|
|
|
#31
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
- Peter.
__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark Formerly... 2000 GMC Sonoma 1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021 2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels 1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles. 1984 123 200 1979 116 280S 1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille 1971 108 280S |
#32
|
|||
|
|||
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. |
#33
|
|||
|
|||
Volvo is selling a vehicle in the USA that is made in China. The salespeople have a difficult time saying that.
__________________
1962 220Sb ~ The Emerald Bullet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx6tN1W48_o 1957 Ponton 220S 2001 S600 Daily Driver The Universe is Abundant ~ Life is GOOD!http://www.classiccarclock.com |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
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
__________________
DrDKW |
#35
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
- Peter.
__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark Formerly... 2000 GMC Sonoma 1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021 2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels 1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles. 1984 123 200 1979 116 280S 1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille 1971 108 280S |
#36
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
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
__________________
DrDKW Last edited by Mark DiSilvestro; 07-31-2017 at 11:22 AM. |
#37
|
|||
|
|||
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. |
#38
|
|||
|
|||
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. |
#39
|
||||
|
||||
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.
__________________
Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/ DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES! 1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C 1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles |
#40
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Quote:
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. |
#41
|
|||
|
|||
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
__________________
1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission. My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear). |
#42
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
- Peter.
__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark Formerly... 2000 GMC Sonoma 1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021 2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels 1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles. 1984 123 200 1979 116 280S 1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille 1971 108 280S |
#43
|
||||
|
||||
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.
__________________
Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/ DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES! 1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C 1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles Last edited by Squiggle Dog; 08-05-2017 at 04:39 PM. |
#44
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Happy Motoring, Mark
__________________
DrDKW |
#45
|
|||
|
|||
Isn't everything from China engineered somewhere else?
|
Bookmarks |
|
|