MCHENRY, Ill. — When it comes to selecting master cylinders, technicians have cited the need for the master cylinder box to have everything necessary to get the job done right as their top priority — not price, not country of origin and not the return policy. That’s according to a recent survey of automotive repair shops recently commissioned by Affinia Brake & Chassis.
Affinia recently commissioned the survey as a means to better understand technician concerns regarding master cylinder replacement.
“For years, a trend has developed among master cylinder suppliers to ‘de-content’ their product,” said Tod Lange, product manager for Raybestos brand master cylinders – a member of the Affinia family of brands. “In order to keep the purchase price low at the WD and jobber level, many suppliers are blending new and remanufactured master cylinders into one line.”
The three key findings of the survey are as follows:
1. 95 percent of technicians prefer new units to remanufactured product because the parts arrive complete and ready to bench bleed and install.
2. Technicians don’t want to re-use old parts, especially if they don’t match the original components.
3. Their concerns about comebacks significantly increase when reusing components from old units.
“As part of our commitment to the AASA’s Know Your Parts campaign, we took a serious look at what we can do to educate our channel partners and resellers about the importance of using high-quality parts,” said Jeff Stauffer, Sr. VP, Global Marketing, Affinia Brake & Chassis. “Market pressure is forcing everyone to find ways to cut costs, but those savings should never come at the expense of safety, performance and customer satisfaction.”
While the cost savings of remanufactured master cylinders may seem attractive at first, their proliferation in the marketplace is causing confusion and frustration among technicians, due in large part to increased comebacks, Affinia says. “The expansion of low-quality, remanufactured master cylinders is causing irreparable damage to the aftermarket’s image and it’s negatively affecting the reputations of technicians nationwide,” said Stauffer.
Lange says he understands the frustration technicians face on a daily basis. “When suppliers force technicians to reuse reservoirs, reservoir caps, fluid level switches or proportioning valves,” said Lange, “they have no way of knowing if the parts will fit and seal properly. Without a perfect fit, the part will probably leak.”
Lange then pointed out that the true cost of a repair using a remanufactured master cylinder is typically more expensive than a repair using a new unit. According to market labor facts from ALLDATA, it can take an extra 30 minutes to install a remanufactured unit, Affinia says. Reclaiming a reservoir can increase labor time from 1.8 hours to 2.3 hours (including bleeding the brake system), which translates to added labor costs for the end customers, the company noted.
“Technicians are very clear about what they want. They want the convenience, quality and customer satisfaction that only comes from new master cylinders,” Lange said.
