[speeder]

As someone who buys a lot of auto parts, there is no "one size fits all" answer to parts sources. If you can get OEM or dealer parts for a reasonable price, (even if it's more than non-OEM), by all means do it. For the Chevy door cable mentioned, he could replace it 10 times with the Amazon one and still be ahead, money-wise plus the Amazon one probably has a warranty and new ones would be free.

Uncle Billy has a point as well about OEM parts being junk in a lot of cases, so what difference does it make to replace it with other junk if it's cheaper?

For my old Mercedes-Benz cars, I only use OEM or dealer parts, never Chinese or Autozone stuff. I needed to replace a door striker on my 1985 W123 coupe last week and pulled one off of a parts car rather than buy a new junk aftermarket part. The beauty of MB, (and maybe other cars), is that the back door parts from a 4-door car are exactly the same as the front for that side; IOW, a LH rear interior handle/door latch/striker/etc. is the same and rear doors get used 1% as often as drivers doors, so the 40 year old back door parts are like new on a parts car and can replace the worn parts on the front doors. Same with door straps, the part that holds the door partially or completely open are the same all the way around on many cars.

For maintenance items like filters, brake pads or gaskets and brake hoses, it's original only, no exceptions. I use only AC/Delco filters on my 2022 Chevy and only OEM filters on everything else. I just bought Motorcraft pads F/R for my F-250, not too expensive if you buy them online.