Speaking of junk, the OE RF strut on my 2016 DGC started leaking back in September / 2022 at 164000 km / 101905 miles. I wasn't impressed. OE should last twice as long.

We don't have to go to China to find bad products, just take a look at the life of the plastic components on the Pentastar engine and the down home ticking of the rocker arms.

I have a Costco Kirkland battery in my 2016 DGC - made in China. We will see if it can last longer than the OE battery which died April 2021 / 130000 km. I expect 6 years out of a good battery, 5 years is a little soon.

 

Batteries have gone down in quality since the manufacturer switched from using the name Johnson Controls. Forget what they call themselves now. 5 years is about all you'll get these days.

 

Here is my take on this.

Lets take for example the motor mounts the front and the rear.

The Mopar mount is around 150$ from Mopar.
Ancor sells one for 30$. I am damn sure that the rubber stiffness is not the same. OEM one lasts 100k. Anchor one you buy for 30$ and it lasts say 30k miles. Now you are like, I should have bought the OEM one but it's 5 times more expensive. Anchor gets another sale out of you so now you bought 2 of them for 60$, and say you replace it a third time you ultimately bought 3 bad units and had to replace them over and over with labor costs etc. Buying the more expensive unit likely could have saved you money but I am cheap and I am always trying to find cheaper parts that are as good as the oem but lets face it they dont really exist.

OEM units are overpriced so if Anchor is selling theirs at 30$ the part is likely 10$ to produce. Local shops sell that part for 70$. 40$ profit on top of Anchors' part.

The Mopar part itself is also 8-10X marked up so whoever makes the part for Mopar is selling it for 10-15$ to begin with but with proper rubber selection.

Struts is the same deal, OEM units will last longer but lets face it who wants to spend 500 or 600$ for new set of oem units. Often time you can get by with 200$ set up and yes it will not last as long in most cases but with the age of these vans one fender bender totals them and if you dumped big $$$ in parts you ultimately lose out.

 

I'm a great believer in OE parts as well but have some reservations;
White box brake parts for a 2004 Acura TSX that outlasted the poor quality OE garbage.
Mopar parts that are just reboxed brand names like NGK, NTK or Champion for examples. Why pay the extra price (Mopar inflation).

On rockauto.com the KYB and Gabriel are the more expensive strut assemblies. How long do they last before a seal starts leaking like the OE RF Strut on my 2016 DGC (102000 miles)? My 2002 DGC had the original struts on it when sold in 2018 / 230000 miles. Does price reflect better value for the dollar? I would think so except possibly when the more expensive Mopar name is on it, especially if that name is on a plastic part.

"Economy" or "standard" designations are indicative of a shorter life. That's a given.