Parts insight on various brands?

Looking to get some parts to get the piston rings replaced by my mechanic.

The brands I've come across the most are ITM, Sealed Power, and DNJ. I also need to get the connecting rod bearings and a head gasket set. I found some really inexpensive rod bearings, but they're made by ITM so I wonder if they're cheap because they are cheap, or just an inexpensive option?

So, my main question is, are there any brands that I should AVOID when ordering these parts? I've found various options all over the net, but want to make sure I'm avoiding a known, crappy brand.

Examples of what I've found-

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Buy oem parts through Mazda or go for quality name brand parts from sources like clevite bearing. It sounds like you're having major work done on your car. Why go through all that hassle to put sub par parts back in? Do it once and do it right.

Have you looked at rockauto? I find the brands they carry to be decent to good.

So I take it that neither of you know anything about the brands mentioned or what brands to avoid? :/

As I said earlier: For major engine work, why go with a brand no one has ever heard of? You might save all of a couple of hundred dollars on a huge bill in the short term. Long term, who knows how long these parts will last. Unless you're fixing the car to unload it on someone else just do it properly. That being said, I haven't heard any massively negative reviews on the ITM stuff. I know their headgaskets have given some of the toyota bunch trouble in the past but it may be cleared up now.

Cliffnotes: Avoid cheap unknown quality/manufacture/origin/autozone-special parts unless you're comfortable taking a risk and possibly doing it again.

mp5la said:

As I said earlier: For major engine work, why go with a brand no one has ever heard of? You might save all of a couple of hundred dollars on a huge bill in the short term. Long term, who knows how long these parts will last. Unless you're fixing the car to unload it on someone else just do it properly. That being said, I haven't heard any massively negative reviews on the ITM stuff. I know their headgaskets have given some of the toyota bunch trouble in the past but it may be cleared up now.

Cliffnotes: Avoid cheap unknown quality/manufacture/origin/autozone-special parts unless you're comfortable taking a risk and possibly doing it again.

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I've done some researching and found that Sealed Power is also Federal Mogul, who is known to be one of the oem manufacturers to begin with. Can't really argue about quality when that manufacturer makes the oem products to begin with. Apparently the same is true of NPR rings as well. ITM is one I've found mixed reviews, but their head gaskets have had a lot of issues, and DNJ seems to be okay depending on the parts.

Awhile back, I bought a Gates timing belt kit. It's considered aftermarket, but it's also the same company who produced/now produces Mazda's oem stuff (don't recall which). So I was essentially getting the oem but at a fraction of the cost because it didn't have the Mazda logo stamped on the packaging.

You can go on and on about aftermarket being bad, which I understand, but I was asking for feedback on some of these manufacturers so it's not really helping me or answering my question. I was just curious if any Mazda owners had tried any of these brands and how they fared.

My mechanic had already gotten quotes from Mazda and Napa, and Napa also uses Sealed Power, so I'd like to think that they're somewhat of a contender if Napa is willing to offer them.

I'm just doing some research into what I'm seeing a lot of out there as far as options go. Not all of us have wads of cash at our disposal, and if there are more affordable, GOOD options out there, it doesn't hurt to look into it.