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?

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

value line parts are what you would find at autozones and such
and they seem to hold up

 

2 years ago i ordered and got parts for my 72 cuda right from d.c
new airdam insert and door handles and 4 wheel house moulding that where rare as
hell to get and fender mounted turnsignal bezels for my 69 port'and a 3 speed
wiper switch 10 years my ass

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

....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')

 

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.