... any one here with an Aston Martin, especially those LHD built since LHD should be aware their brake pedal may fail due to the Chinese manufacturer:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-26058905
Something about counterfeit plastic!
Glad I didn't buy one :-)
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I'm really upset about this - yes, really. The apparent problem is the use of dodgy plastic by a Chinese supplier and after this issue is resolved AM will bring back production of part of the accelerator pedal to UK. How much money did this outsourcing actually save per car? £5 ?
I had honestly thought AM cars were 100% British. Clearly I've been conned by the marketing people all these years.
Well AM you are off my list, just like RR and Bentley. What's left ? Maybe Nissan, Honda but with Asian parts ?
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 5 Feb 14 at 23:19
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This sort of thing really really makes me angry, it was the same reason the manufacturer of the black cab went bust, due to faulty Chinese power steering pumps.
We all know the Chinese can make good stuff, but there is too much corruption and too many dodgy underground factories. The amount of fake chargers for example I have seen is shocking in very sense of the world.
Lesson is if you out source any component to China you have to do extra checks. I read something about the Raspberry Pi recently that said now they have switched production from China to Wales they have saved a fortune, as there is far less quality control issues.
I think this sort of thing is great for the UK though, for stories that happen like this the better for the UK manufacturing sector.
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A mate used to do business there. Nightmare apparently.
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If anyone thinks Chinese manufacture is a good idea google Mattel and lead paint
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>> A mate used to do business there. Nightmare apparently.
>>
That matches my experience over a number of years with Far Eastern suppliers, and that was working with the so called 'top tier' suppliers!
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There was a piece on radio a couple of weeks ago about 're-shoring' of business activity.
Raspberry Pi was mentioned. They were finding that, as well as quality issues, Chinese wages were rising rapidly as were land and other costs. Repatriating production enabled them to adopt reformed, less labour intensive, production using a skilled and flexible UK workforce.
Brompton Bicycle Co considered off shoring some production but dropped idea in favour of retaining their current workforce even though the factory is in London (under the M4 near Brentford. Even using far east sourced components can cause problems. Sub standard sprockets arrived in a delivery last summer. Several more consignments were in the supply chain and it took a while to sort out. During that time spares were unavailable and some bikes were leaving the factory with a non-standard fit and instructions to return bike in six weeks for a service and rectification.
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I wasn't aware that AM had made as many as 17,000 cars in their entire life?!
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>> I wasn't aware that AM had made as many as 17,000 cars in their entire
>> life?!
>>
Those are the edible ones:
www.express.co.uk/news/weird/457961/That-s-ruff-Pooch-chews-through-hi
s-owner-s-prized-80-000-Aston-Martin
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A while back I helped a friend take the rear wheel off his Italian scooter, a pig of a job since you have to remove the exhaust first. I was surprised to see that the alloy wheel and transmission hub were made in China. I suppose if the quality control is rigid then there shoudn't be a problem but I had assumed it would be all Italian.
I am very careful with things I buy, I prefer to pay more and get high quality and make sure parts availability is good. That is why I like Husqvarna chainsaws. They are quite expensive but you can see why when you pick them up, the whole balance and 'feel' of the machine is just perfect and they last well. I've yet to break a Husqvarna, even when pushing one to its limits. Stihl are good as well. I've seen some other makes that I don't rate as highly, they maybe OK for light DIY use but not for serious work. Definitely you get what you pay for.
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"Definitely you get what you pay for."
The problem, as I see it, is that there's a chance you won't.
We've seen two examples here: who would have thought that the very expensive Aston Martin had sourced Chinese parts, ditto about the classic Italian scooter.
We just don't know.
It's good to know that bringing manufacturing back here is in progress.
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>> I'm really upset about this - yes, really. The apparent problem is the use of
>> dodgy plastic by a Chinese supplier and after this issue is resolved AM will bring
>> back production of part of the accelerator pedal to UK. How much money did this
>> outsourcing actually save per car? £5 ?
>>
>> I had honestly thought AM cars were 100% British. Clearly I've been conned by the
>> marketing people all these years.
>>
Same here, not that they were within my budget anyway ;-) Gobsmacked to find they're using cheap crap parts in very expensive cars.
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>> Same here, not that they were within my budget anyway ;-) Gobsmacked to find they're
>> using cheap crap parts in very expensive cars.
>>
You shouldn't be.
Even the Germans buy from China.....
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As does everyone. There are no exceptions or prove it!!
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>> Well AM you are off my list, just like RR and Bentley. What's left ?
McLaren, or perhaps a Jag XKR-S.
I shall have to watch those LHD Astons, I shift about one a month :)
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Aston Martin Recalling 17,000+ Cars - Dulwich Estate
