Of course. Everyone is allowed their own opinion....that doesn't mean you should share it publicly. Especially when the opinion is unfounded and could easily misinform other NAM members and scare them away from a product with suggestions of fatal/dangerous disasters etc.

 

especially from a vendor with a vested interest it's one thing to get comments from the peanut gallery (like me), another from the guy selling the popcorn when you're looking for a box of SnoCaps.

 

First thank you. But second you are on the right track:

1) It is not uncommon for Chinese / SE Asian made products to be "laundered" through other countries to disguise their origin. Another coilover company sold parts through Australia as being Australian made, yet they goofed and a Taiwanese company admitted to making the product and offered them to other companies. This has also been the case with light bulbs etc etc.

2) Look at the cost and profit needed. A US reseller MUST make 25%
$649 - 25% = $486.75 (if not more) to cover costs etc. The company that distributes the product should make 20% $486.75 - 20% = $389.40. The company that outsources the product to be made should have another 40-50% margin, but lets go with 40 to help with the argument above: $389.40 - 40% = $233.64.

So for $233.64 US, you must make four springs, four coil bodies, valving, perches, welding, coating, packaging, transportation etc. etc. etc. With the dollar being as depressed it is against the Euro it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE that the kit could be made in Europe to the standards that we would want on our own cars.

I MAY BE 100% WRONG. BUT, having been in this business for this long, my numbers can't be that far off.

I will step out of the conversation and yall can flame away as much as you want, but I know the intelligent members and readers of this thread will take away the information needed. The mu, mnuts guys will continue to ride me, and that is ok. It is not only typical but expected.

Thank you to NAM for allowing my $.02 to be heard regardless of its value!

 

Hi Adam - would you mind telling us what Alta parts are made in Asia and what their wholesale cost is to you please? kthxhugs&kisses

are you once again implying that those of us on other sites are NOT intelligent? Are you also implying that those who agree with you ARE intelligent and those who don't ARE NOT?

Take note everybody - the real Adam Taft has finally shown himself to NAM.

 

Woah!! You're not serious with this claim are you?

Do you know how expensive this 'laundering' process could potentially be?

Let's figure in Import Taxes, Ocean Freight, and Duty for a shipment originating in China to the USA.
Items are shipped FOB,from CHINA to the USA and these costs are then calculated at the Port of Entry. Last year, in July all imports from CHINA were hit with an additional 8% surcharge. So passing the goods through another country would only add on to these costs. Not to mention that the goods would have to be re-packaged or re-labeled to potentially disguise the original oriental packing materials and boxes... I don't think anyone could have this done for free

Additionally, the paperwork including the Commercial Invoice, Customs Invoice, and Certificate of Origin discloses the Country of Origin [where the product was made/assembled]

So even if a US Company were able to procure goods from China, via another country, there's really no way to hide it.

It's neither cost effective or ethical to try and pass any Chinese originating products through any additional ports.

Sorry, but I just don't buy the product laundering theory here..

Your coilover/lightbulb companies may have passed their Taiwanese products through another port of entry.. But i'm sure the parties involved just looked the other way and kept their mouths shut...

 

You are missing it. An example a popular aftermarket fashion light bulb is mfrd. in China, yet the packaging says made in Japan. The parts are shipped to Japan to the distributor and then shipped to the US. Customs etc. sees made in Japan and it came from Japan so thus nothing to question as they don't look at prices etc.

Same thing with the aforementioned coilovers. They were mfrd in Taiwan and then shipped to Australia. Then packaged etc. with made in Australia on the packaging, then shipped to other countries including the USA. It got out after the mfr. in Taiwan started selling them directly to other companies.

This happens ALL the time. I am NOT saying these are shipped to the USA from China directly!!!

 

Are you implying that 'Made in China' automatically means inferior quality? That's what I'm getting from your posts.

Funny, my ThinkPad and iPhone are two of the better made things around and both are <gasp!> made in China.

 

NO ALTA or PERRIN products are made in Asia! (Exception might be some screws, or something, but they run about $.01 each in case you care.) PERIOD no parts are made in ASIA!!!!!!!!!

I have never hid myself from this or any other community. I am as open book as can be. If you need my cell phone too, just let me know! I hand it out regularly to clients to call me on weekends, evenings etc. to help with installations, product ?'s etc.

Enjoy the day!

 

Ok this is insane. If it wasn't Adam from Alta saying this stuff you guys would have never jumped down his throat in the first place. I agree, coil overs for 600 dollars is too cheap to me. As I stated in another thread, I had a cheap set on an older supra of mine and they were junk. The adjusters were crap, the springs were completely wrong for the damping...they weren't even worth the trouble. They weren't this brand, and i'd love to have someone put these on their mini and tell me they are fantastic and worth twice as much as they cost...but i won't be that tester. Everyone LOVES these cheap coilovers apparently, but if someone wants cheap knockoff ebay wheels everyone on this forum talks them out of them...I just don't get it.

I have nothing against this company, but being careful about buying something that seems way too cheap isn't a bad thing. Adam wasn't trying to sell anyone his stuff, or discourage anyone, just warn them to do their research. I have not bought a SINGLE thing from Alta so have zero experience with their customer service, good or bad. I know some of you have apparantly had bad experiences with alta and i don't have the kind of post count to probably be saying this stuff...but geez calm down everyone!

I'm not trying to make enemies, the more important thing is this thread has gotten way off topic lol.

 

Neither am I.... and I work in Imports.. improperly declaring the country of origin/assembly is just a little bit illegal

 

JFC!!

Somebody test the damn things already!!!

 

I hear that's already in the works....an independent test by a well-respected member of this forum (since being a member elsewhere apparently lowers one's IQ )

 

why do most posts start off with a legitimate ?, then someone chimes and and all hell breaks loose??

I agree that I wouldnt trust coilovers that are $600, heck I am even worried that some of the ones posted for $1000 are even good. Yeah I would like to get the best possible for the least amount, but when it comes to safety of me & my family I will pay more!

Quit jumping down Adams throat, he is just throwing out his comments just like everyone else, WHY does he get flammed??? He is just pointing out his experiences, which is probably more insight since he deals with this stuff all the time!!

 

So is this your opinion? If it is why are you sharing it publicly?

 

You will notice that I also said that research should be done and that people should be weary of the low price. We don't disagree on that. I posted that long before you even came into this thread.

The ONLY thing I disagree with you on is that fact that you took this "caution" statement and decided to turn it more into a 'fear' thing than an actual word of caution. You decided to make two posts in both threads illustrating a fear of danger and death among your family and yourself. It would have been far more respectable and professional to have said "I've noticed the low cost. We should look further into the quality of these products" rather than try to build up some hypothetical scenario of fatal disaster.

His experience? What experience? The experience that one of his friends had with a totally DIFFERENT comapny's product? Or just the experience of hypothetical profit margins? He had never even heard of VMAXX despite how popular a name it is among european cars.

I'd like to think I have a bit more insight and experience on this topic. 10 of my close friends run VMAXX coilovers on their daily drivers, I've helped install/adjust/ work on VMAXX coilovers on two cars, and I've been part of a community (VAG) where HUNDREDS of people have been running VMAXX coilovers for quite some time now.

Like I said, his opinion is valid. They are cheap and you get what you pay for. His mistake was implying that they could be deadly or unsafe, especially in the other thread. Had he done more research he would find that these coilovers are TUV rated just like many of the others and have passed all of the safety testing. Building up a sense of fear in others strictly based on the price is uncalled for.

 

Lol?

I didn't say NO opinions should be shared publicly.

I simply stated that opinions that are unfounded and risk misinforming the general public should probably be kept to one's self.

Saying "I like the color blue" publicly....totally okay.

Saying "Oh my god, those hamburgers are dangerous! They could kill you!" in the middle of a restaurant without any actual evidence of the danger. Probably not an okay thing to do.... Granted, if it's the truth, and you KNOW the burgers are dangerous. Share away. But if you just feel that the burgers are deadly because they cost $2 and have no other reason to think that.....it's not fair to that restaurant's owner to potentially scare away any of their customers with unsubstantiated claims.

 

hummm.. not trying to go tit-for-tat here, but I have 2 kids and we had purchased a product called Aqua Dots, spent a ton of money on them and we knew more than 10 family kids/friends that had them (probably a few hundred thousand worldwide). Yes they were tested before they were sold to the US, but did that make them safe?............. They were recalled due to some chemical on them that had caused kids to go comatose and have seizures. Just because they are tested doesnt mean they are safe. And yes that can go for the $2000 coilover, but I have a feeling they are tested and better built than the ones for $600

 

did you try the Aquadots? They're better than most street drugs..

 

just an example obviously, but I have to digress since I am not helping the op and his question, just taking away from the topic, sorry .

 

i'll take that as a no..

 

so bringing all of m|u into this as well? I'm just checking for some clarification please. Are you implying that m|u is regularly argumentative with you?

 

Since price seems to be a big concern. Do we really feel that the price is so low that it should instantly jump to concerns of disaster and endangering one's family? I agree, it should come with some hesitation and research into quality and ride before purchasing since they're new.....but safety concerns based solely on the price? Seems a bit ridiculous.

Koni is a renowned company in the suspension world. Have you ever checked the price of their sport kit ? $655. Comes with their yellow struts and matched springs.....the only difference being that the VMAXX's come with struts that are threaded for height adjustments. The threading wouldn't be any noticable additional cost....so surely if Koni can safely put together a set of springs and a set of struts for 655, it's conceivable that VMAXX could do the same.

They both passed the same TUV rating tests as well....

So again, the argument that a $600 suspension is probably dangerous holds very little water.

 

So do I Kelly and sorry but it happens all the time Illegal or not. If they get caught they end up paying a fine. I'm not saying these are imported from china. I know for a fact that there are places in the EU (or outside the EU) that you can get labor real cheap. As cheap as China believe it or not.

Also, I travel to China twice a year. You absolutely can have very high quality products produced in China. Oh ya, China isn't the low labor leader in the world any more.

Longboard

 

I would be more then happy to test these. Infact I think I'm going to order them tuesday.

 

I am a relative noob to mini ownership and modding, but have been around the forums for months before and since purchasing my mini in June. After reading numerous posts and researching products, I ordered my suspension components today as outlined in my signature line including the VMAXX coilovers. A friend of mine is a big VW guy and had nothing but good things to say about the coilovers so I felt comfortable being one of the first to try the VMAXX product. I look forward to posting my impressions once the components are installed. I think the suspension components are going to be a great birthday present to myself.

Anxiously awaiting delivery!