On analogues and substitutes

Analogues made by other chemical manufacturers will only resemble, in their properties, whatever your car's own manufacturer fills its vehicles with — but they will most likely not fully match its requirements. You need to understand that even a plain DOT-4 brake fluid has a different chemical composition from one manufacturer to another. After all, the "DOT-4" label is a set of requirements, not a recipe, and it's by no means a given that your particular car doesn't have some additional nuances of its own.

Nobody can tell you for certain just how much harm, say, a brake fluid that wasn't foreseen by the automaker and wasn't approved by its engineers might do to your car, but just find out the price of new calipers and a master brake cylinder, and I think that will make it a bit easier for you to make the right call.

One thing can be said with certainty: counterfeit or substandard power-steering fluid freezes in cold weather and almost immediately forces the owner to replace the rack and/or the pump; frozen automatic transmission fluid will most likely lead to a full transmission overhaul or replacement; and the wrong coolant will most likely eat through all the hoses, the radiator, the water pump and the heater core — though not right away. Whether you're willing to take that risk is up to you.