Made-up timing belt "kit" on ebay -- playing with fire?

jase1

I think I know the answer to this one, but in the interests of saving money......

ebay auction ID 110587473296. Seller claims to be making up the timing belt kit for a Focus at a cheaper rate, but bulk-buying the individual items and boxing them up himself.

Now I know that Gates and INA are both good manufacturers, but the question is, is this sort of thing a valid approach? Would there be scope for incompatibilities down the line, leading to disaster? Should I stop being a tightwad and pay Ford their extra £60 to buy an official kit?

I'm being a fool, I know -- I've been down this road before with a cheap clutch kit on a Nissan that blew up 200 yards down the road, punching a hole in the gearbox bell-housing and costing me hundreds to put right at a time I could have done without the extra cost. But I am a tight northern git at the end of the day and that £60 would buy a lot of flat caps

djheath

why not do what the ebay seller is doing and just buy the parts individually from a motor factors - i.e. not halfords.

They will be parts as good if not exactly the same brand and make as the ones from Ford at a fraction of the cost.

mikey72

jase1 wrote: »

I think I know the answer to this one, but in the interests of saving money......

ebay auction ID 110587473296. Seller claims to be making up the timing belt kit for a Focus at a cheaper rate, but bulk-buying the individual items and boxing them up himself.

Now I know that Gates and INA are both good manufacturers, but the question is, is this sort of thing a valid approach? Would there be scope for incompatibilities down the line, leading to disaster? Should I stop being a tightwad and pay Ford their extra £60 to buy an official kit?

I'm being a fool, I know -- I've been down this road before with a cheap clutch kit on a Nissan that blew up 200 yards down the road, punching a hole in the gearbox bell-housing and costing me hundreds to put right at a time I could have done without the extra cost. But I am a tight northern git at the end of the day and that £60 would buy a lot of flat caps

I'd never buy a timing belt off ebay.
Too many copies, in too many boxes printed in the shed.

Only OE, or maybe a reputable factor in a branded box the inks dry on.

Same with brakes, far too many cheap copies in home printed boxes out there now.

Flying-High_2

Gates INA Conti-Tech and SKF you will find will be OE stuff anyway...

johnnyroper

mikey72 wrote: »

I'd never buy a timing belt off ebay.
Too many copies, in too many boxes printed in the shed.

Only OE, or maybe a reputable factor in a branded box the inks dry on.

Same with brakes, far too many cheap copies in home printed boxes out there now.

as above you never really know what you are getting off the fleabay.
personally for peace of mind i would rather pay the extra a dealer charges to have genuine items,but if you want to save a few quid then go to a local motor factors and but a timing belt kit and water pump.

TiTheRev

Flying-High wrote: »

Gates INA Conti-Tech and SKF you will find will be OE stuff anyway...

They may make the OE, but OE parts are higher spec and different materials are used. Go genuine, it's the safest bet, and is covered by a 2year warranty instead of the 'other' manufacturers 1 year.

Flying-High_2

TiTheRev wrote: »

They may make the OE, but OE parts are higher spec and different materials are used. Go genuine, it's the safest bet, and is covered by a 2year warranty instead of the 'other' manufacturers 1 year.

Yes but still with decent Quality over Chinese Specials... And often half the price but with half the warranty as you say... I know which way I've always gone and will continue to do so...

jase1

Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated.

I wouldn't have thought that the warranty would cover consequential losses, so I'm not so sure that that on its own is sufficient reason to buy genuine -- unless anyone can say different. I'd have thought that any manufacturing defects would be on an "all or nothing" basis -- either the parts self-destruct within 3 months, or they run to end of life (and I'm not convinced I'll still have the car in another 80,000 miles anyway, so if the lifetime is marginally shorter that's the next guy's problem).

I definitely do take on board the ebay thing though -- I've used them in the past because of being kicked in the nads by the prices quoted locally for things like Nissans and Daewoos etc (it's a question of acceptable risk when you are faced with a choice between £200 and £25 for the same part!!! My usual trick with the Daewoo was to get quotes from Polish suppliers for parts as they are very common, and thus parts are dirt-cheap like Ford/Vauxhall here, over there). I'm stuck in the "obscure Far-Eastern parts from local factors can be stupidly expensive" mindset, and the difference between the like of Euro CarParts and Coulthard's down the road is probably slim to non-existent on a bog-standard car like a Focus. I'll get an overall quote from Ford and my usual indie and take things from there I think.

mikey72

I used to work for an OE supplier, years ago.
OE is good, but there is no guarantee the service parts from the dealer are the same as the OE fitted to the car.
The Gates OE stuff for instance goes directly to the car manufacturer, and will be used on the car assembly line.
Service items are boxed, and go to a distribution chain, to eventually finish up on the dealers shelf.
All parts will be more than good enough, but if there is any grading, it's assembly, then the box with gates on, then the dealer service part.
None should fail, and indeed rarely do.
I wouldn’t touch copy parts though, unless it was non-essential.
Best way to get consequential damage cover is to let the garage supply it, then if it breaks, they normally have to fix it.
If you supply, and they fit, you can never resolve it.

missile

Dingbro is your friend for motor spares

forgotmyname

I dont see the issue with this, Same as buying from europarts or GSF, Buy AUDI & VW parts for a fraction
of the main dealer prices, And the parts are identical, Same manufacturer same production line etc.

Providing the parts are in fact genuine of course, Ebay and genuine???