Genuine Mercedes Parts Are Now Made In China

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by JeffreyNMemphis

The ECM in my S600 was manufactured in Spain in 2002. So I am certain that outsourcing is not a recent business strategy for Mercedes. I hope someone can get Wayne Dempsey's attention to address the issue.

I recently bought a double flaring tool from Grainger that broke on the maiden usage. Luckily, the franchise tool truck owner was visiting and sold me a new kit. The Grainger kit includes components sourced globally, kit assembled in the USA. Moreover, I bought bolts that broke at Tractor Supply that were made in China. Why do I look after buying instead of before?

Because it's becoming increasingly impossible to actually get anything if you try to avoid chinese junk as many times there is no alternative. That's what I mean by the results of gobalism on Mercedes. If the thing is built in the USA, with stuff sources all over the globe including increasing amounts from china, why the hell would I spend the money on one when I can get the same thing with a different badge for a hell of a lot less?

- Peter.

[97 SL320]

Auto companies "make" very little of a car, most parts are outsourced.

Sourcing world wide parts isn't new.

I remember working on a Porsche 924 / 944 that had Bosch fuel injection made under license by Nippondenso < Japan > ( now called Denso ) The AC compressor was also ND.

Come to think of it, how many people here complain that there isn't a German AC compressor on their car? MB went to GM / Harrison for the R4 ( and maybe the A6 ) and later Denso compressors were used.

Or a mid 80's Pontiac 6000 ( GM's front drive after the X body ) it had an instrument cluster made by Denso < Japan >

The mid 80's Chevy Nova is a Toyota Corolla.

For one year Honda rebadged a large Isuzu SUV.

VW was selling a restyled Chrysler mini van.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

Auto companies "make" very little of a car, most parts

VW was selling a restyled Chrysler mini van.

Volvo is selling a vehicle in the USA that is made in China. The salespeople have a difficult time saying that.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

First off, I don't believe everything made in China is Junk.
OTOH, I DO make an effort to buy American-made products, or at least products not made in China - by shopping at flea-markets and yard sales.
But if I happen to need a new power-tool right away, every one from Harbor freight to Home-Depot is made in China. Bosch is made in China. Even the once premium-brand Milwaukee tools are made in China!
Someone please tell me who makes power-tools in the US?

I will say the Turkish-made 240D hood-star I bought from a Mercedes dealer eight years ago has held up very nicely.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

First off, I don't believe everything made in China is Junk.

True. Some weapons are not. I have a 22 rifle I've mentioned before which, while not as high quality as the Czech original that they cloned, is certainly not junk. That is literally the only mechanical contraption of theirs I've ever bought which I would class as "not junk".

Someone please tell me who makes power-tools in the US?

Nobody. They don't exist.

I will say the Turkish-made 240D hood-star I bought from a Mercedes dealer eight years ago has held up very nicely.

Nice. The gear shift boot I have from there is garbage.

- Peter.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

True. Some weapons are not. I have a 22 rifle I've mentioned before which, while not as high quality as the Czech original that they cloned, is certainly not junk. That is literally the only mechanical contraption of theirs I've ever bought which I would class as "not junk".



Nobody. They don't exist.



Nice. The gear shift boot I have from there is garbage.

- Peter.

Quality replacement rubber parts are some of the most difficult items to find anymore. I've seen aftermarket valve cover gaskets harden and crack after only two years.
I remember years ago a friend was restoring his '53 MG TD. His new wheel cylinder boots and other rubber parts from Taiwan rotted on his garage-shelf before he was ready to use them!
More recently, I got a new 240D driveshaft flex-disc from a local indie MB parts place. The box it came in had some ersatz German name on it, with a black streak below attempting to hide the words 'Made in China'. The new rubber was hard as a rock! I returned it and got one from the dealer.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[TroutMD]

Having dealt with medicial equipment & parts made in various parts of the world for many years, I would say there is a HUGE difference in quality of products made in China (pure garbage/junk) vs Japan or Korea (quality on par with Europe/North America).

So it is truly sad if Mercedes parts are now being manufactured in China. Even ISO 9001 certifications means nothing in China, as they have routinely been dealt out like candy by corrupt officials.

[ESchwab]

Buick has an assembly plant in China for the Buick Envision, a crossover SUV, that is made there and sold in the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Envision

Buicks have been very popular cars in China for some time.

[Squiggle Dog]

What is strange to me is hearing straight from Mercedes-Benz through different publications (and posts from employees) about how they would never make parts for their classic vehicles in China and then suddenly getting a Chinese part. And then after contacting a Classic Center employee, needing to require proof of this--and then after showing him the label, having it explained to me that they still absolutely do not source parts from China and that the part I have is obviously a counterfeit item, and how they are trying to crack down on a distributor in California that is producing counterfeit Mercedes products and selling them to retailers!

If I had the money I would order another crank seal, but this time from The Classic Center and note the country of origin to see for myself.

I prefer to buy American, but have a German Mercedes because the build quality, safety, and engineering is so great compared to the American counterparts. I'd prefer the parts I buy for these cars to be made in Germany as most of the original parts were. But, European countries and even Japan tend to make really high quality parts, so those are acceptable.

China has a bad reputation for quality. This doesn't mean they can't make a quality part, but the general business model is to make inferior copies of parts and undersell them for those who want to save money (whether or not it actually does save them money in practice). So generally, the only reason one would buy a part made in China is to pay less money. I am a firm believer in saving my money and buying the best I can afford rather than buying things at the cheapest price. But, I also like to shop around to make sure I am not getting price-gouged.

I remember buying a large set of Husky tools from The Home Depot in 2005 because I liked the name, they were decent quality, and made in the USA. Not even a year later, I went back looking at tools and noticed that they were now all made in China and the prices went up! How disappointing.

The problem with our world is that people are more and more concerned with money, so everything else takes a back seat. Money should be a reward for good business practices (not the ultimate goal), and it is finite. But, people in their greed try to stretch limits in order to get more money--by lowering the costs of production by sending it to third world countries so they don't have to pay a living wage, using inferior materials and tooling, and then marking up the prices so they get more profit. Then they like to use the excuse of "But think how much more it would cost if we still made these in America." How nice of a time it was when companies had such pride in their product that they put quality first over profit.

If I owned investments, sure I'd like as much return as possible, but NEVER at the expense of ethics or the quality of the product or service a place gives. I would happily take less return knowing that by so doing, the world was a better place. It's a fact of life that one can only make so much money doing things the right way (concerning ethics and quality). So, people should face the facts and realize that trying to stretch out any more money is only going to hurt someone else and possibly come back to bite them as well.

I shop at Walmart sometimes, but not to save money. I live in a new part of town and have no other options other than grocery chains, which I usually shop at first, and only go to Walmart if they don't carry what I need. Where I live, there are no "mom and pop" stores. But given a choice, I prefer to shop stores that are locally owned.

I will not be buying any new car. The primary reason is that I can't afford it. That aside, even if I was wealthy, I would not buy any new car. I do not like the styling, the complication, or the quality (poor quality parts sourced from China would be another reason). Car companies are not building anything that I want to buy. So, I am not part of the problem. But, others are because they buy what these companies sell, and I am in the minority so my voice doesn't matter to them.

If I had a good income and were to buy a new car, what would I want, ideally? A car that was made at least almost entirely in the USA by workers who were paid a good wage. My second choice? A car made in a country of brilliant engineers, namely Germany. I would want a vehicle which was as simple and gadgetless as possible. I would want it to be very robust and made to last several lifetimes. I would want art deco styling. I would want as much safety built into it as possible without it making the car too complicated.

[97 SL320]

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

I remember years ago a friend was restoring his '53 MG TD. His new wheel cylinder boots and other rubber parts from Taiwan rotted on his garage-shelf before he was ready to use them!

Uhm, they copied the part right down to the 1953 expected life span.

Originally Posted by TroutMD

Even ISO 9001 certifications means nothing in China, as they have routinely been dealt out like candy by corrupt officials.

ISO 9001 means nothing in terms of assuring someone is making a quality product. The cert states that the manufacturing procedure / testing is documented and adhered to. We could be making lead life preservers and be ISO certified as long as we had standards and adhered to them, . . .most of the time.

In the past I worked for a major high quality electronics manufacturer that was ISO certified. More often that outsiders would expect, we would have a problem with a manufacturing process and made out of spec product. In order to remain ISO compliant, a process engineer would devise a new spec that covered the product and sign off on it. Once the batch went through, we would revert to the old spec. Granted, we had decently tight specs to start with so our deviation wasn't that bad.

There were also quality " Tiers " for outgoing product. China was the highest quality , Arab states next then USA in third.

[Shortsguy1]

Regarding tools made in the USA... strangely enough many of DEWALT power tools are made in the good ol' USA. Who would have guessed that Home Depot's cheapest tools are USA-made (of internationally sourced parts).

Products Made in the USA | DEWALT

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by Shortsguy1

Who would have guessed that Home Depot's cheapest tools are USA-made (of internationally sourced parts)

Whoever the marketing guru was who first came up with that phrase deserves whatever it is he's being paid...

- Peter.

[Squiggle Dog]

And now Contitech belts are made in China! I sure hope these China-made belts last as long as the German ones did. I was happy paying what I was paying before for German belts. In fact, I don't think the price dropped at all since they were made in China! I would rather pay 2-3 times as much for one that was made in Germany.

How disappointing. It went from CRP to CRAP. And to think that I just returned an air compressor belt that was made in the USA to confirm size, to Autozone because I wanted a German-made OEM Contitech over Duralast.

CHI-NA!


These are some alternator belts I bought 4 years ago, at which time they were still made in Germany.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

And now Contitech belts are made in China! I sure hope these China-made belts last as long as the German ones did. I was happy paying what I was paying before for German belts. In fact, I don't think the price dropped at all since they were made in China! I would rather pay 2-3 times as much for one that was made in Germany.

How disappointing. It went from CRP to CRAP. And to think that I just returned an air compressor belt that was made in the USA to confirm size, to Autozone because I wanted a German-made OEM Contitech over Duralast.

CHI-NA!


These are some alternator belts I bought 4 years ago, at which time they were still made in Germany.

Hey, but at least they're still "ENGINEERED IN GERMANY"!

Happy Motoring, Mark

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

Hey, but at least they're still "ENGINEERED IN GERMANY"!

Isn't everything from China engineered somewhere else?