OEM vs aftermarket parts

[acarver81]

After a long drawn out fight with my 9.9 merc, I took it down to the local marine mechanic. He found that the switch box was the problem and not a fuel problem as I had thought. He also said that it wasnt too hard for a shade tree mechanic to chage. My question to yall is this, what if any difference is there between OEM mercury parts and those from aftermarket manufacturers? I have done some price research and found that there are some for half the price. But since I am new to the boating world, I am not too familiar with these companies.

 

[corm]

Re: OEM vs aftermarket parts

Hi,

I have used both successfully.
All of them can fail too.

 

[emckelvy]

Re: OEM vs aftermarket parts

I've never had a "CDI" brand replacement ignition part fail. And they do stand behind their products with a great warranty if there are any problems.

IMHO................ed

 

[sschefer]

Re: OEM vs aftermarket parts

I'm with Ed. With any of the rest you don't know who's making them, even with Merc.

 

[verado7]

Re: OEM vs aftermarket parts

funny enough - i was at my local merc dealer yesterday to pick up a carb kit i had ordered monday ( it was friday when i went in ) . turns out everything but the gaskets arrived .... so i asked why they dont use a supplier thats only 100 miles away who deals with aftermarket parts and can have them over night even - the current supplier is over 3000 miles away. she said they dont trust them- period.

heres my take on it ...... aftermarket parts are assembled just like the oem one's but the oem ones have alot of shipping/handling-and extra costs like warranty replacements worked into the whole price structure and in some cases higher wages and other employee costs like benfits/pensions etc.

now take an aftermarket guy - he comes up with a brand name and buy's the same parts from the manufacturer at the same price as xyz marine engines and ships from a warehouse directly to you with the same warranty . i have bought carb kits from both and they both had the same markings just like they came out of the same machine ???????

if you were buying a part such as a manifold assembly for an inboard - i have seen aftermarket one's where the bolt holes were way off - was it a reject from the extra money you for mercury's quality control dept. or did the aftermarket guy find a small shop that wanted to cast there own brand of manifold - i suppose it could be either .

a switch box for my merc costs 472.00 canadian from mercury marine

brand x sells them for 182.00 which one am i gonna buy .

i wont hesitate to buy aftermarket as far as outboard motors go .

 

[acarver81]

Re: OEM vs aftermarket parts

I appreciate the help. After what seemed like days of searching online for the switchbox, I ordered the Mallory part for half of the price of the merc, from this site. It should be here soon and I will update this post as soon as I have the chance to test drive it.