Do Britpart supply Land Rover??

[trec 2]

I was in a well known after market parts supplier  yesterday and was bemused when the chap next to me asked for some parts, nothing strange in that you may ask? However he was given a price and told that they only had a  genuine part in stock to which he replied fair enough, the assistant went to the stock room and returned with the said part in a black sealed bag and when he placed it on the counter it became obvious that it was packaged as Britpart, to which he stated 'oh they must be supplying Land Rover with that part'.

Now my concern is two fold, is this retailer having customers over or are LR lowering their standards?

[Saffy]

 

[Llanigraham]

I suspect that they are telling porkies!!
I will check with someone who works there.

[Yoshi]

Britpart do in fact supply parts to Land Rover.  When i contact my main dealer for bits they often come as britpart now.  Another one who supplies Land Rover as well is Bearmach.

[Llanigraham]

We learn something new every day!

[V8MoneyPit]

We learn something new every day!

And those things can be quite alarming sometimes! Not that I'm making any comments about Britpart quality  8-[ :lol:

[jasonslaphead]

some britpat parts have a g suffix on the part number to indicate a genuine part. I bought a pair of bushes recently by mail order that were britpart packaged with the g suffix and damaged one when fitting it so went to the nearest place to get another and got a britpart bush the same without the g suffix and it was noticeably different.

[Disco Matt]

It wouldn't be a new thing, if the reports I've had from a friend of a friend are accurate (and they most likely are given the background). Said individual worked in a local dealer that is no longer trading during the 1980s and reported that they were taking in Britpart components and re-bagging them as Unipart...

Their springs seem ok so far, I've given them a bit of a flex workout and nothing went twang...  8-[

[land-def-90]

i was in my local land rover dealer a few weeks ago when a delivery of britpart parts  was passed over the  counter  :-.

[S188]

Presumably (or hopefully) the stuff surplied to LR as OEM is checked over very thougherly by LR quality control engineers to insure it is suitable so hopefully this stuff Britpart surply is of a good standard as its checked by an OEM.  The problem comes when parts are surplied to the aftermarket exclusively as it doesn't go through a manufacturer with big resorces to check it so you can make what you like even if its rubish - relieing only on the feedback of surpliers (say Paddocks) if they have a problem with returns.

I think the big problem with Britpart is you don't always know what you are getting.  Alot of their stuff is bought in from whoever can make it at a good price.  Some of it is well made from decent surpliers (though not branded) where as others are more questionable.  Perhaps the good stuff is because it has an OEM contract for that part and so there will be trouble if its not up to scratch.  LR will obveously aproch a manufacturer to make something in a certain quantity but perhaps its cheeper for them to then go through britpart for repeat stocks as they can buy even greater quantities from the same surplier? (ie they'll buy what LR needs for its production line + dealer workshops + the very sizeable aftermarket surpliers where most of us buy from).

Vehicle manufacturers are always trying to cut costs though, as sometimes are their surpliers and it has been known for the surplier to cut the quality of a part without the OEMs consent, maybe as someone it perchacing didn't realise there was a diference.

I know some BP parts are good, I know some are shocking and these days bar the stuff I know is fine (which I rarely need as it doesn't keep failing!) I tend to avoid them despite their tempting (though worryingly cheep) prices.  Genuine parts shouldn't suffer this lottery but then they tend to cost alot more, sometimes for the very same part from the same manufacturer - its a tricky one!

Not a problem excluisve to Land-Rovers though, despite their sadly famous replutation for poor quality.  My VW was a very well made vehicle when it was new but I have found some of the aftermarket components now avalable are about as bad as you can get (2000k miles for a corectly fitted wheelbearing to colapse anyone? - aparently I was lucky to get that far given the feedback from other owners! 

Be suspisous - look for a parts surplier with their own well regarded workshop, they'll know whats worth fitting and thus get their stocks acordingly which seems to be the best garantee currently avalable bar the dealer price tag.