Genuine VS ECP/GSF Service Parts

Legacy_user

Hi All,

It's nearly service time for my trusty Ford Focus and have used genuine parts when I have serviced her in the past.

It has been garage serviced all its life up until I bought her and is now due the big service so have been costing up parts and going genuine will cost just under £100 from Ford Parts UK and Mann/Bosh parts and Oil come in at around £70 depending on what offer is going on at the time.

Is it worth sticking to genuine parts or not? The car cost me all of £200 and has already gone through 1 Mot with no advisories and will be staying with me until it dies!

Thanks for your input

AGDCFF

forgotmyname

As long as you fit decent quality parts and service it properly and not like my sister who thinks oil changes are only needed when i nag her to death or she has to fight the dispstick out because the oil is a congealed lump.

I do lots of short journeys which is bad for a car so i change the oil every 6 months or so.

fred246

I normally use Comma oil. Go on their website and check what you need. Probably Xtech. About £22 on Amazon.
Then get Mann filters from ECP. They always look good quality.
That's what I do anyway.
Genuine parts just mean it's been manufactured in a factory and then a Ford stamp and a higher price is put on it. Sometimes you will find a filter that's obviously the same one with another stamp (eg Mann or Bosch etc) stamped on it. Some will be different but Mann always seem to be good quality and cheap.

fred246

One problem with eurocarparts is you have to reserve online before you go. They make you pay and then bring the parts out. Sometimes you will find a different brand appears. I have heard a rumour that the Guttmann brand is used to make people think they are german because it sounds german. I would also not have Crosland (personal preference). But be prepared at this stage to request your money back and insist on the ordered brand. They can normally get it by the next day.

Westmead_Fan

fred246 wrote: »

One problem with eurocarparts is you have to reserve online before you go. They make you pay and then bring the parts out. Sometimes you will find a different brand appears. I have heard a rumour that the Guttmann brand is used to make people think they are german because it sounds german. I would also not have Crosland (personal preference). But be prepared at this stage to request your money back and insist on the ordered brand. They can normally get it by the next day.

guttman is euro car parts own made brand & crosland name is also owned by them, the old crosland folded years ago the filters are cheap & are unknown where they are made. the best stuff i find in filters is Blue print part of the bilstein group who make febi parts.

Joe_Horner

Many years ago (just after school) I worked in the RR factory in Crewe.

One of the things tat really stuck in my mind was seeing window winder motors arrive in a Bosch box (iirc, same code as a Ford Sierra at the time), get unpacked, checked, and re-packed in a RR box. The Bosch motor was around £50, the RR one upwards of £700.

People like Ford don't make all the small consumable items like filters, belts and so on. It's simply not economic for them to set up production facilities for things like that which already exist, which is why you'll often find the same aftermarket part specified across several different car makers. They buy in (often from several different suppliers) and, at the design stage, will often use an existing part if there's a suitable one already in production because it's cheaper that way.

Any of the established "quality" after-market brands will be fine and, with the big companies like Bosch and Mann Hummel, there's a very good chance that it'll be off the same production line as the "originals".

System

Thanks all:)

Will watch out for a discount code for ECP/GSF over the coming weeks and go from there.

AGDCFF