Parts Question - Genuine or After Market ?

[Robgw]

Given there is considerable difference in price.

What kind of Aftermarket Parts are people happy with? Which would you always go Genuine?

For example, im being quoted $198 for a After market Viscous Coupling and $390 for Gunuine?

[OffTrack]

The problem here is there are at least 4 distinct tiers of parts.


Genuine LR
OE: a part made by the same manufacturer that supplies the Genuine part to Land Rover, and;
OEM: a part made by a manufacturer that supplies or has supplied parts to LR, but not neccessarily that specific part.
PR2 is used by allmakes to indicate a quality manufacturer that wasn't a OEM but is well respected in the industry. They include brands like Timken, NTN, Lucas, Lemforder, AP, Borg and Beck, and Lockheed in this category. In other words these are brands you know aren't going to be selling junk.
Aftermarket/Pattern - made to a price, and of questionable quality. Personally I'd only fit this grade part if you are planning to sell your vehicle in the near future.


I try to fit genuine where possible, but will use oe/oem/pr2 if the genuine part is outrageously expensive.

cheers
Paul

[Robgw]

Great breakdown thanks.

I assume that 'Britpart" is Cat 4 - Aftermarket Pattern?

[bsperka]

Britparts are interesting. I've gotten some parts that are labelled Britpart and have the LR logo and PN on them (eg Wabco SLS compressor assembly); others such as centrifugal filters I've been told are not good to use, as they are pattern copies. So, it's a bit of a mixed bag.

To date, I've used LR for the centrifugal filter, LR for the fuel regulator; OEM for the alternator; OEM for the rubber flange in the driveshaft. That being said, except for once with the centrifugal filter that I bought from a dealer, all the other parts have been either through AllFourX4 if in a hurry (1 to 3 days delivery), or from a number of UK suppliers if I can wait for the delivery to arrive (eg filters, rear air bags, injector harness, gaskets etc. )

[isuzurover]

FWIW - OE manufacturers are generally bound by agreements that their wholesale price for genuine parts and the same part without genuine branding must be the same (or the non-geniuine branded part more expensive).

That is not to say you cannot get it cheaper by cutting out middle men or buying OS.

AFAIK
MANN+HUMMEL (MANN Filter) make most of the OE filters for the D2 TD5.
Lemfoerder make the TREs (?)

[BIG O]

Im happy to use Ryco for fuel and oil spin on filters for our TD5s...but will never buy a OEM water pump again..lasted 2 months..silly me..should have taken the advice of members of this forum .

[Yorkie]

i just fitted a britpart viscous fan to my td5, it works.
also have britpart bushes replaced in the watts link, they also work.
have used various filters for the past 5years, they all worked.

maybe i'm lucky?. :cool:

[isuzurover]

Im happy to use Ryco for fuel and oil spin on filters for our TD5s....

I don't know for sure, but I doubt they would be (even close to) the performance specs of the OEM filters.

[bidds]

I've tried a few of the various pattern parts and while some last OK (maybe a year or so) I think the value for money compared with the LR genuine parts is terrible, not to mention the joy of fitting the parts multiple times. Some die a pretty quick death indeed, particularly pattern suspension parts.

Some of the parts replaced on my 1990 RRC were over 10 years old and they've gone back on after the pattern part died in a matter of weeks or months. Perhaps the pattern parts work OK if you're only driving gently around town but my experience has been that they leave a lot to be desired if you're actually using the truck in the bush.

Re OEM: I had the ABS Sensor on an OEM D2 rear hub causing three amigoes fun; I replaced that with the original one and no problems since. The basic hub has proven to be very good but the ABS sensor supplied with it was trash.

So now I only fit parts with the green oval on the box. They sure are pricey (as others have said the US and UK are good sources) but I do like having them fit correctly and then provide similar service life to those fitted originally.

[justinc]

Definately the key is to shop around and don't necessarily accept the cheapest part.

I have to do this every day when ordering bits for customers cars, my general rule if I wouldn't fit it to MY car why would I fit it to someone elses???

Some parts have a britpart or even allmakes sticker, yet are stamped with the LR logo and genuine part number, IE they ARE genuine. Others are Delphi, Valeo, Borg and Beck etc which are all suppliers to LR, and yet others again have NO stamps or logos and are 'unbranded' and poorly finished - these I stay WELL away from I don't care how cheap they are:mad::mad::mad::mad:


JC

[flagg]

I generally fit genuine unless it is really too expensive. I made the mistake of ordering lots of parts without checking and ended up with a lot of britpart parts which were simply terrible, didn't fit, broke in my hands while fitting (I'm gentle) or didn't last.

[Mick_Marsh]

I replaced my old ignition switch which had been on the car thirty years and had decided to fail.
The replacement Bearmach didn't last thirty days.
Bought a more expensive OEM brand in a box with that distinctive Landrover logo pattern. It was easier to fit and is still working.

[Fluids]

I think the other thing to keep in mind is how long it takes to remove & replace said part .... if it's a major time consuming job, I'm not going to use a cheap aftermarket part, only to have it fail 12-24 months later, and then have to do it all again ... ie:td5 - fuel pump, water pump, fuel pressure reg', etc, etc.

Even worse is when you're paying someone else to do the job for you.

Dad & Grandad always said ... "buy cheap, buy twice"

If it's a 5-10 min job to remove and repalce, then maybe I'll risk it.