{"id":7744,"date":"2022-10-17T04:15:57","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T11:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=7744"},"modified":"2023-06-05T11:47:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T18:47:59","slug":"why-bad-drivers-prefer-aftermarket-over-manufacturer-car-parts-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id7744-why-bad-drivers-prefer-aftermarket-over-manufacturer-car-parts-3.html","title":{"rendered":"Aftermarket Car Parts: Are They Really Worth the Money You Save?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"aftermarket<\/a>

Are aftermarket parts really worth it? The owner of this car better hope so.<\/p><\/div>\n

Do men or women make better drivers? It’s a question that I suspect has been debated ever since Henry Ford started mass-producing his Model T at the turn of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n

One thing is certain: I know the question has always been a hot topic of discussion in my house, although I’ve always smugly maintained a slight edge over my wife in the debate.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the Honeybee would point out that I’m not a driver without blemishes on my record. She’s right.<\/p>\n

During the past four decades I have three moving violations. Two of them for illegal left turns.<\/p>\n

Then again, she got hit with a ticket for the very same offense not long after I did.<\/p>\n

She also has a lead foot. And I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that, as a teenager, she managed to crash her car into a tree stump. (Don’t ask.)<\/p>\n

Then there was the time she put a nice dent along the side of our mini-van after brushing against a mailbox while backing out of her friend’s drive-way. We chuckle about it now, but I can assure you, it wasn’t funny then.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, my days of having the upper hand in the who’s-the-better-driver debate came to an end awhile back after I got into a car accident on my way home from work.<\/p>\n

To make a long story short, I ended up rear-ending a car on the freeway. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.<\/p>\n

And while I know a guy who buys junk cars, I didn’t need to go that route because the speed at impact was not much more than ten miles per hour; as a result, the only appreciable damage to either car was on my 1997 Honda Civic<\/a>: a slightly bent hood, a cracked grille molding, and a broken headlight housing bracket.<\/p>\n

Assessing the Damage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, I called my handyman father-in-law<\/a>, Tony, who also happens to be a retired car mechanic, to come over and assess the damage. I was hoping he would tell me we could simply bend the hood back into place. However, he recommended we err on the side of caution and get a new one.<\/p>\n

So I called the Honda dealer to see how much it would cost to replace the damaged parts. Here was the quote:<\/p>\n