Cheap Imports

[Adrian Southgate]

I have often wondered if the supposedly 'cheap imports' are indeed lower quality than the same type of item purchased from UK sellers.

About 5 years ago I bought some bronze coloured heat wrap for the legerra. I did a superb job in fact I didn't even know the manifold had cracked in two until I removed it. I did speculate that it may actually have been the cause of the crack due to the manifold getting too hot. I think at the time I paid about £15 for 2 metres with a few SS cable clips.

Moving on, I was offered a similar item on an internet 'import' site called Wish.com. 2" wide x 5m long and only £6 + £1 shipping so half the price and twice the quantity being a 'good deal' I bit the bullet and spent the £7.

It arrived this morning and is identical to the stuff I bought 5 years ago, packaging is better and twice the number of SS cable ties. Of course the proof will be when its wrapped around a four branch and put to the test in anger. 

I bought a couple of other bits a while ago basically because they were not available anywhere else.

A mic for my phone which fools the phone into thinking a headset is connected and thereby allows recording video using an external mic. Tested it a couple of times and not over impressed but still tweaking that little gadget. It seems to work too well as at flat chat on the motorway it actually overloads the audio input and cuts out. Its not crisp like i expected it to be and I may end up sacrificing a couple of broken headsets to replace the mics. Further testing and fettling required. Cost £3 delivered.

10 COB LED bulbs (capless 501 type) £2 inc delivery (more on these later in the XSC build) I havent received these yet but as they are also available in bags of 100 I will be getting more if they are up to scratch and doo the job.

So, have any of you had 'cheap imports' that have exceeded expectations or indeed been complete and utter failures?

I

[Brian (up north) Morris]

yup i have. led garden floodlights solar powered. fantastic. still got them. and still work. cordless drill batterys total waste of time total fail. both were from china. and i complained about both and got full refund and kept all items. try it guys. they will offer 50% refund. no. keep on and they will give full refund for good feedback. :-)))))) iv herd bad things about car led bulbs ade they either work or dont. 

[Adrian Southgate]

I've been using LED bulbs for years. CMV is all LED apart from the headlights and the reverse lights.

I've been looking for better amber indicator LED bulbs for a while as the backs are a bit dim and when I find some that can match the standard 21w bulb I'll be getting more.

I made my own blue LED bulbs for the Sierra as I wanted a particular colour blue and i'm very happy with the end result although the tacho and speedo could be brighter. Its all down to the tech that makes the capsule and what direction it can project the light in. Normal bulbs radiate sideways and most clusters make use of that to bounce light around inside. LED's tend to be more directional and in a normal configuration they radiate light at a very narrow angle, add that the the length of the actual capsule and they are pretty crap as either cluster lights or sidelights. The advantage of the COB LED is that its flat to the top of the holder, has no 'capsule' and throws the light over a wider angle. When they arrive i'll setup some controlled experiments using a light meter.

[Brian (up north) Morris]

:-)

[Dave Taylor]

That reminds me, Ade your N/s side light is out. after following you last night

[Adrian Southgate]

Cheers Dave, I'll bang a glass one in for now. 8 years--- not too bad.

[Jim (across the pond) Adamek]

I just received these led bulbs for free today. 72feet long, 200 led bulbs and automatically recharges from a solar cell. Turn on an off automatically with the amount of light on the solar cell. I am charging them now to see what they look like tonight. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ER3AI8O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_...

lol, Could be a great freebee. :-)))

[Adrian Southgate]

Those don't work well in the north of england, not normally bright enough to give them a good charge.

[Jim (across the pond) Adamek]

lol, Lots of sun here in Florida. Actually too much this time of year.

[James Doulton]

Somethings really depend on the materials used, e.g. brake pads, bearings etc. for those sorts of things you cannot tell the difference until something breaks, so I wouldn't touch cheap imports of those. Electrical components should generally be okay, in fact many premium electronic products are full of cheap imported parts or completely manufactured in China. But you don't get many Chinese mechanical components in premium cars.

[Adrian Southgate]

I am led to believe that most of 'europarts' suppliers are in China, 

Thinkpads used to be made in singapore however since lenovo took them over I think they moved to China and the business level laptops are still pretty good from what I remember.

[Jim (across the pond) Adamek]

We have a huge movement over here in the U.S.A. to only buy products made over here. On TV news daily they report items being made over here. You guys should have the same type of movement over there.

[Big Vern]

Hi Jim,  We don't make anything here anymore :(  we get stuff made in china and india cos its cheaper, then sell it on into europe. Commercially Brittain is just a middleman.