Does brand matter for distributor caps?

[Michael Kerich]

These are my options for buying a distributor cap and rotor…
United Motor Products $30.49
Wells/Airtex $33.38
ACDelco $37.61
Delphi $39.67
Standard Motor Products $42.05
Wells/Airtex Premium $47.64

These prices are including a cap, rotor, shipping, and taxes for both.
Is there any manufacturers on here that anyone has had any bad experiences with or think they have a bad reputation?
Which one would you get if you were buying a distributor cap and rotor?

Topic

[Dave Tidman]

My only data point is I put a standard motor cap and rotor in my 2003 Nissan KA24DE and it has been fine for 3 years. Not sure of any of the other brands on the list.

[Michael Kerich]

Thanks for your response. I will probably just pick one. Normally I want the best. I hear MOOG is the best in suspension parts so I usually go with them for anything suspension related, but just for distributor caps, I wasn’t sure if there was a brand regarded as the best.

[asetoftools]

Honestly, there is only like a $17 spread there. After doing shade tree repairs for years my advice is to buy the best quality part, because your time is worth more than the $17 part cost difference, if say, its a shitty part and you have to do the same repair again. Plus gas or shipping money to get the replacement item to your car.

However I have been in the other boat too where my time was worth nothing and $17 is $17…. i went to the wrecker a lot more back then!

The only caveat is that you cant judge a part solely on price alone. Brand makes a bigger difference, and brands can cheap out when times are lean. You dont want to read reviews for a $40 dollar part most likely, but amazon has good reviews i find, if you did. Otherwise pick your favourite brand is how I do it! Or i read the history of the company if i never heard of any of them.

I guess i would sum this up as, Look at the highest priced ones, and compare the brand / company / read reviews. Or just go with the highest price because it ought to be better… You don’t hate yourself as much when you haven’t cheaped out on a part. When you know you cheaped out, and it fails, you blame yourself first. If you buy the most expensive part and it fails, you blame the part first!

[Author]

Replies