The Big Debate - Britpart or S**tpart?

keithlard said:

Obviously Britpart source their parts as cheaply as possible, as others have said, and the result is lower quality. A door mirror I bought sheared off its mounting arm within a few miles - just poorly cast and low-grade steel.

That said, cosmetic and accessory parts are fine - it doesn't matter if they break or don't last. But I wouldn't now use Britpart for any mechanical parts, particularly if there's a safety implication - imagine Britpart brakes, for example.

You get what you pay for in this life and there is nothing particularly wrong with Britpart - their aim is clear, to supply you with the cheapest possible parts at the expense of quality. The same is true of the other cheap pattern parts suppliers. If you want better parts, you've got to pay more money.

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I agree with these comments.

mixed bag on my series 2a.

The simple parts which you surely can't **** up never fit (fuel cap isn't even close).

But new main shaft for the g-box came in a blue box and has the same stamps as a LR genuine part. It's been ok so far.

I've not had the best life out of genuine parts.....new wipers fell apart after 6 months (put the bp ones back on!) and the gearbox gaskets stated weeping after 4 months. Guess that's the design tho!

britpart brakes are good discs are as good as any and pads are branded names ,pattern bearings shouldnt be used under any circumstance

hammoj28 said:

Iv come to the verdict that Britpart is just a bit of a chance. Iv a britpart rad that seems to be ok and a rear door and probably some other things that are alright.

But iv had 5 brand new alternators and not one has worked.

You pay your money, you take your chance. Might be good might be ****e.

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I've also got a Britpart rad in my 110. At £100, it saved me a bundle over a genuine one, and it has been doing its job perfectly for over a year now (touch wood).

I'm always quite wary of slagging off Britpart, because bad customer reviews can be devastating for a company. After all, it is a British company, and it provides us with a source of cheap parts to keep our beloved vehicles on the road. I don't doubt that some of the stuff they sell is a bit suspect, but I personally haven't had any premature failures from them.

All I know is that if it all goes Pete Tong for Britpart and they end up folding, it'll be us who misses them, and we won't be any better off for it!

same with most things we only hear about the ones that broke 90% of the time so presume they are 90% bad,when it could be 10% bad

but isant that the point we all nead spares and when we buy britpart we keep our fingers crossed, when we should be pleased that we got it fixed price is one thing but fit for purpose is another would anyone of us look to do an expo to south africa and reliy on britpart spares ???

Ok, I've just fitted a Brit Part fuel filter.
So far so good.

Had a Brit Part light guard pair. They were fitted over a year ago and are a bit rusty now, but still serviceable...

From the feedback I prefer to avoid - the challenge with a number of the online sellers is that it can be hard to work out whose part it is!

Rimmers are pretty good at specifying, could do with the others following!!!

I've fitted swivel balls to both the 110 & Series 2, both have been fine. But we had a hell of a problem getting the front dumb irons to work on the series. Turns out the spring hanger wasn't lined up! Other wee things have put me off. So slowly weening myself off the budget shopping.
Fingers crossed all the parts i got spare will fit

I got some Britpart pedal rubbers as the original clutch and brake ones wore thru, they were superb.
I got a Heavy Duty Britpart clutch kit less than 1000 miles ago.. I'll let you know if that's part of why my car makes a horrible ticking/tapping sound (and rattling when the clutch isn't pressed)

h/d clutches bought back a fault that tdi had in 90s when borg beck produced clutch with better springs as rattled on tick over disappeared with clutch been pressed or increasing revs should eventually quiten down as clutch softens

I've innocently fitted loads of britpart parts to my classic rangie when i overhauled the chassis 3 years ago.

I have had to change almost every one in that time.

One or two parts could be understood, but 4 sets of wheel bearings, two calipers, 4 springs, 4 shock absorbers, all the wheel oil seals, brake discs (both front and rear)

This can't be a one off problem can it?

Buy cheap, buy twice is true when it comes to britpart.

But sometimes, you order the part as "OE" quality, and it comes as a britpart part. This is almost pure fraud. These parts are in no way as good as OE.

Also, when there is a problem, their "technical support" is absolutely hopeless, and they are not interested in the safety of the parts that they supply.

I bought a spring/ damper set from Tim Fry. The front springs were incredibly hard.
In digging into their spec, they spec the same spring rates for all engine variants and vehicles. When I tried to discuss this with Britparts suspension specialist, I ended up talking with some bloke who seemed to have absolutely no knowledge of the parts at all.
Tim Fry Landrovers didn't exactly shine in their customer support either - my confidence in then will never be the same again.

Sadly, they are the only supplier of certain parts (like the "bog brush" transmission oil coolers) and for this we should commend them. But they really need to address their quality issues ( it's up to us to bring them to book on every failure )

Avoid them if you possibly can - get a proper branded part. If you have to use a britpart part, keep the receipt, and do bring them to book if it fails prematurely.

Good luck,

Mike.

bought britpart drums for my 90 a while back and they were more out of shape than my old ones , never again so now always ask what brand parts are.still need to fit disco axle to get rid of drums.

as has been said many times britpart are wholesaler that sell range of parts to trade lr ,oe , pattern,branded ,some pattern is poor but some is quality,why buy pattern wheel brgs when britpart do timken for £5.ive fitted there brake discs for over 20 years and not yet found fault with them,and selling pattern instead of brand or oe is your supplier fault ,i get 90% of genuine lr parts from britpart

When I first had mt RRC I used Britpart. They were cheap and I hadn't been using this forum then or had much knowledge of Britpart or land rover based vehicles.
I had britpart shocks. rears went within 9 months fronts are still ok. Had a rad from them, When I removed it from the motor when I stripped it the bottom plate fell off.
Had two shock turrets. Both still good done 10,000 miles on them and used off road.
Alternator from them 20,000 miles and still working.
Some bushes 2 months and dead.
Some stuff is ok. Others very bad. Always buy better stuff now though.

I replaced the passenger seatbelt with a britpart one about 2 months ago and it already wont retract by itself.

britpart brake shoes iv attempted fitting are atleast 2mm too thick and the holes must be in the wrong place on them because the springs are lose and keep falling off.

Living on the other side of the world I order most my parts direct from the UK.
I am trying to understand the company's you have there. The way i had been seeing Britpart seems to be the largest parts supply for Land Rover, i have not had a look at their prices but they must be cheap to get the name they are given and would guess small garages over there would use their parts.
I currently been ordering through Famous Four and the parts that have arrived seem up to the job. What companies are best to buy through where you can rest assured knowing the quality is up to standard. The price of the parts normally the cheap part it is the cost of freight that is a killer getting it here and normally cost the same as what i purchase. I would be really ****ed off when they arrived to find they don't work or fail premature.

i live up the road from them and they like i order from britpart bearmach allmakes as they are the main wholesalers they all do genuine ,branded,oe,and cheap pattern its not the company but the range of parts you buy ie you can from britpart buy either genuine or pattern or something in between

My mates disco is lying stuck in a hole tonight after the nw Britpart swivel ball sheared off next to the flange! Having not seen how he drove into the hole, i suspect a bit gung ho, my britpart swivels on all the landys have taken the beating i give them. Maybe his was a bad part ??? Either way he needs to find some parts and drive into the middle of the fields and work in a big muddy puddle to repair it.:doh: He's still got to get out the hole.

Ruari said:

My mates disco is lying stuck in a hole tonight after the nw Britpart swivel ball sheared off next to the flange! Having not seen how he drove into the hole, i suspect a bit gung ho, my britpart swivels on all the landys have taken the beating i give them. Maybe his was a bad part ??? Either way he needs to find some parts and drive into the middle of the fields and work in a big muddy puddle to repair it.:doh: He's still got to get out the hole.

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You suspect he drove a bit gung ho into a large hole ! ..does he blame britpart for that ??