45 replies to this topic

[charie t]

there will be several spare parts coming up at the auto jumbles soon, curtesy of birmingham ex mini owners....

[Noah]

If you buying stuff cheap don't expect it to be that great quality.

If you buying stuff expensive don't expect it the be that great quality.

Both the Genuine and Non-Genuine parts are not that great and considering the price hike between the two, I can see why more non-gen stuff sells. Its just finding good non-genuine stuff such as M-Machine.

[minidaves]

ok my rant for what its worth.
all we want is reasonable quaility for a reasonable price, now i have noticed some of the quailty from some surpliers is that terrible that to be honest i would not fit them. Infact i am so worred about it from brake pads to tyres I will only use selcted brands and very selctive, or manufactures own parts, remember mini owners unipart was orginal equipment and u can buy this still!!!!! cv boots ball joints rack gators and rubbish alloy subframe mounts, polly bushes etc etc are all junk and people fit it and think its good. worried and fed up with it and it will get worse because the quailty products will be lost off the system due to people buying junk

[the.stroker]

we also sit in the " dissapointed " camp , our cooper is not even 12 months on from its full nut and bolt resto,everything down to the last seal was replaced,it sits in the garage and is only used on nice,dry and sunny days. This however has not stopped rubber items cracking e.t.c.

[littlemissmagic]

I think its varied to be honest. I always get advice from the place I get my mini parts (I am lucky enough to have a good family friend that works there though so maybe that has something to do with it!). Sometimes the best isn't always the most expensive. Sometimes it is. Other than 2 products, I have never had any problems with anything I have bought or the quality. I use my mini daily and have done so for 4 years in which time it has never given me any major problems.

I do agree that on the occasions that I have had bad quality products, it has been REALLY bad. I got a clutch slave cylinder which was actually for my bfs mini and it broke literally just after taking it out the box!! My dad who has worked on cars for years couldn't believe how bad it was!

[absx2]

Geniune water pump from Minis**** the impellor was badly off center and cast by a small child in India no doubt. I complained but was ignored.
Kevlar rad hoses proudly "made in england" from Minis***** cracked badly within 12 months. The main hose burst while I was fitting a speedo cable. I complained and was told to fit blue silicone hoses if i wanted them to last. That would look great on a 1968 original car wouldn`t it so I fitted a 30+ year old one, job done!
Genuine heritage round nose passenger wing from minis***** had a curve down the bonnet line and a bad seam line between the headlmp and bonnet so I complained with photos, it was agreed it was crap but took over 3 weeks to get a replacement direct from heritage that was just as crap so I complained and was told that the press was very old and worn so what do i expect!! At £90 a go I did not expect to get the zipper cutter and Tig out but there you go. The clubman wings fitted really good though as did the 'a' panels. I`m lucky enough to have older mini`s with original wings and the difference is night and day and thats why NOS parts go for ££££££ on fleabay.

Edited by absx2, 06 December 2012 - 08:55 PM.

[momini]

Erm maybe we should have a list of brands that are of good quality!! Hell this will make life easier.

[Noah]

I agree,

M-Machine

[cliche]

we also sit in the " dissapointed " camp , our cooper is not even 12 months on from its full nut and bolt resto,everything down to the last seal was replaced,it sits in the garage and is only used on nice,dry and sunny days. This however has not stopped rubber items cracking e.t.c.

great - going for exactly same as you, nut and bolt resto, dry, sunny day use and garaged. I won't be impressed when (not if) the same happens to me.

[1984mini25]

I've never had any issues with using used genuine secondhand parts over the years, even if it means cleaning or refurbishing them.

I also don't quite get the argument that all traders at shows are selling cheap chinese crap, so what about the shop based mini specialists that trade at the shows?

[jd24-7]

I think its a fair point that we get what we pay for, however, if i buy a component at any price it must be fit for purpose. It is not my responsibility to ensure this, it is the mini spares/minisport and others that should ensure the products they sell meet the standards required.
Name and shame.
I had to replace rubber parts on balljoints and rubber bushes that have never been on the road.
These came from mini spares. I suspect their quality is on a par with others, but this is no excuse.
I Will now make the effort to get parts locally although this can sometimes be a hassle, especially as my mini is a fine blend of longbridges finest!
Jd

[cradley-heathen]

ok, i have to admit im somewhere in the middle here.

i drive my classic everyday, infact i have always driven classics on a daily basis, and on the whole have only ever had classic cars. i am obviously a keen mechanic and do keep on top of things with regular checks and always investingating any noises/vibration or similar so this does help significantly with avoiding failures.

i always use mini spares in oldbury (appart from some items they dont do which i get at shows) and have been going there for about 15 years now, i know most of the staff by name and they know me well. i have never had a complaint about any part i have had from them, and none of my customers have either. however my brother did have a weld fail on a stainless rc40 he bought there, but they did just swap it for him.

certain items i have seen at shows are poor quality, and i would never advise anyone to use them. water pumps with no machining to the mating face, where you rely on the cast finish to be flat is one example. cheap ball joints, well i think we have all seen plenty of them too. other poor quality items seem to be the cheaper "dress up" items such as bling for under the bonnet, and exterior chromework, but i do think these are obviously poor quality at a glance, so i do wonder who buys them in the first place?

as for other companies, there is one that i would never use as it seems everything they sell (appart from their big brand tyres, which will be the same from anywhere you buy them) is just utter rubbish. they sell dress up items, wheels tyres etc and not much else. hopefully you know who i mean, they havnt got the best reputation anyway.

someone did mention poly bushes, and i have to admit i have never had one fail, on any type of car, ever. if you have had one fail i woul dlove to know who supllied it so i can avoid it, and hopefully keep my record on that one.

and as for the window rubbers, gaitors etc cracking/failing after such a short period, i have never had this either, so again i would love to know where they were bought from to avoid that too lol!

[rally515]

smearing a bit of genral purpose grease over rubber gaiters & bushed areas would help no-end from getting cracked & brittle parts so give it a go,i did.
Unless your a concourse (tucked up for the winter kinda owner/car .
As for the mechanical parts, really other than learning from each others missfortune not much we can do.

[jamesmpi]

We need to be careful that we don't turn this into a mini spares /sport bashing thread for selling dodgy parts....

Yes they have a responsibility for making sure that the parts they sell are fit for purpose but we need to remember that we all own and adore a car that is no longer in production. As a result the standards that control the quality of the parts as used by BL / Rover etc are not applicable.

I have no idea how mini spares /sport etc validate the quality of their parts that they stock, but I very much doubt that they carry out rigours durability and longevity testing. Instead they may require data to be supplied showing tolerance and material standards etc.
In my opinion if I bought parts that showed signs of failure such as windscreen rubbers which are a year old I would politely report it to the company that sold it. Maybe you might be lucky and get either a replacement, refund or a voucher as a gesture of good will. But if dont report it how does the company know that there is a problem with their product? Suppliers can and do produce "dodgy" batches of parts which the retailer won't be aware of.......

Just my 2p worth

[the.stroker]

There is no danger of bashing minispares / minisport ,they are hardly mentioned if at all within the confines of this particular thread.
The items that failed on my cooper were not from either of these companies,they were however from what I would deem a reputable and reliable source IMO.
On a personal level i spend more time out of the country than in it at the moment so dont have the time to be chasing companies and reporting failed components / parts to them , although i probably should.