Has anyone been using them without issue? I have a bunch of older "Jobber" filters and I'm using them on my 24 year old beater running them at 5K OCI's. Would they still perform ok on my new 2024 that uses 0W-20 keeping the same service schedule?
Chinese made filters?
- Thread starter Jarpin
- Start date
Quality of specific filters vary wildly, regardless of country of origin.
I'd be more concerned about "jobber" than the country of origin and yes, China can and does produce quality products. Quality is dependent on the company, not the COO.
I avoid China COO when I can, but not for quality reasons. As far as filters, I recently cut apart Austrian and Chinese COO Mahle filters, and the China filters were very well made, comparable filters, also in all of my playing with vehicles I have only come across two defective oil filters and both were USA COO; Fram and Mobil 1 (Champ).
I avoid China COO when I can, but not for quality reasons. As far as filters, I recently cut apart Austrian and Chinese COO Mahle filters, and the China filters were very well made, comparable filters, also in all of my playing with vehicles I have only come across two defective oil filters and both were USA COO; Fram and Mobil 1 (Champ).
You can always cut one of your stash open and post pictures of the internals here for our review and criticism.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
- Messages
- 630
It depends on the manufacturer. China made PGI filters, good. China made M+H filters, bad.
I've seen some very good quality filters labeled "Made in China". Your almost historic (25 yrs) old vehicle won't mind especially at 5k.
Ha ha, yeah take one for the team.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2024
- Messages
- 2,120
absolutely many Chinese filters are made top notch these days.
I have used RA UltraPower filters in the Touareg and Jetta for some time now. Fuel, Oil, Air, and Cabin. No apparent issues.
I ordered air filters for my B&S Intek mower engine that were made in China. I was not impressed. I ran one for about 3 months and found the inside of the air intake downstream of the filter coated with very fine dust. I ditched them and now use OEM.
I have been buying cases of Service champ filters recently.
Seems like they have a few different suppliers in Asian countries.
Some look great and others are average.... No worse than tearing putolaters or leaking bypass valves on frams.
Seems like they have a few different suppliers in Asian countries.
Some look great and others are average.... No worse than tearing putolaters or leaking bypass valves on frams.
My basic rule:
Products made by a Chinese company = BAD.
Products made by a western Fortune 1000 company in one of their Chinese located plants = GOOD. The product will be the same quality as that made in their Nebraska plant. Corporate and ISO quality standards ensure that.
The manufacturer is key, rather than country of origin. Corporations are global now.
Products made by a Chinese company = BAD.
Products made by a western Fortune 1000 company in one of their Chinese located plants = GOOD. The product will be the same quality as that made in their Nebraska plant. Corporate and ISO quality standards ensure that.
The manufacturer is key, rather than country of origin. Corporations are global now.
Last edited:
The "China" aspect is of no relevance if a name brand filter, it's still made to Fortune 500 level standards. The issue for me is that there's likely better filters offering finer micron filtration for your newer ride. The 24 year old beater is of less concern, of course. But technically even the jobber filters should work OK on your 2024 assuming reasonable service frequency (no 15K or 20K intervals).
I have no way of proving this but the filters I have gotten for my VWs look and feel like Mann/Mahle/Hengst.
It is my (opinion? feeling?) that a lot of these white box filters, at least the ones I have used, are off the same line as name-bramd filters and are just a high-volune low margin way to sell more filters, or a way to sell quality Chinese aftermarket parts to us in the US. I mean, Chinese car owners probably don't like to install crap parts either, right?
In any case, buyer beware, because it's hard to know exactly what you're getting and quality definitely varies.
It is my (opinion? feeling?) that a lot of these white box filters, at least the ones I have used, are off the same line as name-bramd filters and are just a high-volune low margin way to sell more filters, or a way to sell quality Chinese aftermarket parts to us in the US. I mean, Chinese car owners probably don't like to install crap parts either, right?
In any case, buyer beware, because it's hard to know exactly what you're getting and quality definitely varies.
An oil filter is a commodity product. A manufacturing plant in China could produce the same quality filter as a plant in the US. I say "could".
Are they manufacturing to the spec for a US company?
Or to sell under some unknown name on Amazon?
Are they manufacturing to the spec for a US company?
Or to sell under some unknown name on Amazon?
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2024
- Messages
- 1,159
Using older jobber filters on a 2024 might be not the ultimate choice, but in the scheme of things probably would be fine unless funny engine sounds start right after jobber is put on.
I don't think that's an issue with Fortune 500 firms. They'll certainly rebadge Chinese sourced parts, but not without running them by their own engineers for quality control and performance evaluation, and then occasionally auditing and testing those same parts throughout production runs. They won't simply stamp their name on Chinese junk with no formal controls in place.
By the way, regarding your icon/emoji, I worship Smudge the Cat as a bonafide Cat Gawd. He's the Don Rickles cat!
I have a stash of Chinese filters. One is called Renken, the other is a Chinese Mahle. Both have sealed plastic on the bottom and no louvers. Watched a video on a cut up Renken, and was built quite well. Already used them both in my beaters, and no problems. Granted, I'm doing 3K oil and filters, but I wouldn't use them for 10-15K. The beaters have MPI engines. Wouldn't trust them for GDI / turbo engines though. They work for my application.