Hey all,
I'm not sure what your respective comfort level is with buying parts from overseas sellers, but I've generally won more than I've lost and have been willing to roll the dice.
Right now, I'm looking at a set of claimed-genuine AMG Aero III wheels (17x8, ET 18 and 17x10, ET 17) from a seller in Russia. The wheels look very, very nice. I have asked for close-ups verifying model numbers and evidence of any cracking. They claim there are no cracks. The price....seems really, really good. And I know, if it's too good to be true, it probably is - but they seem to have a deep supply of desirable W124, W123, and W201 parts and I can't find any evidence of them being scam artists. And again, I have bought parts from some of the smaller European countries that are right as rain and significantly cheaper than sellers in the UK / Germany / the US.
Conversely, I can order the Maxilite replicas of the same wheel for about $2K. I've had good luck with Maxilites, even though I routinely feel there's always something "off" about the final look - it never seems to look quite as "right" as the originals.
All that being said, where would you end up? The wheels in Russia are not throwaway money, but given the price of genuine wheels from US-based sellers, I'm somewhat inclined to take a chance.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Jeff
I'm not sure what your respective comfort level is with buying parts from overseas sellers, but I've generally won more than I've lost and have been willing to roll the dice.
Right now, I'm looking at a set of claimed-genuine AMG Aero III wheels (17x8, ET 18 and 17x10, ET 17) from a seller in Russia. The wheels look very, very nice. I have asked for close-ups verifying model numbers and evidence of any cracking. They claim there are no cracks. The price....seems really, really good. And I know, if it's too good to be true, it probably is - but they seem to have a deep supply of desirable W124, W123, and W201 parts and I can't find any evidence of them being scam artists. And again, I have bought parts from some of the smaller European countries that are right as rain and significantly cheaper than sellers in the UK / Germany / the US.
Conversely, I can order the Maxilite replicas of the same wheel for about $2K. I've had good luck with Maxilites, even though I routinely feel there's always something "off" about the final look - it never seems to look quite as "right" as the originals.
All that being said, where would you end up? The wheels in Russia are not throwaway money, but given the price of genuine wheels from US-based sellers, I'm somewhat inclined to take a chance.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Jeff
