Don’t even go there mate. My other half works in the motor factor game and a lot of garages have had issues with budget parts. The filters are from somewhere like Turkey and fall to pieces on contact with the oil and block the oil galleries.
Then there’s the cheep clutch and duel mass flywheel problems, it’s not worth it to try and save a few quid.
I’ve bought various parts for a number of cars from Eurocarparts and so far had no problems with them. Most have been known brands rather than ‘no name’ specials; prices have always been competitive and the local staff polite & helpful.
The reported oil issue seems to have been a simple labelling mistake that was addressed promptly. Some time ago I looked into where their oil came from and traced it back to a Dutch refinery that manufactures a lot of own brands, with no reason to believe they were anything other than entirely competent.
Dual mass flywheels are notorious for failures, even factory items from first build, so I have to say I’m struggling with the association.
Recent purchases have included Pagid, Bosch and others at prices better than other retailers and with no worries over quality. I’ve also had parts from the French-based Mister Auto that have been equally as good as OE components, again without the mark-up. One of the cars these have been used on is now approaching 190,000 miles and still going strong, having never failed an MOT in 15 years
Sure, I will always try to assess parts quality and suitability not just buy on price; also I wouldn’t buy from an unknown source on the internet, sunday market, etc. There’s rubbish out there and yes, it’s best avoided; but I don’t think there is any significant risk in buying ‘known’ parts from somewhere like Eurocarparts if they can sell them at a better price than other outlets.
I have been using the Silkolene\Fuchs Pro S for years but have run out of my stock, went to buy some more to find it is now so expensive, what is everyone else using? Is there a more sensibly priced alternative?
Ade
I use Castrol egde 10/60 as used in BMW M power cars (not the cheap sport stuff) about £30.00 for 4 litres, think eurocarprats are about the cheapest…
I used Castrol until they changed the product name and moved over to using fully synthetic Morris 10W50 X-RPM Competition, which comes in at around £32 for 5 litres. I’ve just had a look at their website and they are now making a 10W60 fully synthetic as well. The spec sheet for the latter is here: