Anyone know who manufactures the parts? I went to the junkyard today and got a nearly brand new distributor cap. I looked at the cap that has no name on it, but it is made in Italy. I cracked my ignition rotor today so I had to get a new one and went to AutoZone and got the Duralast brand and it is also made in Italy and I have a radiator cap that I keep in my car from Duralast and it was made in Israel. Just curious because I was under the impression that the brand was American or Chinese, but apparently not.

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1990 190E 3.0L

Duralast is the "house" brand for Autozone. The parts can come from anywhere as I doubt they make any parts. Quality level of the specific part in question? Hard to tell since we don't know the actual maker.

Even name brand aftermarket manufacturers outsource some parts to fill their catalog as they can't make everything.

I don't know whether they are American or Chinese, but my best guess is they are a re-boxer and source parts from different manufacturers and slap there name on it. I wanted to put new calipers on my '92 300D and the guy at the parts store (the one that starts with a big "O") told me their Duralast brand calipers were OEM MB calipers that were remanufactured. So I ordered them and they came in a box that said Duralast. When I pulled them out of the box, inside were we're Girling calipers for the front and Ate for the rear, both the OEM caliper manufacturers. So you've got an ignition rotor from Italy, a radiator cap from Israel, and I've got MB reman calipers.... and all these parts have The name Duralast on them. Sounds like a re-boxer to me, although a higher quality one than what a lot of the German re-boxers that are only sourcing with cheap, inferior quality Chinese parts.

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'89 260e (212K Mi.), '92 400e (208K Mi.), '92 400e (not a misprint) (146K Mi.), '95 C220, '81 240D--Sold

True mostly, putting their brand on product made by others. Autozone purchased one of their import car part manufacturers (importer) last year, which helps them to have more of the part numbers that you need, but you should check to see who makes any critical parts. Many times the counter help will know who makes it (I buy parts from Advance Auto as needed, the Manager usually knows or can check to see who makes the store-brand parts). If they're good, and not too busy, just ask.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

No guarantees, but the most likely manufacturer is Facet, which is a big OEM supplier of electrical parts and systems in Torino.

Your Israeli radiator cap is probably made by Motorad (Fishman Thermo Technologies). They used to be a reboxer, but I see they now manufacture.