Eurocar parts..any good?

scheming_gypsy

londonTiger wrote: »

I would have thought it would be handy to have the reg of a car which has the your engine factory fitted in it.

Whenever I'm doing insurance quotes for cars I'm looking to buy, I go on autorader and look up regs and enter those regs in the comparison sites.

If the car didn't have the original engine in it, then what use is his reg number? he'd need to know the reg number of the car that the engine came out of.

bigjl

I have used EuroCarParts since they had the one depot in Wembley back in the mid ninties.

If you order using a discount code online for collection at the nearest depot you will get better prices than just turning up and buying.

German & Swedish used to have the better quality parts and oil but that has now reversed. G&S are also getting pricey whenever i have compared prices.

Never been given the wrong part even when there was an issue with changes to the vehicle at or around the time the car was built.

Going by the above comments i would assume that some branches are variable. But i have never have an issue.

I have never found any local motor factors to undercut Euro. The differences weren't huge. And i did find local factors and Halfords stock cheaper products, not the quality that i would prefer to fit to my vehicles.

Recently bought 10 litres of Shell AFL 5w30 C1 oil which after the use of a discount code was £71 i couldn't find the same oil anywhere for less than £90 (online at Opieoils). That spec of oil is not easy to find and isn't even stocked by Halfords or Costco.

Buypartsby and carparts4less have no facility to collect same day.

It comes down to what you want from your parts retailer.

Absolute cheapest prices, best part quality for the price or even best price but with quickest availability.

I only fit name brand filters for example. Some are happy to fit Chinese or Turkish copies.

londonTiger

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

If the car didn't have the original engine in it, then what use is his reg number? he'd need to know the reg number of the car that the engine came out of.

Read the words factory fitted in it. I was talking about a reg from a model of car that uses his engine as stock

Prothet_of_Doom

In the Old paper based YEllow Pages there was a section Headed MOTOR FACTORS.

I'm guessing on the web based equivalent there will be a similar key phrase.

Where possible, I try to use my local motor factor, but check prices on line and always ask them to price match. One thing I'd say is that whilst you shouldn't have an issue with most parts, certain cars have certain reputations, for problems with certain parts (how vague is that)

So for instance a Honda Accord 2.2 Turbo Deisel Fuel filter. Only use the Correct Bosch filter, best obtained via the main dealer, as Pattern parts have caused hesitation issues.

This sort of Knowledge is obtained by joining a one make forum. I'm logging into MINI2.com, MX5Nutz.com and Typeaccord.co.uk in order to check issues that I've had, and get hard won experience for free. Plus I post up my tips, based on jobs I've had to do.

AdrianC

ECP are perfectly decent - as are GSF. Go in with a vague clue about what you're after, and all the info about your car, and you should be fine. There may be various qualities of parts - some will be disposable chocolate, others will be OEM-quality.

I've used Mister-Auto a few times, too - they're much more upfront about the choice of brands, and very good on prices. I'm a little sceptical of their relatively inexpensive "hassle-free returns" add-on, but...

Stoke

ECP are okay. Not the cheapest though, despite what they claim.

They also have this cheeky practice of selling an item, without necessarily having it in stock. I bought a set of axle stands from them and they debited my account then informed me the item wasn't in stock and that I should consider any of the other sets they had in stock (which of course were much more expensive). They happily refunded my money but it took a few days to go back in.

Also be wary of their cheeky naming practices!!!!! They like to name their cheap unbranded products with made-up names. E.g. They're now selling cheap unbranded brake pads for Volkswagen by the name 'Eicher' which is somewhat German sounding, yet if you read their long spiel, they're simply sourced from any, of many, Far Eastern companies manufacturing cheap brake pads.
They've also started selling cheap unbranded Shock Absorbers under the company name 'Stossdampfer', which is German for Shock Aborber. Again, they're merely cheap, unbranded parts from China, but they don't explicitly state this. You have to look carefully.

That said, they sell plenty of genuine branded stuff and the prices are somewhat competitive.

red_eye

sam1970 wrote: »

I am considering buying some service parts from them (filters, brake pads..etc)..has anyone had experience using them? are their parts good enough? they want less than half what the dealer wants to charge me !!

used by the trade, they stock budget pattern parts as well as OME (original parts.....like genuine but with out the expensive designer marque branded box)

red_eye

Stoke wrote: »

ECP are okay. Not the cheapest though, despite what they claim.

They also have this cheeky practice of selling an item, without necessarily having it in stock. I bought a set of axle stands from them and they debited my account then informed me the item wasn't in stock and that I should consider any of the other sets they had in stock (which of course were much more expensive). They happily refunded my money but it took a few days to go back in.

Also be wary of their cheeky naming practices!!!!! They like to name their cheap unbranded products with made-up names. E.g. They're now selling cheap unbranded brake pads for Volkswagen by the name 'Eicher' which is somewhat German sounding, yet if you read their long spiel, they're simply sourced from any, of many, Far Eastern companies manufacturing cheap brake pads.
They've also started selling cheap unbranded Shock Absorbers under the company name 'Stossdampfer', which is German for Shock Aborber. Again, they're merely cheap, unbranded parts from China, but they don't explicitly state this. You have to look carefully.

That said, they sell plenty of genuine branded stuff and the prices are somewhat competitive.

parts sell out quicker then the computers get updated also the parts could of been booked out as you were confirming payment details....first come first served these things happen.

nothing cheeky about a manufacturer choosing Eicher as their brand name and supplying ECP to sell on. they have to cater for every one, from people who want quality reliable parts to the tight fisted numb nuts who want the cheapest parts possible and then come back moaning that the pads are squealing.

Stoke

red_eye wrote: »

parts sell out quicker then the computers get updated also the parts could of been booked out as you were confirming payment details....first come first served these things happen.

nothing cheeky about a manufacturer choosing Eicher as their brand name and supplying ECP to sell on. they have to cater for every one, from people who want quality reliable parts to the tight fisted numb nuts who want the cheapest parts possible and then come back moaning that the pads are squealing.

Parts sell out quicker than computers are updated, that's utter tosh. I'm sorry to say, unless their system is disgustingly inefficient and has issues synchronizing with their front desks.

You didn't read what I said properly. They source the parts from unbranded manufacturers, then ECP names them stuff like Eicher, Stossdampfer etc. Doing this is misleading but also means there's no traceability to one manufacturer. To me that's poor sales practice. My opinion.

bigjl

Stoke wrote: »

ECP are okay. Not the cheapest though, despite what they claim.

They also have this cheeky practice of selling an item, without necessarily having it in stock. I bought a set of axle stands from them and they debited my account then informed me the item wasn't in stock and that I should consider any of the other sets they had in stock (which of course were much more expensive). They happily refunded my money but it took a few days to go back in.

Also be wary of their cheeky naming practices!!!!! They like to name their cheap unbranded products with made-up names. E.g. They're now selling cheap unbranded brake pads for Volkswagen by the name 'Eicher' which is somewhat German sounding, yet if you read their long spiel, they're simply sourced from any, of many, Far Eastern companies manufacturing cheap brake pads.
They've also started selling cheap unbranded Shock Absorbers under the company name 'Stossdampfer', which is German for Shock Aborber. Again, they're merely cheap, unbranded parts from China, but they don't explicitly state this. You have to look carefully.

That said, they sell plenty of genuine branded stuff and the prices are somewhat competitive.

Your wrong on the Eicher subject.

It is an Indian brand and I hAve seen them stocked elsewhere.

Fitted them to a couple of vehicles now without issue

Produced less dust than the OE Pagid pads that were on one of the vehicles strangely enough.

I have only ever bought premium name brand filters though so have no idea who makes the cheaper ones.