Auto parts stores. Fraud? Scam?

the “CORE” of the problem.

 

This is “what really burns me”.

 

If You have ever leased or currently Make monthly payments for, or own outright a vehicle, then You have been through this, most likely, multiple times. Especially if you do a lot of your own repairs.

If you haven’t guessed it already I’m talking about CORE charges.

That is the added extra charge that can make your bill go from the cost of the part, which is exorbitantly high in this day and age, to a price that is, for some, unaffordable at the moment. But no worries It comes with the promise of reimbursement for total cost of the core which is for those that don’t know, The part that is being replaced or the damaged part.

All auto parts stores do this You buy a new part to replace one that is damaged, but you have to return the damaged part to the store Where you bought the new one to get your money back. On what is called a core charge.

So they want you to bring a damaged part to the store where you buy the new one but they charge you money before you bring it back and they promise you a reimbursement as an incentive to bring them the broken part.

This used to be something that I had no issues with until I did a little bit of digging. This core charge has been going on for a long time. Even before you could buy used, reworked,  remanned, or refurbished, parts from the store.

It had always been something that you would have to buy from a junkyard if you wanted a used part, which of course has restrictions by the government that state certain parts can not be reused regardless of how good of a condition they were in.

What the auto parts companies were doing, was taking those cores, reworking  or rebuilding them, whatever was necessary to put them into a good condition of usability and reselling them at close to full price.

After a long time they started to sell these parts for a little bit less money and they would call them remanned or rebuilt or refurbished, and the stores themselves would sell them.

People would buy those parts to save a little bit of money because they did cost less than brand new parts.

Here’s the problem, if a person owns something then that person owns every single part of that something. As in vehicles if I own a vehicle then I own every part of that vehicle, broken or otherwise.

So to charge me a core charge, regardless if I’m going to be reimbursed or not, is not something that should be automatic or forced.

The auto parts stores will automatically put that into your bill of sale charge you automatically and if you say no that you’re not going to pay a core charge, then they will not sell you the new part until you’re willing to pay the core charge, or basically a promise (by monetary force), And in that way they are forcing you to bring them that part that is broken. And yes I know you’re saying that “they are going to reimburse you” which is true if that always happens.

So they force you to bring back that part and usually about 70% of the time you will get your reimbursement. The rest does not happen. I myself have spent months even a year or more waiting for a reimbursement, on one part, and I’ve never received it but I digress.

They force you to bring them that broken part so they can fix it and resell it.

But now things are changing and a lot of the auto parts stores will not sell the reworked or refurbished parts but they still want to continue to charge you for the core.

Now here’s the fun part they no longer sell the refurbished parts,  but still charge you for a core, and expect you to bring that core back or lose that money.  And they still refurbish the parts but they package and sell them as brand new.

And I know you’re not going to believe that but it’s happening in the trucking industry and it’s starting to happen with regular vehicles.

So you say, “what if a person doesn’t want to pay the core charge”?  then you will not be able to buy the new part and if you don’t bring back the core of course you lose that extra money that you pay on the original sale. And with some parts, the core charge is almost as much as the new parts charge, up to 90%.

So you’ll pay almost double for one new part because you decide you want to keep the broken part. maybe reuse it, repair it yourself and put it in another vehicle, or for any other reason you so desire.

It is your part, right?

Then that comes down to the auto industry itself and those who make these parts. They make things harder and harder to fix on your own because they would lose money. Auto mechanics and shops would lose money, and then the dealerships mechanics, and shops would lose a fortune.

So the harder it is for you to fix on your own the better for them therefore they still charge core charges, to manipulate that part from you,  so you don’t try to fix it yourself and they resell it as a new part. They almost double their money because they’re selling a part twice and you lose almost double your money on the price of a new part because, if you refuse to bring back the core, which you own, You get no reimbursement.

I think the auto industry and the auto parts industry make more than enough money in this world than to have to turn around and force us to give them money for a used or damaged part so they can refurbish it and then resell it.

I’m sorry if I own it I will only give it to you if I choose to, and not because you try to manipulate me. It is my property therefore I do not have to give you any part of it. And you will not charge me money, as a so-called “incentive” to bring back something that I own and give it to you for free. Because that’s what it is, after you reimburse me my money for the piece of property that I own. You’re still taking that core that means it’s a free part for you to fix and resell.

I may be making this harder for myself to buy new parts but I will never ever pay a court charge again until they start selling, in the store, reworked parts, labeled as such, not reworked parts selling them as new while still taking the core which is still  your property to continue that cycle

That’s “What really burns me”

Thomas Domich