Car Parts

[AVI_8]

Where are you guys in the trade buying your car parts?
I‘ve long since given up on Euro cheap Chinese crap Car Parts, tried Autodicks for the first time this week as they seem to be first inline on the search engine.
Ordered a harmonic balancer for a BMW 2.0 D, now I can understand how a human being could accidentally pick the wrong pulley …… But really a plastic expansion bottle for a vehicle of unknown origin, as soon as I picked up the box I knew they’d fecked up, so now I have to go through the process of sending it back, with no chance of them sending the correct part until they’ve received the return, and to top it all I have a feeling they’re not even here in the UK which is just Dandy as I have a car off the road now as I’d stripped it in order to fit this expansion bottle onto the crank pulley this weekend!
I asked my mate who has a garage business, he uses Dingbro, I’ve had a look and their website is not very intuitive, I’m starting to think that dropping my trousers and going to the main stealers is the way to go these days.

 

[Bornfree]

Motor parts direct. They offer the choice of cheapest or best quality on most part's.

 

[Migmac]

My sons use Dingbro, they phone up to place an order. Most stuff is here the next day

 

[bricol]

Find local factors.

Use.

Get right parts, at reasonable cost. Mine even got me a set of rear brake pads for an Alfa 159 3,2 Q4 within an hour on a Friday afternoon when I discovered I needed them for the MOT first thing Saturday.

 

[mr haynes]

I would say euro is ok if you purchase a proper brand, quality more likely to be ok.
The german docs are johnny foreigner,sometimes ok sometimes not.
Stealerships tend to live up to their name.
Helfrauds can sometimes be handy assuming you have a tradecard.
Dingbro are ok. My dealings have been more on the refinishing side though. Forget website and phone.
Arnold Clark only other name i can think of to try

All assuming we are talking trade use.
Otherwise it is independant specialists, flebay, sometimes you get a pleasant surprise on amazon

 

[LewisT]

Never had a problem with eurocarparts( i use carparts4less same company but cheaper ) they do a selection of parts i just dont buy the chinesium options.

 

[zzr1200]

Euro car parts is my local go to factor, although a couple of weeks ago, I was asked for the reg no when I asked for the price of 20 ltrs of pink (champagne) engine coolant... ...

There's a GSF fairly close, but the other day I ordered an engine temperature sender for a 2004 Ford Fiesta 1.4 using the Reg No on their site, got home tried to fit it, they supplied the wrong sensor. A slide n clip style as apposed the thread one fitted to the engine....

What happened to the auto parts store man who knew how to look up the right parts....

 

[reb78]

What happened to the auto parts store man who knew how to look up the right parts....

sold up, retired, died... as the big brands selling chinese junk moved in. Now they are gone and its too late!

 

[premmington]

I use Europooh and have a big monthly spend.

AutoDoc - I see as the devil...

I try to spend with local motorfactors as much as I can - but range is poor.

Dealerships and TPS are another big spend here every month.

Plus to be honest I buy a lot of parts ex eBay for aging customers cars.

 

[steveo3002]

I use Autodoc because it has far more variety than the UK based ones. I like to know exactly what I'm getting. None of this "cheap brand expensive brand" options you get on other sites. Takes a 3-5 days to arrive but my customers aren't ever in much of a hurry (I work on individual parts, not cars)

ive been using them alot latley , they have loads of brands to choose from , show all the part numbers so you can see if ebay has it cheaper , and they show all the specs and sizes unlike epc

 

[Trevorleach]

Euro carparts are the pits.
Halfords get their car parts from euros.

If you need the part now, really it is your local factors, that way you get to see it is the right part before taking it, and it is easy to return if you have an issue.

 

[premmington]

ive been using them alot latley , they have loads of brands to choose from , show all the part numbers so you can see if ebay has it cheaper , and they show all the specs and sizes unlike epc

As a repair workshop - AutoDoc does not work for me - delivery from Germany is not "next day" - plus mistakes on parts delivered is huge and returns/credits - is just not viable for a paying retail customer.

 

[AVI_8]

Thanks for all of your replies folks, think I’ll give Dingbro a try, I used to buy branded quality parts from eBay, very wary of that now as I’ve had fake Meyle suspension arms, bought a front wheel hub bearing carrier from ECP last year, the only option they stocked, bearing is noisy again after 8000 miles, tried a local factors, wasn’t impressed with the non branded parts they stocked, Autodoc sounded great with lots of choices, just how I can order a Febi crank pulley and have a plastic water tank delivered is just not on they won’t get a second chance from me anyway and now the hassle of sending it back and trying to claim a refund.
Theres just so much ***** quality parts out there nowadays, the well known brands that I trust just doesn’t seem to be a available locally.

 

[Ruffian]

Euro have gotten expensive in comparison to others

Use the local factors,
Got mpd, partservice and Dorset auto near by and can get most stuff same/next day for sensible money.

But if I can I use tps also for vag range as isn't silly prices (especially with their economy range) but is trade only.

 

[m_c]

Dingbro are trade only.
Whether they sell to joe bloggs, depends entirely on who you get.

ECP tried to buy out Dingbro a few years ago, and when the owners refused to sell, they told them they wouldn't exist this time next year, as they would price them out the market.
ECP did make a concerted effort to undercut Dingbro, but most garages went back to Dingbro when they realised the parts were rubbish.

 

[Robotstar5]

The big one in the Midlands is Car Spares Distribution I see there vans all over the place.

 

[reb78]

For land rover stuff there are a few good sellers who offer an honest range of parts at different prices. I struggle more with brands I am less familiar with.

 

[Mick Annick]

What happened to Camberley Auto Factors? @8ob ?

 

[bert]

Gsf as they seem to hold a decent stock of parts for classic vw's used euro a few times and surprisingly Amazon

 

[dobbslc]

Roughtrax for Toyota 4x4 parts, not particularly cheap but they've been ok for me mostly over the last 11 year and are almost always 48 hours delivery.
I say mostly as they sold me a pair of front ARB drop links and less than 8 months later the rubber was very perished. I sent an email with photos and the sent a new pair of the same saying they've had no other reports of this
I haven't fitted them yet