captainjack

My '04 TSX has trouble starting lately. Since the battery's new (Dec. '09) I think it's the starter motor. A new OEM one is $300.

Remanufactured ones are $100 - $200. I'm broke, so that looks great.

Is it?
Is this a classic you-get-what-you-pay-for?

Any experience with off-brand or rebuilt parts you can share would be helpful.
(Push-starting with my kids in the car is getting OLD real quick.) Thanks.

Itchytoe

A "remanufactured" starter is just a used and fixed starter. Just like how a "preowned" car is just a used and cleaned car. Odds are in your favor though, since the part has been repaired, by Honda. It will likely last you just about as long as a new OEM one would, but obviously it doesn't come with any kind of warranty, and just like a new OEM one, it could break in a week.
I'd go with a remanufactured one, but I'm sure there will be lots of posts below mine that tell you to go with the new one to avoid the worry.

nbtx

Reman stuff is usually as good as new, but there are exceptions; some stuff is remanned in Crapistan so beware. Even AutoZone has two levels of remanned parts for some items. If there is a lifetime warrantee and you do the work yourself what can you lose?

gdcwatt

Keep your receipts.

Going back a while, but I bought a replacement alternator at Canadian Tire - in about 2000 - for a 91 Civic Si, for about 1/3 of the Honda price...hey, how much longer was I going to keep that car, I wondered. The replacement died after 11 months, but I still had the bill, and C/T exchanged it for another unit. This time I had the replacement installed by a mechanic (although not a Honda dealer), to make sure my installation wasn't the problem. Three weeks later, the second unit died when I was 800 miles from home, but I knew what the sypmtoms meant, and bought three new batteries to get me home. [Btw, the Honda dealer in Syracuse was a lot less than helpful, and cost me half a day of waiting around.]

When I go home I had a new Honda alternator installed, by Honda, and submitted the bills for the C/T alternator, batteries, hotel, food, and mechanic to C/T. I also mentioned that I'd found two other stranded Civics around town also with C/T replacement alternators, and suggested that they [C/T] had a quality control problem.

I got something like $900 back, everything except the mechanic's labour, about two weeks after I sent my letter.

[I actually kept that Civic for another three years, but had the alternator moved over to a "low-mileage" Japanese replacement engine from Lucky Star Motors, Toronto - now THAT was a good deal, after my engine failed an emissions test at 150,000 miles. ]

mt3c

good advice to keep the receipts.

I've changed a starter on on accord before with a re-manufactured unit, bad right out of the box. Took it back, got another one right away, it's worked since.

It's hit or miss with re-manufactured parts, but if you do the work yourself it may be worth it.

CarbonGray Earl

I'd see if you can get parts that aren't branded OEM Honda/Acura, but are from the supplier.

For example, my alternator went bad about a year ago, and the shop gave me 3 options....OEM, reman, or a Denso unit, which is the original manufacturer of the OEM part. I went with Denso, which was much less than OEM, but only a little more than reman.