Mopar "Value Line"

Chrysler often advertises a "Value Line" of brake pads, struts, shock absorbers and other assorted parts.

Is the "Value Line" any different than the regular part that you would get if you looked up the part number on the parts list for your car? Is it cheaper / better / or just a marketing thing for dealer service?

Reply to
Greg Houston
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My personal experience was windshield wipers for a Voyager minivan.

The value line was half the price. The quality seemed pretty good. They lasted a full 6 months, which is better, slightly better than Pep Boys Trico, as I vaguely recall.

But when I went to replace my rear windshield wiper, they no longer stocked the item because it was exactly more than 10 years old. Do other manufacturers do this too?

In any case, there is not a Value Line rear windshield wiper in existence, so it's apparently generic automotive store stuff. I cannot really replace my rear windshield wiper now because it's get the spritzer attached and does not really fit any other frame. I have to replace just the rubber which is a bit of a hassle. I wanted to replace the entire thing since I thought the metal was weakening but the 160 degree swipe may just be a poor design instead of a nice half moon.

When I went to replace my thermostat I used the OE part which was 3 times Pep Boys. I don't know if they had a Value Line but I was not interested. I wanted the original Mitsubishi part and not a Stant or equivalent.

Reply to
treeline12345

No. Chrysler seems to purge it's spares at exactly 10 years, after that it's damn near impossible to get anything from them that is not a common replacement item. Very few people would buy a winshield wiper from the dealer due to the expense - you can get an off-the-shelf Trico or Anco wiper blade for a few bucks, and it takes as much time to slip it into the Mopar holder as it does to replace the entire wiper blade and holder, which will cost at least $10 per wiper (aftermarket price) and who knows what from the dealer.

If yours is not swiping 180 degrees it's probably something in the rear wiper motor, replacing the wiper arm and wiper holder would do nothing.

This is rather strange since I thought that Stant is Chrysler's supplier - at least, Stant as won the Chrysler Q.E. Award several times. It would surprise me if Chrysler was giving awards to companies that didn't supply them!

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

Thats all we use at the dealer is value line brake pads/shoes. They are as good as the linings that came with the vehicle. Some of the older vehicles that require rotors and caliper pins mounting hardware come as a complete package around $170.00

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Reply to
maxpower

The parts guy suggested the Value Line for $10 instead of the Chrysler part for $20. I was a bit surprised by the 10 year drop dead date. If I had known, I would have purchased the one squirter rear windshield wiper. The windshield wiper with two squirters attached is extended beyond the 10 years, probably because it's still being used for newer cars.

I agree about replacing just the rubber. But that rear windshield is awkward to bend back enough to get at the rubber. Although the last time I did it, it was in the parking lot of Pep Boys without any tools. Very undignified but it works. Now I know to get the narrow rubber for the rear windshield and that's all that matters.

I did not express this accurately. I am getting the full motor swipe. It's just the very top part of the blade is not making the contact/swipe. So instead of a half moon, it's like a 1/3rd moon and annoying. It's not all that relevant for safety because I am not worried about airplanes rear ending me.

Using degrees to express this was not a good idea. Generally between a half moon and a quarter moon is what I wanted to say. Hmm, that's really 120 degrees then. It looks like when the moon is "trine" as expressed in astrology or possibly astronomy.

I think I read that others have complained that the swipe is not a pure half-circle, more like a what, ellipse? It's trivial but to fix it is complex.

I checked out both parts carefully which is why I chose the Chrysler Mitsubishi part. I liked the way the OE part was made. It seemed better metal and a better method for that little release thingee. But the Stants I checked out were a pure Stant from Pep Boys. I looked at both Stants, I think, they had a regular and a premium (two different manufacturers if this is not the case?). But not as good as the OE part in my uneducated opinion.

Okay, the engine is a Mitsubishi 3.0 Liter V-6 and wait, I still have the box, yup, the box says Mitsubishi on it. And that release thingee is well-made, a little hole and a tiny metal barbell in it. Just seemed better engineered than the Slant at Pep Boys.

Reply to
treeline12345

The value line is a marketing product. The dealers wanted to compete with the Midas type chains. The dealer's complained that the OEM parts were to expensive to compete with 'Low Line" pricing structure of the aftermarket so Mopar decided to introduce Value-Line and have dealers market it at the same pricinf structures. Know I havn't been with Mopar for 3 years, but at that time Mopar could not introduce Value-line for somemodels in Brakes, as the engineers for the vehicles had to right off and the specifications. I think Jeep and the pick-ups could not have value-line brakes, as they had squeeling issues and alot of warranty brake jobs were being done to correct the problem. Value-Line is essentually the parts you get at the parts stores. Oem numbers are engineered to higher tolerences. When I was with Mopar part of our job was to call dealers and midas type stores for quotes. Most of the time dEalers were cheaper or the same as Aftermarket providers. I always Phone the dealer for a price before a jobber.

Reply to
David

Reply to
philthy

Reply to
philthy

the 10 years is accurate for me. go or call up any chrysler dealership and ask for a rear windshield wiper for a Voyager minivan from 1994 [short wheel base] that has the single squirter. They are not available from Chrysler.

okay, philthy? my ass, as you ended it, that's funny

Reply to
treeline12345

Or go call up Chrysler and get a 91-95 Power Transfer Unit mounting bracket that is correctly machined for those years. You won't get it you will get a PTU mounting bracket that is correct for the 1996-and-later vans, the 91-95 part has been discontinued. The newer one looks the same but is wider and will not fit.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

I know that some times the dealer is the same price as the aftermarket but this is only for parts that are also available in aftermarket. For parts like a fuel level sender that are dealer-only the DC dealers screw you over royally. $80 for a cheap piece of plastic? Or $10 for a 2 foot length of crankcase breather hose? Faugh!

I have to buy enough specialty Chrysler parts at the rediculous pricing that I will never give the DC dealer any business for parts that are supplied by aftermarket, unless the dealer is really amazingly cheaper. But so far they either are matched or maybe a few bucks cheaper.

Apparently Mopar feels it's OK to rape you on parts pricing when they are the sole supplier. What they don't realize is that when they nickel and dime me $10 for a hose that cost them about 50 cents, that they are losing out on hundreds of bucks of parts for stuff that they have competition on, simply because of the ill will that it generates with me.

I think the same thing is true for a lot of other people as well, it is too bad that Mopar doesen't seem to understand this.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

...Or $16 for a vent wire made of a foot or so of a single piece of common automotive stranded wire with a crimped on poke-home terminal on one end to fix a design problem in a low oil pressure switch. But they are not the worst at it. The worst I ever ran into OEM parts price gouging was with Mazdas (this was 5 or 6 years ago - I don't know if their relationship/platform commonality with Ford has moderated their parts pricing structure or not. Standard dime-a-dozen construction motor mount: $200+; similar type mount for a Cadillac DeVille: $35-40. Ignition switch for Mazda $200+; Cadillac ignition switch: $35.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Very good- you found a nest of old parts that hadn't been cleansed from inventory and discarded.

Now go and get me a throttle cable for a 1993 Dodge Intrepid 3.5L. I dare you. And if by some miracle you get one, I really do need one, but the damn Chrysler parts network seems to believe that no one ever will need that part.

:-p

Reply to
Steve

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