Aftermarket parts from China can be a very good deal

[AiniA]

I have had good success buying some things in China on Alibaba. Got five vents, made of beautiful 316 stainless that were close to the same price as PVC ones here. Chinese manufacturing is following the Japanese model of starting off cheap and then going upmarket. They had to go this way because their labour costs have risen dramatically in past decade. They have outsourced their cheap manufacturing to places like Myanmar and even a few African countries.

[skipperpete]

I buy aftermarket parts from overseas but avoid the stupidly cheap things and have had great success. I bought some AVR’s for a well known AC generator one really cheap one at $17 and 2 others at $35 and $50 and ran them on one of my own gensets. No problems with any of them in the short term and I use the cheapest one to fault find on generators that have power output issues from (possibly) faulty AVR’s rather than risking a smokeout with the OEM avr at $700.
Engine mounts..... only original!. Bushings are excellent, accept no copies and the small Yanmar’s really only work calmly with OEM mounts.
Polyflex .. never trust em... BUT.....Isoflex seem to be reliable (even on Yanmar’s)
Propellers..... only buy known brands, cheap copies are often poor quality brass and not bronze.
Batteries.... if you buy a N200 lead acid battery and can carry it to the boat un assisted you just bought a dud.
Engine oils are a real minefield ...... it’s really easy to print a Shell/BP/Pennzoil label and sell us crappy recycled oil as high quality. Indonesian region is well known for this but Thailand and Malaysia also have this retailing problem. I got to only buying Caterpillar oils but still used the cheap local stuff for flushing.

[nuku34]

I'm the OP:
Looks like opened a can of worms here. We can do without the political comment and the flaming of contributors, ok?

My point was that we can save a lot of $ on SOME parts by buying direct from China. Like skipperpete, I am very selective about after-market parts.

I'm 100% certain that the after-market impellers I bought were identical to the "official" ones at 7X the price. Its face it, much of what we buy comes from China; its the level of quality control that counts.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by nuku34

I'm the OP:
Looks like opened a can of worms here. We can do without the political comment and the flaming of contributors, ok?

My point was that we can save a lot of $ on SOME parts by buying direct from China. Like skipperpete, I am very selective about after-market parts.

I'm 100% certain that the after-market impellers I bought were identical to the "official" ones at 7X the price. Its face it, much of what we buy comes from China; its the level of quality control that counts.

I just passed my 500th order with aliexpress. My overall experience with Chinese products has been great ( mainly electronics and motors ) , sure I’ve had the odd failure but nothing concerning. My latest order was a replacement carburettor for my old tohatsu 2-stroke

[rslifkin]

The biggest challenge in buying stuff (no matter where it comes from) is determining when the more expensive item is actually better and when it's just more expensive (but not better).

[bstreep]

If it's an easily replaced item, I might go for the cost savings. If I figure in either the time to replace the item (like an impeller) or the inconvenience of a bad part (like an impeller going out 3 miles from "home"), and if it's more than the price difference, then I go for the OEM. I've just had too many crappy parts fail on me, at the wrong time.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

The biggest challenge in buying stuff (no matter where it comes from) is determining when the more expensive item is actually better and when it's just more expensive (but not better).

correct high price or brand is not a guarantee of anything these days

[skkeith]

except when they are not. I recall my last racour knock off looked perfect from the outside but was not milled on the inside. Even the simple stuff can be complete garbage.

[skipperpete]

I’m often surprised by the lengths that engine makers will go to keep everything “in house”, volvo does this, less so now that they use the Shibaura/Perkins/Cat basic engine. The old 2003 was a masterclass in exclusivity with the split rubber washers and hard external pipework...... I think just about everything on that engine was in house.
Solè did a similar thing with the “Mini” engine by making the lift pump a part of the gearbox and using a water pump">raw water pump which no off the shelf impeller would fit... same with the fuel and oil filter.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

I’m often surprised by the lengths that engine makers will go to keep everything “in house”, volvo does this, less so now that they use the Shibaura/Perkins/Cat basic engine. The old 2003 was a masterclass in exclusivity with the split rubber washers and hard external pipework...... I think just about everything on that engine was in house.
Solè did a similar thing with the “Mini” engine by making the lift pump a part of the gearbox and using a raw water pump which no off the shelf impeller would fit... same with the fuel and oil filter.

actually the vast majority of VP parts are OEM, but you and I dont know where they source them as they don't tell us the OEM part numbers

engine manufacturers and their supply chains are all tied together with companies sourcing parts from each other all over the place . Volvo P made very few engines themselves actually

Perkins itself was notorious for this especially in their marinised engines

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Discussion of replacement parts is fine on CF.

Political discussion is not allowed. Please stay focused on the issue: nuku 34 saved 7 times the local purchase price by buying from China.

Hi Anne

I understand what you would like to achieve with this forum and I have more than just a huge respect for you and your husband but this is bigger than us.

The Chinese ambassador said tonight " we will take Taiwan by all necessary means".

Taiwan is part of our alliance. We could be at war tomorrow.

That is directly relevant to anyone sailing in the South China sea and on point.

People seem happy to buy their stuff and they should be made aware who they are sponsoring....

I'm glad I'm old, and not long for the stupidity of this world.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

.

The Chinese ambassador said tonight " we will take Taiwan by all necessary means".

Taiwan is part of our alliance. We could be at war tomorrow.
.

Taiwan is part of China, check the history


At the end of WW2 Japan was kicked out of Taiwan and the US gave it back to China
The US recognises the one China policy and recognises Taiwan is part of China.

How many boomerangs does Australia need to go to war with China?

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Taiwan is part of China, check the history


At the end of WW2 Japan was kicked out of Taiwan and the US gave it back to China
The US recognises the one China policy and recognises Taiwan is part of China.

Let's ask Taiwan what they want, that's a simple test and should put your argument to bed.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Let's ask Taiwan what they want, that's a simple test and should put your argument to bed.

I want a fire engine a space shuttle and a bajillion dollars.
What does it matter what I want?
Reality, let's look at that.

And back to your going to war thing?
How many boomerangs was it again?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

I’m often surprised by the lengths that engine makers will go to keep everything “in house”, volvo does this, less so now that they use the Shibaura/Perkins/Cat basic engine. The old 2003 was a masterclass in exclusivity with the split rubber washers and hard external pipework...... I think just about everything on that engine was in house.
Solè did a similar thing with the “Mini” engine by making the lift pump a part of the gearbox and using a raw water pump which no off the shelf impeller would fit... same with the fuel and oil filter.

That's where Volvo made their profits, cheap engines, expensive replacement parts.