Participation required please

[aupickup]

SO WE ALL HAVE HAD BAD EXPERIENCES OF SOME PARTS
THE QUESTION IS NOW, CAN ANYTHING BE DONE

[Judge]

I must admit that I was hoping that Andrew Stone would have joined this topic, and in view of the examples given, commented accordingly.

[MoggyTech]

SO WE ALL HAVE HAD BAD EXPERIENCES OF SOME PARTS
THE QUESTION IS NOW, CAN ANYTHING BE DONE

Well it won't change overnight that's for sure. The chrome issue has been going on for years, and I know a lot of people have sent stuff back and had replacements, so it makes you wonder what the suppliers are doing about the problem. Do they bin the old bit, or send it back to the manufacturer, with a circle of refunds going on and on, while nobody looks at fixing the problem.

This really will be a matter of the end user keeping up momentum of the issue. Even though they don't appear to make any input on here, it's pretty certain the bigger suppliers will monitor the traffic.

There have been hints that a couple of the suppliers are not happy, and are looking elsewhere for better quality parts. It can only be in their best interest long term.

[FrankM83]

Just 2 questions I wish answered
1) where do BMW and Merc get the chrome for their cars? it tends to survive pretty well!!!

2) The chrome in America seems to be of good quality do they have less restrictions on greener chrome?

[jonathon]

Dennis, its my intention to collate all of the issues listed on this thread and present it to the working party at our next meeting. What happens to it then depends on the strategy drawn up yo try and address both these issues and the 'proposed' dealer 'approved' list. Although I say approved this has yet to be decided, but hopefully it would run along the same lines as the MG star rating system.
I suppose that we cannot tell how the manufactures will respond to a descent amount of complaints/suggestions. Despite the reasonable response so far we will need much more in order to make an impact. How to gain the most replies could be brought up at the next working group.
As I said before, I'm hoping to arrange an informal meeting of the traders at the National so that we can air our thoughts.

[plastic_orange]

If as stated several times here that the website membership is only a fraction of the overall membership, then why not encourage a club survey - ask specific quality related questions, and collate the response. This could be easily distributed in the mag, and the results could be published - repeat every year as naturally suppliers would want to up their game - becomes easy to spot what not to buy.
Ride magazine (motorbikes) does an annual survey covering all aspects of biking, with even dealers being rated. They also award 'ride approved' labels to products that actually work - what would you buy - rated or not?

Pete

[jonathon]

Pete thats what we will be working towards with the working group.Several ideas will be discussed as to how the questionnaire is best circulated and to what it will contain, this will also double up as a testament to the service provided by the given trader, which then might lead to a star rating. I like the idea of the 'approved labels'.

[chrisd87]

My latest example of poor parts quality:

A while ago I managed to leave my petrol cap on top of a pump at Reading services on the M4, so I bought a new (non-locking) one. All has been OK until the other weekend when after a longish drive the car conked out with the fuel pump racing. The cork seal in the new cap had swelled up and come loose somehow causing a vacuum in the tank. Seal dispensed with and all is OK again.

[Pyoor_Kate]

iirc:

1275 engine backplate - mounting hole for starter motor too small, had to be ground out.
Recon starter motors (got through 2) and alternators fail remarkably quickly (got through 4)
1275cc (particularly) points - the heel's too soft. Worst set I had to adjust the timing every week because it'd barely run after that length of time.
Dizzy cap - incorrect contactor locations so had gouges cut through them by the rotor arm.
Wipers - generally awful, the stainless/chrome ones last a couple of months and the plastic ones don't clear the screen properly.
Jonothan, You've seen the fit of the replacement panels on Rebecca, they're C-Ware, but I'm not sure if they're Sri-Lankan or not.
Falcon stainless steel exhaust - got through 3 centre sections and on my second rear section. First rear section arch was in the wrong place, the 2 centre sections all had the weld fail at the back of the front silencer.

I've never bothered replacing any chrome except that on the rear bumper; and that only 'cos someone ran into it.

has anyone tried to make a claim against poor parts i wonder

I did, actually, regarding a seatbelt that failed after 2 years. I claimed it failed to last a reasonable amount of time (which is what the law says it has to last); after quite a lot of pushing they replaced it, but it wasn't easy.

[Cap'n-Jack]

Does anyone else have issues with flasher units? Or is that just me?!