Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:36:49 -0700
Reply-To: Marc Sayer <marcsayer@HUGHES.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Marc Sayer <marcsayer@HUGHES.NET>
Subject: Re: Cheapest fuel pump I've ever seen
In-Reply-To: <99ED9DB70043490A96097036F479BA8E@RON>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
The Bus Depot wrote:
>
> How ironic that this is posted right on the heels of another list member's
> bad experience buying cheap Chinese parts. To recap, he tried to save money
> buying Chinese brake rotors and immediately regretted it; out of the box
> they were already so badly warped that he's trying to get his money back.
> (Yes, these Ebay fuel pumps are also Chinese made, despite the seller's
> disingenuous attempt to imply otherwise by using "USA" in the brand name.)
>
Yep. remember, the term "cheap" describes two aspects of a product. It
describes the price and the quality. And the two are intrinsically
related. When it comes to new parts, you hardly ever get a cheap regular
price (sales are something else entirely) without also getting cheap
quality. There are very, very few exceptions to this rule, and Chinese
one-part-fits-hundreds junk being sold on eBay is not going to be one of
those very rare exceptions. Sure one person may have a good experience
with a part like this. But overall, the reliability of parts like this
is very low. And as Ron points out, the guy starts off by misleading
folks about the product. He Implies these are USA made, which they
aren't. Perhaps even more telling, he uses another brand name in the
title, then the very first thing he immediately rationalizes and excuses
this lie. This is a red flag, a big one. The terms OEM, OEM spec, and
OEM equivalent are often used by people selling cheap versions of
factory parts. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) was originally used
to indicate when a part was made by the manufacturer that supplied that
part to the automaker (generally referring to original parts where the
manufacture was outsourced by the automaker). Way back when, you could
buy you a part (say an alternator for example) from the dealer, or you
could buy an OEM alternator from an independent parts house for less
money, which would be the exact same alternator made by the same company
that supplied the automaker originally. Later on the term OEM was
enlarged to refer to an alternate part made by the same manufacturer as
supplied the OE parts, that would meet OE specs and/or work on your car,
but that was not necessarily the exact same OE part. Now OEM has been so
misused and corrupted that most times it is an attempt to disguise a
crappy part that does not meet OE specs. There is no such thing as OEM
spec or OEM equivalent. There is OE (original equipment from the
automaker itself, that obviously meets OE specs), OEM (a part sourced
outside the automaker's system but made by the company that supplies the
automaker and identical to the OE part or at the very least meeting OE
specs) and there is aftermarket (alternate parts that may be made by
other companies than the OEM, that is claimed to work on your car, and
that may or may not meet OE specs). And BTW, just because a dealership
is selling/installing a replacement part, does not mean it is an OE
part. Many dealers sell OEM and aftermarket parts as replacement parts.
And most general repair shops sell primarily aftermarket parts. If
someone starts selling you on the fact that the part meets OEM specs, or
is an OEM equivalent, you are off to a bad start. OEM just means the
part was made by the original equipment manufacturer and has nothing to
do with the part's specs. Ditto the term OEM replacement, The specs are
properly referred to as OE not OEM. And the term should be OE
replacement not OEM replacement.
--
Marc Sayer
Journalist, Photographer, Dog Trainer (APDT member #062956)
Board member - Western States Great Dane Rescue Association
Director of Operations& Training - Deaf Dane Rescue Inc.
Oakridge, OR USA
My Homepage - http://gracieland.org
Deaf Dane Rescue - http://deafdane.org
White Danes Yahoo Group - http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/whitedanes
Western States Great Dane Rescue Association - http://wsgdra.org
RescueWatchdogs - http://rescuewatchdogs.org
Association of Pet Dog Trainers - http://APDT.com
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