What is meant by 'OEM' parts?

Dependent on country, car manufacturers are required to keep spare parts on hand for X years. When that time elapses they have zero need to maintain inventory, and most won't. Too expensive. They will sell off, or even destroy, old inventory. Of course, they don't actually make the parts themselves, but source them. The source companies are free to keep manufacturing them or not, up to them. Some parts they make may be used by other manufacturers as well, especially suspension and brake bits ( not so much these days I guess ) and will therefore be available through different channels. But eventually supply will dry up.

Totally agree with POD though, companies should not misrepresent their goods as OEM. Trouble is, while "BallJointsRUs" may have been a good company making ball joints in Birmingham 20 years ago, it doesn't mean that "BallJointsRUs", purchased by a bloke in the Far East, will be producing the same things. But, they can claim to be OEM.

Caveat Emptor.

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Originally Posted by POD

Nothing 'airy fairy' about it, it means manufactured by the company that originally made it for the vehicle. The manager of this particular seller tried to tell me that the original manufacturer may not be making those parts any more so they can't necessarily get them so they use substitutes; I told him that if you can't get something you don't advertise it and you don't say you're selling it and you don't charge for it and send some dodgy substitute.
Anyway, I advise people to be wary of sellers offering 'OEM' parts and if you are buying a critical part from an aftermarket supplier, inquire into what you are buying. In this case the actual swivel pins themselves 'looked' identical to the ones I bought from the dealer, but the dealer gave me bearings etched with 'Timken France' whereas the bearings in the blue box had no markings at all. Probably made in South Asia by highly skilled barefooted men using cast-off 1950s British machinery to make things that look like bearings out of material gathered in the streets in wheelbarrows.

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Or Candle Wax.

Once saw a very expensive Carrier Semi Hermetic compressor (6D79) in Singapore being reconditioned on the footpath in front of the backstreet premises & open to all the crap of the street, dust, moisture, ciggy butts, general ****e etc etc. WTF! Nothing surprises me these days.

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Originally Posted by 4bee

Or Candle Wax.

Once saw a very expensive Carrier Semi Hermetic compressor (6D79) in Singapore being reconditioned on the footpath in front of the backstreet premises & open to all the crap of the street, dust, moisture, ciggy butts, general ****e etc etc. WTF! Nothing surprises me these days.

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Not much would kill a 6D75/79/48/29,so it will just keep chuggin.

Same for a 5H whatever,20/40/60/80/100/126,we had quite a few on jobs with water cooled heads,model was slightly different, but my grey matter has lost it.

Great gear,rediculously reliable,the best around in it's day,today all going to scrap.[bigsad]

OEM parts on them when needed,direct from the manufacturer,no worries.Suction unloader bellows we often replaced not much else.