Props

[TriedStone]

People do buisness with people. A company is only as good as its employees and or the products it sells. Anyone care to give props to a particular sales person that you feel has gone above and beyond the call of duty? I am beginning the restoration of a 59 Series II and would like to know of any suppliers or salesmen that are extremely knowledgeable about the products they sell. It drives me nuts when I do my homework and know more about the product than the person selling it.

Cheers!

[alaskajosh]

I asked the same question a few years ago when I was getting started. It went on for pages here: http://www.roversnorth.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2140&highlight=vendor

Now, with a few year's experience under my belt and having placed orders (I think) with every one of them, I've found my favorites.

Rover's North is a sure-fire bet. Customer service and product knowledge might(?) be matched elsewhere but surely not beaten. They pretty much set the standard in North America.

If you want to throw some business to the little guy where the overhead is low and the price is right you might introduce yourself to Trevor at Rovahfarm. He knows his stuff as well, and is helpful. I always feel like I've spoken to a friend when we get off the phone. His website is a good resource with every product catagorized and photographed.

Bill at Great Basin Rovers is so dang knowledgable for anything drivetrain related that I try to buy from him when I can.

Ike's Pangolin 4x4 is an under-appreciated resource, IMO, offering so much more to the community than his website might suggest.

My experience with most of the others has been blandly satisfactory.. not bad, just not good enough to pull my loyalty away from the above listed.

One or two I think of have been downright crap but I think we're not supposed to expose any of that.

Good luck with your SII!
Kind regards,
Josh

[MSmyth]

I'll second the kudos to our hosts, but especially Trevor at Rovahfarm. He's been a great help and as posted above is like talking to a friend. I highly recommend both.

[Jim-ME]

I agree about RN being a great asset to the LR community. I will also state that Trevor is also phenomenal. I get the same quality of service as in call one day the item arrives on my doorstep the next and his shipping costs are far less than RN. I hate to say anything negative about our hosts because I have always been treated exceptionally well by them but the shipping costs are driving me elsewhere.
Jim

[alaskajosh]

That's a good point about Trevor's shipping. Shipping is especially a concern to me in Alaska. He will go out of his way to fit the order into a flat rate box and is always trying to think of clever ways to keep those costs down for me. I am never charged more than ACTUAL shipping rate (what he pays to ship).

One thing that queers me to a vendor is these "handling charges" which I think are CROOKED! If you need to get more for the item then say so right up front in the price! Don't advertise a great, competitive price and then slip in a sneaky charge as it goes out the back door... I've seen these "handling" charges amount to 20-40% of the product's price NOT counting the ACTUAL shipping amount!! It's dishonest, pure and simple.

Kind regards, Josh

[siii8873]

I agree that our host RN is top notch for advise / expertise. support their products and no hassle returns. Has definitly been my main source for parts / info. Unless a part is unavailable from them or considerably cheaper elsewhere it's where I shop.
I have never dealt with Rovahfarm.
George at Rovers down south is also a good guy, very honest / knowledgable. Has actually talked me out of making a purchase or two because it was something that really was not needed.

[TriedStone]

Thanks for the input. I've never delt with Rovahfarm, I will have to give Trevor a call. I've had good luck with Great Basin, and Rovers North in the past. Is there a particular sales person at RN you guys like?

[JackIIA]

Les knows his stuff definitely. Arthur too (but I think he's moved over to the administrative side of things these days). Some of the other guys seem to be more Range Rover than Series, IMHO. They're pretty good about directing you to someone who can answer it if they don't know.

And obviously, these boards are very good at troubleshooting questions. Probably my first resource along with Guns and Rovers.