Really cheap rims - what's the catch?

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by landrovered

Why be penny wise and pound foolish?

There are many good aftermarket brands of wheels that I would buy. They are manufactured by reputable companies and have a track record (literally with BBS) and are in good financial standing. They do R&D testing, they have product liability insurance.

This costs money and you pay more for good aftermarket wheels. Granted you pay less than OEM parts where the markup is not derived from normal competitive models because they are in effect a monopoly for a given period of time.

Then there are fly by night cheapo manufacturers that will make the cheapest imitation product possible that looks like a quality product. They are sold by the container load by trading companies in Hong Kong or Taiwan. They are short run products sold my trading companies to middle men in the US and then sold on the internet and ebay to take advantage of popular trends in the automotive world.

These wheels are not tested, their is no product liability insurance, there is no company to back up problems, there is no reputation and you cannot find anyone after the sale who will answer your phone call or replace a defective product. What they are efficient at is charging your credit card.

We have all dealt with them, we have all been tempted by the low prices for the things that we covet that in reality cost much much more.

But when it comes to my safety, my wife and my sons safety, my financial future and my concern for you the general public who trust me not to kill you with my car. it is not worth saving $200 or even $2000 on wheels. hey take lots of force and lots of stress. Why trust all of this to a fulfillment center for 50 nameless websites.

Is your vanity really worth that little?

Some of these replicas are from Taiwan and China, some are from Italy.

I'm only speaking on the Italian made replicas(those are the only ones I have experience with),which I believe the OP was referring to.