Just a quick question as to where folk get there parts? more service/replacement bits than body etc.
I avoid britpart. But are bearmach decent? need to get a drop arm joint and track rod ends. But trying to source non ****part!

I personally don't have any problem with Britpart stuff, I have been using their stuff on & off for many years now and I have never had a bit fail prematurely or wear out any quicker than the original part. Personally I think most of the hype is just that, ill informed gossip & rumour.
You say you are avoiding them so obviously you have suffered many failures of their components, did you send the parts back and demand reimbursment for constantly sending out poor quality parts????

Bearmach is a good make, as is Allmakes. Depending on what you are buying you will quite often find that they are made by the OE manufacturer anyway.

The days of buying un-branded items in brown boxes with just a part-number on them are thankfully behind us now, now they WERE the parts to steer clear of as they were sourced from the cheapest Far-Eastern suppliers that could be found, you sometimes see these items at the shows or on Ebay but most suppliers only sell branded stuff now.

youve only got a choice of britpart ,bearmach or allmakes as thats were all lr suppliers get there parts from ,all of the above do oem and genuine too ,most of the pattern parts tend to be dubious now ,if you ask for oem or genuine and dont take cheapest first offer ,the problem is that when trying to sell parts your trying to get interest by been cheap and thats britpart pattern parts they dont tell you for a bit more britpart and the others do oem or genuine,i know britpart and bearmach do 4 x different makes of tdi oil filter genuine included ,when i order my parts from them i order the right makes but i get mine direct as i have accounts with them,unfortunately they dont sell direct to public,famous four are pretty good in that they dont like to sell just the cheapest