Hey, you got me thinking, never really checked. So just done a quick audit of my spares stock.

 

Mann oil/air/pollen filters - made in Germany

 

Bosch brake pads - made in Italy

 

Bosch brake discs - made in China

 

ATE brake discs - made in Italy

 

ATE ceramic pads - made in Czech Republic

 

Jurid discs/pads (fitted) were made in France (even street address was printed on packaging). These were "premium" brand from GSF.

 

I need to be more careful.

 

Edited 8 January, 20188 yr by xman

 

As the brake discs are made of cast iron, would it matter much if it was made in China?

 

Would it matter?....Having experienced several cast iron barbecues from B&M, and a number of G clamps from PRC I would say.....most definitely YES!

 

I now have this picture in my mind of the same factory(s) producing discs in China/India, little or no QA, no QC testing, and packing them in different boxes for ECP sold brands....I hope my prejudices are all wrong......but why risk it?

Edited 8 January, 20188 yr by xman

Cheers.

 

Oh just noticed that your Bosch brake pads are made in Italy. Are they from ECP and bought recently?

Yes, Christmas blowout sale (-50%)

Ok that's interesting. I might drop into my local branch and exchange mine hopefully for non PRC.

Have run a set of Brembo discs and pads on the front for over a year now. Stop well, not very much brake dust (average or better) and seem to be wearing well. The UV coated fancy discs corrode very evenly on the surface and get cleaned easily by some hard braking. The price was among the lower end of the spectrum between lesser known brands, so would have no qualms about switching the rear set to Brembo discs-pads as well.

 

Looked around and Pagid has had mixed reviews over the last couple of years, so I'd go for either Bosch or Brembo. Whichever happens to be cheaper. Doesn't matter where they're made, what matters is how well they're made. Ferodo pads are probably something I'd consider as well, though I'd read more reviews before taking the plunge.

 

Tried a Bosch oil filter instead of a WIX. Twice the price, but the all paper design felt flimsy. Sure it's going to do the job fine, but it felt like I was getting less product for more money. Going back to Wix next oil change. Shame, since Bosch products are mostly solid.

Edited 8 January, 20188 yr by TLV

Yes Bosch used to be uber reliable - but I have not used any of their oil filters for years.I normally use Manns oil filters since then.

I have used both Brembo and Pagid discs/pads over the years and had no serious probs with either although I agree Pagid might be slightly noisier/dirtier but I have not seen any premature wear problems with any Pagid components that I have used.

I have a seized rear calliper on the mk1 elegance estate, will a vrs calliper fit a non vrs car?

Edited 8 January, 20188 yr by ERJONES

41 minutes ago, xman said:

Would it matter?....Having experienced several cast iron barbecues from B&M, and a number of G clamps from PRC I would say.....most definitely YES!

 

I now have this picture in my mind of the same factory(s) producing discs in China/India, little or no QA, no QC testing, and packing them in different boxes for ECP sold brands....I hope my prejudices are all wrong......but why risk it?

 

I don't think that all your prejudices are wrong, but we are a bit trapped now so can't assume anything.

 

By the way, the new Forth Crossing Bridge up here in Scotland seems to have an awful lot of Chinese steel in it, its good when you get to the end of it, another successful crossing!

When it comes to fake / faux car parts many might mention China, where there are plenty fakes produced in the UK as they have no need to come through customs. & in Continental Europe, same thing, if going further there is India, Africa, Taiwan etc etc

 

The markets including Ebay is full of parts not easily identified as snide.

I doubt someone as big as ECP could get away with selling fake Bosch products or any other brand for that matter - could they? 

Just now, xman said:

I doubt someone as big as ECP could get away with selling fake Bosch products or any other brand for that matter - could they? 

 

Hummmm, errrrrr, maybe, or yes!

 

In their defence (why?) VW Group know a few nice cheap companies that manufacture in all the countries AwaoffSki mentioned, gulp.

Any Major distributors or smaller ones can get fake deliveries, it just takes a delivery driver or company to swap in to a consignment.

It just needs a dodgy employee or 3 to put them in stock and then sell / deliver the odd ones sometimes, maybe when dodgy trades people are wanting a 'mates rate'.

 

I once got Mobile 1 oil from a driver in payment for doing a favour, he got it from a mate in the business.

I found out within a few miles of using it that it was not Mobile 1 in that sealed containers.

 

Fake Bearing, like steering parts, brakes etc deadly.

 

Just google fake car parts

Tens of thousands of fake car parts, including 250 Audi and Volkswagen radiator grills, seized in police raid in Bradford _ Bradford Telegraph and Argus.mhtml

Fake car parts situation is getting worse - Motoring Advice and News.mhtml

Waning Fake Auto Parts Can be unsafe and rip you off!! _ eBay.mhtml

Edited 8 January, 20188 yr by AwaoffSki

But then again a fake set of pads is hardly likely to end up in a box with "made in china" on it. 

 

I thought the Chinese were very touchy about the phrase "made in china" and always tended to use "made in PRC" what with their long running claim to Taiwan.

 

 

The Fake Part fraudsters are not stupid people.  Well not the ones with Established business.

 

Made in China is true for many genuine parts, Hong Kong, South Korea, people in Manchester, Bratislava or Prague making fake parts and passing off as genuine 

might put Made in China on the packaging.

I go Bosch for brake pads, discs and all filters etc. No problem to date.

 

 

Edited 9 January, 20188 yr by mrgf

Just adding a fact that I have just found on the internet, FM, ie Federal Mogul, list in their brake pads section, the brands Jurid and Ferodo, and in their wipers section Champion, so I'm guessing that the FM wipers on my wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS SEL are in reality just Champion!

6 year bump but what’s the general feeling as I’m about to replace my front pads , Brembo or pagid ? 

5 hours ago, Brian15 said:

6 year bump but what’s the general feeling as I’m about to replace my front pads , Brembo or pagid ? 

 

On some other VW Group forum, there is a concern that fitting "Brembo aftermarket" pads will or can lead to pad rattle due to some versions being " a bit loose" in their callipers.

 

I'll happily still fit Pagid into the rear brakes on my wife's 2015 VW Polo, but for some reason I tend to try to buy in early, genuine VW Group correct part number pads for the front brakes - just usually NOS as it appears from time to time on ebay. Maybe as I've said already in this thread, VW Group fitted Jurid rebranded as VW Group to the front brakes at the factory - or that area of the car's front assembly facility - and the NOS VW Group pads I bought are also Jurid.

On 13/11/2024 at 21:29, rum4mo said:

On some other VW Group forum, there is a concern that fitting "Brembo aftermarket" pads will or can lead to pad rattle due to some versions being " a bit loose" in their callipers.

I've had the front pads (they were fitted under previous ownership) out twice and have to say they seem a bit loose in the caliper. The first time I took them out, the outer pad in the off-side caliper was jammed and I had to free it off and regrease (Ceratec). Unfortunately, I didn't clock the make as I wasn't aware of this "bit loose" problem.

The pads need to be loose in order to still move when very hot, the problems come when they're too tight, then they bind and wear unevenly and you lose braking power. If they're not rattling then they're not too loose.