Could non genuine parts come from factories making genuine parts???

On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:26:49 +1000, Bobman blathered on:

It appears you've discovered the bastard parents of V8 Supercars??

As an update, I have decided to let MB repair the car. Unfortunately work and lack of business hour time has made the decision for me.

The independent mechanic could not source a non genuine part and stated that he has to order a genuine part. The only savings that I think I could get is that he may get it for a cheaper price as a tradie and pass on the saving to me. However I am not comfortable without being guaranteed that it is going to be the right fix, thus costing me more time (after discussions, it may be about $1000 cheaper going with the independent mechanic).

MB will charge me $4100. I have tried all means to get MB to recognise that the fault should not happen in a car that has covered only 22000 kms (even if it is 5 yrs old - can't believe that they have the gall to say that computers should fail after 5 yrs). I have contacted MB Aust in Melbourne. They shafted the responsibility to MB Brisbane, who again stated they can't give approval without MB Australia. They again stalled the process by saying that they will email MB Aust for another consideration (why can't they make this decision by phone???)

I will never buy another Mercedes Benz product again - and believe me, I have a few years left in life with financial ability to purchase. And I definitely will never let them have any more of my money with any future servicing. Those considering buying MB products should be aware of the above issues. My family and friends (and known associates) have been warned.

Cheers.

x_d wrote:

I suspect there are plenty of people who can repair it , if you can get a schematic it's a certainy and no way is it going to cost 4k , have another talk to the independat mech for price .. is MB willing to put the certainty in writing ? or is it going to be one of those oops we were wrong our bad 4k thanks and we will try again ? electronics is electronics and any good tech will find faulty components .

And vice versa :-).

Toyota make good MB clones, without the dramas.. They are called Lexus..

Most electrical parts on benz's are made by bosch, engine cooling components made by behr, driveline, steering, suspension etc, made by febi bilstein & lemforder. These parts are repackaged as benz parts. many parts are also made by benz them selves, differentials, transmissions, most metal engine parts such as heads, engine blocks, cranks, connecting rods etc.. sheet metal parts and the interiors.

Not many! They buy a lot of stuff off the shelf and most of the stuff they "make" is contracted out.

Made under contract by other companies. Assembled at the factory.

That might be fun, I wonder how long I would last before I got thrown out:-)

Daryl

Hey, I know where Oz is, but then I am not in USA... ;-)

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

I went through this entire thread and could not find anybody making (what I think is the) important point that it does not matter so much what box the part comes in but what the quality is. Clearly a similar-quality 'generic' part from the same manufacturer (made to the same standards) or other reputable supplier is fine (though there might be a guarantee issue).

It's the apparently 'genuine' (fake) parts that are the danger. Especially in key areas like brakes...

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

That was the reason why I started this thread. Due to high cost demanded by MB for the EPS module, I wanted to look around at other options. I think I got a satisfying answer from various inputs here that MB and other car manufacturers would source a lot of parts from various (OEM) specialty manufacturers and then assemble them together to make a car. It would seem that it is possible that excess stock can be made from these manufacturers, and released in non MB marked boxes. If that is the case, you would assume that the quality would be the same as the MB marked parts. The issue remaining is how confident can one be to trace the origins of the non MB marked parts to the OEM manufacturer.

In any case, as an update to anyone who might end up googling this thread in the future, MB Aust sort of came through with a financial offer. I had asked for my car to be repaired and MB Brisbane did that in 2 days. They then released the car, with the provision of my credit card number being given so that I can be charged once MB Aust would agree to a discount due to car's low milage.

That took about a week. There is a twist however. (Not sure if I had told this story b4 but...) Prior to taking having the car towed to MB Brisbane, I had an assessment done by another service centre (3 point) who initially diagnosed the fault to the EPS module. At the time the fault was intermittent and the car could be driven with some tricks. When I was shocked by the estimated cost, this service centre offerred to contact MB Aust to get a special price due to the car's low milage. I waited for 1-2 weeks for this to be confirmed but never got any satisfactory return message (even when I rang them every few days or so). I assumed that they had simply forgottne/ignored me. So when the EPS module finally gave out, the car was towed to MB Brisbane (where it was bought and log book serviced). I chose this destination to get a second opinion on the fault and also as the car was bought there, that there may be more chance of assistance with pricing.

I was resigned to the fact that it would cost me $4100 for the repair (or maybe a couple hundred dollars off). About 10 days after the repair, the initial service centre phoned to say that MB Aust finally responded to the request for price reduction for the part, making the repair $2700. I told the manager that I had already taken the car elsewhere as I was unable to wait for his return call.

Now the funny twist... In that same afternoon MB Brisbane rang to say that MB Aust can only offer $500 discount - totally inconsistent with the offer that "3 point" was able to get. I asked about the inconsistency, and after another couple of more days, the $2700 offer was matched, which is what I ended up paying. My guess is that "3 point" was the genuine deal in getting a price discount from MB Aust and MB Brisbane probably didn't bother to do so, offering a token discount as an effort to appear to have done so. I can only imagine that if "3 point" did not happen to contact me on the day MB Brisbane came through, that I would have paid a higher price.

So from this experience, I would advise that getting more than one quote (keeping the other in the dark) is what is needed to get the right price (which goes for just about all purchase decisions of course).

I have a functioning car back now but I am arranging one Saturday afternoon's visit to the Lexus dealership to see what changeover price will be needed to swap to a new Lexus IS250 with 4 yrs warrantee.

Cheers.

In short: hear, hear.

I think all other posters here just assumed that the alternative parts are all really genuine from reputable suppliers. In general, certain components are not even customised, so you don't need to look for unbranded surplus stock. And then some manufacturers stock specially made 'generic' parts, e.g. windscreen wipers, to take a fairly trivial example.

Plus, a lot of the participants are knowledgeable and avid DIYers and find going 'off-piste' less daunting, sometimes forgetting that not everyone is that way inclined.

I agree with you about getting more than one quotation, even if all from same source ultimately. Mercedes do have a budget (in UK/Germany at least) for 'goodwill' work, work that is out of warranty but perhaps unexpected or unreasonable for a particular car.

In England MB has taken over the dealerships in the three main cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham) and is offering discounts on labour (20%) and parts (10%) on older cars to compete with the independents.

I am glad your story has had a good outcome.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

Given that the part that affected my car was electronic, I would imagine that it can only come from an OEM manufacturer.

Just in case you want to get more background into my MB problems...

Cheers