I received my Volvo rear brake discs today from FCP. Made in China. No more Italian Brembo.

They were cheap so I was kind of expecting that. The Chinese make iPhones so I suppose they can make a decent rotor.
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Paul NW Indiana '90 745 turbo 145 K

I have no objection to China making car parts. But I do object to poor quality control. I would like a set of rotors to at least last long enough for a 2nd set of pads, and, not warp when the rotor gets red hot.

The Chinese should realize that poor quality is hurting their image as a supplier. Are they trying to emulate Ford, Chevy, Chrysler of the `1970's'? Those companies invited Toyota and Honda to take over in the USA.


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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Geely owns Volvo
Geely is a Chinese company.

True that Geely owns the Volvo operation that we are involved with - the car stuff. AB Volvo corporation sold the car manufacturing part of their biz to Ford in (approx) 2000, and Ford sold it to Geely about 10 years later.

It's an interesting arrangement - Geely get to use the name, logo, goodwill, dealer network and everything that goes with the car operation, and "Volvo Group" - the Swedish company, AB Volvo - retain the same name and logo (and the diagonal grille slash, with badge) on their products.

AB Volvo retained their other business divisions, heavy trucks (brands Volvo, Mack and Renault) and buses, construction equipment, marine propulsion systems and other ventures. We vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico a few weeks ago...four out of five tour buses at the airport were Volvos. As I write this a big Volvo front end loader is plowing our street to clear the 30 cm of snow that fell overnight.

I looked at AB Volvo's financials the other day and they seem to be doing very well. And Geely should be happy with the car side, as 2019 sales set another record for the 6th straight year and press releases state that their new plant in South Carolina is doing well.
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Son's XC70, daughter's XC60, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (Chev LT-1 V8), and XC60. Also '77 MGB with Chev V6, and four old motorcycles. Long gone: 1981 244, 1994 940 and 1998 S90.

Volvo will discontinue the Gasoline only powered engine.
New Volvos have the ability to "report' erractic or distracted driving behavior based on an encoded algo in the vehicles control system

Your New Volvo will be able to 'deny itself' for you to use it to Go, based on remote instructions. 5G enables The Internet of Things.

Not exactly the Flying Cars that the Jetsons TV cartoons had promised.

Brembo changed to China production sometime ago.

I've used rotors from AutoZone some 15+ years ago. Terrible. Warped in a year. I drive the Volvos 240 more or less gently.

In the last six years I used front and rear rotors from Advanced Auto and more recently AutoZone. The rotors appear to wear faster. I've found organic pads are best. No metal brake pads.

Volvo blue box brake pads are made in India the last time I purchased these.

Also, for those auto machine shops that do, I'll ask them to lathe or turn the rotor. If the rotor is not too thin, ends up fine. With organic rotor. No metal brake pads at all.

Unsure how ceramic brake pads affect these rotors.

Also, the Bosch brand of brake parts appear to receive positive reviews. Probably from the same factory as the current spate of AutoZone rotors. Again, organic brake pads.

There was made in Germany or Europa Zimmerman brake rotors (and pads?). ATE makes rotors and other brake parts.

Do not use coated or slotted or cross-drilled rotors. A recipe for quick rotor warp. May be fine for short term racing?

Fresh DOT-4 fluid always helps if your fluid in the reservoir is dark or black. Use a Motive or like power pressure bleeder for effective flush!

Hope that helps.
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Jonathan Harshman Winters III: The Mightiest, Greatest, & Most Powerful North American Comedian & Comedic Actor in Perpetuity

Zimmerman’s are the best quality rotors. Still engineered and manufactured in Deutschland. They also make pads and calipers. Not sure about ATE. Say “Ah-tay”... Read somewhere recently that they can be manufactured in China or Europe. Used to like Brembo until I bought a front pair for my 240 manufactured in China that warped within a year!
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

Hiya Mr. Walker,

like twenty years ago I got some sets of made in chinesium from AutoZone and they, like what you encountered, warped and severely in a year. Use organic pads, usually.

I used metal brake pads. The worst of which were the (now defunct, I guess) PBR Metal Masters. The pads were rusting in a year. I had used Zimmerman or Brembo. No slots or cross drills.

I may try Zimmerman again at the next brake repair.

Yet the modern stuff as I'd indicated that are made in China, while not the alloy quality, do not warm and endure organic pads best.

Happy Holidays!
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Jonathan Harshman Winters III: The Mightiest, Greatest, & Most Powerful North American Comedian & Comedic Actor in Perpetuity