Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Where is the Denso filter made and where is the Fram filter made?
I use Purolator filters that are made in USA. For the Camry I maintain I might get the Denso one if it's made in USA, since everything else I have found for it is made in China.
As a general indicator of quality, I'm not even sure judging by where the final assembly of a product is tells you much. The label with often say "Made in XYZ with imported and XYZ parts. Besides that, most of this stuff is made by machine, and there isn't really that much difference in manufacturing quality if the same machines are properly set up in Japan, Canada, the US, Thailand, Malaysia, or even China. Maybe a cut rate Chinese company actually designing and manufacturing an item might create a substandard product, but Denso isn't going to stand for any factory making products with their name on it creating anything of poor quality.
I know we're wedded to the idea that items made in China are junk, and they are to a great degree. However, there's also some first rate state of the art manufacturing going on in China. I remember a group from an American plastic molding company going on a trip to China, where the owner was losing business to competitors around the world - especially China. The jobs he often got were rush custom ones that an overseas company might not get done in time to make a delivery. But on this tour he noted how advanced the plant he visited was in China. All the molding equipment was the latest from Japan and Europe and the automation was state of the art and more advanced than what he had. Part of is would be that there's a lot of capital in China willing to invest in business in China. That's a huge incentive to foreign companies looking for a place to manufacture.
I look at a typical Fram air filter made in the US or Canada and it looks like junk with a soft orange foam surround and a cheap looking mesh screen that bends easily. I once cut myself on one when I grabbed it and the sharp edge of the mesh just poked through the foam. Then the foam is just gooped on more than it really has to be, blocking some of the surface area of the filter.
