Who are your favorite LR vendors?

[badvibes]

Favorite? I don't know if that's the word I'd use. I need a part I want good quality, good price, convenience. The last part I ordered, clutch slave cylinder, I needed to get my truck running again. It isn't a "wish list" thing like better seats or a cool widget. I tried RN first, they don't take my credit card, I truly was surprised. Ordered the Lucas part from BP, it was instock and even with overnight shipping was less expensive. Don't take this as anything more than what it is. A one time, specific purchase of one item. When I need something I can't find/buy locally or have made for a reasonable cost I will get online and shop and compare. Wherever I find the item that is reasonably priced, instock and easy to purchase I'll buy it. Everyone gets a chance for my business and more than once. The information below is right off the companies websites.

Jeff

CLUTCH SLAVE CYLINDER - SERIES IIASKU:RNB599Price:$125.48



Compared with:

Slave cylinder (Ser. II & IIA) 266694, 266694P

Search by Part Number
Search Please use the part number exactly as shown in the BP catalogsPart #:266694 Product:SLAVE CYLINDER IIA Price:$64.50

[TeriAnn]

TeriAnn,
I respectfully have to disagree with you about paper catalogs. First of all trees are a renewable resource that with proper management will still be here after many,many more generations are dead and gone.

With me it is a lifestyle and philosophy choice going back to my days on a small back to nature commune in the late 1960's. I've tried to tread lightly through all my adult life. Pulp trees are a common easily renwable resource. I agree. I personally choose to limit my use of disposable products. Now that web stores are more mature, I choose to not request paper cataloges when a good web based alternative is available.

It is my own personal lifestyle choice and no reflection on the number of pulp trees out there.

[greenmeanie]

For me it all comes down to :
1st. Price
2nd. Timeliness
3rd. Convenience
4th. Attitude.

Like everyone else I don't like paying more than I have to and getting my parts on time is a big factor. Having said that I do realise that if I am relying on on-line parts suppliers there is a lead time so I try and by parts based on predictive maintenance so its on my shelf when needed. I also tend to buy stock items such as bearings and oil seals from the suppliers in town as I have access to engineering catalogues for cross reference.

I also run a 101 so find myself buying parts in the UK a lot. If I predict well I can usually get my IIA parts put in the same package and find they cost a lot less. Using the above example a slave cylinder costs about $20 plus a portion of the shipping. In that I have to order parts from the UK I do tend to find the US suppliers to be very expensive for the bigger parts but good for the smaller stuff. I saved about $400 for new glazed door tops buying from the UK. The UK suppliers also tend to carry a better stock of the ex MOD parts.

I will not use a company that has an on-line catalogue but then requires you to phone in an order. The BP and especially the RN sites are a big plus for there companies.

Some of the UK suppliers have good sites although it really pays to know the exact part number you require as they are ot always just so service orientated as our hosts. I am a Brit so I get on with the people I talk to over there and, if they get it wrong, I have a brother that lives close enough that I can sic him on them to sort it out. This can help a lot! As I live in a large south west city that is an air freight hub it takes about 5-7 days to get here which is about the same as from our hosts. Even BP takes about 3 days to get here and they are only 4 or 5 hundred miles away.

I have had one bad experience with a UK supplier where they screwed me on the shipping and delivered way too late thus causing me a lot of problems. They had a very bad attitude when challenged about this and obviously thought they could get away with blowing off someone on another continent. As a result I will never use Paddocks again.

I tend to believe every company will make some errors which can be inconvenient. It is how they deal with the issue that is the mark of a good supplier.

Other than that I think the US suppliers have been covered well.

Cheers
Gregor

[jp-]

Wow, lots of folks weighing in here.

I tend to agree with Green here, although my list would be:

1. Price
2. Quality of Product
3. Convenience
4. Attitude
5. How knowledgeable is the help

First, nothing bothers me more that knowing exactly what part I need, but you a.) don’t think I know what I’m talking about or b.) want to sell me something else. Please, I only want what I want. Don’t ask me 3 times if I need the accompanying oil seal (or whatnot). No! I bought a spare last time dummy!

1. Price rules eternal. In a cash economy, the low price leader always wins (often times at the expense of quality).

2. Quality must be compared along with price. If it’s going to last, expect to pay more. Only fools buy on price alone.

3. I have no local suppliers other than TLR which is all the way across TN. So this category is reserved for non Rover situations (i.e. closest home improvement store).

4. If you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, please don’t come in to work today because you can be damn sure that I woke up on the wrong side.

5. If I walk into your store and ask you where the ½” Lag bolts are, tell me (no stupid looks please). If you don’t know, volunteer to find out (see #4).


Now on to Rover suppliers.

At the risk of being banned, my story is as follows:

RN: 1st in the game. These guys were helping people like me when I knew nothing. The help was free and the parts were good (and the prices high). This was a good business model and has served RN well. My father, my Uncle, and myself were all loyal to RN for the better part of 13 years. Then other companies started sprouting up that were offering the same quality parts at substantially lower rates. Now all the people that had been educated by the RN staff knew what parts they needed and didn’t require the in-depth help that they once had. The splinter companies didn’t have to maintain a staff of highly trained, highly educated employees and could accordingly reduce their costs.

I like RN; I always have. However, price still rules. Companies that adapt and become leaner survive, those that don’t…don’t.
The following companies I have dealt with and they have provided excellent service:

TLR Rovers
Rovers Down South
Rocky Mountain
Paul’s Safari Components
Singing Camel
Britannica Restorations


Marginal Service, excellent price:

Paddocks

[greenmeanie]

Well said JP - I forgot the quality thing.

I also forgot to add the worst place ever to buy parts from is the local LR dealership. Overpriced and if you want anything other than the green oval keychain tat or an oil filter your in for some fun. Without a VIN number the parts counter bloke was lost. Finally, I was impressed that he was able to quote the price with a straight face. I suppose LR have gone the way of the rest of the plastic SUV dealers.

THere are a few small specialised suppliers that cater to the British car crowd that have got me out of a hole when the LR parts places have not come through. For wiring loom parts British Wiring Products are good although the company has just changed hands. Their site has a useful chart giving max current rating for each wire size and type which is useful if you are making your own harness.I ended up using them as they stock some of the more unusal wiring colours and connectors that are used on a 101. Fedhill USA are also useful for hydraulic fittings and brake line stuff that I could not get from our host's web site.

Once you get over the LR part numbers and start looking at stuff a lot of it is quite generic. I have also had some success with my local NAPA store with such things as a clutch master cyl overhaul kit and a fuel pump. I should add that in these two cases the LR overhaul kit has the wrong size of seals for a 101 and the LR fuel pump is NA or very expensive compared to $16 locally. In both cases it just required understanding the critical dimensions and requirements and having a friendly store clerk who is willing to let you spend some time with their x-ref catalogues. Time vs money I suppose.

As these trucks get older and more LR parts become NLA it opens a market for people like our hosts to step in with high quality (note the emphasis) replacements at a reasonable cost. This is one area that RN seems to be ahead of the game.

Cheers
Gregor

[giorgio]

I bought my first Series Land Rover in 1986, before the days of the Internet, and let me tell you it is a whole lot easier now than it was then to find parts. There were not even any US dealers back then.

I have done business with TLR, Rovers Down South, Rovers North, Wise Owl, and Rocky Mountain, in that order over the years, and have never had a "bad" experience with any of them.

Price is always important to me, but I agree with what others have said about the other qualities of a parts resource.

On my Series IIA, the tin can brake fluid reservoir was leaking. RN had a nice new plastic "replacement" part for $188.95. Wise Owl had an original looking metal "tin can" reservoir for $33.86. The "tin can" part turned out to be of much better (heavier) construction than the original part, but it still looked original.

I have to say that was a "no brainer" for me, over $150 cheaper!

Since they are located in western Canada, you might want to give them a try, since that is in your "neck of the woods"

[jp-]

Giorgio,

I have to dissagree with you on that Brake reservoir.

That plastic can is the sh!t. I have one on the 109". Fantastic bit of kit. You can see the level and it will never rust.

I didn't even realize anyone was still making them, otherwise I would have put one on the 88".

[TeriAnn]

I bought my first Series Land Rover in 1986, before the days of the Internet,

Ummm excuse me, but I first got my own internet connection in 1985 and there was already a thriving established internet community.

The British car mail list was founded in 1986. The LRO mail list split off from its parent british car mail list in early 1991. so in 1986 I was chatting about land Rovers on an internet mail list.

Contrary to popular belief Al Gore did not invent the internet in the 1990's.

[giorgio]

I am a little confused. I could not decide if you were agreeing with me or not, but either way......

I bought the heavy metal can from Wise Owl for $33.86. The original thin metal tin can type lasted 39 years, living in Newfoundland, New Jersey, and on the North Carolina coastline, before moving to Arkansas. This new heavier metal one should last at least that long, in an inland setting. If it only lasts another 39 years, I will be 101 years old. I think that the plastic would get brittle and crack before then, and anyway for $150 dollars cheaper, I am willing to take the chance, and it looks original.

To each their own, I suppose.

[giorgio]

TeriAnn,

Excuse me for the misstatement. I should have said, back before I had any knowledge of or access to the Internet. I believe that we (my company) first got Internet access in the mid 1990's here in central Arkansas, and we were certainly not the first on the block, but were probably still on the leading edge, (in Arkansas, that is, as far as small business owners are concerned.)

Giorgio

[jp-]

Ummm excuse me, but I first got my own internet connection in 1985 and there was already a thriving established internet community.

The British car mail list was founded in 1986. The LRO mail list split off from its parent british car mail list in early 1991. so in 1986 I was chatting about land Rovers on an internet mail list.

Contrary to popular belief Al Gore did not invent the internet in the 1990's.

You mean you were using BBS?

I'm sorry but I don't think the internet was around in 86. BBS's yes. Internet, no.

[Leslie]

You mean you were using BBS?

I'm sorry but I don't think the internet was around in 86. BBS's yes. Internet, no.

Could have been on a college campus at the time.....


I was using Gopher, ARCHIE, email, etc., in 1990 when I started college (had Fortran on an AVAX system); but, I'd had a computer at home since '78, dad brought home an Apple II when they first came out, I was programming in Basic and Pascal before 1980.... I know that we had a modem dialing in to BBS' in the mid 80's before I was in middle school even, but although I didn't know it at the time, ARPANET was running then, throught the 70's and 80's. Say, in, 86 or 87, I was configuring the TCP/IP switches on the PC's in the lab in high-school so we could post BBS notes then.

So, if you happened to be in Berkeley or some such place in the mid-80's, you very well could have been "on the 'net"....

[Leslie]

Oh, to answer the question.....

Example: the other day, I was trying to bleed the brakes in the Series. The bleeder screw snapped off. I didn't have one on-hand, but I ran out and grabbed an ez-out, and, it snapped off in the bleeder. At that point I figured it'd have to come out to the bridge to get it out, but I thought I'd check the other side, and its bleeder snapped, too. Being brakes, decided not to play around, grabbed the phone and called RN to see if they could get me a set the next day. I was too late for next day from them, it'd have been the following before I could have gotten them. So instead, I called BP, since they're several hours behind. Next morning, while I was working on some other things on the Rover, the UPS guy pulled up, and I started installing the new cylinders (I went ahead and got all four).

RN is fine. I still have catalogs from as far back as '98 that I reference (I don't think I have any older than that still); that's the thing I like about the old ones, is that it has the old LR part numbers. However, if I have sticker-shock when I look at the price on something, I'll quickly cross-reference to the other guys, see if it's something that's high across the board, or just anomalously high there.

I like BP too. I've had only one minor problem where I was charged regular price on a deal-of-the-day item, and they were going to credit me but it was awhile before they got around to it... it wasn't long before I needed something else, emailed them, and they sent whatever it was, as it and postage was about what the credit were. I've been happy w/ them. They'll have some things that RN doesn't (like replacement SIII serial number plates), but, usually, they've got the same thing as RN for a comparable price.

RDS, I've gotten a lot of stuff from Uncle George, but not directly, usually via my buddy David, who was on the phone w/ him almost daily. I need to call him, he sometimes has some of those unobtainium things that RN doesn't have, and often at surprisingly nice prices.

Wise Owl, I've gotten a few bits from Ray that I happened to catch on sale, no problem... haven't dealt w/ since the change in ownership, but don't think I'd hesitate to.

Rovah Farm, haven't had the pleasure yet, but have heard nothing but good things about Trevor.

DAP, I've used for several oddities that they had at killer prices, like an NOS washer bottle for my SIII, etc. etc,

AB, used to get the catalogs, but, as time has passed, it seemed they were more interested in upscaling on coiler trinket/accessories, and less on Series running parts, so, I don't bother anymore.

Have to admit, I've started to shop a little bit more w/ alternates for other British makes, like Victoria British, Moss, Motorhead, etc.,

TLR, again, I've gotten some bits from him via David, like a replacement diff for the Disco, etc.

I used to use Nathan Crabtree a lot, at least for Disco stuff, but haven't as much. I like Nathan a lot, he usually has really good prices, I've just been focusing on the Series again, the Disco is biding its time now....

One of my favorites is Will Tillery, Roverguy, he parts out a lot of coilers, so if you need something for a Disco or a Rangie, definitely check w/ him, he's gotten me many parts thus far, and many more to come in the future, I'm sure.

FWIW......

[Linus Tremaine]

I also like

Trevor at Rovah Farm has been very helpful to me. His prices are often good as well. He works well over email and you can just send him a request for pricing on a list of parts and he emails you back.

[scott]

didn't al gore invent the internet right after he built the first series?