My only gripe with Timken is it is a crap shoot on what brand/country of origin you're getting. We didn't sell many Timken bearings, but a ton of hub assemblies to shops in the area (a lot of fleet vehicles, especially GM trucks/suvs/vans eat front hubs up) and the Timken hubs were from anywhere from the U.S. , to Korea, Japan, China, or Mexico. Same thing with Moog suspension parts now it seems. Some pieces are still U.S. made and some of their ball joints and sway bar links are Chinese now. That being said I've used a Korean Timken hub on the rear of a 92 Civic EX I had and later sold to a friend. That hub last 40-50k miles till he finally sold the car, and never had a problem. I've also used a Chinese duralast hub on a 97 Cavalier and that also lasted 30-40k miles till the trans crapped out and the car was junked. Sometimes with the parts store brand it really is luck of the draw lol, there is so much variance between batches and from unit to unit, unfortunately.
The Zone offers many different levels depending on what it is. I haven't worked there since 2015, but they're up to like 5 or 6 different levels/kinds of brake pads now lol. 3 different levels of rotors, 3 different levels of ignition parts, and 2 levels for most other things.
Valucraft, duralast, and duralast gold are the house brand levels for most things there.
I used to LOVE when we'd re-set the oil wall and oils would go on clearance. I still have over 10 cases of Royal Purple 5 gallon jugs in 5w30 I purchased for $15 a case of (3) 5 quart jugs. Bought a ton of Castrol Synblend quarts for $1 a piece, Mobil 5000 quarts for a $1 a piece..... Moral of the story is periodically check the oil rack at the Zone and see if anything went on clearance. It usually resets once a year and all the stuff getting phased out goes on clearance.
Yeah, I hear ya on country of origin. A couple of the MOOG links I installed were made in Mexico. My son just installed a set of Timken rear hubs that were made in China (said so on the box) for his 08 Civic. The OE parts went 78K, but they were rumbling. With Allied Signal buying up all the different parts suppliers and consolidating parts it's becoming more and more of a crap shoot. I've been watching this sort of thing happen for the last 15 to 20 years, and it's not getting any better. Bosch spark plugs are another one, they used to be made in Germany, now it's Brazil, Mexico, Russia, India, and even Turkey. :O Quality has gone down hill too. I've even got a new canister type fuel filter on my wall of shame. It's there because you can't blow thru it, let alone pump fuel thru it. That means even new parts can junk right out of the package.
I've gotten to the point of not throwing away old parts, until I know the new one(s) fit, and work correctly (unless it was broken). Sometimes an old part can be rebuilt, and give good results and more years of service. I've learned that from working on my 50+ year old VW. Most of those old German parts were built to last with a little maintenance.
But I don't normally go to the Zone or any of the other parts places too much any more. I mean unless it's needed right now, I can wait for a part to be shipped. I do have a winter beater Geo Prizm I can use, not to mention my Chevy truck, or my wife's car.
This year alone, my Accord got a bunch of parts thrown at it, like a new fuel tank (replaced the original rusty one), complete exhaust system from the manifold back, basically a complete front end rebuild (including new rotors), and a new set of winter tires. About the only real thing I need to do, is change the MTF in it, as I don't know how long it's been in there. I have been keeping an eye on the brake lines though, as I didn't do the rears last spring. Not to mention some of the coating on them is missing in places, and I did my wife's 2000 Accord 2 springs ago (2015).