Car Audio - To buy or not to buy Refurbished Products

[Guest]

Does anyone know much about refurbished audio gear?
The question is to buy or not to buy.
As long as it works like a new one and lasts thats what I want to know.
Or will the work then stuff up again?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROCKFORD-FOS...ryZ39739QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROCKFORD-FOS...photoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262


Here is what they say

* Refurbished and SEALED by the manufacturer.
This unit is a manufacturer Class "A", Quality Refurbished and SEALED by the manufacturer,
Unit appears NEW in new brown box, and is guaranteed to work perfectly.
This Unit Comes with ALL accessories supplied by the manufacturer.
Refurbished. Remanufactured. Reconditioned. Essentially, all of these terms refer to the same thing.
But what does refurbished really mean? A refurbished item is one that has been sent back to the manufacturer for a variety of reasons,
refitted with different parts as may be necessary, and then tested and approved for resale by the manufacturer.


Refurbished items typically carry a warranty from the manufacturer. Also, anytime a retail store or a consumer opens a product box
and it is not purchased, or if the consumer decides he or she does not wish to keep a product for any reason –
even if it is on the very next day, the retailer cannot sell the product as new, and often ships it back to the manufacturer.
Once at the manufacturer, the item goes through the complete quality assurance process – much like a new item does before it leaves the factory –
and the manufacturer is confident that it meets ALL factory requirements and specifications.
The item is then repackaged by the original manufacturer for us to re-market to you. Most importantly,
refurbished doesn't mean that you're buying an item with a defect or something else wrong with it.
Refurbished items go through the same testing and approval processes as all brand new items.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Emanuel refurbished or 'seconds' are usually HEAVILY discounted for a reason - your warranty period is usually only 30 or 90 days. The general public hardly ever sees seconds in Australia because they are often picked up by people who work in retail and their friends.

Having said that you can definitely get some fantastic bargains - I once bought a Sony amp (home audio - I wouldn't touch their car rubbish) for $285 that was $2,800 new and it's worked perfectly for more than a decade

 

[SupremeMoFo]

Alternatively, you could get one of these - http://www.jaycar.com.au/productVie...&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=595
Be about the same price once the R-Fosgate made it here, 12 month warranty, and class D not class AB.

Alternatively, Jaycar class AB which is 25% less and makes more power - http://www.jaycar.com.au/productVie...&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=595

 

[montgomery]

yeah id stay away from refurbished gear.
if its not right when its brand new then stay away.

if you are after cheap power go for the jaycar amps they are cheap and work a treat!

 

[Chris Rogers]

and you could also ned up with a rather nasty copy of th egear. if you are after fosgate you could ask me as I sell the gear..

 

[Guest]

and you could also ned up with a rather nasty copy of th egear. if you are after fosgate you could ask me as I sell the gear..

Yea I'll give the Refurbished ones a miss.

How much can you do the T600-4 and 3SIXTY.2 for?
The cheapest I've seen for new ones is T600-4 for $455 and 3SIXTY.2 at $465 posted from the US.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_7148_Rockford+Fosgate+3SIXTY.2+-+WITH+2+IN+MODEL+-.html is an example

 

[Chris Rogers]

no where near that. about twice actually. that DOES come with a local warranty though. the import stuff DOESN'T

 

[Guest]

no where near that. about twice actually. that DOES come with a local warranty though. the import stuff DOESN'T

Yea if they ship oversea's it voids the warranty I think.

 

[SiliconAngel]

No you don't automatically void your warranty by moving an item from one country to another, but if the parts don't have a worldwide warranty (which a lot of audio stuff doesn't) then you'll have to ship it back to the country of origin (usually where you bought it from) for warranty repair or replacement. Some products like some IT gear specifically provide worldwide warranties, so you can return it to any stockist to claim warranty repair. But most items have regional distribution and warranty, which means they know by the serial number where it was sold and it has to go back there for return. They do this to limit parallel importing (basically where there are too many middle men through the authorised distribution channel, jacking the prices up in a particular country, so some smart bastard imports in bulk from the country of manufacture and makes a killing undercutting everyone else).

But in terms of whether it's worth your while importing car audio yourself, it depends on how much shipping is. To save $500 on the item when shipping is only $50 each way I'd say you're going to be at least $350 better off even if the device DOES require warranty work...