Everyone has had the experience at one time or another.  You buy a product off the shelf at your local retailer and expect it to do what it’s supposed to do.  You put it into service and three days later it stops functioning or it breaks.  Unless it came with some kind of meaningful warranty, you lose.

              Shoppers can’t help but compare prices.  Most of the time, the best product that comes with all the bells and whistles including the best warranty is more expensive than lesser versions.  The one variable in comparison shopping is “quality,” a difficult-to-define and often difficult-to-recognize characteristic inherent in one product over another.

              For example, shopping for garden hoses.  The local “Everything-for-the-home” store offered a mind-boggling selection of hoses in varying lengths, prices and warranties.   I spent a few minutes studying the selection and opted for one top-of-the-line rubber hundred-footer with an unconditional lifetime warranty and a healthy price tag.  The I selected a cheaper plastic model - also a hundred feet in length - with no warranty.  The cheaper plastic version was almost impossible to roll up and to straighten out and it barely saw six months of service before it burst at the business end.  Because it had no warranty, I had to fit it with a repair kit to make it work.  Now, whenever I use it water drips on my shoes.  And I remember my grandfather’s old adage, “cheap is cheap.”  The rubber one rolled up easier, was easier to straighten out, lasted much longer before it burst, and was replaced without hassle by the retailer when I returned it with the original receipt.

              Obviously, the difference in the two hoses was quality.  The manufacturer of the rubber hose produced a quality product manufactured of quality material with good workmanship.  He could offer an unconditional lifetime warranty because his product had less likelihood of failure in normal service than lesser versions.  Of course, the better quality product costs more than the lesser version.  But it is more expensive to produce.  The materials from which it is made are more costly.  Good workmanship costs more.  The inclusion of an unconditional warranty ultimately takes a bite out of the manufacturer’s bottom line.  Marketing experts teach that it all shakes out in the end.  What the manufacturer loses by replacing product that fails under the terms of his warranty, he makes up in repeat business.  Makes sense.

              Obviously, this analogy applies to every conceivable product category including, of course, automotive products.  Frankly, quality is always the best way to go for both the retailer and the customer.  Of course, the retailer must offer a selection of like product at various prices so the customer can select a product to fit his pocketbook.  Generally speaking, the automotive retailer will have fewer headaches and enjoy more profitable business if he deals in quality products.  The customer, on the other hand, will be “bitten” for a few bucks more for the purchase of a quality product, but will be happier in the long run.

              Unlike mechanical replacement parts, cosmetic replacements do not affect the operation of the vehicle.  However, like anything else, quality does play a major role in cosmetic parts as well.  Floor mats will last longer, maintain their color, and look nicer longer if they are quality mats.  This applies to all interior cosmetic products from dash mats to doorsills, from control switches to dome light lenses.  Exterior cosmetic products, both replacement and conversion, must be able to withstand the weather.  In the long run, a quality billet grille of top grade aluminum will fit better, resist rusting and discoloration, and look better longer than similar products of lesser quality.  The same applies to other aftermarket products such as custom wheels, rolled pans, sport mirrors, wheel well trim and so on.  As for OEM replacement parts such as chrome bumpers, sheet metal panels, molding, grilles and so on, there are excellent replacement parts available that are not factory originals.  It becomes the problem of both the retailer and his customer to spot the quality parts among the multitude of lesser quality products.

              This brings us to the subject of how to recognize quality.  If you carefully examine two like examples of almost anything, you are going to see obvious similarities and some subtle differences.  For example, next time you wander around your local auto parts store, pick up two radio antennae of varying prices, one in each hand.  If they aren’t packaged or you can get them out of their packages without destroying the boxes, you can study the chrome finish of each antenna and you can feel the weight.  Generally speaking, you can recognize a better chroming job and a heavier, more substantial antenna as indications of better quality.  Packaging is sometimes a good indicator of quality.  A well-designed, professional package indicates that the manufacturer is proud of his product and wishes to present it to the market in the best possible light.  On the other hand, I have seen packaging programs where the actual product was virtually impossible to get to and I often wondered if the manufacturer was hiding something.  A further indication of a quality product is a reasonable manufacturer’s warranty.  Read the manufacturer’s specifications for materials, processes, and finishes.  If they don’t brag about quality, they likely don’t have it.  The bottom line, however, is that recognizing quality is in the eye of the beholder.  After considering pricing, packaging, warranty, and perhaps what you know of the manufacturer’s reputation, hold comparable products in your hands.  Feel their weight.  Study their construction.  Notice all the little details.  Are the edges “finished”?  Is the stitching uniform”  Is the chrome finish thick and shiny”  does it look like fresh merchandise or is it stale looking?  I have to believe that most successful automotive retailers are born with a sixth sense for recognizing quality.  Or maybe they develop it in the course of their business.  However, the successful auto retailer will be even more successful if he offers his customers quality products and can honestly recommend them.

              The last word on recognizing quality is that there are obvious hints to help you identify it.  It becomes a matter of using your senses.  You’ll know it when you see it, especially if you compare it to like product of lesser quality.  The automotive retailer who sells quality products and the customer who buys them will both be considerably happier for the experience.

SOURCE:  Trucking Times & Sport Utility News