Is Britpart Really That Bad

[lo-fi]

I'm quite lucky in that respect; my two local places - Safari Engineering and Keith Gott - seem (touch wood) to have avoided that particular trap thus far. At least for stuff that matters. The guy at Safari, when I asked "what brand is it? I hope not Britpart..." replied "Don't swear!!", and I've never been handed a blue bag. Long may it continue!

[mickeyw]

I find that the problem with Britpart is not poor quality, but variable quality. Some things of theirs that I have had have been good quality and good value, but on the other hand I have had Britpart things that were just rubbish, quite unfit for the job. The problem I find is knowing in to which category the item I want falls before I buy it.

They are generally not manufactures, just wholesellers, so I suppose they are to some extent dependent on their suppliers, which if they are in the Far East may be a problem of consistency. .

This is exactly the problem -unpredictable quality.

I wouldn't call myself a fan but I have had a few successful purchases from BP. Waterproof seat covers, a cubby box to mention a couple.

You'll note these are both non critical functioning items, which is a shame, because those are what moat of us would like to be able to have confidence in.

I bought a set of BP wheel bearings via Paddocks years ago, and when I opened the pack the bearings were full of swarf!!!

Even after I thoroughly cleaned them out and lubricated them they felt horrible. I dread to think what eastern hell hole they were sourced from. Anyway they were sent back to Paddocks for a refund after several emails showing the swarf. I declined a replacement of course.

[pat_pending]

Britpart are wholesalers, some of the parts supplied in a Britpart box are just as likely to end up in other manufacturers branded packaging.

I've had some utter s***t from all of them.

[Ozzy50]

Like everything you spend your money on ,don't buy cheap carp ,support your local parts retailer,your local shop ,your local garage ,your local farmer (!). The quality of everything is going down the pan because we are only too happy to buy cheap ,things might change when we leave the EU ? Of course it's finding that balance between paying for quality and getting value for money and not getting ripped off which works both ways ,cheap carp costs in the long run but overpriced parts are just that.

[honitonhobbit]

Bearmach seem to be catching up on Britpart - so far this March:

T box output flange faulty casting

Diff input seals faulty

Wheel bearings not Timken although in Timken box...

[landroversforever]

Bearmach seem to be catching up on Britpart - so far this March:

T box output flange faulty casting

Diff input seals faulty

Wheel bearings not Timken although in Timken box...

Not good, Bearmach was one of my trusted ones

[Snagger]

Wheel bearings not Timken although in Timken box...

That's fraud. I'd definitely get Trading Standards in on that one.

[Sheffield]

All these firms are wholesalers, as has been said. They buy items in bulk from a variety of makers. Some will be reputable companies who may have made the parts concerned for the original car maker, and some will be companies in the Far East making the parts to a specification they have been given. That specification may be reduced from the original to lower costs, and also firms in the Far East are well known for gradually and secretly reducing quality during a production run. Unfortunately the wholesaler can not open and inspect all of the items he receives, and it is left to the end user to find out whether the item is any good or not. It is all part of the disadvantage of ceasing manufacture in Europe and sending it to the Far East.

Because of the size of the Land Rover spares market it seems particularly troubled by poor quality and dishonesty. I looked recently at some parts on the internet. Britpart £12, Land Rover in a Land Rover box £54. Not difficult to see why Britpart still sells despite the reputation.

[Ozzy50]

The problem there is not that Britpart are cheap but more that Land Rover are a rip off ,yes the Land Rover part will be of a higher quality without a doubt but over 4x the price of the Britpart item .Unfortunately with the way Britpart appear to have gone ie down the pan I for one don't use them now .

[CwazyWabbit]

From what I can recall of owning non Land Rovers genuine Land Rover parts prices are not expensive in comparison to some of the other vehicle manufacturers.

[Bowie69]

Indeed, and similar things happen with my Audi and the moggy, bad aftermarket parts are not in any way exclusive to land rover.

[dailysleaze]

All these firms are wholesalers, as has been said. They buy items in bulk from a variety of makers. Some will be reputable companies who may have made the parts concerned for the original car maker, and some will be companies in the Far East making the parts to a specification they have been given. That specification may be reduced from the original to lower costs, and also firms in the Far East are well known for gradually and secretly reducing quality during a production run. Unfortunately the wholesaler can not open and inspect all of the items he receives, and it is left to the end user to find out whether the item is any good or not. It is all part of the disadvantage of ceasing manufacture in Europe and sending it to the Far East.

Because of the size of the Land Rover spares market it seems particularly troubled by poor quality and dishonesty. I looked recently at some parts on the internet. Britpart £12, Land Rover in a Land Rover box £54. Not difficult to see why Britpart still sells despite the reputation.

The lower costs are also in part because checking the suitability and quality of an aftermarket part is the buyer's responsibility. Therefore we get a lower cost because we take on the risk that the supplier doesn't need to bear. LR does have to check all parts are good enough as a vehicle manufacturer, so they have to foot the bill and therefore things cost more.

This is why some Britpart parts may be okay and some are awful, because the risk may go in our favour and sometimes it doesn't.

[Daan]

would be good if we can compile a list of which Britpart parts are worth having and which are not. I don't use britpart by default, although I had some headlight surrounds turning up that are britpart. I suppose they can fall off without causing injury.

[honitonhobbit]

Fraudulent bearings and J's are a fact of life - too many to deal with for Trading Standards

The way I work it is this:

If a part from a supplier works then I will use it, if it doesn't I won't use it again. Britpart do some good stuff, so do Bearmach, So do All-makes, So do Unipart, So do AC Delco... All of them use reputable manufactures stuff - like GKN and Land Rover use all of them for their own Genuine Parts

[CwazyWabbit]

would be good if we can compile a list of which Britpart parts are worth having and which are not. I don't use britpart by default, although I had some headlight surrounds turning up that are britpart. I suppose they can fall off without causing injury.

It is difficult as there is no telling when they may change suppliers.

However as a start

Britpart CV bought and fitted 4 years ago and still going strong, some green laning and a few off road courses on a 110 running 235/85 AT's

Britpart waterproof seat covers MickeyW thinks they are excellent.

Britpart T-Piece for brake line rear axle, have seen two of them and the thread was off centre leaving no thread on one side of hole.

I will try to get the actual part numbers when I get in front of the right computer.

[landroversforever]

I'd heard good things about britpart CVs.... But I'm sure there was a post recently on here about a naff britpart one?

[CwazyWabbit]

Hence my caveat about not knowing when they change suppliers.

[Nigelw]

From what I can recall of owning non Land Rovers genuine Land Rover parts prices are not expensive in comparison to some of the other vehicle manufacturers.

True, you should go shopping for Audi genuine parts!

The trouble is that everyone is on a budget, that often means tight! Tight budget means cheap parts, cheap parts mean problems further on, and it's often the cheapskate owners who whine about the cheap parts they bought.

Having said that, sometimes, you just cannot justify the cost of genuine parts.

[CwazyWabbit]

Sometimes it makes no difference buying the cheaper item, I recall the crank sensor for my old Seat Alhambra was made by Siemens and you could buy it for something like £100 as an aftermarket, £150 as a Ford part or £200 as a Seat part ..... I've probably got those numbers slightly wrong as it was a long time ago but it was that sort of magnitude and of course it was exactly the same Siemens part.

[Nigelw]

Oh yes, for sure as home mechanics we need to smart up about cross referencing parts from across all makes/models, remembering who owned JLR at which ever point as an idea of where to hunt cheapest branded electronic items, not just pot luck with intermotor chicarp.

Oil seals and bearings are also famously cheap and nasty, use a bearing factor to help in cross referencing bearing to get highest quality and the same with seals, finding the correct part numbers helps them get you the right parts at best quality/price comparison.

[honitonhobbit]

I use a bearing factor - quite entertaining. That way I can play 'spot the copy' with Timken

[CwazyWabbit]

Often the Timken copies have much better markings than the genuine .....

[honitonhobbit]

Amazing quality of packaging as well

[ejparrott]

It's all very well making a list of parts but if you don't list the quality type as well it means nothing. Britpart stock cheapo naff but they also stock OEM parts with a 'G' suffix to part numbers. If that fact isn't included in a list, the information is worthless

[honitonhobbit]

Just fitted a Britpart G suffix UJ - it wasn't bad at all - only 30p cheaper than GKN though