Just pricing up a new radiator for my vRS.

Skoda dealers quoting £115.21 inc vat, same as Trade Part Specialists.

Euro Car Parts have 2 - one for £54.60 and another for £74.40 inc vat.

Are the OEM radiator really worth double the price of an aftermarket one?

Anyone used the ECP ones before?

Cheers,

Steven

Have you tried Serck Services yet?

Are the OEM radiator really worth double the price of an aftermarket one?

It really depends of the make of the aftermarket ones.

OE ones on VAG cars tend to weep after 6 - 7 years.

I've not used the ECP radiators before, but I would generally ALWAYS buy OEM parts for everything, including service parts. The way I look at it is you're saving on labour costs, so you may as well use quality parts. I believe you not only get what you pay for, but you also get what has been designed and tested to be fully compatible with each car in question, you also get longevity and all the quality control and guarantee that goes behind OEM products.

Generic car parts can be a bit of a minefield, you might be able to get away with some stuff, but others won't have the same tight seal, size, shape, fitting etc. They seem to take a simple design and adapt it to fit all cars and a 1 size fits all philosophy rarely works IMO. At the end of the day it all depends on whether you want the best for your car and your sanity or whether you want to do a cheap and possibly bodged job by using a part that may not fit properly or last as long as an OEM part.

HTH?

It really depends of the make of the aftermarket ones.

OE ones on VAG cars tend to weep after 6 - 7 years.

Isn't that just the O ring seal and not the radiator itself?

Edited 15 June, 201115 yr by SkodaFabiaOwner

No, they tend to go in the bottom corners, the alloy goes brittle, corrodes then starts to weep, it seems pretty common across the VAG range.

Try Advance Radiators. £44.00 free delivery

Made in Germany or made in India, no brainer, OEM always.

No, they tend to go in the bottom corners, the alloy goes brittle, corrodes then starts to weep, it seems pretty common across the VAG range.

Exactly what has happened to mine....on a 6 year old Fabia.

Might just bite the bullet and go OEM.

Whatever you choose, make sure you open the box and inspect the radiator before you leave.

I didn't (as the outside of the box was mint) yet when I can to fit it there was a good 10% of the fins all flattened! so TPS came out and swapped it for an undamaged one

It might of been OK and not leaked, but I wasn't taking the chance, they are easy enough to damage the fins as it is without fitting one that is damaged (which was a genuine OE part)

It's also a good time to do a G12 coolant change

I put the advanced rads one on mine, half the weight of oem which says a lot and it didn't fit the cowling properly iirc, having said that it's been fine for 2 years