2002 Forester Tuneup: Best place for parts? My story...

[grasscutter96]

Seldom poster here.

Picked up a cherry 2002 Forester S for $800, basically due to a local mechanic giving the seller a huge repair bill.

Virtually none of it was correct either. But that's another story.

 

Doing a basic tuneup and decided to visit my local Subaru dealership here in Bellevue NE, and since they had everything I needed in stock, it got me thinking... where is best price and fastest place to get basic parts?  Everyone loves Amazon, right?  Local NAPA (or similar?), Dealership (or stealership as some say..).  Here's a quick write-up of what I purchased.

Amazon:

Plugs: $2.90ea.

Air Filter: OEM: $21.31

Oil Filter: OEM: $8.15

Transmission Filter: $28.03

Headlight Bulb: Silverstar Ultra: $21.99

Drivers side wiper: Bosch Winter: $21.95

Total: $113.03

 

NAPA Auto Parts

Plugs: $2.99ea

Air Filter: Napa Gold: $18.99

Oil Filter: Napa Gold: $8.49

Transmission Filter: $9.99

Headlight bulb: $27.49

Drivers wiper: TriCo winter: $19.49

Total: $96.41

 

Subaru Dealer

Plugs: $3.54

Air Filter: $19.14

Oil Filter: $7.98

Transmission Filter: $44.28

Headlight bulb: $27.54

Drivers Wiper: $18.95

Total: $132.05

Here's my takeaway: I matched up exact parts at each location. Like for like, or as close as i could get. Couple items stood out to me- the transmission filter at dealership was the ONLY item that was significantly higher priced (will get into that in a minute). And the OEM wipers are very nice quality. Definitely along the lines of a ultra-weather or winter type blade.

The biggest plus that I saw is I had all OEM parts in hand was back home in under 45min!  And on some items the dealership was only a few cents difference, and a couple items they had best price!

 

One of the issues this car supposedly had was a slipping transmission. Its been proven that older transmissions that have not had regular changes can exhibit problems when running non-OEM trans filters. This is because the OEM filter does not run full oil flow through the filter at all times, thus allowing the transmission to have more fluid pumping through its valves. I'm summarizing here to those transmission rebuilders that are reading please don't over analyze.  Aftermarket filters filter 100% of the oil, and the pressure relief valve is rated differently, thus causing lower trans fluid flow through the transmission.  This might not be an issue in consistently warm climates, but on cold winter days, I can see the aftermarket filters causing slow fluid rates, and delayed shifts. 

Anyways, I swapped the filter out and slipping was eliminated. 100% gone. You can guess what the shop was quoting them for a transmission rebuild or replacement!  So, is aftermarket really the best in all applications?  Saving money is good, but in this instance I say, NO!  Sure NAPA trans filter was cheapest, but it was a NAPA Gold trans filter that was the wrong filter on the car! 

Happy motoring to all....

[GeneralDisorder]

We use the Amsoil EA15K12 filters as they are rated for the transmission pressure, etc. Been using them for MANY years and have never experienced a problem. They are $16 or so. 

GD

[moosens]

No , not everyone loves Amazon. 
 

subarupartsforyou.com is one of the best you’ll find for online Factory Genuine Parts. 
 

Couple of your west coast dealers also not bad for online sales. 
 

Enjoy ! 

[brus brother]

+1 subarupartsforyou.com

[heartless]

Never buy basic tuneup parts from Amazon - far too many fakes/poor quality parts out there.

 

[grasscutter96]

Yeah, agree with that regarding Amazon. Not a fan, rarely used in my house.

Good info General Disorder.  I will be changing it all over to Amsoil this spring.  Running a quick change of Mobil 1 through it now, as the crap that was in there was super thick and gunky.  Will definitely use the Amsoil trans filter.  Thanks for the tip.

 

Another interesting / sad item about this car is that the mechanic told them the heads were leaking.  (They aren't). I did find 2 major engine oil leaks though.   1- leaking oil cooler o-ring, and 2-no crush washer on the drain plug!  Had to use a 2' breaker bar to get drain plug off. Can't believe it didn't damage the pan! Fixed those 2 leaks, power-washed underside of engine as it was totally filthy, and so far I'm seeing no leaks. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by grasscutter96

[Numbchux]

I use Amazon a lot, for a lot of things. But as mentioned you have to be very careful about counterfeit parts. Basically if it's anything that I care about brand or quality at all, I avoid Amazon.

With the fleet of cars that I own, and fact that they all need parts, I'm constantly shopping around. I keep a spreadsheet with all the upcoming parts purchases, and a separate page for each car. I ALWAYS start with OEM part number and price.

www.partsouq.com has complete, VIN specific parts diagrams. They also sell a lot of parts, OEM and quality aftermarket for a good price. It does ship from the UAE, though (pretty reasonable price and time frame, although should you need a refund for some reason, you are at the mercy of exchange rates to get back what you spent).

www.subarupartsdeal.com to check price and availability (looks like partsforyou has similar information. I've ordered from Toyotapartsdeal many times, so I also use their Subaru site).

www.rockauto.com. I make a several hundred dollar purchase from them about 3 times a year. I wait until I need a big list, and order all at once to save on shipping.

Lately I've been using www.carid.com more and more. They have some really good prices on genuine Mitsuboshi belts, NSK bearings, Aisin hard parts, etc. I just bought timing parts for my Lexus 1UZ engine for about a third the price of OEM.

 

Wiper blades are a huge profit source for brick and mortar stores. I've been buying Bosch Evolution beam blades on Rockauto for about $5 ea, and they're ~$15 in stores.

Dealership parts departments generally use one of 2 pricing structures, Matrix or Velocity (sometimes a combination of both). Matrix marks up above MSRP on low-dollar parts, generally anything under $300 or so will be ~15% over MSRP. Velocity marks up slow moving parts above MSRP, and fast moving/easy to compare parts below it. The dealership I worked at sold 4-cyl oil filters for $4.95 for that reason. It's a good idea to compare your parts to MSRP, and get an idea of their pricing structure so you can use it to your advantage.