I have a 2008 tribute with an alternator that is out.. sadly the major car part deals tell me to either get lucky at a junk yard or go to the dealer.. Are there any other places I can find one? The dealer wants $400 for the part alone.

 

I feel your pain...I go through one every year and a half @ $400CDN incl labor. Doesn't matter if it's new, referb, OEM, high end (forgot the name that my mechanic put in)...the location that they put the thing is not the best place as the salty slush from winter gets in there and eventually the fries it. Weekly/bi-weekly car washes in the winter months doesn't make a difference in it's longevity.

Other than going through a set of head lamps every 6months, it's been a great vehicle for me and I've got 225Ks on my 2003 ES 4wd and still going strong.

I guess you are in the US and found this site for replacement alternators for your model year.
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/se...t=Submit+Query

HTH

 

The alternator should be covered under warranty!

 

Thank you for the link!

My car already has 45,000 miles on it so the warranty has expired.

It just seems odd to me that, seamingly so many things are proprietary, even the windshield wipers i had a tough time finding and the only place that carried them was the dealer and oreileys (at $24 a blade)... It's not like I live in a rural area.. I live between Baton Rouge, and New Orleans.

 

Wow thats alot of miles for an 08!!

 

Yeah, I moved to the very east side of Baton Rouge but end up having to go to New Orleans a lot, which is about 65 miles each way. It adds up unfortunatly.

 

The warranty is 36 months or 80,000 km. At 49,700 miles you reach 80,000 km. You may still have some km left on the warranty.

 

This alternator thing is a bummer. For the slush problem, check under the front of the car; there's a cardboard/fiber gizzmo which gets beaten up, ripped off, or has its fasteners compromised. This is a slush deflector, and helps to keep the crap out of the alternator, and every bit as important, off the drive belt.

The car industry starts with a basic platform and then their marketeers get let loose adding cosmetic gadgets, GPS, home away from home entertainment systems, high intensity headlamps, electro-hydraulic power steering etc. etc. etc., all of which equates to amps. on the alternator hence load on the drive belts and bearings, hence heat heat heat. Result? The alternator (same as designed for the basic platform) gets crisped ! The dumbassed jerks have ended up flushing the toilet while standing under the exit, and want the taxpayer to bail them out (the same poor taxpayer they use as a guinea pig to see if maybe they did something they could just get away with).
If screw-ups result in slower sales, don't fix the problem, no, just offer deeper discounts, easier financing while at the same time spend a lot more on advertising.
How freakin' dumb can you get?
If you want to keep the foxes out of the henhouse, burning it down may be a great tactical solution, but it sure as hell doesn't make the cut from a strategic point of view.
(I have to stop here, or I might end up saying something uncomplimentary) !

 

In the Us it's a 3yr/36,000 mile warranty.

 

Sorry, I saw ACTINIC's response and he mentioned Canadian dollars and I associated that with you.

Did you know that the 2006 Mazda US had a 4yr/50,000 mile warranty? the 3yr/36,000 came in with the 2007 model year.

What does that tell you?