parts

There has been a lot of chatter about our parts suppliers some right on. For me I had just finished my 74.5 GT and with les than 300 miles, here's what's happened. First the new turn signal sitch would not cancel out on a left hand turn. Just get another? Then I let it set for a week got in it and no brakes. The right new right front caliper was leaking, replaced it with a more expensive one. Then the new alternator quit working, waiting on a new one! None of the above is hard to fix it's just WHY? I do not blame our suppliers for going to the ends of the earth to make or cars affordable but when I have to buy twice, price becomes an issue. Now I am sure most of these parts come from other countries and the workers may make 2 bucks a day. Maybe we need a parts house that supplies only US or UK parts pay the higher price and drive away.

I used to get upset when My first wife went to expensive store to buy my clothes. She's gone so I went to Walmart real cheap lucky to last a year. Now back to the expensive store, it's cheaper.
Same rules apply in car parts. You pay for what you get........

I've seen the complaints and hope that these problems with MG/British specific suppliers are not as common as it seems. That being said, I have found while working on my vehicles- cars, boats and motorcycles- if I can get a part from NAPA or another local auto part store- I have much better luck. For instance just this week I ordered a new brake master cylinder and rear brake hose and bought a new rocker cover gasket from NAPA and am confident that those parts will function and last. However, you can't get every part you may need for an MG from the local parts store, so I had to order new vent window hinges, rivets and rubber glazing for my driver side from Moss. The previous owner had left a new top hinge in the console and I tried to install it, but it did not fit properly- angle seemed wrong and the pin would not fit- too big- I even tried sanding the chrome finish off the pin and no-go. I don't know where the PO got that hinge, but I sure hope it wasn't from Moss. I feel your pain on your recent part failures, hope things go better in the future. I know almost nothing ticks me off more than doing a job over.

I am very lucky. Our local MG repair shop sells the same parts he uses in his guaranteed repairs. He filters for us in this area. Not always the cheapest but, few clinkers.

Also fast. Orders by 3:00 often arrive the next day.

WHY you ask, because we are all consumers and we want everything that we buy for next to nothing, whether it be clothes, footwear,food, you name it we all want it NOW and CHEAP. Unfortunately we all have to now live with this latest phase of consumerism and just as in our country, your country and probably every other country at least in the western world, we have forsaken jobs and in most cases quality, just as long as we don't supposedly get ripped off. You and I are paying a very high price for this!

Gerry, i know it is not fun doing a job twice but are any of those parts still under warrantee?
That might help to ease the pain a little.

must be nice to be rich....

No to the warranty. When I started the car as best I could I ordered one lot of parts that over time went into the car. Yes, doing the work twice just really makes me mad. Now I am seeking and finding suppliers that have parts that cost more but work. For example, I got the new caliper from British Miles it looked completely different from the other one bled fast ready to go. So I also got a new dist cap form BM with copper connectors rather than alum. I guess it depends what you are looking for from now on I will shop for the quality not price. I want to buy once and install once. I do understand that NAPA does have some MG parts that are higher quality so shop!

The problem I have with my local NAPA store is the price. I'm not looking for cheapest price - just a reasonable price. Case in point:
I got a rebuilt Lucas starter from Advance for under $100 and it came over night. The local Napa wanted $275 for a starter - no idea what brand. For a near $200 savings, I got a Lucas starter that- so far - has been trouble free. I don't think that kind of price difference is justified; and the Napa store doesn't care, because they don't stock it anyway. They would have had to order it, too.
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I hear what you're saying, Frank. That is unreasonable to say the least. I usually get online and open up three windows when I'm looking for a part- 1 for NAPA 1 for Autozone and 1 for O'Reilly- then I lookup the part and check the brand/quality/warranty. I go from there- usually end up at NAPA because the guys behind the counter know a bit more and they can often have the part next day. I do sometimes order from the other two. Also, be aware that with NAPA you can do "order and reserve" online and I have found that there is often a price difference between the online price and what I get quoted at the counter. It also helps that I recieve a 10-15% discount at NAPA through my company which does business with them quite a bit. Bottom line is to shop around and make a decision based on the cost/quality of parts. BTW- I also, on occasion use EBAY- research seller feedback and often they list brand and part no. info in the listings. Also, many retailers are now selling on EBAY - prices are usually close to their normal $$ I bought a Weber carb yesterday from Pierce Manifold on EBAY and saved about $25 off thier price on their own website- over $200 less than VB and $230ish less than Moss.

Having had to replace new parts that were faulty out of the box, but couldn't know till they were fitted, I now see if I can repair something rather than just buying a replacement.

I don't like doing work twice

Yes, do not count out some of the local stores I just brough a new alternator to replace the mg suppliers one for $61.00 cheaper than the mg supplier and it is warrantied for life. It came from AutoZone! Now price is not an issue.

There used to be a well known supplier of reman alternators. They also sold a cheaper line of rebuilt alternators. Guess which one ended up being the more reliable? Yep, the cheaper rebuilt units. There far fewer returns for those than there were for the remans. Price isn't always a good indicator. Usually it is - but not always. I've seen a lot of high dollar parts from a very well known major manufacturer that were DOA right out of the box.

Frank you are dead right. The one that went out was new, the one I'm buying is reman