- Thread starter dobbslc
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My experience too. And sometimes the bits that arrive just don't quite seem right. I.e. I had some D3 arms that just looked a bit thrown together although they had lemforder marks in places. They arrived almost falling out of their box as well thinking about it.I struggle with AutoDoc
Returns - wrong bits - delays.
Does not suit a repairing garage to get parts for customers cars.
But I have got stuff from them - I just can't get from anywhere else at times
But then the package arrives - opening it - can be like all your bad Xmas presents rolled into one...
I struggle with AutoDoc
Returns - wrong bits - delays.
Does not suit a repairing garage to get parts for customers cars.
But I have got stuff from them - I just can't get from anywhere else at times
But then the package arrives - opening it - can be like all your bad Xmas presents rolled into one...
The lead times definitely aren't suitable for a repairing garage doing customer cars- their warehouses are in Germany.
It's also not helpful if you have developed a big fault and need to repair the car ASAP- then you're paying a premium for what's on the shelf/can be here tomorrow, obviously.
However, maintaining my own vehicles they come in handy, purely as the prices are good for better branded components. For example, I fit a set of bilstein b4s all round to my car for £160ish- that's about what no namer ones would cost from a local factors. Likewise, instead of fitting medicore braking parts that often have badly fitting pads etc for more money, I get good ones like the premium brembo range with the coated discs that stay nice for ages for way less at autodoc.
I'm usually fixing things that are starting to wear out before they come an urgent issue, or to make it drive well again.
Here are some good tips to dealing with autodoc from my experience:
Never, ever just put in your make and model and just buy parts. The app/site WILL list a range of parts and not all will fit ie. for brakes it will list various disc & pad sizes. They'll broadly be parts for your make and model, but it WILL NOT list only the specific variants fitted to your vehicle as built from the factory.
That is the main thing that catches people out.
What you should do instead is use the chat function in the app/on the site/email their "info@autodoc" email, and tell them the VIN and request a compatibility check- either ask for what parts they recommend (they'll usually try to recommend their own RIDEX brand), or ask what parts they recommend from XYZ brand, or send them links to the parts you think are correct and want to buy and ask if they are compatible. If they aren't, they'll suggest alternatives ie. if you want Brembo pads, they'll suggest the correct brembo pad instead of the one you sent. They normally get back to you within 10min or so with an email.
If you have done a VIN compatibility check, and the parts end up being wrong (which has only happened to me once in many years, due to the car being right on the changeover), they will want photos to confirm bad fitment but then immediately refunded me with no expectation that I send it back as I had attempted fitting, which is very fair.
Finally, and this is a very handy one: Their prices fluctuate throughout the week. I don't know why, maybe it's a trade vs. weekend DIYer thing when they can offer quick delivery in Germany?
Anyway, they are almost always lowest at the start of the week on a Monday, and climb day by day and peak at the weekend.
The differences can be very significant, I've had £300 baskets become £200.
If you do not need parts urgently, because you're planning a big suspension refresh or know you need to do all the brakes soon or something, or want to fix the advisory list in the coming few weeks, then you can make big savings by doing all of the above. You have plenty of time to do a compatibility check to ensure the parts are right, because it's absolutely worth waiting with everything in your basket until the next Monday to order when it's much cheaper.
Oh, and postage is sooooo slow. I know the bits are coming from Germany but if the status online is to be believed, dispatch seems to make 3 days plus for in stock parts, the actual time in shipping (with the courier) isn't unreasonable although they do use Evri so things are variable bad when they get to the UK.
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I had similar when looking for Lucas dynamo parts, company had a uk contact address and a dot co dot uk website, once I'd placed the order and paid I get a confirmation email my parts will be dispatched from their warehouse in Germany. They took a while to arrive and one of the parts was wrong so I had to wait again for the right parts to be sent.Auto doc masquerade as online car parts dot co dot uk as dimwit here found out
I have found that ECP deliver to me in Spain, so I guess they have a warehouse in Europe somewhere. No import taxes anyway. But they also have some different marketing over here so you can go to a site thinking it’s different but it’s actually identical except the branding logos.
But I’m also finding local parts shops like we used to have in the UK. Anything called “Recambios Autos” seems to be like that although some are agricultural places. Everyone here seems to have a tractor so that’s understandable. They’re not cheap though. But they do insist on the “Ficha Technica” which is like a log book come built sheet so the parts always fit.
But I’m also finding local parts shops like we used to have in the UK. Anything called “Recambios Autos” seems to be like that although some are agricultural places. Everyone here seems to have a tractor so that’s understandable. They’re not cheap though. But they do insist on the “Ficha Technica” which is like a log book come built sheet so the parts always fit.
Ubique
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Odd, my impression from the 'other side' was that it is a relatively straightforward process, certainly at Merc. we had one or two jobs a month where an independent had fitted parts that were the subject of a warranty claim (2 years on parts), we confirmed the defect & replaced along with any displaced or consequentially damaged parts, - same scenario at VW, I think LR *at the time* just did a parts exchange, that was a good few years ago though.Dealership parts warranty for Indies depends on who you are dealing with (and how big your spend is). That is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth... Just plain business. If you are a big spender they will play as they don't wanna loose your custom - if you only have a few odd parts a year - you wasting your time to be honest.
"Back to base" dealer warranty claims - can be nasty... Sometimes it is cheaper just to re order the part(s) in question - re fit it - suck up the cost and service your customers needs.
Get your customers car moving and on the road again - then when the dealership monthly bill lands - start the begging - give them a dose of "I treated my customer better than I being treated as a customer of yours" - best you can hope for normally is a "contribution" - sometimes they will pay this out in drums of oil - I kid you not...
Indies don't get treated much better than retail customers when it comes to dealership supplied parts warranty to be honest... It is a poor state of affairs - but it is how it is...
Some marks - offer "warranty approved fitting centres out of the network" - but the cost and hurdles to jump thru is unreal - not practical - unless you got a private fleet of 500 of the same vans and your own workshop.
Where I am at the moment, we've had a few bits & pieces from TPS that have failed, the customer sometimes will pay for a replacement as the delay in getting a slot at the dealer booked is too long if it's a 'trade job', before my time but they've also successfully had an engine replaced by Ford after a wet belt failure, apparently took some time to get resolved and they had to show invoices for everything, even oil & filter.
premmington
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TPS is the worst of all to deal with - we do allot of Seat cars here - nearest Seat dealership from our workshop is 65miles - taking or sending a customers car for a "back to base" warranty claim - is just not workable - (transport costs - loan car) - if it is a low value part under £500quid ish - you might as well just re order and resolve your punters problem - ASAP...
There is a certain - etiquette here - if you do treat your customers well and in a decent manner - they will come back.
Also your parts suppliers can see - you bought the same part again and "treated your customers well" - they always/mostly - do try and help out with the costs...
While you paying your bill for parts on time - behaving to a decent business standard - it does you no harm. Gets you somewhere...!
At a previous employer, i can remember two jobs that ended up at dealers for warranty jobs.
Both coincedently new gearboxes.
One was a Sprinter auto that lost drive after a few thousand miles, and the dealer tried to blame it on us using the wrong ATF. Bosses response was "You better have a word with your parts then, as they supply the oil".
Other was a Transit gearbox, which the customer had stipulated that they wanted a genuine exchange box, and not repaired at our usual specialist. I can't remember what went wrong with it, but the dealer tried the same excuse, and guess what was on the gearbox invoice?
In fairness, the Ford parts manager dealt with that, as we were one of their biggest parts buyers at the time.
Customer service is key though. I can understand dealers wanting to ensure everything was done correctly, as they won't get paid if the manufacturer finds something wasn't done correctly, but to try the excuses before even asking what oils were used was bad form.
In contrast, the gearbox specialist did have a couple jobs go wrong, but they wouldn't quibble. They'd either be in the workshop within a day to fix it, you'd have another gearbox within a day, or They'd be there to collect it again as soon as you had it back out.
Both coincedently new gearboxes.
One was a Sprinter auto that lost drive after a few thousand miles, and the dealer tried to blame it on us using the wrong ATF. Bosses response was "You better have a word with your parts then, as they supply the oil".
Other was a Transit gearbox, which the customer had stipulated that they wanted a genuine exchange box, and not repaired at our usual specialist. I can't remember what went wrong with it, but the dealer tried the same excuse, and guess what was on the gearbox invoice?
In fairness, the Ford parts manager dealt with that, as we were one of their biggest parts buyers at the time.
Customer service is key though. I can understand dealers wanting to ensure everything was done correctly, as they won't get paid if the manufacturer finds something wasn't done correctly, but to try the excuses before even asking what oils were used was bad form.
In contrast, the gearbox specialist did have a couple jobs go wrong, but they wouldn't quibble. They'd either be in the workshop within a day to fix it, you'd have another gearbox within a day, or They'd be there to collect it again as soon as you had it back out.
Wedg1e
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Well, I took you at your word and with the aid of a nice 20% discount on Black Friday I got an INA belt/tensioner/waterpump/idler/crank bolt kit for the same price as the Gates kit would normally have been
(and yes, I could have got the Gates for 20% off as well so even cheaper...).Then it got a bit silly and I bought a new aircon condenser for 20% less as well... and then there was the alternator poly-V velt... tensioner... idler... air, oil and fuel filters
So that's my xmas break sorted... just hope the weather holds.
AVI_8
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That’s OE, OEM is sometimes not the same, can be made from a manufacturer who makes parts for the car manufacturer but can be of inferior quality
For example Glyco make engine bearings for a Porsche engine, made in Europe, buy from a dealership and that’s what you’ll get.
However buying Glyco bearings outside the dealership you could get often out of spec bearings made in South Africa, not fit for purpose, have caused many engine problems.
OEM means not a lot, it might be good, and if might not.
OE is original equipment
OEM is the original equipment manufacturer who can make parts independent of the OE supplier network, and often not to the same exacting standards.
Apologies to sound pedantic but it’s good to know the difference
Wedg1e
They call me Mr. Bodge-angles
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Well, I took you at your word and with the aid of a nice 20% discount on Black Friday I got an INA belt/tensioner/waterpump/idler/crank bolt kit for the same price as the Gates kit would normally have been
Then it got a bit silly and I bought a new aircon condenser for 20% less as well... and then there was the alternator poly-V velt... tensioner... idler... air, oil and fuel filters
So that's my xmas break sorted... just hope the weather holds.
I know, bad form to reply to your own posts but as I couldn't edit it, I'll add to it...
As intended, I set about the cambelt/ waterpump job during the xmas break... Boxing Day to be precise
There were a few unknowns, mostly down to how hard it would be to get the crank pulley bolt unscrewed. The last timing belt was fitted by some local garage (not Ford specialists) so who knew what monkeying had been performed. I borrowed a couple of SnapOn and Milwaukee impact wrenches from my son-in-law who spanners for a living (you call this living? he says) and made sure they were fully charged.
After a couple of post-xmas croissants and several coffees (my dad would have prevaricated a bit more with a few Embassy Regal), I got the van up on the ramps so I could get the undertray off and drop the coolant via the lower rad hose. In case the impact wrenches wouldn't shift the crank bolt I'd bought the Ford crank locking tool that jams the flywheel teeth, but I'd need the van on the ramps to get the starter motor off (if I could actually get at it! Given where it is you need hands like a paedophile
). I presumed I'd need the offside front wheel off to get at the pulley but I couldn't take the wheel off with the van on the ramps and if I took the starter off and rolled the van off the ramps so I could remove the wheel, I wouldn't be able to get under it to refit the starter!Never having done this job on a Ford before (last timing belt I did was on a Fiat Stilo about 15 years ago and before that an Esprit in 2005, I prefer my engines with camchains
) I watched a couple of 'Tube vids (it seems to be the modern replacement for reading a Haynes manual) and took the advice of a guy who suggested removing the offside headlamp. And he was right, it gave a lot better access. In the event I took the nearside one out as well... and then the whole front 'bumper'/ grille assembly which is only held on by about 4 screws but also a myriad of push-in plastic fixings. The reason for doing so was that I wanted to replace the aircon condenser as well, so I thought I'd have a day spannering and knock everything off in one go.As it turned out, with the wheelarch liner pulled back out of the way there was just enough room to wedge the big SnapOn half-inch impact in behind the tyre. Pulled the trigger, about 3 seconds of uggas and duggas and the bolt spun out! Result. OK then, put the bolt back in temporarily then set about removing all the bits you have to take out before you can even see the bloody timing belt. I'm sure that with a bit more thought at the design stage they could simplify things... anyway, working off a painter's hop-up so I could get over the slam panel that was now over 4 feet in the air I set about pulling things off.
Strangely, the SnapOn impact couldn't shift the engine mount to chassis bolts which are only supposed to be torqued to 55Nm (remember the monkeys I mentioned earlier?) so I had to resort to some Britool steel and get a 30" cracking bar on them. It did however make getting the radiator pack subframe bolts loose somewhat easier; there was just enough room with all 4 bolts backed most of the way out to unclip the aircon condenser and slide it out - once I'd manage to persuade a corroded union to separate from its stud. There's also a cunningly-hidden M6 screw in the side of the condenser which you can't get at with the intercooler rad in the way, but with the subframe lowered as above the intercooler could be lifted off its rubbers. Then the bloody screw snapped off anyway
The main chassis rails around the engine bay are in good shape, but the two short extensions on the front of them and the radiator pack subframe are rather crumbly - bit less effort put into the paint processes maybe?
Anyway, 15mm spanner on the auxiliary belt tensioner; takes a bit of force to pull the thing back but then the aux belt is off. Mind your fingers as you release the tension... with the coolant header tank and brake fluid reservoir moved out of the way, access to the cambelt cover screws and the engine mountings was good even for my less-than flexible joints. Remove the crank pulley to get the lower belt cover off, bolt back in, turn crank with a socket until the timing holes line up and slip three drill bits into the relevant holes. Back off the tensioner, unhook the belt, remove the idler pulley.
Half a dozen or so screws gets the waterpump off (remember to put that bucket underneath to catch the rest of the coolant unless you like lying in puddles). I also took the aux belt tensioner off, chucked it in the sandblaster to clean it up and then fitted a new pulley wheel - £18 instead of £50-odd for a complete unit. The old pulley sounded very dry when you spun it - might well have been the 2014 factory original.
The removed timing belt was a genuine Ford item; neither it nor the waterpump had any sign that they might have been failing anytime soon; however, the belt was due on age if not mileage.
New waterpump, idler and belt tensioner in then wiggle and jiggle the belt into place. Release tensioner, then use an Allen key and a mirror to get the tensioner set, nip the bolt up to correct torque. Pull the drill bits out, wind crank round a couple of times and recheck the marks. Refit the engine-side mount bracket, then the lower cover. Pulley back on, new bolt in, wind it up with a spanner. Refit all the other bits (I'd actually refitted the aux belt tensioner before the lower timing cover and could I hell get the bloody cover back on, even though I took the cover off with the aux tensioner in-situ! So back off with the aux tensioner and the cover went straight on. Grrr. Now I was at the stage where the crank pulley bolt needed torqueing up, which is 35Nm plus 190 degrees (!). The first bit was easy enough, but as I was contemplating ways to use brakes and gearbox to lock the engine and wondering how 'run over by own van' would look on a death certificate, my brother turned up with a bottle of something for xmas (a day late, or bang on time depending on how you look at it
) and was pressed into service to apply the brakes, hard, with the van in gear. I could have fannied about with an angle gauge but I'd already worked out that as the pulley is keyed (very slightly) to the crank, all I had to do was use a marker pen to index the bolt vs. pulley and give that Britool bar another workout. Of course it wouldn't matter if the crank turned as the two marks would move with it and anyway it would be turning in the right direction, so no risk of internal damage. Piece of cake (not xmas cake, I can't stand the stuff).New coolant added, battery reconnected and it was time to take that leap of faith and turn the key. One thing with these engines is that you only need to give the key a brief twist and then let go and it'll keep cranking until it starts - wonder if it's quick enough to realise there's an issue and stop cranking, faster than you would yourself? Well, of course it started first go
Let it warm up while I wrestled 100 square feet of plastic (that weighs about the same as a bottle of pop; like most vehicles these days all the plastics are sacrificial) back into place, plugged the headlamps back in and set about refitting all the assorted screws and push-fit clips.
Rolled off the ramps, tools away and went for a spin, seems fine.
With luck that job won't need doing again, in the van's lifetime if not mine
- so all that remains is to see whether the INA-sourced belt goes the distance... still might have preferred a Gates but the job's done now. 