I'd like to compile a list of Australian made service items & replacement parts.

I'm not saying that I'll always buy Australian made or that others should. But if we are at least aware of what is available we can consider buying - or even give preference to - locally made items that are good quality & reasonably priced.

Please advise of corrections & additions to the following list.

BATTERIES
dreggzy advises (below) that Century batteries are locally made (+ locally owned).

BELTS, drive & timing
nil?

BRAKE PADS
VRX257 & dreggzy advise that QFM pads are locally made except for N Brake series.

BRAKE ROTORS
Dave advises that only the DBA5000 is made in Australia.

ENGINE OIL
Gulf Western, Nulon & Penrite are Australian made & owned. Fuchs, Shell & Valvoline are also locally made, but Castrol & Mobil seem to be all imported.
Penrite's 10 Tenths range, Nulon's High Perfomance 0W-40 & possibly Gulf Western's Syn-X 6000 5W-40 would be alternatives to Mobil1 & Castrol Edge.
Penrite's HPR5 (5W-40) & HPR10 (10W-50) are excellent value full synthetics.
Gulf Western's part-synthetic Syn-X 3000 (10W-40) is good buying at Repco.

EXHAUST SYSTEM

FILTERS, air, fuel, oil
nil?

FUEL PUMP
dreggzy advises that these & O2 sensors are made by ACA & are good quality.

HOSES, radiator & heater
magwheels advises these are made by Mackay Automotive, who will also make a special order.


TYRES
nil

At a guess, I think you'll find that nothing is actually made in Australia for a Magna except the air that it breathes - most of the oils you mention are blended in Australia from local and imported products....most batteries are Chinese or Filipino....pretty sad really.

EDIT: spam deleted.

Nulon, gulf western and penrite are not only Australian made, but they are Australian owned as well. All profits go back into Australian hands. This is an important factor when buying

Radiator and heater hoses are generally made in Aust by Mackay Automotive. Mackay will even make a special order if you can send them a sample.

Century batteries are Australian made. Optima is owned by Century (an Australian company) but unfortunately are not Australian made. Narva (bulbs, for those playing at home) is owned by Brown and Watson, an Australian company. Unfortunartely, they are made deep in the depths of Asia now, although some of their stuff comes from Germany. I will look a little deeper, I am sure I can find some more, and I would like to see this thread get stickied and kick on for a while.

And another. ACA make fuel pumps and O2 sensors. 100% Australian made and owned. (good quality stuff as well). C'mon people, get into this one

It is only the DBA5000 rotors made in australia now. The street series and 4000 series are made in china

it doesnt make sense economically to purchase something just because it is australian made.
unless australia has a competive advantage in producing a product, australia should not produce it.
the minimises waste in the global economy. (notice ive said competitve advantage not necessarily cheapest).
You may in the above cases (brake discs etc) make up your own mind whether there is a product quality difference between australia and elsewhere (and if there is, is it australia that is the higher quality of the two.)
*Jamie's personal opinion

Australia has always relied on overseas countries for manufactured goods.
Used to be the UK and USA. (Early 1900's)
Then Japan. (1950 to today)
Now China, Taiwan, other parts of Asia.

EDIT: I used to buy Bridgestone tyres, because they were locally made. Guess what? Cross them off the list.

it doesnt make sense economically to purchase something just because it is australian made.
unless australia has a competive advantage in producing a product, australia should not produce it.
the minimises waste in the global economy. (notice ive said competitve advantage not necessarily cheapest).
You may in the above cases (brake discs etc) make up your own mind whether there is a product quality difference between australia and elsewhere (and if there is, is it australia that is the higher quality of the two.)
*Jamie's personal opinion

Sorry Jamie, I disagree. If Australia simply doesn't bother to produce anything then how will we ever have a competitive advantage in the market? If Australia can satisfy its domestic market, that makes us better placed to take on the world. It won't happen overnight but it sure is no excuse to give up.

QFM brake pads are locally made i think.... hence the name (Queensland Friction Material), and they are of a quality product as well as competetively priced.

Point in case. QFM are locally made (excluding the N Brake series). They are cheaper because transport costs are quite low compared to importing products, and they are easy to make with Australian materials. Other brake pad manufacturers import the materials from Australia, build them in China or Taiwan, then ship them back down to Australia.

Hello, dreggzy, I noticed your comment about Optima batteries being owned by Century. I am curious to know if you are referring to our SpiralCell AGM batteries or if there is another battery in the Australian market using the Optima name, as we are not owned by Century, but Johnson Controls, Inc. I appreciate your assistance in this matter!

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

Optima are distributed in Australia by Nq Wholesale Tech Traders Pty Ltd Trading as www.optima-batteries.com.au - This is on the Optima homepage.