New or Reman?
 

I am a college student, so I cant really afford expensive genuine MB parts. Is reman ok, or should I go carless for a while and always get the genuine?

Thanks,

It all depends on what you're buying.
Some items, I would stay with OEM, some others are quite good from the aftermarket. ;)

My thoughts on this are the harder/more labor it takes to R&R something, the more it makes sence to us MB parts. Those include: water pumps, suspension parts and the like. You can save about 20% over MB parts by using OEM. They are the same parts made in the same factory but, without the star on them.

Stuff like brake pads, rotors I have had good luck with aftermarket. My rule of thumb is, it has to be at least 20% lessthan MB stuff to consider anything other than MB.

Good luck, study hard.

Just like the above replies said, it depends on the part. When you have specific questions, search the archives here because somebody has probably asked about it before. If you're in need of major parts that are expensive and hard to replace, then OE with the star is the way to go.

Something good to know is that the Mercedes warranty covers parts and labor even if you did not pay them for the labor. Yes, even if you installed it yourself, the dealer will replace the part including labor under the warranty if it fails.

Another good thing to know if you need expensive dealer parts is that most of them offer a discount to Mercedes Benz Club of America members. Around here the dealers offer 10%, but some people get as much as 20%.

I vote for Reman in most cases.

Excellent results over the years.

Starters, alternators, brake calipers and such are rebuilt with such an economy of scale that they cannot be beat. These days, some rebuilders even go into great detail on their websites about their reman process, which takes some of the 'blind gamble' out of it.

Besides, I would rather be a student with a functional car sporting a cheap reman alternator than a student with a fancy doorstop!

I agree remanufacturers like CARDONE (www.cardone.com) have become very professional in the way they handle remanufacturing. I just bought a pair of front calipers for my W124 from www.********.com via Cardone. They came with the star on them, clean as a whistle, painted and are performing flawlessly. Price was $50 each after returning my old cores. If you've got an old car reman is really something to consider.