE parts for non-critical spares like OVRMs, grab handles, branded oils, and lights.

One should not forget, as part of the OE component, dealerships charge a hefty fee. Uno Minda supplies the same tail lamp to a variety of manufacturers, with a significant price variation between OE and non-OE.

[adisan]

Similar to what many others have said, only OEM for vital parts. Non-OEM is ok for wipers. I prefer ASC servicing even if a bit more expensive.

[Blow Horn Ok]

While buying parts for my 2010 figo, I got Ford oe for critical parts like clutch, pressure plate, timing belt, filters etc. For all four shock absorbers, tie rod ends and stabilizer link rods, got Monroe. One thing I have noticed is, filters and other regular maintenance parts are cheaper if it's Ford.

Voted for "depends".

[PaddleShifter]

Depends.

Those who have owned the original Hero Honda Karizma know this for a fact.

OEM Timing chain tensioner:
Cost: Rs1000.
Lasts: Few months to one year.

Aftermarket timing chain tensioner:
Cost: Rs150
Lasts: Years.

I buy genuine, OEM parts except in situations where OEM part is known to last less.

[Altocumulus]

Voted DEPENDS.

For me it would depend on the Vehicle. For VWs/Skodas I would prefer Non-OE parts, not because it is cheaper but because the quality is way superior compared to OE ones especially after this localization trend. Frankly, maybe the non-OE parts are costlier as well sometimes. For my Laura Tsi, I used quite a few aftermarket parts for airfilter, suspension, fuel filter, timing kit, etc.

Suspension parts I would also prefer going the Non OE route, like I did in my previous Honda Civic 8th Gen. Moved to Sachs and they so good compared to the OE ones.

As a matter of fact, in my 2020 Rapid, I hate the OE Gabriels. It's only 10k in the odo and am already planning to move to Sachs dampers with Lemforder mounts very soon.

For Maruti's and Hyundais I would stay with OE parts.

For me quality matters, whoever gives me the best quality, I would go with them. Cost is not the deciding factor.

[goenkakushal]

I think going for Non OEM parts is safe only if you are aware about reputed alternate supplier.

Few brands which are often OES to the OEM gives you similar quality at reasonable price.
However, you may experience slight difference in quality even if the same company has supplied to OEM. As OEM often have stringent quality standards.

Eg. Monroe is a Suspension OES to Maruti but when you buy non MGP Monroe from the market, quality may be slightly inferior than the MGP Monroe.

Monroe
Gabriel
TRW
Bosch
Delphi
Brembo
Hella

I feel its safe to go for these non OEM parts coming from reputed manufacturers. There are many Indian and Chinese manufacturers of unknown brand which should be definitely avoided.
I would still avoid non OEM parts for critical components related to engine, Clutch or Gearbox. When it comes to Brake Pads, Suspension bushing, Struts etc going for reputed OES looks safe. You should still be mentally prepared for 1% chance of minor niggles.

I have been using non OEM brake pads of TRW on my Altis which are as good as OEM pads in all aspect . They have already completed 35k Km and still running good where as my OEM Pads gone kaput much earlier.

[Sach_511]

I have learnt this in a very hard way, never ever used non OEM parts, especially in Maruti car's for which parts are dirt cheap and genuine parts are available every nook and corner (at least in New Delhi).

[TheVegabond]

Voted OEM.

I have always stuck to OEM parts and authorized service centers for maintaining my car except for once when there arose a sudden need of an outstation trip to my hometown and the authorized service center was running out of stock for brake pads.

I got the brake pads replaced from a nearby garage which had been operating for many years (reason for assuming it to be trust worthy).

Result: the disc on driver side started to squeak after about 300kms.

As soon as I got back from the trip, I went to the authorized service center and got the discs skimmed and ordered for new brake pads. The difference in cost was more than double but worth in my opinion.

I would have spent about 30-40k extra by sticking to authorized service center for maintenance and spares but that kept the car in great shape for more than 1 lac kms. And, when I recently sold it after about 8 years of ownership, got 60% of the price that I bought the car for

What more could I ask for.

[abhi9044]

I'll share my experience!

Case 1: An indicator relay in my friend's Maestro Edge goes bad. Got it replaced by a OEM one. Two days later it goes bad again. Replaced it with a Uno Minda one. It has been a year since then and still no problems.

Case 2: Speedometer of my Maestro went Kaput. Bought a non branded one and it lasted 5k kms. The money i saved was mere 50 rupees. For that 50 rupees that i saved, i got a part that failed 15k earlier.

Case 3: Replaced the rear shock absorber of my Maestro with a Gabriel one.
OEM(Munjal Showa Made)- Lasted 35k
Gabriel- Lasted a mere 1.5k

The MSL one, even though it was bad, I was still not able to press it using my hand. With the Gabriel unit, I could easily do that! The Gabriel was also 300-400gms lighter than the MSL one.

For Filters, I would always stick to OEM ones. I've seen a video on YouTube where the owner of a Vento 1.5Tdi replaced his Oil Filter with a non OEM one and ended up having a torn oil filter!

Looking at the filters available for Wagonr, i concluded that OEM filter is quite a better one when compared to aftermarket ones. Same goes for the AC Filter as well.

Only thing that i prefer buying aftermarket is, some good Engine Oil.

And also, i would buy aftermarket parts if their quality is superior to that of OEM one.

-Abhishek

[bravo82in]

Voted depends
We have missed an entire category of parts: OEM used parts from scrapped/ totalled cars.
We tend to keep cars for long 10-12 years. Prefer OEM parts any day up to 8-9 years. Beyond that it depends on the cost of part vs resale value of vehicle. If it’s a regular wear and tear part we always go for OEM parts. If it’s a too expensive part then prefer part from old vehicles.

Case 1
Our Tata Indigo’s turbo failed at 5 years of life. The OEM was pretty expensive vis-à-vis the car value. Some how my FNG was able to source the OEM part from the Vendor directly. Costed less than 40% IIRC

Case 2
2 months back my 10 years old 145000km run Micra has issues with ECM/BCM. OEM parts were costing close to 1.3 L. Finally sourced parts from a scraped car. Much lighter in my pockets

Case 3
The Micra’s ORVM broke. Tried the Non OEM route. Ordered it online from Partsbigboss.in. Cost was less than 50% of OEM. Received a broken part first time. They sent a non compatible part second time. Returned both and refund took about 2 months that too they deducted the courier cost for no fault of me. Hands burnt and 2 months of headache went for the OEM parts with Boodmo.com Super happy with their services so far.

Case 4
When it comes to accessories generally it a mixed bag of OEM and non-OEM accessories. All electric components are OEM for better quality, risk of short circuit and fire and warranty issue. Aesthetic parts can be non OEM.

Regards
Bravo

[GrammarNazi]

Depends on many things, including mainly the car brand and part type.

OEM parts for the Timing Chain of my Fiat Linea cost 13k, whereas the same parts for the same engine used by Maruti SX4 cost just 8.5k. It was almost the same as FIATs then newly designed timing chain that was rated to last 90k kms, infact Maruti recommended it's rated at 1L km for the SX4. The mechanic claimed to've done it countless times. There was no reason why I should've stuck to OEM.

However, for the brake pads & discs, I stuck with OEM parts. Same with the water pump & thermostat valve (this one is slightly differently designed by FIAT).

My friend's Lineas' OEM turbo hose had ruptured the second time in the same year. He didn't find a compatible (all rubber) one from either Maruti or Tata (partly steel), so he went for an aftermarket one, which has lasted since.

Anther friend (this was almost 7-8 years ago) had an Altis & it's headlight bulb at the dealer cost 12k, but the same Philips (IIRC) bulb from the same specifications & same brand, cost him just 5k outside.

Many such parts are much cheaper after market, but well analysed, calculated & informed decisions are the way to go. There's no "one method fits all". How you take care of your car depends on what you analyse to be the best decision. Mindlessly sticking to OEM isn't always fruitful.

IMO it's better to change at any service center - this way you always have a note from a 3rd party stating an oil & oil filter change (including its date, type etc). This reflects well on the service history of one's car.

[Drive_30]

Will go with the OEM parts 99% of the time, non oem parts will only do it for non vital parts which may not hinder the safety of the vehicle.

[Viju]

Depends.

This is what I follow:

1) For mechanical parts, go for OE parts. OEMs spend a lot of money designing and developing their components during new model development. I would rather pay the premium and have peace of mind.

BUT,
* OEMs don’t manufacture all their components. If you know the supplier of the OEM part, you can buy genuine part from that supplier from the open market and avoid paying the OEM’s mark-up. This is also true for accessories where the mark-ups can be up to 100%.

** If my car is a global model, but the one sold in my country has had some cost cutting done by the manufacturer, I will look at the possibility to procure the higher spec component from the global model, but again OE.

***If I have a budget model, and a premium model from the same manufacturer has a higher spec component of the same design, I will definitely a bit more and ‘upgrade’ to it when it’s time for replacement.

2) For consumables like wiper blades, tires, oil and brake pads, filters, if you know what you’re doing, there is no reason to go with non-OE parts and save some money.

[TorqMaster]

In India i think its best to stick with OEM or OEM supplier parts.

While in the US i have used Napa parts and those have been running trouble free for a long time.