Spare Parts Prices and Suppliers

PostPost by: terryp » Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:15 am

I made a big long list of things for my S4 and thought I would send it to the usual suspects...........

Results :
1st Place was a company that had most of the items and was very very friendly and is helping to source the US items.
2nd Place was a company that was very very efficient and very friendly and too be honest there was only ?300 between them and 1st place. If No1 hadn't been No1 I would have gone for these as many of my French Friends do.
3rd Place .....didn't even respond to my email / list, now I know I should have phoned as well but as I have used this company a little bit I thought they should know me anyway.

I am surprised by No 3 as we are talking ?4K in parts ......and growing

Anyway make your mind up who is who!

Oh yeah and I have the last of Clive's big radiators! ....with twin fans....... 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

All the best
Terry
terryp
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1571
Joined: 29 Nov 2007

PostPost by: oldelanman » Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:37 am

Hi Terry,
An interesting observation but I'm not quite sure what point you are making.
In my experience you can?t conclude that one dealer is always cheaper than another based on the price of your particular basket of spares. The prices of the individual items will vary considerably from supplier to supplier so the overall cost will always depend on the parts in your basket. ? a different set of parts and another supplier may well be cheaper overall. You could of course price each individual item and buy each from the cheapest source - too much trouble though I would have thought. Another point to bear in mind is that for some parts lower price may indicate lower quality.
In recent years I have bought parts from four of the main suppliers in the UK. I have found them all to be very helpful and friendly but they have all supplied incorrect, ill fitting or poor quality parts on occasions. In each case they were happy to refund or replace without fuss but it is annoying none-the-less.
If you are buying a significant quantity of parts it?s always worth asking for a discount or free shipping ? you never know, it?s worth a try - worked for me anyway.

Regarding the supplier who failed to respond, unless there is a genuine excuse, I think you should name them so others on here don?t waste their time ? they don?t deserve anyone?s custom.

Regards,
Roger
S4 DHC
oldelanman
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1967
Joined: 02 Jan 2008

PostPost by: terryp » Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:47 am

Roger
No point, its Free Parking! Just my rant ....... that in the current recession type times one supplier was too busy?
I have had the same experience as you in the past with incorrect parts or poorly fitting parts and always found all three helpful in that respect.
I did ask for their most competitive price , not just list price.
I would rather not name them , but surely you can guess who the 3 are and in what order just by the descriptions

Terry
PS If it helps. I didn't go to Christopher Neil.
terryp
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1571
Joined: 29 Nov 2007

PostPost by: elansprint71 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:05 pm

Susan Miller is at the top of my list for difficult to find bits and pieces, however she is not an e-mail person, give her a ring, she's very, very helpful.

Chris Neil are just down the road from me but I only go there as a last resort. they used to be excellent and #1 choice for most parts but they have grown very grand these days and old Lotus cars are not even on their first page. Having said that, Paul who runs the spares desk has been there for years and is very helpful, despite the company he is working for having changed direction.

Matty can be something of a curate's egg; avoid their wiring loom. :evil: Now, I'll have to lie down....
User avatar
elansprint71
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 4435
Joined: 16 Sep 2003

PostPost by: terryp » Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:40 pm

No 3 turned up today!
So all is well in the world after all :wink:

Terry
terryp
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1571
Joined: 29 Nov 2007

PostPost by: nebogipfel » Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:59 pm

elansprint71 wrote:Susan Miller is at the top of my list for difficult to find bits and pieces, however she is not an e-mail person, give her a ring, she's very, very helpful.


Agreed, anyone who criticises Susan deserves a damn good thrashing :shock:

Just my opinion of course :lol: :wink:
John

No longer active on here, I value my privacy.
User avatar
nebogipfel
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1716
Joined: 25 Sep 2003

PostPost by: terryp » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:07 pm

John
She's No 1!

So no thrashing for me!!

Terry
terryp
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1571
Joined: 29 Nov 2007

PostPost by: nebogipfel » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:31 pm

terryp wrote:John
She's No 1!


Without question :wink:

terryp wrote:So no thrashing for me!!


I should hope not Terry :lol:
John

No longer active on here, I value my privacy.
User avatar
nebogipfel
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1716
Joined: 25 Sep 2003

PostPost by: terryp » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:16 am

Epilogue...
3 prices and ?300 between them all on a like for like basis meaning really the main 3 are very competitive and doing it right. I think we are lucky to have so many suppliers to choose from. (Having come from the Imp world when really there was less and less. I always preferred Imp Service at South Godstone!)
Who you use is all down to personal preference as each would have matched each others price.

Back to work now and dreams of all those boxes I will be opening soon

Terry
terryp
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1571
Joined: 29 Nov 2007

PostPost by: TeeJay » Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:02 pm

Rolling chassis restoration, started April 2007, completed April 2009.

Body strip, tissue/matt repair, started April 2009, respray completed August 2011.

I am still working on body engine bay parts; Servo, Pedal box etc. Every item being stripped, examined, repaired/replaced. Then roof lining, rewire etc.
Still lots to do, Heater Box, Fuel Tank, Radiator, the list goes on & on.

Costs to date. Tooling = ?1500, Rolling Chassis = ?980, Gearbox & Engine = ?1600, Body (not yet complete) = ?1900, Miscellaneous = ?480.

Al work done by myself, other than skim & balance flywheel & skim head, so no labour costs.

The above costs do not include the MaxJax 2 Post Lift, my gift to myself at Xmas. This is to help my aging body refit the Body to Chassis. I was a young 44 when the +2 when into my garage in 1989 to remove the broken chassis.

A big shock on the early Lodestar Headlining costs, last year it was ?114, now its ?195 excluding VAT. :x
This is due to shortage of the Lodestar material. I what to stay original but not purchased yet, as its not ripped I will try a clean up first.
If only I could forecast price increases, I could have bought this years ago!!!

*************************
elansprint71 said:-

Matty can be something of a curate's egg; avoid their wiring loom. :evil: Now, I'll have to lie down....

Pete. I have sent you a PM as I have just received 3 wiring looms (Rear, Main & Dash). I welcome your comments on what issues I can expect.

************************
Attachments
Body Resprayed.jpg and
Body Resprayed
Rolling Chassis.jpg and
Rolling Chassis.
Trevor
1968 Elan +2 50/0173
User avatar
TeeJay
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 579
Joined: 30 May 2007

PostPost by: ardee_selby » Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:36 pm

Trevor

TeeJay wrote: Al work done by myself, other than skim & balance flywheel & skim head, so no labour costs


8)

TeeJay wrote: Costs to date. Tooling = ?1500


Could you expand on that? Does that include all generic stuff or is that "special tooling" for an Elan e.g. rear hub jig & fixtures or whatever?

Cheers - Richard
ardee_selby
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2197
Joined: 30 Sep 2003

PostPost by: TeeJay » Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:07 pm

Richard.
The Tooling costs were items that were purchased for assisting with the rebuild, well that?s my reason given to my better half. :wink:

Items included a Clarke CL430 lathe, Shot blast cabinet, Parts washer, Sealy Folding crane, small 8/44 compressor for a Air mask, (already had a 3hp compressor for the spraying).These were the higher cost items. Then tools like Load leveller (for engine), 2 spray guns, 1 for primer, 1 HVLP for the top coat, brake pipe flare kit etc.

I made my own spring compression rig, these costs included in the Miscellaneous.

Hope I have answered your question.
Trevor
1968 Elan +2 50/0173
User avatar
TeeJay
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 579
Joined: 30 May 2007

PostPost by: Tonyw » Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:58 am

Folk's,

Back to the top of the thread I have purchase parts from Ray at Rd's Steve and SJ Sports Cars and Susan Miller, to be frank Susan Miller comes a very poor third, I have not had very much success getting her to answer emails whereas RD's and SJ's have always replied promptly and the parts have always been sent promptly as well, seems to me that susan prefers to do business on the phone which is OK if you share the same time zone.

Regards,

Tonyw
Second childhood? no just an extension of my first.
Tonyw
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 392
Joined: 23 Sep 2006

PostPost by: AussieJohn » Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:07 pm

Sue is a phone person, but has filled orders so quickly for me, ordered at 3pm one day and arrived the next day. I always try her first and move to others if she can,t supply. This is no reflection on the other 2 who are very good but I just feel that supporting Sue makes for a competitive marketplace, if we were down to one supplier what price would we be paying!
AussieJohn
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 456
Joined: 10 Jun 2007

PostPost by: vernon.taylor » Mon Feb 06, 2012 4:11 pm

Salut les gars

I'm with Sue, too. Sure, emails are not always answered, but get her on the 'phone and you can be sure you'll get your parts quick - and we are talking about cars that finished production in the early 70s - that's how business was done then.

I've found her prices competitive, and my last shipment she sent before I paid - it's nice to have trust that works both ways.

I bought my car from Paul Matty, and was very impressed with the preparation of the car. Two faults that I hadn't noticed - an intermittent loose valve guide and a synchro that only played up under stress - were both seen to before delivery. Their price list is huge, but not up to date - they didn't have some difficult items I was looking for. The parts department are helpful and quickly sent pictures of parts for comparison. I didn't buy from them in the end but they made a good impression.

@+

Vernon
User avatar
vernon.taylor
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 829
Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Next

Total Online:

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests