SOT; quality wheel bearings/hubs, for VW Tiguan Options

[fixer34]

Had my 2011 VW Tiguan in to the shop. They had to pull the intake manifold and media blast the intake valves to clean off carbon buildup. Computer was throwing misfire codes.

Anyway, while it was in, they said front wheel bearings noisy and need to be done in the near future. The shop price was $300/ea. I can find ones online for $50/ea, but not gonna go there. Seems like FAG and Timken are about in the middle on price, and pretty well known names. Any opinions/experience with these, or maybe another brand?

I have no problem doing this myself, just don't want to do it too often.

[Chris914n6]

That works out to be a good example since I used to work as a Dealership parts guy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

FAG sells the part for $50 to Autozone, who doubles the price to $100 to you.

FAG sells the part for $50 to VW, who doubles the price to $100 to the Dealer, who doubles the price to $200 to you, or $150 wholesale (25% off). But it's VW, not Nissan where I worked, so $200=$300 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sheeplove.gif)

Another example: Akebono is OEM for alot of Asian cars like my Nissan. The Akebono water pump I got from RockAuto had the Nissan logo half ground off, otherwise exactly the same. So if you know the OEM you can get the same quality part without the markup. 10 brands sold pumps but looking at the pics only 3 actual choices.

People want to buy the cheapest part that will get the job done and it likely won't fail until the next owner.

If your VW was made in Mexico then it probably didn't have a German bearing in the first place.