cheap things ..no good..good things..no cheap

Friend of mine has recently serviced his fl 1 td4 02 plate (in aug) ready for winter and a round trip of 300 mile to see family before xmas...hes replaced vcu..carrier bearings and crank damper pulley and all belts,..oil and filter ect.
Mate set off 21st dec having only done 1800 miles since the service and 2 hrs later crawling in traffic hears a rattling under the car gets it to the services and its quite bad, RAC are called and the crank damper has fell to bits....rac knew a local garage to tow it to and did so and while on the ramps he was called to look at vcu..whose carrier bearings were shot on one side.
these parts purchased from same seller on fleabay whilst a lot cheaper than oem parts were junk..it was not only the inconvenience being stuck in this garage for 5 hrs while parts came and were fitted but the cost.
Remember buy cheap..buy twice...if that had been a cambelt engine it may have wrecked engine..the carrier bearings may have wrecked the vcu and ird...thats a hell of a bill for saving a few quid on quality parts.
me dad had a saying..cheap things..no good.....good things..no cheap

I know. These days I try and buy from sellers where I'm confident of getting a famous name brand. With the cheap stuff the manufacturing tolerances are sometimes a bit generous so there's often some filing and fettling to get things to fit, plus you don't know how long it will last. A well known brand doesn't guarantee longevity, of course, but it's a bit less likely to disintegrate after a few thousand miles. So if it says 'Bosch' or 'Lucas' or 'Siemens VDO' or 'Timken' etc. I tend to buy it. And try and avoid if it's Britpart own brand stuff.

Brown said:

I know. These days I try and buy from sellers where I'm confident of getting a famous name brand. With the cheap stuff the manufacturing tolerances are sometimes a bit generous so there's often some filing and fettling to get things to fit, plus you don't know how long it will last. A well known brand doesn't guarantee longevity, of course, but it's a bit less likely to disintegrate after a few thousand miles. So if it says 'Bosch' or 'Lucas' or 'Siemens VDO' or 'Timken' etc. I tend to buy it. And try and avoid if it's Britpart own brand stuff.

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man of wisdon

Cheap parts are a false economy. I only fit genuine or actual proper OEM parts, victor reinz gaskets, timken bearings, Bosch etc. They usually fit more easily, last better and work better.

buy cheap....buy twice

That's why I tend to buy a lot of my spares from LR Direct these days, because you can request a particular brand. I do like Paddocks, but they tend to send you a lot of Britpart stuff. Of course, as everybody says, Britpart are only a wholesaler, and they do handle a lot of OEM and Land Rover branded stuff too, but it's their own brand stuff that's a bit ropey. Even something as basic as a fuel filter. After all, it's just a can stuffed with fluff. Surely even Britpart can't get that wrong. Or rather, surely even Britpart's lowest-tender subcontractors in Shenzhen can't get it wrong. However, on investigating a friend's breakdown a few weeks ago we discovered his Britpart filter had been packed in such a way as to impede the flow of fuel so the engine wouldn't run. New filter and it was fine.

Yep I use LRDirect - found them good.

Paddocks are fine, and I don't mind the odd thing from them but there are many other options.

mates brought a Chinese 125 motorbike...i have a 125 yammy for work...i paid 2900 new...hes paid 1100 new...ive not had a min problem in 17k miles .his as done 600 and had a new engine and if it rains it stops..water in leckys...i do know lot jap bikes are made in china..but under very strict quality rules...ya gets what ya pay for

Some components are not worth buying as non genuine or OEM, it's not worth fitting pattern vital parts and then have to start worry about them failing and taking another vital component out with them. Plus I only want to fit one damper crank pulley or water pump once for example.

Couple of weeks ago I thought I would get a Td5 thermostat, as I'm replacing all the belt tensioners, crank pulley, oil seal and belt as a part of my anal servicing regime, eBay had a plethera of prices, £8 for some unbranded thing,, Bearmach was £29 and genuine was £45, figured that a genuine would be better as I stand a better chance of the genuine one not sticking shut and cooking the engine, but I do wonder if these parts are not made in one or two factories side by side and sold in different packages at differing costs?

Gates are one of the manufacturers that make the thermostat, and the same one is used in the Honda Accord and Transit van, but I then wondered if they open at different temperatures, so I skipped them, but they were a lot cheaper, I know the crank pulley is the same as a Transit one too, which again is cheaper than a Td5 one.

Since LR became a "aspirational" brand, the parts prices have shifted upwards quite significantly, surely a crank pulley for a Transit and a Td5 should be roughly the same price? No.

clarks shoes one a famous british standard are now made in vietnam...and are rubbish...lot of the time its same item thats cheap an cheefull..they but the brand name on..triple the price

But then some parts are also not worth shelling out bucket loads of cash for genuine - I am thinking non-vital parts here, preferably non-moving parts.

I brought a complete coolant hose set the other day, picked bearmach brand, when they arrived they were all genuine landrover but over stickered with a bearmach sticker. So I got genuine for less than genuine price.

ive seen the reverse...brand names put on fake goods...being charged oem prices...phone batteries well known for it

freelanderoig said:

Friend of mine has recently serviced his fl 1 td4 02 plate (in aug) ready for winter and a round trip of 300 mile to see family before xmas...hes replaced vcu..carrier bearings and crank damper pulley and all belts,..oil and filter ect.
Mate set off 21st dec having only done 1800 miles since the service and 2 hrs later crawling in traffic hears a rattling under the car gets it to the services and its quite bad, RAC are called and the crank damper has fell to bits....rac knew a local garage to tow it to and did so and while on the ramps he was called to look at vcu..whose carrier bearings were shot on one side.
these parts purchased from same seller on fleabay whilst a lot cheaper than oem parts were junk..it was not only the inconvenience being stuck in this garage for 5 hrs while parts came and were fitted but the cost.
Remember buy cheap..buy twice...if that had been a cambelt engine it may have wrecked engine..the carrier bearings may have wrecked the vcu and ird...thats a hell of a bill for saving a few quid on quality parts.
me dad had a saying..cheap things..no good.....good things..no cheap

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Agree 100% about cheap parts but you might find the bearing was fitted wrong hence only one failed. They should be dead straight with the VCU but some peeps fit one of them straight with the propshaft (the front one if I recall) so the bearing rubber is flexing the whole time.

Land rover parts prices changed at the end of the series 3 before that they were on a cost plus basis, after it was more on what do we think they will stand for eg gearbox under-guard increased in price 500% in one go !

I remeber replacement genuine seat covers from Marshall Land Rover in Cambridge being £15 in 2003. Bought a double cab hood in the summer from them and it was £1100 inc vat.
These are not special vehicles, or rare, main dealer prices are nuts, especially when the vehicles are inherently crap and need parts constantly.
Land cruiser next time.

People just LOVE CHEAP!!!
AN EXAMPLE. James Walker and HSamuel were ONCE quality high street Jewellers!
HSamuel offered a good price to the private shareholders of James Walker and the deal was done!
Along came Gerald Ratner and his cheap chain of cut price cheap jewelery and took over HSamuel!
We now have HSamuel which is really Ratners selling poor quality low priced jewelery!
Its what the customer wants! He famously quoted AND lost his position! BECAUSE thinking and selling cheap! Is one thing ACTUALLY SAYING IT is another