Cheapo eBay exhaust manifolds....

[Toaster Pilot]

I think that my A6 (if it ever runs again) is going to need it's exhaust manifold replacing to get through an MOT - it's leaking again despite changing gaskets a couple of thousand miles ago and it's history shows it's had them replaced a couple of times last year too.

New genuine Audi part will be pretty expensive. Used is about £40.

Found this on eBay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Audi-A4-1-8T-Turbo-V...

How terrible will it be? Anyone got experience with this kind of stuff ? I assume it's made out of tinfoil in China...

[Kozy]

If you fit it the day before your MOT, you'll probably pass.

Any more than that though, dodgy ground.

[Toaster Pilot]

- better off buying used genuine then, even though at an unknown age/mileage it could end up just as bad as what I have now quickly?

[ToothbrushMan]

ha its the listing that tickles me - have a read

first off it says 1 year warranty
then underneath that you get a 30 day money back
then under that its says 14 days guarantee

WTF is it a year, 30 days or just 14?

TBF the pic looks OK - the part looks solid enough but really Im with the others here - just source a good used genuine one if they are indeed out there for £40.

not everything from China is a POS you know.

[Toaster Pilot]

Just found a used one from a 49k mile car for £22 delivered so I'll give that a go.....

Still interested to hear any experiences with this cheap stuff though

[r11co]

A lot of this 'cheap stuff' is parallel import of parts that are being produced as OEM for factories in the Far East. VAG for example have 16 subsidiary factories in China and source the production line parts locally, often from OEM brand manufacturers that you would recognise who also have factories out there.

I recently bought some Lemforder and Sachs suspension parts for my BMW from a reputable seller based in Germany who undercut dealer prices massively. The stuff came in correctly branded boxes, clearly and brazenly marked 'Made in China', and had all the BMW part number markings on them.

ZF own Lemforder and Sachs.

Edited by r11co on Wednesday 5th March 18:03