PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Genuine Mercedes Parts Are Now Made In China

Squiggle Dog · #39 07-31-2017, 05:50 PM

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.