Hi All,

Took my car because the check engine light turned on and was told it was the upstream oxygen sensor. $300+ to fix. So my brother-in-law said it was an easy fix and he would do it for me. Looking up the part for OEM Honda, Part #36532-P0A-A01 it costs $255, but if I buy an aftermarket exact fit it's under $50. Is this correct? Would the price difference be THAT MUCH ?????

Thanks

 

Most manufacturer branded parts are made by other manufacturers, put in a Honda or whoever bag, and marked up a lot... like a lot lot.

I would recommend finding a denso o2 sensor and putting it in. Denso makes fantastic parts, and it's also quite possible they make the OEM Honda sensor... but itll be a lot cheaper.

 

Yeop.
But there are a few factors into the price difference.
Will a Denso, NTK or AC DELCO sensor work fine? Yes.
Will it be the same as the factory(dealer sold) unit? No.
Will it function as acceptably well as the factory component, if they don't have shitty aftermarket parts? Usually, yes.
Nein.

These OEM suppliers may sell an aftermarket variant of these components, not the same component. It is pretty uncommon for the supplier to also sell the exact same part while the manufacture is still using said part in production/warranty. Usually the OEM supplier is under contract to not sell the factory part(s). A supplier is under contract to build a component, but the part itself is owned by the customer/manufacture, not the supplier. To sell the EXACT same component to the public directly would violate contracts, non compete clauses and other legalese that would get the supplier in lots of financial trouble.

There are several sound reasons that a manufacture would not allow a supplier to sell a given component to the public. It's not simply 'greed'.

 

Thank you all. I pulled out the old sensor and it's a Denso. So I went with that brand, don't know if it had ever been changed before or if it came from factory that way.

UPDATE: Just in case someone is newbie mechanic like me.

• I had to go and get a 22 meter socket w/a slit in it for the wire. AutoZone rents it for free ... yipee.
• After I put in the sensor the check engine light was still on. Didn't know I had to re-set it until I saw a you-tube video. Just pull out and put back in the clock 7.5 fuse. My fusebox was in the engine.

That's all it took. Thanks again everyone.