When Buying Parts....

CB1300 · January 23, 2009

A lot of people on here seem to search out the specialists in Lexus or American companies.

It may also be worth your while giving your local motor factor a call.

I got the Blue Print ADL cam belt kit with all idlers etc for £106 and the QH water pump for £63 from a large West Country based Motor factor.

Many companies on the net are selling lexus spares as OE quality meaning its a patent part in any way.

Blue Print ADL are renowned for exceptional quality as are Quinton and Hazell.

I also called two of the well known lexus specialists and got quotes of £145/£149 for the CB kit and £89/£96 for the WP + Delivery, also timing belts had to be a special order with one company quoting up to two weeks.

Granted the motor factors I ordered from also had to order it as a special , but it will be here today.

American companies like Rock Auto where running at £146 for a WP with shipping, and thats not to say you won`t pay anything at the door either ?

So it may well be worth ringing your local motor factor first.

Haylands · January 23, 2009

A lot of people on here seem to search out the specialists in Lexus or American companies.
It may also be worth your while giving your local motor factor a call.

I got the Blue Print ADL cam belt kit with all idlers etc for £106 and the QH water pump for £63 from a large West Country based Motor factor.

Many companies on the net are selling lexus spares as OE quality meaning its a patent part in any way.

Blue Print ADL are renowned for exceptional quality as are Quinton and Hazell.

I also called two of the well known lexus specialists and got quotes of £145/£149 for the CB kit and £89/£96 for the WP + Delivery, also timing belts had to be a special order with one company quoting up to two weeks.

Granted the motor factors I ordered from also had to order it as a special , but it will be here today.

American companies like Rock Auto where running at £146 for a WP with shipping, and thats not to say you won`t pay anything at the door either ?

So it may well be worth ringing your local motor factor first.

Hi

I'm a bit confused here..... On one hand you write this on a post here

12 months MOT is also always a good start, mine had 12 months and 12 months tax !

Service records are easy to forge, but see if they have the invoices to back up the service record, again mine did.

This alongside old MOT certificates can also warrant the mileage.

If not a call to lexus will also confirm if the car has indeed been serviced by an authorised lexus dealer.

Check the tires especially on the inside edges, unscrew the transmission fluid cap and check the condition of it.

Run the car engine dont be afraid of giving it a good rev look for all the tell tale signs of anything untoward.

Take the car for a good road test check out the heating, even if its summer run the heaters on full blast,and the air con on cold even if its winter.

Ask the owner lots of questions and ask to look at servicing invoices and repair bills.

Also get the car checked out, mycarcheck, HPI etc

When buying my lexus I was told walk away if it doesn't have full service,and a large number of previous owners is also not good.

All very worthwhile points.... but now you are advocating fitting sub standard cheap parts to your, "full Lexus service history" car, surely after buying the best car you could find you would want to keep it in top condition, you expect it to be reliable and trouble free yet you want to fit the cheapest parts you can.

Blueprint ADL have been around for about 20 years, they do not make any items themselves, they have shareholders, they are in business to make money, they import cheap items usually from Taiwan and market them under their own name, they do not have a name for quality, they have a name for cheap parts that the trade uses to increase their profit. A lot of independent garages will use Blueprint parts and charge the customer for genuine parts.

Quinton Hazell have also been around a while and used to just make clutches and brakes, they have now widened this to a lot of other parts, again they source them from the Far East and market them under their perceived quality brand name.... They only have to offer a 12mth warranty so quality can be very poor on some items and they will have no problems with returns.

Saving a few quid on parts is just not financially sound, you will pay in the long run, your water pump will have a reduced life, your cambelt will probably stretch and lower your performance....

If you want to save money then do the work yourself, it is not hard it just takes time and patience, but please use the proper genuine parts, keep the receipts and the value of your pride and joy will stay high....

I would say join the club as a Gold member and get a discount on parts but I have to say in practice I find if you ask the parts man for a discount as you have an older car they will usually knock off 10-15% anyway...

Pete

aido · January 23, 2009

I thought all genuine parts only had a 12 month warranty as well though? Or do you mean that the patent parts will only be designed to last 12 months whereas the genuine ones are designed to last say 6 years / 60,000 miles?

I just renewed many parts on mine all with genuine, there was something like £60 difference between the patent water pump for mine and the genuine so I sent the patent one back and got the genuine anyway.

CB1300 · January 23, 2009

This is the trouble here... My car cost me 3K Its probably going to lose another £1k-1500k over the next few years, even servicing by the Queens very own mechanics isn't going to help preserve the cars value.

It seems absolutely pointless in having such an old car serviced by Lexus, it may give some kind of peace of mind but I have had some very dodgy dealings with main stealer's in the past, top money doesn't always mean top quality.

I completely disagree with you on ADL and QH being cheap parts, I got them cheaper not cheap by going to a motor factor.

Three of my local factors quoted over £150 for a BP ADL cam belt kit, its called shopping around.

In the States they seem to supply a lot of Gates kits as direct replacements, again non OEM, I don't know who actually makes the timing belt kits for Lexus but you can be assured it wont be Lexus themselves.

The points I make when buying a car are valid and a Lexus should be avoided without full service.

Of course if you are lucky enough to be able to afford main dealer servicing continue with it, but then again I suspect if you are you would driving a 08 plate LS not a 98 like mine.

aido · January 23, 2009

That's a very good point - for older cars I don't see much point in it unless you just want to throw money away on dealer servicing! I take mine to Charlesworth nowadays and will continue to do so as they're bang on.

Plus in the past I've run a Blueprint clutch and am running Blueprint disks and pads at the rear and they've all been fine - in fact the clutch on the IS was better spec than the OEM one!

When it came to the waterpump what helped me change was that they'd sent me an incompatible one so the quickest option I had to get the correct one was from Toyota anyway!

I was talking to a motor factors the other week who specialise in imports and they'd been telling me they have a lot of business from Toyota and Lexus - so maybe people out there are being charged for OEM parts but not actually getting them? Makes you think! At least the way I do things now I know exactly what parts are going on the car - people on here have used Lexus dealers in the past and they didn't get everything they paid for!

CB1300 · January 23, 2009

Aido... My sentiments exactly !

I used to work near a Toyota dealership and I would see the Partco van going in and out at least a dozen times a day..Delivering genuine parts ? I very much doubt it! But would love to have seen what was on the customers invoice !

Haylands · January 23, 2009

Hi

I totally agree, I didn't mean get your car serviced by Lexus their hourly rate is far too high, all I said was pay the bit extra for Lexus parts. If you order a part from Lexus you know that it has been tested by them and is top quality, if you buy anything but, then you don't know where it has come from, it could be top class but it could be made by an 8 year old in a sweat shop in Taiwan to a very poor standard, a timing belt has cords running through rubber, who knows what the cords are made of, Is the rubber the correct type, is it heat resistant, will it stretch??? If you pay a bit more for the Lexus part you will know it will do the job....

Main dealers are always using motor factors to cut down on time, three days to order from Lexus verses 10mins from the local factors, but if you just buy the parts you can tell they are genuine as they come in the right box or wrapper, also the dealer is happy to order you the genuine part because they don't have a car on a ramp taking up space.

Blueprint and QH can supply very good parts it's just that you can't always be sure how good.....

£50 extra on a genuine cambelt now and confidence in use, or hundreds for a new engine when it snaps..... A small saving on the water pump now and it has poor quality bearings and starts to leak in 18mths and you pay to have the job done again......I know which I'd have....

Your car may only be worth £1500 in a years time but it maybe worth nothing with a snapped belt or cooked engine...

Pete

ManicMark · January 23, 2009

CB1300

Im afraid I have to agree with Pete on the belt & pump, its all well and good using cheaper after market parts, but for me personally I wouldn't risk it on a water pump & cam belt,

things like pads, discs, air filters ( parts that if they fail are not going to cause major greif) I would buy good after market.

My ls is also a 98 so has also lost its resale value, ( thats how I can aford to have it) I also do all my own work on it ( if I get stuck my best budy is a time served master mechanic). i have a tight budget, I also intend to keep my LS for years so for me an original belt & pump would be the wise option, its once in 60,000 miles & peace of mind.

just my pennys worth & not ganging up on you.

Mark

CB1300 · January 23, 2009

I guess its Horses for courses , I am completely satisfied that I would have put quality parts in my car.

No main dealer would ever recommend you put anything other than "OEM" in the car, thats the nature of the car game.

A friend of mine runs a Roller as a hobby, the OEM spark plugs are made by Champion and actually have Rolls Royce on them, they are in fact the same plugs that fit a Metro City or something.

You can imagine the difference in price for the same product only marketed slightly different.

Incidentally does anybody know who makes the timing belts for Lexus ? On inquiring about an OEM water Pump I was told by Lexus its by Lexus and I think they are actually made by Bosch.

Was told the same thing for the timing belt, I bet its a Ferodo or something or maybe even a blueprint or at least from the same factory

aido · January 23, 2009

My timing belt was listed as Fujitsibo or something like that on the system, just trying to find the part in the EPC now!

aido · January 23, 2009

Sorry that was wrong - it's MITSUBOSHI whoever the heck they are - and that is what's listed on the EPC and it's also the part supplied by them and now fitted to my car :D