GM vs. Canadian Tire parts

[grichards]

GM dealership sells blower motor for $250, twice the price of Canadian Tire ($123) Are there particular reasons why I would be better off shelling out the extra $$$ for the GM part? (GM resistor at $54 was $8 cheaper than CT). Thanks.

[trb]

Wow, that is a lot either way. I paid about $45 shipped for the blower motor on my son's 06 Vibe from a seller on ebay. It is a standard new aftermarket part. I figured if it went out after several years and I had to replace it again, it would still be cheaper than a new GM one.

Here is one with international shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blower-Motor-Po ... es&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are also available on Amazon if you prefer that, and on http://www.rockauto.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for a comparable price too.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframe ... ttype=6916" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These are all for a 03-08 model.

[grichards]

Thanks trb. Very helpful. Given that the problem with the fan is intermittent, I'm only going to replace the resistor and see what happens. I assume that the blower motor has to removed to replace the resistor.

[trb]

No, the blower is separate. What is yours doing, or not doing? My son's would not start blowing maybe every 3rd time he got in the car. For a while he just hit the bottom of the dash, and the vibrations started it up. But then it got to the point it was every time he got in the car, so we replaced it. The resistor is usually out when some of the fan speeds don't work.

[grichards]

The fan is messing with my head. It's worked the past 3 days although it wouldn't work at all several times last week. All fan speeds worked yesterday but somewhat weaker than usual. Also seemed to surge a bit.

[trb]

If all the fan speeds are working, I would tend to think it is the fan motor. From what I've seen on my other cars, if the resistor goes out, all of a sudden you just don't have low or medium, or neither, only high speed works. But it has not been an intermittent problem. It just stops working at the lower speeds.