AliExpress, any good for parts?

[Desiderata]

Hi, I need a seat adjustment mechanism for my Octavia. Official Skoda part is £150, AliExpress have one for £25 delivered.
Is Skoda ripping people off on spare parts prices or is the AliExpress part likely to be junk?

[phil y]

It might be a genuine part from a Chinese market OEM supplier, or a cheap knockoff. More likely the latter, but I’d take a punt on it if it’s cheap enough.

[eth2190]

I've ordered a quite a few parts from there and generally it's fine. Obviously the quality won't be amazing and you're unlikely to be able to return stuff if there's problems.
Avoid stuff that's too good to be true like coilover kits for $200, that stuff is useless.

[Desiderata]

Thanks, it's just a little casting with a sprung ratchet so not that difficult to get right, I'll give them a go.

[vikingaero]

It's probably a VW Group equivalent part that can be used on other VW brands. China is huge with VW and produces a lot of stuff for them.

[Desiderata]

Just to update, the part has arrived safely from China.
It seems to be a genuine 'made in Germany ' VAG part. I'm happy with the service.

[illmonkey]

Madness it's made in Germany, shipped half way around the world, processed, ordered, shipped back half way around the world for a 1/6th of the price. And here I am peeling some plastic off a box to recycle...

Saying that, the stamp doesn't look very good quality, could it be a fake stamp?

[Desiderata]

illmonkey said:

Madness it's made in Germany, shipped half way around the world, processed, ordered, shipped back half way around the world for a 1/6th of the price. And here I am peeling some plastic off a box to recycle...

Saying that, the stamp doesn't look very good quality, could it be a fake stamp?

Possibly, but it looks identical to the old one.
That's global economics for you .