computer says NO

[Green200tdi]

so the 110 is in sick bay at present awaiting two belts  power steering and alternator i find it amazing im unable to get these two belts just because i don't have a registration number,

do people remember going to there local car shop on the hi street and he knew without a computer what part you needed for your car?

[ballcock]

32 minutes ago, Green200tdi said:

so the 110 is in sick bay at present awaiting two belts  power steering and alternator i find it amazing im unable to get these two belts just because i don't have a registration number,

do people remember going to there local car shop on the hi street and he knew without a computer what part you needed for your car?

This is why I try to get a part number first.

[smallfry]

For many years I worked in Parts Departments, and this I one of MANY things that annoy me nowadays.

No one seems to have much product knowledge. Most of them will not even look without the registration number, and even then, you STILL get the wrong items 

[Green200tdi]

Problem with me is the engine in my 110 is out of a discovery 1 200 tdi the vehicle don’t exist anymore nor does the registration so you need another way how to identify for parts 

[miketomcat]

I use registrations from 3 different cars for the ibex. A discovery reg for the engine, A 110 reg for rear axle and a 90 reg for some other bits. Your best bet is to find a mate with a disco of the right year/type and use their reg.

Mike

[dailysleaze]

I stopped buying parts over the counter after I realised I could read the diagrams better than they could. I only buy online now.

[Farmerfred]

Why do you need the vehicle registration for parts identification in this instance?, it doesn't make sense, surely, all you need to do and all the parts department need to know is that you want belts for a 200TDi engine. Simple.

[miketomcat]

31 minutes ago, Farmerfred said:

Why do you need the vehicle registration for parts identification in this instance?, it doesn't make sense, surely, all you need to do and all the parts department need to know is that you want belts for a 200TDi engine. Simple.

Because parts shops are staffed by spotty 16 year olds who barely know what a car is. 

Mike

[Anderzander]

Gone are the days of an old boy in a brown smock saying ‘that was a common part to the p4 Rover - I’ll get you one.’

[FridgeFreezer]

I must be lucky then - my local GSF are very helpful, happy to be told "no registration, it's a bitsa"... might be because the girl at the counter really likes the ambulance though

[miketomcat]

If you really want some fun to...

"What's the reg mate?"

Answer with: Q#*# #*#

Mike

[Arjan]

Try having imported vehicles.......

They spent up to 10 min banging on the keyboard, calling around and still not understand why it doesn't come up...

Not to mention Hybrids....

 

[Peaklander]

The guys on the counter at Paddocks are good. Following in the footsteps of Rob? who knew every part without looking.

They have a good exploded diagram parts database to help. Don’t know if that’s what’s called microcat but they are quick to identify. 

[Farmerfred]

My local LR parts and equipment shop are very good and supply what you want when you want it at a very competitive price, only occasional problem is some of the Britpart parts are below standard and soon fail, my brother had 3 rear hub units for his Discovery before he had one that didn't leak. The staff are very knowledgeable, very friendly and helpful.

[Ally V8]

14 hours ago, miketomcat said:

Because parts shops are staffed by spotty 16 year olds who barely know what a car is. 

Mike

The public gets what the public wants... Pay some decent money and you would get a very good parts person. Because everything is boned to death on price,you don't get well paid in a parts department. My 18 year old daughter works in Screwfix as a fill in job. She is smart and learns very quickly,but is constantly frustrated by customers expecting her to know everything about everything they sell. I can't remember how many thousands of product lines they have ,but its massive.

Give the youths some encouragement,do some research on what parts you need for your Landrover,its not hard to find part numbers on the net.

[FridgeFreezer]

56 minutes ago, Ally V8 said:

The public gets what the public wants...

Also it's waaay cheaper and faster for 99.9% of the population to do it by registration on a computer. My daily is a standard car and it's pretty convenient to be able to walk into the motor factors, give one piece of information (reg number) and then rattle off a list of bits and have all the right bits arrive at the counter with no faffing about. For garages ordering loads of parts all day long I'd imagine it saves a ton of time.

By contrast, yes it's good that skilled parts guys like the chaps at Gotts have memorised the entire LR catalogue dating back to 1948 and can tell you the right part for a bitsa based on nothing more than the smell of the grease on your overalls... but it means a visit to the parts counter is half an hour of looking up and cross-referencing rather than 5 minutes in and out.

It's also the reason I tried to make my bitsas as standard as possible - it may have the engine from a P38 in it but every part on the engine is standard to that P38 or the original vehicle if at all possible, so I can avoid the tedium of "well the engine's from a '99 but the alternator is a RoW spec LHD 2002 and the bottom radiator hose is from a 1974 Triumph..."

[Ex Member]

Try living in a country where Defenders were never sold.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Red90

[Ally V8]

7 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Also it's waaay cheaper and faster for 99.9% of the population to do it by registration on a computer. My daily is a standard car and it's pretty convenient to be able to walk into the motor factors, give one piece of information (reg number) and then rattle off a list of bits and have all the right bits arrive at the counter with no faffing about. For garages ordering loads of parts all day long I'd imagine it saves a ton of time.

By contrast, yes it's good that skilled parts guys like the chaps at Gotts have memorised the entire LR catalogue dating back to 1948 and can tell you the right part for a bitsa based on nothing more than the smell of the grease on your overalls... but it means a visit to the parts counter is half an hour of looking up and cross-referencing rather than 5 minutes in and out.

It's also the reason I tried to make my bitsas as standard as possible - it may have the engine from a P38 in it but every part on the engine is standard to that P38 or the original vehicle if at all possible, so I can avoid the tedium of "well the engine's from a '99 but the alternator is a RoW spec LHD 2002 and the bottom radiator hose is from a 1974 Triumph..."

Absolutely, the local factor I use has the DVLA access system.  Melksham motor spares,  they are brilliant some of them even say hello Jon before I even speak as they recognise my workshop phone number. I just give them a rego and say "oil,air, fuel and pollen" quick chat about the state of the motor trade and say cheerio. They are rarely wrong and will send out choices of parts if there is no way of telling what is fitted or if I don't yet have the vehicle in. Not the cheapest, but truly excellent service.

[landroversforever]

On the other hand.... my local Euro Car Parts can't even get it right on the Reg number for a standard car  

[Ally V8]

ECP couldn't organise a drinks party in a brewery. Even if they supply the correct parts the quality is likely to be poor. This is not my opinion,  it's what all my mates in the trade say, I've never bought anything off them.

[reb78]

I'm curious - what are the opinions on ECP oils, particularly their own Triple QX brand stuff? They are the most convenient motor factor to me when i need oils in a rush and they have good deals a lot of the time if you ask. Is it a false economy.

I buy all of my parts online from LRDirect or Britcar, but never think to do this with oils.

[Bowie69]

I use them on 20l big tubs, and never found a problem -my audi coupe is now on 215,000 on original engine.

If they meet the standard, they meet the standard.

Also, if you buy the 20l, more than once they have give me a huge discount because they assume I am a trader, or close to one. The last 20l tub of 10w40 semi synth was £27! I also buy the filters 4 at a time, which helps.

[reb78]

Yep, same here re the amounts I buy. The 200tdi is doing 2k a month so gets serviced every 3 months at the moment. Its up on 250k ish (not entirely sure how many miles that engine has done) now so want to keep it ticking over nicely!

Edited March 19, 2019 by reb78

[FridgeFreezer]

As Bowie says, if it meets the spec it meets the spec - but I use Smith & Allen for all my oils mail-order.

[reb78]

23 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

As Bowie says, if it meets the spec it meets the spec - but I use Smith & Allen for all my oils mail-order.

I would get more from them if i was more organised, but I always seem to forget and have to get oil at last minute. I ought to get into the habit of ordering when I order filters etc, but I often tag these on to other orders to make up the amounts to get free postage.

Smith and Allen confuse me a little as their ebay shop is cheaper than their website, but their website is easier to search.