[rant]Replacement part quality is going downhill[/rant]
 

Is it just me or has the quality of replacment parts headed downhill?

For example:
In late April, replaced door strikes on wagon. Yesterday, the rubber bumper on the drivers strike popped off.
Life span - 2.5 mo

Bought replacement condenser for SDL in March. Had to wait until May to charge system because I replaced the evaporator but, the first time I charge the system the condenser springs a leak that is obviously a manufacturing defect.
Life span - 0 mo

There's been other fairly recent issues but I just can't recall them right now.

Grrr....

Aftermarket aux. water pump lasted about four months on the SD. Started drawing too much current and was driving the monovalve ballistic. Fortunately disconnected it before another CCU got fried.:o

If your parts were purchased from a dealer, they have a one year unlimited warranty on them. That includes parts and labor regardless of who installed them the first time.

Len

Not the point. New parts should last. Period.

I agree, I've gotten some crap parts from ********. I bought 2 different fuel primer pumps from them, and neither one lasted more than a month. Went back to the original leaky one (at least it still pumps, which is more than I can say for the ones I bought). Also they sent me an antenna gasket that looks like it was intended for my car, but does not fit worth a damn. Their parts are cheap, but I guess you get what you pay for.

I have noticed the outsourcing a lot of what used to be aftermarket German parts to other countries lately. So far, still European made(I guess Turkey counts), but I am expecting to see Chinese stuff soon :mad:

Rick

I bought motor mounts for the '84 300D from the dealer, they were made in Turkey. At least the dealer stocks parts for a 23 year old car, try that with a domestic vehicle.

they get JEGS. we dont have magazines like what older american cars have.. all we have is.. mercedes classic. which is only printed what.. 4 times a year.. we totally need like a magazine for the mercedes diesel owner.. pre 1991

All of the parts I've gotten from my parts car have been of top quality, even though sometimes they are a little dirty. They always fit too. I've experienced the poor quality of "new" parts only a few times, as I try to avoid the "cheap" replacements. one example was the rear window seal. Sure, I could have paid less than the $78 I dropped at the dealer, but the fit of the OEM one was just perfect, even though I've never done a rear window replacement before.

You get what you pay for. Most websites sell cheap parts which you have to watch out for.
To avoid that buy from Phil here. He will only sell OEM or similar quality parts. Sure you'll pay a little more but you get good parts, fast shipping and you help support this forum.

Danny

I'm with R Leo on his rant. The Mann air filter I bought from here for my E300 was too big and caused the sides of the airbox to bulge. The result was two of the 6 clips on the box broken, and me buying a new air box.

It'
 

Phil/Mercedesshop is basically at the mercy of WorldPac and whomever else they use for the supply side. If WP uses vendors that send out crap with brand name labels, there's little he can do.

I agree.

I would seriously doubt that he can be cognizant of the quality of any WP part. It takes years of use of a particular p/n to develop any sense of durability.

Unless a given component fails within the first 60 days and the customer demands a refund, Phil cannot have any knowledge of components that last one or two years, when the expected lifetime is 10 times that.

I agree. I do not blame Phil, but I am upset about an o-ring that lasted only 8 months. That's pathetic.

Prefilter o-ring? Are you sure that it was actually replaced with new eight months ago? The prefilter is not supplied with the o-ring; you have to order it separately. Perhaps the mechanic reused the old one. I haven't seen the work instructions on changing that filter, so I don't know if the o-ring is supposed to be replaced every time. On my car, it is.