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That's a good question. Looks like the cheap 4 for $25 bucks are knock offs. The real expensive ones are the XL size (wider) and carbon flash painted aftermarket. Others looked to be original GM with price jacked up. I bought 4 new original GM ones for about $70.
I bought a set of 4 on Ebay for $25. They look just like the ones GM sells and fit like the originals. It boils down to typical Chinese business practices. I don't know any specific facts about these parts but from having worked for 38 years in the automotive industry I can guess how it goes.
Senario 1 -
GM designs the parts
They source it to a Chinese manufacturer
GM pays for the tooling
The supplier fills orders from GM, they get put in a GM box and shipped to dealers.
The Chinese supplier realizes that there is a market for the parts at a lower cost
They run them off of GM tools and ship them out the back door in their own box.
They get sold online; Ebay, Amazon, etc.
Senario 2 -
A Chinese manufacturer copies GM's design, makes their own tooling, produces them cheaply and sells them online. In this case the quality is usually not as good as the original.
I have the ACS front/rear XL splash guards. They're definitely pricey but the fit and finish match perfectly to everything else on the car so they have a nice factory look with great protection.
Since the official, larger GMs say on them quite clearly "Made in China," they're all probably from the same factory anyway. Ebay distributors just don't have to give GM their cut.
I have the cheap $25 splash guards on my Stingray, but installed the the XL size (wider) and carbon flash painted aftermarket ones on my Z06. They go with the carbon flash side skirts and offer better protection. $180.
The cheap ones on the Stingray are as good as GM guards in my opinion.
I have the ACS XL front and rear set. I could almost swear I paid $500 for the set. Maybe it was $400? I think $500. I couldn't find a lower price. Anyway, the problem I had with this set, is the rear set didn't appear at all to be XL (assuming XL implies extra large). The rears are small, but they come in the XL set. The fronts are very nice and large. Maybe ACS looked at, and is aware of problems with having too large a guard on the rear, I really don't know. Maybe the concern with rock throwing is less on the rear? I don't know. The price is up there in my opinion. Ouch! Installation was pretty straight forward. I had a couple that just never really clicked into place like I had hoped. The haven't fallen off, but I just never was able to get that secure click into place.
One thing I did notice, is ACS support is outstanding. I corresponded with them repeatedly, and ACS responded in kind. The price was high, but support and backing is worth something to me. In the end, I just took a chance and left them there. I just didn't want a lot of crap flying up, and thought this would reduce/minimize rocks up the side.
I have the cheap ebay knock offs and I agree somebody reversed engineered the OEM , the injection mold part lines are the same, the clips are the same ..everything except no GM part number
Dave
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