[shravansp24]

I have a similar experience that happened just last week.

My left mirror of my Hyundai was broken and I had to replace it.

Now, the mirrors look visually the same except quality wise and the plastics, but the internal open/close/adjust motor is completely different. The new one opens and closes and adjusts much much quicker than the old mirror (atleast 2sec quicker than the older right mirror when unfolding).

I'm not sure if Hyundai has updated the recent batch with a more powerful motor, or my older 3.5 year old motor has gotten slow over the years of use or it's a quality issue like this thread suggests.

But I wish both the mirrors were in sync, even if it's a bit slow :'(

[Zippy_wheels]

I do know, from people who work there, that Tata (truck division) keeps aside discarded/slightly defective parts to be sold as spare parts. Maybe other manufacturers do the same. These would be parts that are slightly defective and can be reused with slight modifications or could be passed off without anyone noticing (engine parts or parts not visible).

As to different parts used in warranty vs paid could be for parts where manufacturer found issues later on and changed vendors/quality. They might use old inventory for warranty claims (replace like-for-like) and give the upgraded part for paid replacements - after all even if the part is costlier they are getting full money for it.

[Comrade]

I don't think Hyundai (or any other company) will go to the extent of maintaining two catalogs and two part bins just for warranty. Whatever savings they can extract from such effort will be negated by the operations nightmare!

[Burgman_tales]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I don't think Hyundai (or any other company) will go to the extent of maintaining two catalogs and two part bins just for warranty. Whatever savings they can extract from such effort will be negated by the operations nightmare!

Correct, essentially you're doubling the amount of SKUs in inventory. Supply chain management 101 is to keep this as low as possible, hence the idea of part sharing across cars