Thread: Chinese copies

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Regards,
Martin

Originally Posted by jhovel

Nothing to do with China, but we are being ripped off with a lot of things.
My wife has a little second hand 6 year old BMW 120i with only one key fob (other one lost by original owner years ago). BMW Australia wants $960 for a replacement
When we were in Germany, we went to the local BMW dealer and ordered one there. He put in the order with Vin number, said that was a right hand drive car for Australian delivery, made in March 2007, was that so? Yes, we said, how much? $206 (converted from Euros)... How's that???
Cheers,
Joe

I just sold my 525i yesterday, and spare parts prices was one of the minor reasons for ditching it. If you are not in a hurry for parts for your BMW may I suggest Pelican parts in California? They carry almost everything, and their shipped prices for genuine parts are as much as 1/7th the local price. I even bought my oil and air filters there.

Greg

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

Yes, I did also see Husqvarna chainsaws and parts from China, at imposssibly-to-be-genuine low prices.


!! THAT SAID!!

I bought about a year ago, when the Aussie $ was high, a Husqvarna 346XP chainsaw via eBay direct from the USA for under AU$600 including postage to AU. The exactly same saw is sold by Australian dealers for AU$1,299 list price, and they will not give in more than 10 or 15% on this list price. For less than half list price for a brand new saw I do not care about a local warranty. I can fix a chainsaw myself.

The only problem is size. Chainsaws come in a very small box, making postage from the USA less than $100. But you cannot import a brush cutter or a pole saw from The US, because the box size makes postage ridiculously expensive.

Stihl products are a LOT cheaper in the USA, because they are made there and it is a much more competitive market over there. It is HALF THE PRICE of what we are asked to pay. But Stihl US dealers are not allowed to direct export. Me personally, I find it a disgusting company policy. They charge us in Australia double, because they can, because they think we are all rich miners, or poor suckers that deserve to be ripped off. You know, I would not mind paying 10% more because of our GST, and I would not mind paying another 10% more to get my local dealer a fair go, and would even pay another 10% extra because we are so far away and posage is sooo expensive..... but I will not be ripped off for more than double the US price without a fight, without leaving any stone unturned to buy direct. And you know what, I do NOT feel ashamed for doing this. I am proud to do it and to recommend it.


PS: the Husqvarna 346 I bought from USA is 100% genuine. I can tell, because I had a Husqvarna 345 for the last 10 years and did all maintenace myself. And I had no problems whatsoever in the warranty year, not with the new 346 nor with the old 345. The first problems appear about 5+ years after the warranty ends, regardless if it was a grey import or from the local dealer.

For stuff like brush cutters why don't you try Cheetah Imports in Lilydale? They are happy to include stuff like that in their weekly containers from Indianapolis. I think they even have a huge John Deere/Husky dealer nearby who delivers to them owing to the huge demand.

(No relation, but I am a satisfied customer, having shipped many large/heavy items with them for a very fair price, including 2 1/2 tonnes of granite surface plates a couple of years ago.)

I have never had an item fail in the warranty period except cheap crap which I wouldn't buy from any source anymore anyway.

Originally Posted by Greg Q

I just sold my 525i yesterday ...

Not the airport U-haul car I trust? No wait, that was a Lexus at some stage of its life right???

Originally Posted by Pete F

Not the airport U-haul car I trust? No wait, that was a Lexus at some stage of its life right???

Pete, you've been in that car. Can you imagine anyone actually buying it?

The last thing I do before we move is drop it off at the wreckers. Too bad, because after 24 years and a half million k's it still rides better than most things. I just filled the tank today and doubled its value

Originally Posted by Greg Q

Pete, you've been in that car. Can you imagine anyone actually buying it?

No! Hence my confusion when you said "sold", implying money had changed hands ... in your favour.