Eric didn’t start his Thursday intending to lose his patience. But after decades wrenching on cars in upstate New York, the mechanic has learned that nothing ruins a good day in the bay quite like a bad “new” part.
A Buick rolled into his three-bay shop for a simple inspection. The owner just wanted whatever would earn the sticker. Well, Eric found himself knee-deep in what every working tech now knows too well: modern replacement parts that fail straight out of the box.
Let me just say, by the way, that this rant is laced with clear technical skill and diagnostic ability. It’s worth a watch just to see how brilliant a good mechanic really is.
Two other shops already tried and failed to clear its check-engine light.
The codes were basic stuff: a bad air diverter valve and a faulty vent valve. Simple enough, in theory.
But when Eric ordered brand-new replacements from a well-known parts supplier, both pieces were dead on arrival. One valve wouldn’t open at all. The other reported zero volts on the sensor line.
That kind of nonsense used to be rare. Now it’s daily life.
Because half the time, what’s supposed to fix the problem is the problem.
He said the trend has gotten worse over the past decade, and the odds of getting two bad parts in one order are higher than most customers believe.
When that happens, it’s not just the part supplier’s reputation that takes a hit. It’s the trust between mechanic and driver.
It’s a frustration anyone in the trade understands.
As manufacturers outsource more and more, and fewer and fewer talented folks opt for industry manufacturing jobs, quality controls slide.
It’s not only aftermarket suppliers, either. The box might even say “OEM,” but even the brands that used to stand for reliability are filling their shelves with cheaper plastic and thinner metal.
I saw the same shift back when I managed a service department. Everything from coolant fittings to oil pans quietly changed from durable aluminum to composite materials. The parts looked clean and cost less, but they cracked, leaked, or warped.
So when Eric called that brand-new diverter valve “freaking trash,” he wasn’t being dramatic. He was speaking for every mechanic watching quality slide, warranty claims pile up, and customers lose faith in what “new” used to mean.
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Sarah Kennedy is the Editor-in-Chief of MotorBiscuit. She joined the team as Managing Editor in 2021 and has more than 20 years of automotive and operations expertise. She held ASE certifications as an Automotive Service Consultant and Parts Specialist and was a licensed car salesperson for many years. Sarah often focuses on helping drivers navigate used car buying and vehicle ownership. She created “Shop Smarts,” a column for MOTOR Magazine, and was a contributor there for eight years. Her work earned her a Gold Medalist award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors in 2014 and Bronze Medalist awards from the International Automotive Media Competition in 2014 and 2015. She attended the Automotive Management Institute and earned her bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University.

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