Being ripped off by dealers

[grsthegreat]

I remember when USA Japan was shipping stuff labeled made in USA.

As the trending story goes, a small manufacturing town in Japan renamed itself “Usa” in the hopes of deceiving importers who are expecting top-quality American goods with their shipments.

 

[5030]

Name branded parts from Rock Auto that failed within a few months

Interesting. I buy most of my AP from Rock or 1A auto. Even core exchanges are seamless. Moog used to be good but I believe most of them are now Hencho-Mexico

 

[5030]

I remember when USA Japan was shipping stuff labeled made in USA.

As the trending story goes, a small manufacturing town in Japan renamed itself “Usa” in the hopes of deceiving importers who are expecting top-quality American goods with their shipments.

...and now the worm has turned and quality stuff comes from Japan but the junk has always come from China.

 

[5030]

I bought bearings from Napa. They were special order and the box clearly says "Made in Japan" on the outside. Multiple places... I open the box and the bearing has "Made in China" engraved in the race. So Japanese boxes to transport Chinese bearings?View attachment 759291

If that was me, I believe I'd be returning it. Deceptive labeling.

 

[5030]

Like I quipped to our family doctor once.. I said 'about the only thing made here today is babies but they are delivered with imported from China surgical tools.

 

[scaredychicken]

Couple of comments on this thread ...

thread title caught my attention, so I read the entire thread

disclaimer: I am not a fan of Amazon, Ebay etc

I am still as perturbed / annoyed as I was when I read OP Ordinary Person's post

1) Ordinary joined TBN 4 days ago
2) one singular post
3) I brace myself for anything other than an original introductory greeting and welcome
4) HOWEVER complaints from the get go, with a very pigeon-holed opinion about dealers ripping him off, compared to Amazon, Ebay etc. That doesn't sit well with me. What is the background, context, experience etc that lead to the opinion or comment ?

Dealerships have overhead, salaries, retail MSRP guidelines etc, so there will be costs, that online sellers may not have any regard for.

Truth is, having a good relatioship with the dealer, and the parts / service dept should be a good and vital connection to have. As with ANY contacts / businesses, there are some bad apples, but they can be weeded out quickly. Sure you can save money and buy online from the big suppliers ... but are you getting the item as described ? is it USED but sold as new ? who backs it up for warranty, or even the potential issues with packaging and shipping ? is it the item that you ordered or even need ?

I have way less hassles going through trusted dealers, service people, small business owners, and I prefer to buy locally, not online.

I hope that Ordinary Person comes back and participates in TBN, that would be better than a 1 post gripe.

Just my opinion. Have a great day everyone.

 

[LouNY]

I guess I look at starters different then many readers here.
When I get one that starting to act up I try and find a better starter then it had new.
In starters I try to find aftermarket gear reduction starters, every engine I've put them on
except one has started better then ever. The one case I went to to large a unit with to much gear
reduction it didn't turn the German IH diesel fast enough to start good in cold weather.
It would crank it seemingly forever just not fast. A couple of times I actually used the starter to
move the tractor were it would coast or could be towed to start. She would pop right off then.
I did get a different gear reduction starter for that tractor early this year starts excellently now.

 

[Torvy]

I hear you @scaredychicken . What bothered me was they implication that due to the one dealer, all dealers are bad. There are certainly some dealers who are unscrupulous and borderline criminals. Most, imho, are not that way.

 

[eagle628]

I bought bearings from Napa. They were special order and the box clearly says "Made in Japan" on the outside. Multiple places... I open the box and the bearing has "Made in China" engraved in the race. So Japanese boxes to transport Chinese bearings?

Can I interest you in listening to the gospel of McMaster-Carr?

 

[LBaird119]

So much I could comment here...
McMaster-Carr has allowed me to rebuild an obsolete (mid 80's)window regulator and a ball screw on my milling machine.

Starters: We have a semi local rebuilder (Owned within the State but operated locally). UNBELIEVABLE!!! Dad always thought something was wrong with them from the noise they would make (a solid clunk from engaging). I assured him it sounded that way when new and hadn't for YEARS! They all come out as good or better than new. Pricing is similar to parts store rebuild's that don't work as well and typically fail, about 1/3 to half of a tractor dealer part. (Understand that a diesel tractor starter is easily $300 and up so $150 or so for a full rebuild is money well spent!

Onan parts are spendy but if you ever manage to kill a starter do NOT buy an Ebay starter for it!
Junk IF you're lucky enough to get the right number of teeth. $50 to $80 compared to a couple hundred but a factory starter will crank for days, Chinese copy won't crank fast enough to start half the time and lasted maybe a year. (You learn things working with tight farmers.)

I've bought Audi parts for less, at the dealer than from a wholesaler. I've seen many dealer tractor parts that are competitive with internet pricing and on the same project, found them on the internet for half, for a comparable quality part. One particular dealer works with me on that aspect and understands he loses a few but wins the majority.

It's a research and guessing game hassle anymore and eats a lot of my time sometimes. I've seem the bottom price be a good part and I've seen the higher price come in as crap. If you have a local rebuilder that's any good, SUPPORT them! They may not save you a ton of money but the'll save you time and headaches. Reminds me of a guy that tried to convince me to but a rebuilt axle for a VW for 3/4 the price of the single CV joint I was buying. I said they weren't hardened and had a high failure rate (this was when they first started rebuilding them). He said "They're guaranteed! I'm doing this one for the third time and replacements have been free! No hassle. Just bring it back and they give me a new one!" (This was over 3-4 months). Yeah, real bargain. Still running that genuine, CV joint!