stevemk07

I recently tried to order completw front dampee assemblies from two honda parts stores online only to have my transaction canceled because they were for an Acura and not a Honda. For some reason they are listed as available for purchase on their sites but afterwards I get an email saying they are for Acura and to contact an Acura dealer. At Acura dealers the parts are approx. $150 each whereas they sell for around $90 as listed on tue Honda sites....

Can anyone help me understand this and whether I should he annoyed with Honda/Acura at this point?

Thanks.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

try changing the default car from acura to honda..maybe that will work.
websites dont give you the benefit of the doubt that you know your shit. they are more or less for dummies. pick the 08 year, and it will only show 08 info...even tho we know most years are interchangeable.

stevemk07

The second time I tried I did not provide any vehicle information. I suspect my name is on a sort of blacklist for Honda parts in order to keep me paying Acura prices but it is just a suspicion.

Jackass

What parts are you trying to order? And from what vendor? Many part codes are Acura specific...so they don't care what car you claim to have...the part number is an Acura specific part.

BROlando

You likely used an email address to make a user profile?

If so...they give out email addresses for free these days. Anyone can get them. You can just use a different email address.

Or maybe just edit your profile.

Or buy from elsewhere.

Or call them and tell them to just over ride the "ban".

I'm sure there are some additional very easy solutions that I am missing.

stevemk07

Was trying to get these ones...

51601-SEP-A31
51602-SEP-A31

There are other part numbers available from the acura sites but they are alittle more expensive than these ones... Both are complete assemblies.... The other ones are:
51601-SEP-A09
51602-SEP-A09

i just want my car to ride good again for a decent price...

BROlando

I am almost sure Accord and TL front tophats are different.

teh CL

iTrader: (1)

rockauto.com

Jackass

Looking at Acura of Peoria's site, that part comes up under Honda and Acura with a big price difference....interesting. I have no idea if the damper assemblies are interchangeable between the TL and Accord.

I was thinking that "SEP" is what is triggering it as an Acura part? Aren't the majority of Acura specific parts labeled as "SEP"? That is what I remember when I was searching for engine mounts. I couldn't pick up any parts that had SEP in them at Honda dealer, but I could anything else.

BROlando

Break down the components.

My guesses are that the shocks, springs, and front tophat are actually different parts. Shocks and springs for Acuras are typically stiffer than the Honda counterpart.

Honda and Acura do often share part numbers IF the part is actually the same.

I assume their BOM structure allows for the same part to be placed in seperate packaging (Acura vs Honda labels on the plastic bag that the parts come in). I think they can do this without changing the part number for the actual part...again...assuming the part itself is 100% the same.

"the same" in layman's terms is NOT "the same" in engineering terms.

'The same' in Layman's terms:
"Like...you know....about the same. Whatever. They look the same. ZERO problems."

'The same' in Engineering terms:
"Exactly the fu#&ing same, within the given tolerances. No mercy."

BROlando

How does someone define interchangeability?

Like...under what criteria? Just that it bolts up?

thoiboi

laymen 'someone''s typically think that's good enough for them. And it might be for the OP as well, who knows

BROlando

That's reasonable. You define your own acceptable interchange criteria.

But, there's a myth that the parts are actually THE same...and further than that...Acura is out to make money by charging more for THE same parts.

It would be insanely complex at a mass production level (and possibly illegal) to have 2 of the truly same parts listed as different part numbers.

Cost to seperate the inventory would likely trump the profits gained by doing this.

This is my passive agressive way of encouraging people to at least attempt to find out WHY the parts are listed as different part numbers.

There's an easy explanation for cost difference. There are likely more cars (worldwide) using the HONDA part number.

Someone decided that ACURA should have different components. For some legitimate reason.

The amount of work and testing involved in changing part numbers and designing a seperate part on a car is immense. And its done for the benefit of the design.

The TL was likely deemed to need a different type of shock/spring or some other assembly part. For a significant enough reason to go through the trouble of changing part numbers.

I wouldn't simply assume "yeah, all the same cuz it looks similar".

Also...if close enough is good enough, then why even be so adament about buying from Honda? Buy an aftermarket part that's used across multiple chassis' with the "close enough good enough" build mantra.

stevemk07

I ordered the cheap assemblies available on rockauto. I doubt they are oem quality, which is why I would have preferred oem parts. Will see i guess.

Paid 150 cdn or something for both assemblies... FCI I think were the names.... Hopefully the ride is similar to oem. I dont want any drop as I think thats dumb and would not work around here anyway unless I wanted to constantly be breaking my under parts.

BROlando

I doubt they will be OEM quality, unfortunately.

I'm guessing you wanted full, bolt in factory height assemblies? Unfortunately, there aren't too many of those options for the TL unless you buy from Acura.