21/08/2026
WHY WE DO NOT FIT CUSTOMER SUPPLIED PARTS 🔧
We hear it all the time:
“I can get the same part online for a fraction of the price.”
Sometimes you can.
But sometimes that deal really is too good to be true.
Here is a genuine example.
A genuine Land Rover TDV6 oil filter costs us £22.28 inc VAT.
We, look up, order and invoice this to you for £26.22 including VAT.
Online, filters advertised under the same Land Rover part number are available from well known Chinese marketplaces for as little as 74p.
Yes. SEVENTY FOUR PENCE. 😳
And at first glance, some of them look remarkably convincing.
The box is made to resemble genuine packaging.
The part number is correct.
The filter looks roughly the right shape.
It even comes with the O ring.
But what is actually inside the box?
That is the problem.
⚠️ FILTER MEDIA QUALITY
An oil filter is not just folded paper.
The filter media needs to remove contamination while still allowing the correct oil flow. Poor quality media can allow particles straight through, become blocked prematurely, tear, or collapse.
⚠️ OIL FLOW
A filter that is too restrictive can reduce oil flow.
On a modern turbocharged diesel engine, that oil is feeding bearings, camshafts, timing components and turbochargers.
Saving £25 on a filter suddenly becomes rather insignificant if it contributes to a £10,000 engine failure.
⚠️ SEALS
That cheap O ring also matters.
Wrong material.
Wrong hardness.
Wrong dimensions.
Poor resistance to heat and oil.
Any of those can result in an oil leak or loss of oil pressure.
⚠️ QUALITY CONTROL
With a recognised manufacturer there is a specification, manufacturing process, quality control system and supply chain behind the product.
With an unknown online part, we often have no meaningful way of knowing who actually manufactured it, what specification it was manufactured to, or even whether two filters bought six months apart came from the same factory.
⚠️ TRACEABILITY
If we supply a component, we know where it came from.
We have an invoice.
We have a supplier.
We have batch and manufacturer information where applicable.
We have somebody to go back to if something goes wrong.
If you arrive with a filter bought online because “the advert said it was genuine”, we cannot verify its history or authenticity simply by looking at the box.
⚠️ WARRANTY
When WE supply and fit a part, we are responsible for the whole job.
If that part develops a genuine manufacturing fault, we deal with the supplier, warranty claim, replacement and associated process.
If you supply the part, that chain is broken.
And this is the most important bit...
OUR INSURANCE SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES CUSTOMER SUPPLIED PARTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR NORMAL SUPPLY CHAIN.
That means we would be fitting a component that our own business insurance has specifically told us it will not cover.
We simply cannot take that risk.
💷 “BUT YOU MAKE PROFIT ON PARTS...”
Yes.
Of course we do.
We are a business.
The margin on a part helps cover sourcing it, ordering it, checking it, dealing with incorrect parts, returns, warranty administration, supplier accounts and the responsibility we take for supplying it.
But that genuinely is NOT the reason we refuse customer supplied parts.
If it were purely about profit, we could simply increase the labour charge and fit whatever you brought through the door.
We don't.
The reason is liability.
If we fit it, our name is on the job.
And if something goes wrong, nobody remembers who found the bargain online.
They remember who fitted it.
Sometimes the cheapest part you can find is cheap for a very good reason.
We would rather explain why we said no today than explain why your engine has failed tomorrow.
