rev up your engines, today I'm talking about Chinese car parts the good the bad
and the ugly, so today I'm gonna start by telling you the Chinese parts that you
should definitely avoid buying for your car, and numero uno do not buy Chinese
parts that are unbranded that don't even have a name on them, I've had customers
buy parts for the cars online they bring it to me, and I look at it and I say
there's not even a name on the part, it might come in a box that says made from
China cuz here in the United States they have to tell you the country of origin of
the parts, but there was no name on the actual part, all real manufacturers put
their names on the parts, so you know who made it, when the box says Made in China
and there's no name on the part I would definitely stay away, I've got a customer
who actually does business in China he runs a factory there and he said there's
some really horrible factories in China and there's some really good ones too, you
want to stay away from the horrible ones and often they won't
even put their name on the product, now my second warning
when it comes to Chinese parts is stay away from high-tech electronic parts on
your car if they're made in China like this airflow meter, the air flow
meter is a very crucial part to your car it tells you how much air goes in the
engine so the computer can put the right amount of fuel, these things are highly
accurate instruments, you buy some cheap knockoff it's not gonna work right don't
get me wrong I'm all for saving money when you get your car fixed, but if the
part doesn't work you're not saving any money and the worst thing of all
possible bad things that can happen is that you actually have figured out
what's wrong with your car, then you go buy one of these cheap parts, put it on
it doesn't fix it, and you think I must have been wrong it wasn't that, but in
reality it was that but the cheap part you got was no good, you put the power
down but the part was bad and it can create a true rat's nest of repair when
you get bad parts, there are also bad counterfeit
parts that come from China, they are made to look like the original equipment one
but they're counterfeit, and in 2013 here in the United States they had cases that
went to court and won counterfeit airbags that came from China,
and realized that you don't want to put your safety at risk, here is an example
there's some Chinese brake pads, now they get certified by the Department of
Transportation, now I've seen Chinese brake pads that came in the box that
said they were certified eco-friendly meaning they didn't have asbestos and
stuff, they did not have the DoT the Department of Transportation seal
showing that they are safe for stopping your car, they weren't certified by the
Department of Transportation as being good for stopping your car what do you
care if it's friendly to the environment if you get killed because the brakes
don't work right actually stopping a car now ironically enough a lot of
manufacturers days make their original equipment brake pads in China, but
they're certified like I said there are some good companies in China, but you
want to stay away from the unbranded cheap ones that haven't been tested and
sometimes they're just flat-out counterfeits, just like those fake Gucci
bags, I actually had a customer that bought a fake Gucci bag she knew it was fake
and her friend had a real one and they put them side to side and really they
look pretty much the same, but then again you're not riding around in a Gucci bag
and it isn't stopping you and saving your life, and my last big warning is
generally just stay away from chinese-made tires, over the years I've
had customers buy Chinese made tires I even inadvertently bought some on my
wife's car and they kept going flat because they were so soft, nails went
through them even though they were steel-belted radials, there have been
various suits against various Chinese tire making companies it just seems that
the quality control isn't there for their tires, I mean the biggest thing for
safety on your car is the tires you're driving the tires, you don't want them
to slip when you slam on the brakes you want them to grab the road not slide all
over the place it's very important to have good tires
in that respect personally I just say stay away from Chinese tires period I
wouldn't buy any of them, there are so many valid tire companies out there in
the world why take a chance with the ones made in China that have a history of
bad track records, fast separation the tires they wear out too fast they get
flats more often, but now I'll talk about the good of Chinese parts, they have factories
that makes them very good products at a very low price, we'll start right here in
my garage here's my Daytona Jack it's made in China
it works perfectly fine, here's my 20-ton press on under all the junk here, it's
made in China and it works fantastic yesterday I put a radiator in a
customer's car it was made in China they're plastic tops plastic
bottoms and aluminum in the middle, they cost tons less sometimes a factory one
is $600 and the Chinese one is $89 their just plastic and aluminum and
they're made by machines just crimped in none of that stuff's done with hand work
anymore, when I was young they used to hand solder things, now it's all done by
machines so they make excellent radiators, so there's decent Chinese
parts out there but as I said you want one that has an actual name on it when
you buy this stuff your best to buy it locally, there's an Auto zone over there three
blocks away, I buy a lot of stuff from them, a lot of it's made in China but
they pick which people to use, they gotta figure out which ones are good and which
ones are bad, and they give a really good local guarantees, buy it online from who
knows where and what company made it that's potluck, now I've never had to
exchange any of the CV shafts made in China that I bought at autozone they all
work perfectly fine, if I ever got a radiator it didn't fit right or if it
started to leak early, they stand behind it locally give you another one no
questions asked, you're not gonna get that if you buy the stuff online, Plus
let's face it your radiator is out, your car's overheated, your drive shaft is broken
you can't drive it, if they send you the wrong one, or one that breaks then your
car's gonna be up for a long time while your waiting for the parts to go back
and forth, it's always better to buy local, because the local guys hey they
want feedback too, if they find out that a certain
brand of Chinese made stuff isn't working out, they put it on their computer they
get enough complaints, out goes that company and they'll find another one, these
companies have to do a lot of research it's a competitive world and if they're
selling nothing but junk to people guess what they'll go out of business, they
have to keep their finger on the pulse of who's making good parts who's making
bad parts, and yes it does change all the time, when I was a young mechanic nobody
wanted Chinese parts everybody in the business knew that they were junk, but
today hey there's some very good factories out there that make stuff, you
just got to make sure that you get it from the correct one so you don't get
one of these counterfeits or just a cheaply manufactured part, because let's
face it everybody wants to save money when they're having their car fixed but
you're not going to save money if you get an inferior part, or one that doesn't
even work and then you're confused that gee I thought it was that but the new
part didn't work, now you know the good the bad and the ugly about Chinese parts
so you can make a wiser decision yourself, so if you never want to miss
another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that Bell!