When is original equipment not quite so original?

Had to share.

Just unboxed a recent order of parts that arrived from China. It happened to be a couple of Volkswagen items- disregard the fact I don’t own a Volksawagen. Anywho…

Very cheap, free shipping, wasn’t expecting much- they’re not critical parts or anything that would cause an accident should they fail. While examining the parts and hardware I noticed the package was clearly marked “Made in Germany.”

Huh?

I pulled the box out of the recyling bin and checked the label. Hmmm, the origin of the contents was marked China on the label.

So I guess the seller either lied about the origin of the parts or they’re counterfeits marked as genuine VW product. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me. After all, they were a quarter of the price quoted by the dealer. But blatantly shipping them with an OEM parts tag from Deutschland just seems wrong.

One thought on “When is original equipment not quite so original?”

  1. VERY common for the red chinese to do this…The vast majority of their economy is based on ‘pirating’ items and making copies. I talked to a person within a particular GM division’s parts distribution network that estimated some 40% of the “Genuine GM” parts allegedly available through the aftermarket were indeed chinese knock offs.
    And you’re right – it IS wrong.

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