Posts: 93
My VIN: 7012
... and they have held up quite well. I personally trust items made pre 2000's as they tend to last almost forever.
My furnace is from 1975 and runs great. Received efficiency notice from gas company and it is performing higher than most in my area. My neighbor on the other hand, got a brand new furnace in 2007. In 2008 a computer chip went bad in February and the water in his toilet bowl froze causing 28K in damages. His replacement furnace broke within another year.
New does not always mean better. Especially when items have plastic parts and computer chips.
This meme is so true :-)
Shannon Y
www.ohiodeloreans.com
www.facebook.com/ohiodeloreans
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1st angle drive - 58,027 miles (20 years) -- original
2nd angle drive - 48,489 miles (21 years) -- original from donor
3rd angle drive - 26,572 miles (2 years 3 months) -- DMCH
4th angle drive - 21,988 miles (1 year 11 months) -- DMCH
5th angle drive - 7,137 miles (10 months 2 days) -- DMCH
6th angle drive - OVER 113,704 miles and counting (OVER 13 yr 1 month & counting) -- new Martin Gutkowski unit
over 245K miles
Lapple is from Ireland, not Northern Ireland. And I don't think it's so much whether or not the Chinese are capable of stamping something, the concern is how does the fender look in ten years. Will it patina differently? Will the car look like a harlequin VW? Does it truly match 100% the 43 year old panels surrounding it? There are TONS of reproduction parts that you can see IMMEDIATELY in the interior that don't match and look like garbage. That's why you see quad-tone gray interiors.
Andy Lien
VIN 11596 Jan 1982 build - owned since Nov. 2000!
Total frame-off restoration completed 2021-2023
Photography and Backpacking is life.
Was Fargo, ND
Now Kansas City
Location: Florida: Pinellas County
Posts: 2,185
My VIN: 5003 Never placed Concourse 2002-Current
Club(s): (DCF)
Uh, yeah, I am weary of anything made in China today.
This ^. How will it look as time goes on. For instance, my "stainless" exhaust that came from the UK using quality materials, quality assembly with quality assurance and with a "lifetime warranty", turned from stainless to total rust after a few years and it looked awful. They didn't even stand by their warranty when I inquired and complained. They tried telling me something about the metal from the steel dies they use bleeding into the metal of the pipes and they weren't going to do anything about it.
Again, I'm all for replacement parts. I'm not knocking the fenders or the effort put forth. I'd just like to see how they'd hold up over time. Who wants to pay $1,500 every 5-10 years for a fender should they not last.
-----Dan B.
Given the choice between a crumpled fender vs a male I'm China offering...I'll gladly take the China door.
It reminds me a bit of when I took a BIG chance in reproducing automatic trans filters. I had a few people who said they would reserve judgement until they had some reviews, which I understand, but if everyone was in that boat, I would have never sold them. I'm glad the 95% of the community bought them. The same applies here. People take financial chances and I don't think it was for the financial gain (it wasn't in my case, I didn't it for the experience more than anything).
In other words, I just may buy one to support the endeavor.
You now have the option of having a fender made with digital sheet forming. I'm wondering what their prices are, I'd go with the digital offering over anything dmch would make even if it was more expensive because they can go to hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou5wPy56B3I
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,675
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
I am very suspicious of anything coming from China. I bought a S/S BB grill made in China. It was a LOT cheaper than one made in the US. In 2 years it turned rusty and rotted out. Their S/S is not the same as what we call S/S. It rusts. They just don't make anything of quality. At least from my experience of what they export to the USA. I guess you can take a chance on it if you never leave the car outside?
David Teitelbaum
I was graciously donated a few of your auto trans filters from an owner who performed a manual-swap. I feel good knowing I have enough to get me through a few trans fluid changes. Thank you for your efforts. I do need a left fender at some point since mine is not 100% perfect. Good news is replacement can wait and that gives time to see how the repro ones hold up. When it comes down to it I would buy a mint OE fender if the cost is less than the new fender.
~LXA~
Dunmurry | Stuttgart | Leipzig | Munich | Tochigi | Fremont | Bratislava | Sindelfingen | Kansas City | Oakville | Coventry
Posts: 118
I have 4 spare LFF (origin IRELAND) if anyone needs one.