Chinese Wix Filters? For real?

[87-WE2]

I just bought eight wix filters for my diesel trucks (air, fuel, transmission, oil). Very surprised to find out the tranny filters were made in China. Dammit!! I was a little ticked. What filters are made in the USA any more? Is Baldwin all that's left? I don't expect any responses to this; just read for your information. I'm not trusting two $6000 transmissions to some piece of crap Chinese filters. Thanks for listening.

I wrote them an e-mail response. Here it is.

I am very disappointed. I just bought two wix transmission filters for my 2004 and 2012 GMC 2500HD pickups. After spinning the filters onto the transmission of ONE of them, I noticed "MADE IN CHINA" stamped on it. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have been using WIX filters almost exclusively since GM outsourced filters to China and their quality went to "bad". I was so dumbfounded, I checked the other wix filters I bought (air, oil, fuel for both trucks) to see if they were made in the "poor quality capital of the world". Luckily none of the others were, so I installed them.

I know your response is going to have some flowery language about how wix filters are made at the highest quality facilities, and tested to the same criteria as the USA products, but the fact remains that has more to do with quality. I will also note that the pricing of the CHINESE filter has not changed, although I'm sure YOUR costs have changed. Keep you products made in the USA; pass the additional costs on to the consumer. Most people who are choosing wix filters are choosing them for a reason, and will pay a couple of bucks extra to buy USA. My reason USED to be that I was buying a high-quality filter made in the USA. It can only stand to reason that since ONE of your filters is made in CHINA, there are several others as well. And since I've not heard that labor prices are on the "up" in China any time soon, it would only stand to reason that soon MORE will be made there. At that point, my choice in filters will change.

It would be nice if executives could see this (and pay attention to it), but I doubt it will make it very far.

Sincerely,
Disappointed American Consumer

 

[TLIMITED]

Well that SUCKS.Maybe a few of us need to get together and get into filter making.

 

[TexasT]

Well I guess ill cross them off my list. I doubt they lowered the price any.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

 

[87chrisss]

Unfortunately most things that are claimed to be made in America are actually designed here a few samples sent over to China to copy and mass produce over there. It ends up back in the states 90% assembled. Most of the time we just assemble the product since an American touches the final portion of assembly it is legally ok to say made in America. You would be surprised if you knew how much Chinese junk we all have on our car's.

 

[87-WE2]

Wix's response is below. It doesn't make me feel any better about a Chinese filter on my transmission. Chinese filters belong on Chinese transmissions installed by Chinese shade-tree mechanicsI WILL buy USA whenever I can; I hope a lot of folks will.

We appreciate your interest in (WIX Filters) and the opportunity to share information concerning our approach to global commerce.

We would like to assure you that the majority of products sold under the brand names (WIX Filters) in the U.S. aremanufactured in
the U.S. A similar situation exists for our global manufacturing centers in Europe, Mexico, China and South America with the majority
of the products made at these plants sold into local markets. This capability is important given the growth of private vehicle ownership
in many developing countries.

While the majority of our products are sold into the markets where they are manufactured, we also use our global resources to supplement
product lines with designs and expertise unique to specific locations. This import-export process is truly global, with some products made
in the U.S. sold overseas.

In terms of quality, all of our products are designed and manufactured according to a single set of global standards maintained by our
U.S. filtration headquarters in North Carolina. Our plants are TS/ISO certified and conform to exacting global quality standards established
by our parent company, Affinia Group. This approach assures that no matter where a filter is manufactured, our customers can be confident
that the quality is built into the product on a consistent basis worldwide.

We are proud of our heritage as a U.S. corporation with a 100-year history of providing local jobs and supporting local communities. Times
are changing, and we are also proud to be part of the global economy with a commitment to conduct our worldwide operations in a responsible
manner as a purpose driven company.

Thank you again for your interest, and we look forward to meeting your filtration needs in the future with brands that you can trust for
consistent, world class quality.

 

[TexasT]

They won't be meeting my filtration needs with a hencho en China on their product. I don't care how they spin it. Off to source Baldwin for my vehicles.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

 

[SPOOLFOOL2]

Just checked. The box that the oil filter comes in says "Made in USA".

Mike B.

 

[87-WE2]

To be fair, 3/4 of the WIX filters I bought were made in USA (oil, air, and fuel); it was only the little 8-ounce spin-on transmission filters that go on the Allison transmission that were made by Sum Yung Gai. NAPA GOLD are also supposedly made by WIX, so be careful of those also and check out where they were made if that matters to you.

I'm not bashing WIX, just trying to inform the consumers.

 

[Red C5]

I know your response is going to have some flowery language about how wix filters are made at the highest quality facilities, and tested to the same criteria as the USA products, but the fact remains that has more to do with quality. I will also note that the pricing of the CHINESE filter has not changed, although I'm sure YOUR costs have changed.

This is a great point you make that many people don't think about. In the past when you bought something made in china the marketing behind was that the price is much cheaper. Now pricing is very similar in many cases or even higher.

 

[87-WE2]

This is a great point you make that many people don't think about. In the past when you bought something made in china the marketing behind was that the price is much cheaper. Now pricing is very similar in many cases or even higher.

And don't misunderstand my comment to be one of those about "greedy American corporations" who are out to take over the world with their high profits. There is nothing wrong with making a profit; it's what companies are supposed to do, and exactly why people invest in them.

10 years ago, Chinese stuff was less expensive because is HAD to be in order to sell. Nowadays, it doesn't HAVE to be cheaper in order to sell because many times it's ALL Chinese (crankshafts for instance). By the way, the crankshaft thing really bothers me because I work in the steel industry selling American-made steel pipe to oil & gas companies. I've seen MANY American steel producers either go belly-up, or sell out to "foreign interests" over the past 19 years. It's amazing how many red-blooded American oil companies will buy Korean, or Turkish, or Vietnamese, or Phillipine, or Indian pipe just to save a few bucks on an oil or gas well that may produce tens of MILLIONS (even hundreds of millions) of dollars over its life. I'm always very complimentary of the companies that will ONLY purchase domestically-produced steel. You'd be surprised which oil companies will use the cheapest shit they can get their hands on.

I applaud individuals (and companies) like you who actually MAKE something from start to finish in USA. I support these companies whenever possible. When it's time to replace my radiator, I'll be damned if I go down to O'Reilly or Autozone to get the cheapest F-Body piece of crap that Sum Yung Gai can possibly produce and ship to America. Thank you for making quality products in America. Off my soap box - I'm going to go sell some USA pipe now!!

 

[daves87gn]

I recently bought a wix fuel filter for a shop 04 chevy duramax dually while on a hot shot, truck was acting up, the drain/sensor would not screw on the new filter, brought back to store and they tried to say I cross threaded it, they pull a new sensor off the shelf, and it wouldn't work, they pulled a new filter and sensor off shelf, and nothing, then just returned my money when it wouldn't work.
So much for quality control lol