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I think the market will rise to meet the need for alternative to manufacturer parts. Look at the availability of iPhone spares, for example. Whole screen, touch

I think the market will rise to meet the need for alternative to manufacturer parts. Look at the availability of iPhone spares, for example. Whole screen, touch digitiser, front camera : $20. That said, I think the automotive parts industry is an incredible achievement and I’m constantly blown away by the availability of stuff. Btw I run howacarworks.com and I’m working on a parts-based startup. I’d love to pick your brains. Drop me an email: alex@howacarworks.com.

close04 8y ago
> Whole screen, touch digitiser, front camera Usually cheap after market replacement parts in phones really act according to their price. I haven't seen a quality replacement part for these prices. Nothing close to the original anyway. As anecdata, every case I know where an iPhone screen was replaced with a cheap AM part it ended up being replaced again later with an official one. I'm not talking about Apple induced issues but problems with colors, banding, viewing angles, glare, touch response, thickness, etc. These are random articles I found while looking for pictures that highlight these issues [0] [1]. I'm sure this can very well extend to batteries or cameras. This may be acceptable for a phone (even in the $1000 range) but in a car it poses a genuine safety risk. Also it undermines the premise of the original expenditure with the car. If you invest $50.000 in a car you may have an incentive to not use a low quality battery pack for example. [0] https://discdepotstandrews.co.uk/copy-iphone-screens-vs-originals/ https://discdepotstandrews.co.uk/copy-iphone-screens-vs-orig... [1] https://www.hotshot.repair/mo/columbia/office-banter/lets-talk-about-the-difference-between-original-and-aftermarket-iphone-screens/ https://www.hotshot.repair/mo/columbia/office-banter/lets-ta...
- jdpedrie 8y ago
  > If you invest $50.000 in a car you may have an incentive to not use a low quality battery pack for example. And if you have a phone which is worth the investment, you'll likely pay more for the better replacement part. Maybe take it to the Apple store rather than the shady kiosk on the corner. Likewise, there are a range of quality/price options for replacement auto parts. If I'm working on a car that cost me $1800 and is on its last legs, the aftermarket part for half the price of OEM is fine, even if it's only expected to last half as long. People are perfectly capable of making those judgements calls and weighing the tradeoffs, as proven by the market for both phone parts and auto parts. The battery itself /may/ be something of an exception. I'd imagine as they become more commoditized that concern will become less applicable.
  - close04 8y ago
    My point was that you may be more lax when talking about things order(s) of magnitude cheaper. But overall yes, cheaping out on parts savotges the entire expenditure.
- rchaud 8y ago
  Those prices certainly look suspiciously low. $20 will just barely cover a disposable screen protector, let alone an actual iPhone replacement screen and camera.
- sokoloff 8y ago
  > If you invest $50.000 in a car You spent $50K on a car, you don't invest in a car, outside of some of very specific cases (some classic cars and some exotics that are reasonably expected to increase in value).
  - close04 8y ago
    That is an assumption since I didn’t go into the topic. And it’s semantics anyway. A car can very well be an investment, which doesn’t mean it should increase in value, simply that it produces value (carrying stuff for money can bring back more than the car is worth). Which is when taking care of it is more critical, to come back to my point.

close04 8y ago

> Whole screen, touch digitiser, front camera Usually cheap after market replacement parts in phones really act according to their price. I haven't seen a quality replacement part for these prices. Nothing close to the original anyway. As anecdata, every case I know where an iPhone screen was replaced with a cheap AM part it ended up being replaced again later with an official one. I'm not talking about Apple induced issues but problems with colors, banding, viewing angles, glare, touch response, thickness, etc. These are random articles I found while looking for pictures that highlight these issues [0] [1]. I'm sure this can very well extend to batteries or cameras. This may be acceptable for a phone (even in the $1000 range) but in a car it poses a genuine safety risk. Also it undermines the premise of the original expenditure with the car. If you invest $50.000 in a car you may have an incentive to not use a low quality battery pack for example. [0] https://discdepotstandrews.co.uk/copy-iphone-screens-vs-originals/ https://discdepotstandrews.co.uk/copy-iphone-screens-vs-orig... [1] https://www.hotshot.repair/mo/columbia/office-banter/lets-talk-about-the-difference-between-original-and-aftermarket-iphone-screens/ https://www.hotshot.repair/mo/columbia/office-banter/lets-ta...

jdpedrie 8y ago
> If you invest $50.000 in a car you may have an incentive to not use a low quality battery pack for example. And if you have a phone which is worth the investment, you'll likely pay more for the better replacement part. Maybe take it to the Apple store rather than the shady kiosk on the corner. Likewise, there are a range of quality/price options for replacement auto parts. If I'm working on a car that cost me $1800 and is on its last legs, the aftermarket part for half the price of OEM is fine, even if it's only expected to last half as long. People are perfectly capable of making those judgements calls and weighing the tradeoffs, as proven by the market for both phone parts and auto parts. The battery itself /may/ be something of an exception. I'd imagine as they become more commoditized that concern will become less applicable.
- close04 8y ago
  My point was that you may be more lax when talking about things order(s) of magnitude cheaper. But overall yes, cheaping out on parts savotges the entire expenditure.
rchaud 8y ago
Those prices certainly look suspiciously low. $20 will just barely cover a disposable screen protector, let alone an actual iPhone replacement screen and camera.
sokoloff 8y ago
> If you invest $50.000 in a car You spent $50K on a car, you don't invest in a car, outside of some of very specific cases (some classic cars and some exotics that are reasonably expected to increase in value).
- close04 8y ago
  That is an assumption since I didn’t go into the topic. And it’s semantics anyway. A car can very well be an investment, which doesn’t mean it should increase in value, simply that it produces value (carrying stuff for money can bring back more than the car is worth). Which is when taking care of it is more critical, to come back to my point.