HATE EM #$@!

Just finished removing the shiny new aftermarket aux (radiator) fan, blades brushed one support and only two bolts lined up, ... PO had it installed, ... found a receipt for dealer service replacing the HVAC blower with "customer supplied aftermarket blower", the dealer charged him to modify the housing to get the slightly larger motor to fit, probably cost more than OE by the time it was finished, ...

Funny thing is, you can often buy OE or OEM for the same price through people like MercedesShop or BuyMBParts, but so many people go to autozoo et al instead without ever checking.

Sure are some junk aftermarket parts out there, not for my cars.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I once needed a thermostat in a hurry and went to the local auto parts store. They offered me a Chinese one for around $30+,thats when an OEM one about $16I declined.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Made in China = POS

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Sure, like your iPod, TV, computer, GPS, appliances, power tools... you can quibble with the quality of lots of things made in China, but they also manufacture electronics that no one else in the world even has the ability to make in mass production. Take an iPod nano to the nearest product design engineer you know and watch them turn it over in their hands. The machines to make some of those cases don't even exist outside of China. That's what you get when you are the world's manufacturer. Sometimes you make crap, sometimes you make gold. Whatever the customer wants.

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1987 300TD 231,000
#22, afterglow, plastic fan, euro lights, alternator upgrade, cluster housing update

I have to say in the past two years I'm buying more and more genuine MB stuff. As a Mercedes Benz Club of America member, Park Place Merecedes in Dallas offers GREAT parts discounts to the MBCA group. It's paid for my membership many times over. It does pays to shop around, but lately the convenience of having the right part right now has been winning me over the internet.

If' I'm planning a big project well in advance, and I know the OEM manufacturer for the MB parts, I'll look at the internet. But lately, the price difference hasn't been that worth it. I will say this applies to most parts - you'd die to find out what MB charges for a CCU or cruise control brain (hint - more than the car's worth?).

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~shell
As of 2/2010:
2001 CLK55 0o\=*=/o0
13.6 @ 106mph
10K mi
1984 300SD
260K mi and going and going...
97 S600
46K miles
1991 Sentra SE-R (extremely dorked with)
www.se-r.net

Don't hate China too much, the US auto manufacturers cannot sell their vehicles in China because they don't meet the Chinese emissions standards. Kind of ironic that we all think China's exports are all crap when we can't sell our own goods in their country.

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think they'd get a clue

Those standards only apply to imported cars... Cars built in China don't even run on unleaded

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

Aftermarket parts suck, I'm sick of having an original part last 17 years, then the replacement is shot in three. OE all the way for me.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have been sticking to MB parts as well. Especially for things like gaskets there is a decided difference. Check out Duval's site for MB pricing. They list MB's MSRP on parts and you can get an idea of how good a discount your local dealer is really giving you.

Also, don't forget, if your model has been designated as "Classic" you can buy parts directly from the MB classic center in Irvine. I believe they offer some discounts as well, but alas, the W124s aren't classics yet so I have't found out for sure.

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1987 300TD 231,000
#22, afterglow, plastic fan, euro lights, alternator upgrade, cluster housing update

Buick sold more cars in China last year than they did in the US!

Kevin
1979 240D manual
1984 190D manual

A lot of times you don't have a choice if you want a particular type of product. You're at the mercy of the merchant. They're going to offer what will get them the maximum profit. So they'll sell the crap that's made in china.
I'd rather pay extra for something that's made well and will outlast the chinese crap.
Ah, but you ultimately have a choice, the choice not to buy. I do this very well thank you very much.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

That does not mean they are built good. Labor is cheap in China that they can have things fixed cheaply. In many Asian countries, a transmission can be rebuilt for equivalent US $100. That's why you see so many old Mercedes still running. Most owners know nothing about them, but they are kept running by roadside repair shops.

It is a myth that products made in China are crap and are not durable or somehow not made as well as products made anywhere else. You can buy products made in the US or Europe that are crap as well. The location a product is made is not a true indicator of it's quality. A Chinese factory can turn out a really nice Bosch jigsaw or they can turn out a really crappy Black & Decker jigsaw that costs 1/8 as much. The motivations behind why it might be made in a certain locale are far more relevant.

There may be many other very valid reasons to not buy a product made in China but a blanket statement that products made in China are crap is just not accurate.

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1987 300TD 231,000
#22, afterglow, plastic fan, euro lights, alternator upgrade, cluster housing update

Well, I recently purchased a brand new BEHR radiator for one of my 79 300CD's, from AutoZoo...

So they do have the originals. They even had it in stock. Not one single "fitting" issue. Everything went together as it should have.

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