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Is Britpart Really That Bad


mcc1979ian

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I was being kind allowing them the 50% margin for OK stuff. Quite genuinely that has been my experience and I know that one swallow doesn't make a summer but my comments and remarks are based upon a reasonable 'sample' of products so I'm confident that my experience is fairly average.

Apart from all the harmless 'tat' that they sell, there is the issue of the series steering relays with shafts turned up from (probably) mild steel rather that a proper spec like EN24T. This is criminally reckless activity in my view and I have no wish to support a company that's prepared to risk the necks of its customers in such a way.

I think we've done this one to death now ;-(

Julian.

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I think Britparts exist due to enough people coming into the Landrover scene thinking they're getting a bargain without realising that they run about a 50% risk of buying rubbish thus learning the hard way

I think Julian is probably very accurate with this suspicion.........

5years ago on buying my Piggy I saw and purchased a lovely box of shiney yellow britpart bushes to refit the whole vehicle....... They are still in perfect condition, Why?

Because I realised my mistake once I had acquired some knowledge and experience so they are still on the top shelf gathering dust!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've used them for wiper blades & headlamps (both from LR Series) in the past year or so - both absolutely fine. As many have said above, wouldn't touch them for seals, bearings or anything safety critical. LR Series business model of making it clear what choices you have is great.

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Actually, the quote is "If it turns, seals or is safety critical - use Genuine" - but the above is close.

I think we (collectively) are much of the problem. We accept poor quality parts without complaining often enough and prefer to buy cheap versions even though common sense would say, for the price they must be made from chewing gum.

Britpart and similar cater for a sector of the market and provide the balance of cost v quality that the customers are prepared to tolerate. I suspect that if everybody complained more, the quality and in particular, quality control would get better.

Dissing Britpart is a bit like 'shooting the messanger'. You've asked for a low end part (by inference from the low cost) and you have received one!

Many of their products are actually very good - you just have to pick & choose. That's where the above quote helps me decide!

Si

This does fall down a bit for those of us who're not in the UK where shipping something back would cost more than the part itself; having a vendor on the other end who knows which ones are quality and which ones should be avoided is critical for us.

Getting the wrong parts shipped (up to and including complete doors) is a common issue with most vendors.

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Well it has been just about done to death now, but I would urge anyone who who has experienced serious or potentially life threatening failures (e.g. brakes, steering etc) to contact their local trading Standards Offi

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Yes!

Had trouble getting the fuel gauge to register below a quarter of a tank (thats correct my 200TDi doesnt do 150 MPG as I found out when it ran out of fuel).

On closer inspection with the old tank I discovered the baffle inside the tank is welded approx 1 1/2 to 2 inches further back hence not allowing the fuel sender to drop all the way.

The amount of embaressing abuse I now get for my "super efficient 200TDi" is really great! :rolleyes:

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  • 6 months later...

I have bought a radiator through Ebay that doesn't list the brand but I have been told it looks like a britpart radiator. I wasn't aware of britpart being this bad before, But I have double covered my backside on all my on line parts purchases. I pay by credit card through paypal. The reason for this is, if the part I bought is defective and the seller doesn't respond, I then use paypal, if they fail to cough up, then I go straight to my credit card company who have in the past refunded my money very quickly.

I hope that my parts will be ok. If the Britpart parts fail then I will move on to a slightly more expensive brand, but for now, someone like me needs to pay out for lots of parts as soon as possible with very little money to pay for it all.

I hope that britpart aren't as bad as people make them out to be. I would like to hear from people who have not had any problems with them.

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CJ1, I think you're making a bad mistake! instead of using Britpart for your parts to sort the new to you Disco out and having to replace them again in a short space of time, would It not be better to wait and replace them with good Quality parts-hopefully genuine ones! that'll last you much much longer than a quick fix? and your track record of spending money on the green oval as It stands Is'nt good when It comes to making decisions on whats good and whats bad as we've discussed on here when people have tried to help you by giving you advice and your stubborn streak shines through!, Yes we've all made mistakes regarding buying the cheaper/faulty parts in the past but most If not all of us have learnt the hard way about throwing good money after bad when dealing with Britpart Etc. Please for the sanity of the forum listen to decent advice and buy parts that are something resembling decent quality and not something that Is renowned to be rubbish in the first place,

Yes I am giving you advice-you may not like it but I think that after your other threads on here that even after Honiton Hobbit gave you some advice-or tried to! that you need to wake up and smell the coffee regarding the choices you've made for your vehicles-Land rover or other wise

I am being blunt now, I make no apologies for doing so as It has been painful to read about your Freelander situation, and your now new to you Discovery could end up the same way too-lets hope it won't !!!

John

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I think, with this radiator, i would not jump to the conclusion that it is definately a Britpart part. As far as i can tell from CJ1s disco thread, he hasnt contacted the seller to check this. Until then, who knows what make this radiator is.

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Land Rovers have a fairly bad reputation for reliability. I wonder if this could in part be responsible?

Since I discovered that a £1.80 Universal joint was NOT the same as a £32 genuine one, my vehicles have been almost faultless save for 'red mist' (too much right foot) incidents ;)

The patterned part sellers have a place in the market - for masochists who like fixing the same fault again & again!

Si

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In all honesty (and I'll get flamed for saying this) some britpart parts are actually ok (There! Said it!).

HOWEVER do you want your vehicle to be the test bed to find out which ones are ok? Especially when you are paying someone else to fit these parts and failure of one cheap part can cause the failure of expensive parts eg radiator failure can end up with a new head being needed.

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Today I went to pick up a part NRC4251, this a brass t-piece for the brake pipes and sits on top of the rear axle. I had the opportunity to compare the BritPart and the Genuine item.

Now this is just a machined lump of cast brass so there shouldn't be too much that could go wrong I thought.

Had a look at the threads and sealing faces, the thread in one of the holes is off centre so on one side of one hole there was little thread at all. The sealing faces looked ok so it is probably ok but I didn't fancy that on my 110. I then looked at a second sample and it was exactly the same.

I bought the genuine one which cost 3 times the price.

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Thats the beauty of being able to go and look at the bits. Unfortunatly I don't have a local dealer, so I always take my chances.....

....on needing a mortgage, and buy the genuine...

Might pop over APB next time I'm over the mother-in-laws....we're over there frequently, and they're local to her...

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Thats the beauty of being able to go and look at the bits. Unfortunatly I don't have a local dealer, so I always take my chances.....

....on needing a mortgage, and buy the genuine...

Might pop over APB next time I'm over the mother-in-laws....we're over there frequently, and they're local to her...

AMD Arent that far away mate and its a nice drive.

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I did contact the seller or should say member of the sales team and got a different story. I was told it is made by allmakes. But thanks to the really bad experience with my last Freelander I am constantly checking the levels under the bonnet.

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In all honesty (and I'll get flamed for saying this) some britpart parts are actually ok (There! Said it!).

HOWEVER do you want your vehicle to be the test bed to find out which ones are ok?

already am, Have been in correspondence with BP and I am currently working out a deal with them to supply parts for my Disco 1 refurb.

Watch this space to see where it leads.

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A good example of britpart quality I found recently was the dash to bulkhead heater seal, Mtc6871, I actually bought two of these one britpart one genuine. It was a mistake that I'd bought both and fitted the britpart one, without noticing the genuine one later one. I had a hellish job screwing the lower dash on, anyway the way the way the britpart one is supplied leaves you with the centre piece left over so I got to compare the foam to the genuine one. The genuine one was easy to compress compared to the britpart one.

Another example is the wing mirror arms I've just fitted, here's the play in those..

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f257/little_landy/2FE0D718-FC05-4CAB-A03B-E8448391FD4C-9448-00000D2C4E8630D3.mp4

It probably doesn't matter too much but my old ones aren't like that

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Just to add my tuppence - Britpart bushes I got a few years back were rubbish. But the Britpart "HD" radiator I recently got (the metal job, not the placcy one) has been great, dropped straight in, fitted properly, well made.

So I've just been trying to assemble a parts list of ones that seem to be ok, and ones that don't, based on others feedback. If they are on my ok list, I buy them, if not, I go genuine.

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Twig - To help with your list.... BP 300tdi water pump.... a steaming (almost literally) pile of excrement. 14 months old and the bearing had already worn out.

My issue with BP is that they may well make some good parts, but I don't expect to have to take part in a lucky dip, when it comes to whether a part is up to task, or not.

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