Getting fed up...

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Here's something to think about, the Chinisium parts, the Chinese get paid the same to make a good part or a bad part. They don't care. Only time it gets changed is when the American counter part or contractor gets tired of the part being wrong and forces a change. The Chinese do not get paid more to call something out that is wrong, it's just a job, they are all equal. Oh, except for the elite communist party. I don't see things getting better anytime soon. Don't we all just love to be Gaslighted!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
 
tom999w said:
I hate to resurrect an old thread, but Rock Auto stung me again. I don't know why I keep buying their garbage. But never again. The story is: I went to Autozone and they only sold Duralast brand front struts. I didn't want Duralast, based on past bad experiences, so I went on Rock Auto and bought KYB struts. When they box arrived at my house I noticed a sticker over a sticker on the box. So I peeled the top sticker off and saw that the label said Duralast...... Since time was marching on, with my car in pieces, I paid the mechanic to install the Duralast struts. After they were installed, the ride was so bad that i lost a hubcap and broke a headlight pounding over regular road bumps. So now I have to pay double to buy correct struts and installation. In addition to paying the ticket that the police gave me for the busted headlight.
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So, was the box from Rockauto branded "KYB"? If so, they shipped the part you ordered. Duralast is just a brand, not a manufacturer like KYB, other than their rebuilt parts, so Duralast parts might be sourced from various manufacturers. Just like Sears old Kenmore brand, which could be an appliance made by GE, Maytag, or Westinghouse. Another example is ~3 battery manufacturers for ~100 brand names. One youtube recently showed an AC compressor (motorized) removed from a Tesla Model 3 with a FoMoCo label. Unlikely the Tesla factory would ship them thus, so perhaps an owner, mechanic, or source like Rockauto found the Ford part identical at a lower price. Kudos to Rockauto for such cleverness. I once found a new brake booster for my 1965 Chrysler on Rock for $80, when rebuilding mine cost >$350. Came in an old dusty box. Tom Taylor is good at finding stuff.

Don't know your vehicle, but take a ride in a Prius or Tesla Model 3 to experience "stiff ride". They probably design that to spec higher range, and ditto for the low-profile tires. Our Prius specs 42 psig tire pressure, as I recall. You want comfort, drive a 1960's full-size sedan with fat pimp-wall tires, but don't take turns too tight, and plan the path of the boat in advance.
 
RustyRatRod said:
They tried and succeeded a lot with cash for clunkers. Remember that? I remember Hot Rod magazine did a story about a first generation Camaro they tried to save at one yard. It was a running, driving car. Since the car had already been sold to the yard, by law there was nothing anyone could do and it was crushed. I remember all the youtube videos of cars that ran and drove the yards were putting that concoction in the engines so they'd blow. These were running and driving cars that could have been donated to less fortunate people. Yeah, the government really looks out for the little guy alright.
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I would walk through our Pick N Pull and look at all the shiny paint jobs of the newly arrived cash for clunkers and think about what a waste of resources. When you left the yard you would look at all the clunkers in the parking lot that all those cars were going to donate parts to, to keep them on the road. Yeah the Government doing what it does best. Waste resources!!!!
 
fueliedart said:
I would walk through our Pick N Pull and look at all the shiny paint jobs of the newly arrived cash for clunkers and think about what a waste of resources. When you left the yard you would look at all the clunkers in the parking lot that all those cars were going to donate parts to, to keep them on the road. Yeah the Government doing what it does best. Waste resources!!!!
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Recalls a science fiction story of a future where a suitor is poor because his family has "so much stuff". Turns out they only way economists figured to keep everyone employed and factories running was to churn out products which were dumped gratis on people. Rich people could avoid that and live a less cluttered life. A bit true with the free government checks during Covid, from Obama, Trump, and Biden. Cash For Clunkers was similar, to stimulate new car sales. I too saw some nice vehicles at PicNPull, but you were allowed to pick parts. I don't know about the whole engine.
 
I just bought AC Delco Professional ceramic brake pads, and the box says they're made in China... We Americans just can't win.
 
Some Americans went over and taught them how to be iso certified to standards for many products Then they buy them on the cheap and resale for a nice profit for there parts company. American workers are left out for company profit. So whose the winner
 
Well I'm tired of doing the same job two or three times. I buy the less expensive parts and then they fail in a month, so then I buy more expensive aftermarket parts from well-known companies like Bosch, Moog, and Monroe, and they fail in two months. So then I buy the expensive OEM parts and they're made in China... So either way, we, the consumers, are the losers. Just because a company sells a part, that doesn't mean that the part is meant to be usable. This really stinks. Times have really changed, when it comes to trying to repair your car. Five years ago I could buy the lowest level brake pads and they'd last 5 years. Now they last about a month and the price is three times more.
 
MILO said:
Some Americans went over and taught them how to be iso certified to standards for many products Then they buy them on the cheap and resale for a nice profit for there parts company. American workers are left out for company profit. So whose the winner
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ISO is supposed to be for "quality and consistency", and while I see a lot of consistency with cheap-*** Chinesium parts, I sure as hell don't see much in the way of quality any more.
 
ProjectBazza said:
ISO is supposed to be for "quality and consistency", and while I see a lot of consistency with cheap-*** Chinesium parts, I sure as hell don't see much in the way of quality any more.
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ISO does not mean quality and consistency. ISO is just a monitoring/tracking system. It will tell the manufacturer, how many parts are bad, but doesn't mean the problem will be corrected.
 
tom999w said:
Well I'm tired of doing the same job two or three times. I buy the less expensive parts and then they fail in a month, so then I buy more expensive aftermarket parts from well-known companies like Bosch, Moog, and Monroe, and they fail in two months. So then I buy the expensive OEM parts and they're made in China... So either way, we, the consumers, are the losers. Just because a company sells a part, that doesn't mean that the part is meant to be usable. This really stinks. Times have really changed, when it comes to trying to repair your car. Five years ago I could buy the lowest level brake pads and they'd last 5 years. Now they last about a month and the price is three times more.
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Part of the problem is with government regulations. The government demands certain materials be removed from a product (think asbestos) and the new(er) materials don't work as well and/or last as long.
Another problem is when a well know (good) company just licenses their name to be used by a "no name" company which makes an inferior part.
Another issue is quality control procedures. At one time every single item was inspected. Now they use "statistical" analysis. Check every (X) part, if they check good, assume the parts in between are good
 
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Charrlie_S said:
Part of the problem is with government regulations. The government demands certain materials be removed from a product (think asbestos) and the new(er) materials don't work as well and/or last as long.
Another problem is when a well know (good) company just licenses their name to be used by a "no name" company which makes an inferior part.
Another issue is quality control procedures. At one time every single item was inspected. Now they use "statistical" analysis. Check every (X) part, if they check good, assume the parts in between are good
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The problem I see is, "a US company will go to China and ash if they can make this product and for how much"? Then China would reply by saying, "how good do you want it to be". The answer would be "just long enough so we can sell them another one". Car parts, appliances or anything else is made on purpose not to last too long, so it can be bought again. Our government is 100% behind this thinking because they are making a lot on money on the sale tax.
 
The referigerator in my house is 50 years old, the gas stove is 78 years old, and the furniture is 100 years old, and they work excellent. It's hard to comprehend how manufacturers had a grasp on quality that long ago, and today you're very lucky if something lasts a year. I have to replace my pots/pans, cooking knives, humidifier, LED light bulbs, and plastic plumbing fixtures once a year, because they all fall apart with normal use in a short time.

Speaking of LED light bulbs, that's another sore spot. Long life LED light bulbs last about 1/10 the life span of a regular light bulb. The country was sold a pig in a poke when the light bulb manufacturers told them that they'd last 10, 15, 20 years. And the government fell for the scam too, by making legislation that "long life" LED bulbs need to replace even longer life incandescent bulbs. I've replaced more LED light bulbs in the past year than I'd replaced incandescent bulbs in the past ten years.
 
tom999w said:
The referigerator in my house is 50 years old, the gas stove is 78 years old, and the furniture is 100 years old, and they work excellent. It's hard to comprehend how manufacturers had a grasp on quality that long ago, and today you're very lucky if something lasts a year. I have to replace my pots/pans, cooking knives, humidifier, LED light bulbs, and plastic plumbing fixtures once a year, because they all fall apart with normal use in a short time.

Speaking of LED light bulbs, that's another sore spot. Long life LED light bulbs last about 1/10 the life span of a regular light bulb. The country was sold a pig in a poke when the light bulb manufacturers told them that they'd last 10, 15, 20 years. And the government fell for the scam too, by making legislation that "long life" LED bulbs need to replace even longer life incandescent bulbs. I've replaced more LED light bulbs in the past year than I'd replaced incandescent bulbs in the past ten years.
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The new "SCAM" now is, you need to replace your water heater every 10 years or the insurance company will not insure you. As you say, these household items last for decades and now you will be lucky to see a water heater last 8 years. Pay your home off if possible and tell the insurance company to go "BLOW". I did two years ago and already saved $14,000. I can fix a lot by myself for that kind of money.
 
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So far I’ve been lucky with Rockauto ordering a bunch of stuff for my -94 Buick PA. I have a new set of Unity shocks from Summit waiting to be installed as well. I really hope they will fit, because sending them back would be expensive.
 
I have 50/50 experience with Rock Auto. The last front struts I bought from them were from a well-known manufacturer, and were the worst struts I've ever had on a car. Within the first three days i hit a normal pot hole so hard that one headlight broke and both hubcaps popped off the front wheels. Then a week later I hit another not-too-big pothole and it knocked my steering wheel 20 degrees off center. I'll never buy from them again.
 
tom999w said:
I have 50/50 experience with Rock Auto. The last front struts I bought from them were from a well-known manufacturer, and were the worst struts I've ever had on a car. Within the first three days i hit a normal pot hole so hard that one headlight broke and both hubcaps popped off the front wheels. Then a week later I hit another not-too-big pothole and it knocked my steering wheel 20 degrees off center. I'll never buy from them again.
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Maybe it is the driver and not the struts.
 
tom999w said:
I have 50/50 experience with Rock Auto. The last front struts I bought from them were from a well-known manufacturer, and were the worst struts I've ever had on a car. Within the first three days i hit a normal pot hole so hard that one headlight broke and both hubcaps popped off the front wheels. Then a week later I hit another not-too-big pothole and it knocked my steering wheel 20 degrees off center. I'll never buy from them again.
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Rock ain't the manufacturer, just the seller. Don't buy that brand again from anybody.
Rock is a clearing house type seller, they buy inventories and sell them off at discount prices. The quality is not up to them, so you have to do your due diligence. The issue is that more and more brands, even once highly respected ones, are just going down the toilet...
 
ha i play the game every day all day
i do mostly euro cars ....80% from one supplier cause they normally have the good brands ..sad part is the good brands are harder to find
i find on older stuff your almost better buying used then the replacement parts ..i rememeber getting a marval steering rack and they just painted over the dirt
sure they will replace it but not the labor ..cardone was allways a joke l/f r/f calipers can look differnent .....any aftermarket starters /alts are junk
 
Manufacturing engineer here. ISO9000 is meant to stop certain quality issues by making sure you have how to make your parts written down and the directions are followed. This can help mitigate situations like "Bob just quit and he's the only one who knew how to make this". But even with directions, some operations take practice. And as others have noted, if you want to cut corners, ISO9000 can be used to make sure you consistently cut the same corners.

Likewise, statistical process control is a tool that can be effective on some problems but not others. A few precise measurements of cylinder bores plus some math can help you spot if the boring bar is wearing out long before you would find it checking every bore with go / no go gauges. But if you're building devices that need individual calibration, or a device either works or doesn't with no in between state, this won't get around checking individual parts.
 
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