brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,314 
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Jan 31, 2019 18:00:44 GMT
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Today I had reason to call at a fairly local place in Alfreton called GJ's who although not a traditional spares shop, they do sell a great selection of tools & consumables. It got me thinking that despite online shopping, some family business's can still offer good value for money and deserve our support.
This little lot was £13.35 (photo on next post as attaching photos on an opening thread seems impossible at the mo!)
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,314
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Jan 31, 2019 18:01:09 GMT
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£13.35!  |
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Jan 31, 2019 18:22:57 GMT
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The local place I use, smithsons in normacot (stoke on trent) is spot on price wise, a good old school factors with a good bunch of knowledgeable blokes who work there as well, a very personal service and they bend over backwards to help you out, out of all my time going there I've never had a wrong part
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Jan 31, 2019 18:42:19 GMT
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Today I had reason to call at a fairly local place in Alfreton called GJ's who although not a traditional spares shop, they do sell a great selection of tools & consumables. It got me thinking that despite online shopping, some family business's can still offer good value for money and deserve our support.
This little lot was £13.35 (photo on next post as attaching photos on an opening thread seems impossible at the mo!)
I live about 2 mins from G J’s, was always decent, but since they’ve had the huge extension on its great. It’s been a bit of a saver as well after they shut the B&Q up the road, as they have a load of DIY & building type stuff as well. Where abouts are you then? |
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Jan 31, 2019 21:14:21 GMT
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NO!
The bloke at the small local shop is a miserable sod too expensive and moans I use eBay too much
I pop in from time to time but his general attitude is poor
And I always leave thinking I’ll use eBay or euros in future
A shame because with a bit more of a welcoming attitude I’d swallow the extra expense,
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Last Edit: Jan 31, 2019 21:15:28 GMT by Mercdan68
Fraud owners club member
1999 Jaguar s type
1993 ford escort
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jan 31, 2019 21:44:22 GMT
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With most of mine, curse word.
GSF want a hefty fee and times and sometimes more than what the dealer charges! Naturally, I don't go there as much. I did have a contact there previous for cheapness but it's luck of the drawer
Leamoco? They sell alright stuff, but Jesus they are pricey! For what I paid for no-name OAT Coolant (£30) when I was stuck with no discount given on that at all, I got Mercedes Spec Coolant from Halfords for less. On tools they are pretty pricey as well. The ydo decent parts however and if I am stuck I'll sometimes go there as above.
ECP? They've been alright with me. Sure, I get the best prices via vouchers online but on a number of occasions for specialist bits I wouldn't have saved much by buying online. The parts also arrive quickly and generally they are the right parts. That's something CAS (now MPD) and GSF could rarely do.
Rugby Car & Commercial is a very strange one. If Bernard Black ran a motor factors that would be it! I've paid over the odds for some parts there but also paid well below retail at times! Most of their stuff is pretty decent. There's no no-name filters or crappy oils there. They have a Febi Bilstein oil stand for specialist oils (Merc SLS fluid, Ford PAS fluid etc. etc.), as well as selling Mahle filters and Dayco parts. In many ways, they are better than Leamoco.
Parkers? Overpriced curse word. Pricier than the OE stuff from GSF and ECP, and slow to order stuff. On my B6 Passat, they wanted more than VAG for a cam cover gasket; when I told them this, they didn't really care ; yet they moan that they're not busy? You can't make this stuff up!
A shame really, but it's the way of the world.
I did used to use some localish folk but they were specialists of the brand. That included PCT when they did Porsche parts in addition to Wards in Lutterworth. Canleys were also used at times
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,314
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Jan 31, 2019 22:00:17 GMT
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Today I had reason to call at a fairly local place in Alfreton called GJ's who although not a traditional spares shop, they do sell a great selection of tools & consumables. It got me thinking that despite online shopping, some family business's can still offer good value for money and deserve our support.
This little lot was £13.35 (photo on next post as attaching photos on an opening thread seems impossible at the mo!)
I live about 2 mins from G J’s, was always decent, but since they’ve had the huge extension on its great. It’s been a bit of a saver as well after they shut the B&Q up the road, as they have a load of DIY & building type stuff as well. Where abouts are you then? I'm in Ilkeston but travel up there fairly often! |
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,314
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Jan 31, 2019 22:03:27 GMT
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NO! The bloke at the small local shop is a miserable sod too expensive and moans I use eBay too much I pop in from time to time but his general attitude is poor And I always leave thinking I’ll use eBay or euros in future A shame because with a bit more of a welcoming attitude I’d swallow the extra expense, Shame that, I am happy to pay a tad more if the service and attitude is good. |
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Romac in Spondon are good. Not much more expensive than Halfords, even though I've got a trade card & if you order an out of stock part in the morning, they've usually got it by the afternoon.
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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I have a Halfords, Euro Car Parts and SC Motorfactors within a few minutes of each other. Generally speaking I'll use SC's as they tend to be the cheapest, only use halfords in a late/Sunday emergency or if I want to walk and get it.
Euro's is last resort if they have an offer or the part is cheaper by more than £5 over SC Motors
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I need to seriously look into who i use. Years a go my mates Dad ran a parts shop which was known locally as top notice for service.
Since i moved down to Nottingham, i've used Suttons, GSF and ECP. The shop round the corner is very very over-priced for things like paint and masking tape. Suttons i've always found good value. GSF expensive and rarely have what i want.
I work for a major OEM and i know how ECP treat us, so in some ways i know how much they are making on their parts and its disgusting.
I don't work on cars much any more as we have two moderns, and my old VW is not ready for parts yet, and when it will it will most likely be specialist parts.
Tools i go to machine mart or online, paint i order online or from a paint factors at Colwick and serivce parts I last ordered offline. I've been meaning to try our AutoDocs or something, but all this online ordering requires you to plan your jobs and not be in a Sunday evening last chance situation.
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We don't have a local motor factors, haven't for many years.
Our local ECP (25 minutes + away) are excellent, CES and Bennetts are about the same distance and are OK for certain things.
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 Specialist Bodyshop & Fabrication Classic, Retro, Prestige & Custom Small Repairs to Concours Restorations Mechanical Work Vintage to Modern |
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I will consider myself spoilt in that case but it is all about manging your expectations - don't expect rock bottom discounts that people get in the trade when you only spend £100 a year with the said factors - I use ECP in Basingstoke, AMS my local factors in the next village, LKQ in Basingstoke (automotive paint division of ECP) & a local automotive paint factors a mile away from me - all with fair prices & excellent service and if was any different my business would taken elsewhere
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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I will consider myself spoilt in that case but it is all about manging your expectations - don't expect rock bottom discounts that people get in the trade when you only spend £100 a year with the said factors - I use ECP in Basingstoke, AMS my local factors in the next village, LKQ in Basingstoke (automotive paint division of ECP) & a local automotive paint factors a mile away from me - all with fair prices & excellent service and if was any different my business would taken elsewhere Agreed. I think charging more than what a dealer does, however, is taking the curse word; that's just simply taking advantage of customers under the assumption 'motor factors are always cheaper'. I don't think anyone on this forum would endorse that in all honesty. Paintstore near me charge more than some others but I do value their advice and for me anyway, it's served me well and their paints have been pretty decent out of the can  . |
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I move around a lot but try to make use of local independants when I can, good results in no order from : Gearbox @ Foresthall & Byth (North East) ** Speedo @ Crook (Co Durham) ** A V Taylors @ Byker (Tyneside) ** Speedy Spares (Rootes stuff online, South Coast?) Aldon Automotive (Midlands nr Birmingham), fair prices but not cheap. ** Old school factors with retro stock on the shelf  |
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Ax GTi Turbo
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