I have a little experience with trains manufactured in the far east.
First rule, they consider up morons for wasting time and money on TOYS and not busy MAKING money.
Second rule, whether they designed it or not, if the manufacturer can save a penny a unit, and pocket the profits, they will do so every stinking time.
If putting in a designed lube port in a bulkhead to a captive motor bearing can be left out, it will.
If they can leave one expensive ingredient out of a plastics mix to save a penny, they will.
And nobody will know until the axles start eating into the chassis in 6 months.
If they can not tin wires properly to “strain relief” them (and I was a NASA-certifed solderer, so I know), and save a pennies worth of solder per unit, they will not.
If Dell computers are any example, I talked to someone once who worked for Dell, and quit when he saw the amount of returns.
They factor that into the costs.
Quality control in far east model train manufacture is virtually non-existent.
When you take ten 6-axle diesels and come up with 60 different wheel gauge readings, most of which are SO FAR out of spec they won’t go through properly gauged turnouts, you have a problem.
When Mabuchi motors are bought in quantities of 10,000 for $.23 (that’s twenty-three cents) apiece, they aren’t interested in a $30 Pittman.
The cheapest wire they can find, with the fewest strands, and sometimes to get the right “color” they actually paint the wire!
Even if you let “them” design it, or if you design it, they leave programming ports off the boards, or worse.
When the designer goes to the factory and starts at one end of the line and sets the screw guns to the proper setting, and moves to the next…by the time he gets done and checks the first one, the workers have re-set the unit.
Or, instead of walking across the floor to the supply room and drawing a bag of “virgin” plastic pellets, they worker uses a dustpan and 'scoops" up the scrap and dumps it in the hopper.
I make reports of fixes, and there is only so much I can mention, hoping like hell folks are smart enough to actually LOOK when they get into the unit.
The problem IS the consumer.
How often on forums do you read “Where can I get “X” the cheapest?”.
When price and price alone drives the market, quality takes a back seat.
I am reminded of one sound system, provided for a manufacturer for a “price”, and failure rate was over 90%.
Now they are using one of the lowest-price, non-polyphonic systems…all because the consumer wants “cheap”.
Manufacturers won’t get it made by a quality concern, because they try to sell to the cheap charlies.
Buy American.
That’s why my Flathead Fords are still running today, daily, older than ANY Dat-soon or Toyopet on the road.
I remember who made the Zero.
And, who gave our US Navy submarine propeller technology away.
And who designed the “People’s Car”.
I remember why we fought that particular war, and I am not a happy camper when folks fall all over themselves to buy that shXt.
If I could replace the drives on my Shays with Barry’s drives, I would.
The 4-6-0’s have all benn converted to US made chassis and Pittman motors.
Fortunately, I decided on “0” to buy only American, and all 12 locomotives and 130 pieces of rolling stock are.
Same with the 3-rail.
Same with all the Half-Zero I have, Mantua, Varney, English, Roundhouse, Megow, Penn Line…
Used it is, as even used, it out-performs most of the plastic crap coming out of the far east.
If you have a choice by American.
And I’ll never buy another Dell again.
I’ll build one for double the cost before I put any money towards that company.
Same with anything that I personally perceive as not honest, ethical, or forthright.
