Where do you get parts?

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
This is a topic that is threaded here and there and everywhere, but have we really talked about where to get parts for any given situation?

For example. I just need some brake lines for the Disco I. Easy.... sort of. Problem is, with my schedule, when I need a part, I really need it ASAP, because by the time it gets here, I'll be back to my real life, and I won't be able to do the work for another month or so. If I could plan ahead, that would be another thing, but that's not the way it works.

In my experience with buying new parts for most of my trucks, I've used Rovers North and Rovah Farm. I've been happy with both. Rovers North is expensive, but sometimes that's what you want. However, with both of these, and with any U.S. based company, I've been frustrated by the shipping costs and time. The bumper from Rovers North took something like 6-8 weeks! Most shipments take more than a week, and you pay top dollar for any U.S. supplier.

When it came to many of the parts for the Defender, I ended up ordering from LRDirect. Sometimes I specifically wanted the cheap part, because I didn't care. Sometimes I made sure to order the most expensive part. I've had a few bits of frustration with parts from them not being as pictured or not having as high quality as I would like. But everything has been usable. Most importantly for me, I've never had a shipment, no matter how big, take more than a week from order to on my door. I had one box get here in three days. That's the same amount of time it would take to mail a letter from here to San Diego.

Is there any place in the U.S. that I can go to get, as in this case, wear items like brakes, the air cleaner for my 300Tdi, the right lug nuts, etc...? Where do you drive to get your parts? Where do you order from, and have confidence that you are going to get the part by the end of the week?
 

Tbaumer

Technical Excellence Contributor
Without a Land Rover dealer or parts supplier anywhere near Southern Oregon, everything has to be ordered. My problem isn’t wait time as much as it is a lack of the knowledge that prevents me from ordering the wrong part or paying more than I need to. Getting the right part the first time is definitely worth paying more though. I also tend to order extras of the parts I think I will encounter as I sort the rest of this 110. As a result, I am slowly accumulating a second truck :).
 

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
It depends....there are generic sources for consumables that can be bought at any number of places locally.
For Rover specific parts Roversnorth and Rovahfarm are my two go to places. However if I need some parts from them and they can satisfy an anticipated consumable part need at lower overall cost, absolutely I will add those to the order. I rarely order from the UK. Most recent item from the UK were galvy half door tops from SP4x4.
 

Roverman2010

Well-known member
I just had an order with Trevor at Rovahfarm 2 days shipping and it's free if you order a certain amount and fits in one of those usps stuff boxes, can't beat that.
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
Generally for Defender repair parts I usually use Zack at Rovers North. For off road accessories I usually use Erik at Lucky 8. Anything for newer Rovers I use Eric at Atlantic British.

Where do you order from, and have confidence that you are going to get the part by the end of the week?

As for this question, I would say Expedition Exchange. John does a low volume compared to RN, LK8, and AB, so you get a little more of a personalised service, but also probably pay a premium price. The other thing I like about EE is that you won't find inferior alternative parts such as Terra Firma.

I've definitely bought stuff from LR Direct, but I generally support our US vendors.

I never buy from Bearmach.
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Zack at RN
LRDirect
Bearmach

In that order. I have had less than sterling results with the other mentioned parts suppliers. YMMV
 
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blueboy

Well-known member
For the RRC and D1:

RN especially for OEM parts especially when I had the Series IIa 109
Atlantic British also OEM parts
EE as John has some great info on his stuff
If no one has it here, will try GB vendors
 
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Uncle Douglas

Well-known member
Callsign: delete
This means Britpart now owns rights to the Terrafirma brand name which was already lowest cost/ bottom shelf/leaky shocks/easily bent Chinese steel.
 

1of40

Well-known member
My go to is RN/Zack and Eric/LKY8. They’ve been instrumental in keeping three high mileage, daily driven GEMs trucks on the road for years.
 
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BarryO

Well-known member
For replacement items for the Disco (brake pads and rotors, wipers, etc.) I first go to Amazon Prime w. free shipping.
 

terryjm1

Well-known member
My D1 was my first Land Rover. I didn’t know about the best forums to get advice early on in my ownership. Over time, I found the best forums, this being one of them. Before I found the best forums, I made some mistakes. For example, I bought a brake master cylinder from Rock Auto that made my brakes lockup after short drives. There are still odds and ends I will buy from Rock Auto, or generic Ebay sellers for example, but not much. I have purchased from Rovers North, LR Direct, Lucky8, Paddock Spares, and occasionally from folks like Robert Davis for the specific things he and those like him sell. For used stuff, Will Tillery and Paul Grant have done well by me. As far as the larger vendors, the overall best all around is Rovers North as they really know their stuff and will not sell junk. And, Zack is just one of those really good guys and represents them very well. LR Direct has a ton of stuff and many options but in my experience their online catalog is not very helpful. In my experience, you better know what part number you need. Paddock Spares has a good selection and price is very reasonable. I do shop around and who and where I buy from is very dependent on the item, price, time of delivery based on need, and need for quality. So, all that being said and adding all considerations together, if I had to pick one place, it would be Rovers North. I haven’t found anywhere that doesn’t take at least a few days to ship. Well, Amazon, but I only buy oil and very basic stuff from them, which I could also get at Autozone.
 
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blueboy

Well-known member
I haven’t found anywhere that doesn’t take at least a few days to ship

My orders from RN arrive in 2 days; assuming the part is in stock which is most of the time.

Guess it depends upon your location.
 
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Z.G

Well-known member
I appreciate everyone purchasing from us and supporting RN, we're a small company in this industry. I understand why people shop around and overseas, we all want to save money when we can. I think the lesson to learn is that the cheapest part isn't always the least expensive. As we saw in a thread on another forum things can go south very quickly, and it's not always the supplier at fault. I know we lose a lot of money sticking our neck out for customers when it's not always our fault, but retaining those customers successfully is why we're still in business. That starts at the top with Mark and works its way down, we're certainly not a corporation hell bent on making money, we're enthusiast owned and run.
 

Dan kemper

Founding Member
Callsign: KK6ECF
Just got my alternator from Zack and rovers north and I am back on the road! Support these guys
 
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terryjm1

Well-known member
At the risk of stating the obvious, thinking more on good local options for parts, I dont think they exist any longer. When I was a teen I worked in an old fashioned parts store. We would try hard to get whatever a customer wanted as fast as possible. It was in a suburban area close to a major metropolitan area. We had access to many major parts warehouses and made a few trips a day to those warehouses to pick up parts we didn’t normally stock. And, we had a large warehouse of our own attached to the store. Also, within 3 miles, there were two foreign parts store specialists with impressive stock on hand. One, Imparts, focused mainly on German makes. The other, British Car Parts, did as their name suggests. We regularly bought parts from both to supply our customers.

If someone wanted a part for a 30 year old ”foreign” vehicle, usually, we could find it the same day and at worst have it the following day.

I worked there about the time Autozone moved into town. Service and quality was the only way we could compete. As time passed, the foreign specialists closed down. Years later the store I worked for closed down along with most of the other old fashioned places as well as the warehouses that supplied them. The Wal-Mart model of right on time delivery made the warehouses obsolete.

Frankly, the place I worked for became the equivalent of a “buggy whip factory.”

So, in a nutshell, I dont believe good local (short drive) parts places for older vehicles exist, well, unless you are fortunate enough to live near places like Rovers North.

Rovers North, IMHO, is the best overall option today. I’ll always take a look at them first when buying parts.
 
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