Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 16:58:00 -0700
Reply-To: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Ebay CV "kit"....is it any good?
In-Reply-To: <8BEADC32-08ED-48E0-AD0C-008166861894@telus.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On 4/4/06, don spence <dkspence@telus.net> wrote:
> BenT
> You're stretching here. Farmer John and the Chinese parts industry
> will either grow good apples/make good parts or they won't. Both will
> fail or thrive depending on the product they produce.
Don,
This is what Ron said:
"This is probably a thinly veiled way of saying that they are Chinese made.
Be very, very cautious about using Chinese made parts on your Vanagon. There
are some decent Chinese made auto parts, but so far they are the exception
rather than the rule. The majority (so far) are lousy, and nowhere near
German quality."
What is the pint of suggesting they are bad if they are Chinese made?
The point was made that the parts were made in Asia. Asia is a very
big place. He is making a prejudicial statement that these parts made
from Asia are made in China. As I understand it, he has NOT seen the
actual parts the original poster was talking about. He is pre-judging
that the since the parts are probably from China as the reason they
are probably poor quality. Give me a break. If that is not I don't
know what is.
It's "veiled remarks" like Ron's that foster negative stereotypes
about any type of person or nationality. It is obvious to me that you
have not experienced the impact of such remarks.
> What Ron said in a nutshell is: The Chinese after-market parts
> industry is in it's infancy. Current experience as a buyer is "buyer
> beware" . Inspect each manufacturer's products individually as they
> are of unknown quality. Give the Chinese industry time and experience
> and they will make a great product.
I am not arguing that. My point is he is ONLY ASSUMING that the parts
are made in China. If I read his remarks correctly, he is assuming the
quality is bad because his experience tells him that Chinese made
parts are typically of poor quality. No doubt such "expert" testimony
will cause others to think that anything made in China will typically
be of poor quality.
>
> Heck, Honda made absolute crap when he started making cylinder
> rings. Nissan assembled Austins. Probably taught them a lot about
> what not to do. (Remember the British auto industry?) Remember the
> Hyundai Pony? Today, it's a different story. Time and experience
> makes the difference.
In that situation, you would have had me saying stop assuming parts
from X-land are bad simply because you got some parts that were bad
from there before.
> You wrote: " When parts installed in my Vanagon fail, I identify the
> source and vote with my checkbook on the next purchase." Seems to me that is
> > exactly what Ron is doing. You can't stay in business selling poor
> > quality parts, no matter who makes them.
He's not voting for anything. He is trying to persuade people that
parts made in China are poor quality and will likely continue to be so
until the industry is out of it's infancy.
> I drive a 65 Triumph, restored and maintained with parts from a
> Pennsylvania firm called The Roadster Factory. They commission repro
> parts from around the world including China and Taiwan. Their
> experience was, sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right,
> functionally and cosmetically. Seems like a similar situation with
> Vanagon parts and specialist suppliers.
So what? That does not make it right to label something you haven't
even seen yet.
> Heck, there was a line from a film that I think was quoted on this
> list about electronics in the Space Station. "Russian electronics,
> American electronics, Taiwanese components." Open your computer and
> see where all the components are being made. Time and
> experience.... Time and the willingness to invest in new
> infrastructure are on China's side.
I don't need to open my computer to know where it's made at. I know it
works and the nationality of the assemblers don't matter to me. Since
it's an IBM Thinkpad, I can only assume it's spent sometime in China.
Works great for me. Should I be saying it works so well that some
parts must not be made in China? Or maybe I was one of the lucky ones.
It's made in China and works!
BenT
