Is Duralast A Good Brand For Parts?
When on the hunt for good spare parts, used or not, it can be hard knowing who to trust and who is simply there to make a quick buck. It is especially hard when it comes to cars as you could genuinely be risking your life by purchasing certain parts, like brake calipers, from less-than-reputable sources.
One brand that comes up a lot in these kinds of discussions is the spare parts manufacturer and dealer Duralast. Duralast is definitely one of the good guys and you can feel assured that you are in safe hands with them. But, is Duralast a good brand for parts, are they the best, what can you expect from Duralast parts in terms of longevity, and what are some better options on the market? We are going to get into all of that and more right here and now. Let’s get into it.
Is Duralast A Good Brand?
Duralast should absolutely be considered a good brand as they are far and away one of the more reliable and reputable manufacturers on the market. Duralast manufacture and distribute everything from entire engines to tie-rods all over the continental US and in some international markets.
Duralast is well respected in the auto parts market by everyday consumers as well as large professional institutions. If you are looking for a brand that has the support of the pros then Duralast is certainly an option. They have respectable business practices and fair and equitable warranty agreements so they can certainly be considered a safe choice for your auto parts needs.
Is Duralast A Good Brand Cost-Wise?
While the brief overview of Duralast may have painted them as an optimal choice in terms of their actual cost breakdown they are pretty middle of the park. They provide good parts that are, for the most part, built to last.
However, they are a bit too expensive for most people. Especially when compared to buying from alternative manufacturers or from alternative marketplaces. There very well may be a small window of people whose budget specifically fits the quality-to-cost ratio that Duralast operates with.
For many people, they are more likely to either go with something far cheaper that is only slightly poorer in quality or something a little more expensive that is quite a lot better in terms of quality. We will get into which manufacturers or marketplaces are a little pricey but quite a lot better further on in the article.
Is Duralast A Good Brand Reliability-Wise?
Duralast is certainly built to last and if you find that what they offer is what you need you can feel rest assured that you are getting a part that will stand the test of time. They offer a pretty decent warranty deal on some of their parts, but, compared to other sellers such as AutoZone they are vastly inferior.
If you take something like axles, which Duralast might give you a multi-year warranty on, AutoZone (for example) offers a lifetime warranty. Even if you felt inclined to believe that the Duralast parts were slightly better do you think that will still be the case 10 years from now? Will your 10-year-old Duralast axles be as good as a brand new free replacement axle? Who knows, maybe it could be. But probably not.
Is Duralast A Good Brand Compared To Autopartswarehouse Or Autozone?
These three marketplaces tend to crop up in the same conversations and they are highly comparable so that is to be expected. However, they are all quite different and offer different benefits compared to each other. For example, Duralast is built to last whereas Autozone is built to be decent but also reasonably cheap for Autozone to replace.
Auto parts warehouse is a nice blend between the two though they don’t always have as good of a variety of items in stock compared to Duralast. If you are in a three-way competition between these three brands it likely depends on what specific part you are looking at replacing and what kind of deals they have on offer.
It is always a good idea to shop around the three of them as they are all likely to have something that you want unless it is a super niche part that they don’t carry or make. This leads us on to the next section and what should likely be considered your best option. Even better than Duralast.
Is Duralast A Good Brand Compared To Buying OEM Parts?
Not really. And this is not to say that Duralast is a bad brand by any means. The problem for Duralast is that in terms of price they are so close to OEM prices that you may as well go with OEM parts that are more likely to be far better and you already KNOW are compatible with your car.
It also, in some cases, increases the likelihood that your mechanic can fix/replace parts easier and solve problems quickly as they already know all of the parts they are working with quite well. If you want to save a few % off of the price then sure Duralast is a great choice but for the sake of (what is very often) a few bucks, you may as well go with the original manufacturer parts.
A good flowchart to help you decide where to purchase parts would be to buy from OEM unless they either don’t carry the part you want for some reason or if Duralast is more than 10% cheaper.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now feel like you have a great idea about whether or not Duralast is the right fit for you. They are certainly a reputable brand that provides a high-quality product that is indeed built to last. And Duralast is clearly on par with its closest competitors Autozone and Auto Parts Warehouse.
But, when stacked up against most OEM options you will find that Duralast just doesn’t make sense. You may as well shell out a little more cash for some OEM parts. Thanks for reading, hopefully, you found this article quite helpful, and goodbye for now.
