Brake advice please

[Billggski]

My point was not that Brembo are inferior to Volvo parts, but that putting that name on a box of cheap discs is much more attractive to a counterfeiter. You can buy Adidas tops very cheaply at our local market, are they genuine?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

You're missing the point - we all know that most car manufacturers don't make every part for their cars - but many parts made for them by other manufacturers are often made to a specific specification that cannot be sold by the factory other then to the manufacturer. Brake pads are a prime example of this - you can only buy Volvo spec brake pads from Volvo, nothing else is the same. Another point is Volvo do manufacture some of their brake discs themselves, including those for Mk1 XC90.

If you go to Tesco and buy their "finest" baked beans - Tesco dont have any factories and dont make anything, but you can't buy that product anywhere else...

If you go to a Volvo dealership & buy an oil filter, it will have a Volvo stamp on it with their part number & a stamp of the manufacturer that made it. So lets take the brand Mann as an example, which is a very reputable brand. Mann made filters for Volvo, their stamp (Mann) & their part number is on the filter that you just bought from the main dealer, as well as Volvo's part number & stamp.

So, you buy your filter from the main dealer & I go to a local parts store & buy the Mann filter in its own packaging, not Volvo packaging. Do you think the filter you bought from the main dealer is any different to the one I bought? How can it be? The one I bought in the local parts store was made by the company that supplied Volvo's in the first place. So how can it be any different in terms of quality?

[AndyV7o]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

If you go to a Volvo dealership & buy an oil filter, it will have a Volvo stamp on it with their part number & a stamp of the manufacturer that made it. So lets take the brand Mann as an example, which is a very reputable brand. Mann made filters for Volvo, their stamp (Mann) & their part number is on the filter that you just bought from the main dealer, as well as Volvo's part number & stamp.

So, you buy your filter from the main dealer & I go to a local parts store & buy the Mann filter in its own packaging, not Volvo packaging. Do you think the filter you bought from the main dealer is any different to the one I bought? How can it be? The one I bought in the local parts store was made by the company that supplied Volvo's in the first place. So how can it be any different in terms of quality?

With filters, yes, the manufacturers part number verifies it is the same item, but filter media doesnt have performance parameters like brake pads for example, do.
Buy genuine pads, you may find manufacturer markings such as branding, and maybe but not always a part number. What you will find is that either there is no part number other than the vehicle manufacturers, or where the part manufacturer has their own part number applied, this will not match anything you can buy from the same manufacturer aftermarket.

Something like a filter or a wiper only has to do a pretty singular job to a fairly singular standard. Other items like brakes have many parameters, in particular ones that are experienced by the driver, such as feel, power, dust, longevity, etc, and are a carefully executed balance. The vehicle manufacturer will develop what they believe to be the perfect balance, and wish for this to only be available from them, thus, protect this by patent/license etc which prevents the part manuf. from using this particular product themselves.
Buying from that part manuf. though, may yield the closest product, since they know the formula and have been involved in the testing, they will know the nearest blend which can legally be used, they may even feel their blend is better, it may be more powerful, or less dusty, and so-on, or, it might be very close but just not quite as good.