****PART as OEM????

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instantsquid

New Member
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1,362
Location
Tadley, Hants
I just purchased an OEM drop-arm balljoint from a well known Land Rover spare parts supplier and they sent me a ****part unit. I emailed them and they said "OEM means it is an original equipment manufacturer" - i.e. not necessarily Land Rover.

Shall I use it? Or lose it? Given it is such a busterd of a job, I don't want to be doing it all again in three months. :(

Ian.
 
Up to you mate Landrover dont make parts they have them made.
OEM should be from the same supplier that Landrover use.
 
There's 5 different qualities of parts:

1. Genuine Land Rover
2. OEM
3. OEM specification
4. decent budget specification
5. cheapest

There's no difference in quality between the genuine LR and OEM part. Basically, they're the same thing, but labelled/packaged differently. There will often (but not always) be a massive price difference though.

OEM specification are parts made to meet the same specification as OEM/genuine, but won't actually be the same maker as the original parts supplier. Typically these are well known quality brand names such as FAG, Hella, Sachs, Bosal, ATE, Mintex, etc etc

Decent budget specification might be slightly lower quality but tend to be alright. These are the kinds of parts which a reputable auto factor might stock, and supply when an owner (or more typically, garage doing work for an owner) asks for the "cheapest" rather than a top quality part.

Then there's the bottom of the market, which are (typically) very cheap parts made in far flung places such as China, Vietnam, India etc and are normally of poorer quality than most reputable suppliers would be happy, also garages dislike these parts because if fitted, the garage is responsible for the work done INCLUDING the part, not the parts supplier at the end of the chain. These are the ones which are normally a bugger to fit, come with the wrong bolts, only last a few weeks-6 months if they're rubber, have imperfections, etc.

Britpart don't physically manufacture parts themselves, they buy from a large range of parts manufacturers/suppliers which might be 2-5 on the list (typically 5, but some items are a bit better than that).
 
I've not actually taken the joint out of it's packet yet, so can't assess the quality. I was just very surprised to see Britpart marked up as OEM. I guess there's a first time for everything!
 
I've not actually taken the joint out of it's packet yet, so can't assess the quality. I was just very surprised to see Britpart marked up as OEM. I guess there's a first time for everything!

They do give a 2 year warranty now but if it goes tits up they will only replace the part, with all the grief to change it On a ****e job like that i would go for best available , extra few quid might save you changing it soon. Had a garage do one for me ( not an lr one )it lasted under two years and less than 10,000 miles.
 
Have ****part ever supplied parts to Land Rover? Doubt it.
My thought exactly!

The thing is, Paddocks (for it was they) don't sell a better quality one - I went for the most expensive one as I wasn't trying to save a few quid - I genuinely wanted the best quality.

Dunno what to do now - order a genuine one from LRSeries, or fit this one. Arse!
 
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