It has been this author’s firm belief for quite a while that the US automotive aftermarket industry is virtually a cesspool of garbage. Why? There are tons of products coming into this country that do not meet any established standards (or there is a complete lack of standards altogether). And the Department of Transportation (DOT), US Customs and other federal agencies do nothing to protect the consumer from illegitimate, and often dangerous, products. Just consider the federal government’s bungling antics in the Mattel toys case. Lead-laden toys were being imported from China and there was nothing in place that would have caught this in the first place. It’s always a case of “spill the milk first, then think about it later.”

To put it simply, other countries just do many things better than we do. Take the Germans, for example, when it comes to aftermarket alloy wheels. All aftermarket wheels sold in Germany must meet or exceed the German national directive for light-alloy wheels (TUV). You can’t even legally sell wheels in Germany that have been tested based on other internationally recognized standards, such as those issued by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The German government can hold liable companies and testing officials that do not strictly comply with German wheel regulations. Not only do German consumers have access to the best products in the market, the government is actually looking out for their safety through regulations some may consider rather draconian.

The ideal situation for the US market would be strict enforcement by the DOT on product quality and safety. There is a myriad of regulations established by the DOT called the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for which OEM suppliers, such as tire and wheel companies, must pass in order to become / be a vendor to OEM vehicle manufacturers. But this (FMVSS 110) is NOT applied to aftermarket wheels. Why not? The DOT doesn’t seem to care. US customs certainly doesn’t do anything to halt the influx of substandard products. Essentially, it’s a consumer-based matter. It’s a matter of supply and demand. Throw in proper design, materials engineering, finite element method, prototyping and testing into the manufacturing process and you end up with a set of wheels that cost multiple times more than its bargain priced counterpart.

Based on these factors, one must really question the structural soundness and safety of certain wheels out there - oversized wheels for SUVs and luxury sedans (”bling”) and copycat wheels for sport compact applications are the first to come to mind. What are you really getting when you opt for these wheels? A dangerous and scary question to ask. Ultimately, however, it is the consumer that demands these substandard products and creates a market for which a countless number of suspect manufacturers are more than happy to serve.

We, Americans, truly do suck.