Thanks Both
Yes, the PFS/PFV ones are "Professional Parts Sweden", and I can see that they are much better engineered than the ones that I got a couple of months back.
It's the old ones that I got from the local motor factors that are showing signs of premature wear and tear. The PFS/PFV ones are clearly a superior product, and as they only cost £12 each I guess if I get a year from them I can't complain.
But it does make you wonder just how safe pattern parts might be. I mean, drop links will just get noisy long before they give out altogether, and I'm well able to recognise the signs and do something about it, but what about parts that are infinitely more safety-critical?
How many of us in an effort to keep our older cars going will cheerfully fit after-market parts - brake discs, pads, wheel bearings etc that we buy from outlets we'd believe to be reputable? Places like Andrew Page, SAS, GSF or Eurocarparts, which are the same places that most independent garages use for what might be termed "service parts". The very fact that these suppliers exist and thrive is because they're generally cheaper and more convenient than the main dealers. Indeed when last I tried to buy an oil filter for my S90 from the main dealer they couldn't actually supply one.
This weekend my daughter has had new tyres, discs and pads all round on her 2008 Mini, and as always, she's taken the car to the main dealer because she believes that it's the right thing to do. It's cost her of course, but the tyres are Mini-approved run-flat tyres, and the new discs and pads will be genuine Mini parts.
Sometimes it's tempting to feel a bit smug about keeping an older car on the road through a combination of DIY, independent garages, and shopping around for spares. But this has me wondering if perhaps keeping older cars on the road in this way isn't necessarily such a smart move after all.
Jack
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