Warning - carparts4less.co.uk

[mjb]

So I need to replace my bimmer's two pre-cat o2 sensors, and carparts4less.co.uk are quite a bit cheaper than anywhere else. Great. Put in the order, wait 2 days, and this afternoon I got stuck into the job.

Then I got stuck. The new o2 sensors have very different plugs to what's on the car! After tidying up, I have a closer look at things. There's a seal on the boxes which I didn't open. There's also a eurocarparts sticker on it. Hmmmm.

I carefully look up the Bosch code on the label and find out yes, it should be right. Then I look on the o2 sensors and lo and behold there's a different code - these o2 sensors are for bloody Volvos!!! Yep, it looks like carparts4less exists to sell eurocarparts returns, which may or may not be the parts you've actually ordered.

Going to ring them tomorrow and find out wtf they're going to do about it.

Unfortunately I have a radiator fan on order from them at the moment too. Bought one from ebay, but after stripping down the front of the car (they don't make it easy to get to...), I find out it looks like the seller put the wrong part number on his ad. Very unhappy.

[mjb]

I've done some research and found I can expect some atrocious customer service from carparts4less

Funnily enough, I've also seen a number of places where a eurocarparts person has denied that carparts4less is anything to do with them. However, if you look up cp4l (uk company 07596462), you see that all its directors and officers are also directors and officers of euro car parts. The company has issued two £1 shares, both of which are owned by Euro Car Parts Ltd.

Dodgy doesn't begin to cover the look of this company!

[grasmere59]

My mate who runs his own garage has had parts from euro's and boxes have been opened,oily fingerprints on stuff etc etc,it seems returns just get stuck back on the shelf and resold.

[lozz]

There both different company's,

I work for euro car parts I've only been there for 4 weeks but
Up to now ihavent seen anything dodgey about them,

[Welly]

I've had some trouble with this type of motor factors where they can't quite narrow down the exact bit you need from the data they hold, they get it close but not exact sometimes - that's when stuff goes back, it doesn't mean it's dodgy just because someone's opened the box and realised it wasn't quite right - it happens, and especially as so many parts seem to crossover between manufacturers now.

Let us know how you get on getting the right bits though.

[mjb]

I've had some trouble with this type of motor factors where they can't quite narrow down the exact bit you need from the data they hold, they get it close but not exact sometimes - that's when stuff goes back, it doesn't mean it's dodgy just because someone's opened the box and realised it wasn't quite right - it happens, and especially as so many parts seem to crossover between manufacturers now.

Ah, but the boxes they sent me were for the right parts, but they may as well have contained stuffed toys

There both different company's,

Carparts4less is owned by eurocarparts, and run by eurocarparts directors

[lozz]

They've most probs got shares in it,

Cpl used to be called yourco239 Ltd or similar, so I've been told,

In all honesty I think when buying parts your always best buying from a source where you can take it back
Straight away if there's a problem with the part or if its a miss match,

Istill use my local car parts shop - at least I can check its the right part before handing
Over cash that way..

[gumby6371]

I thought it was common knowledge that the 2 companies were connected, they even have identical websites. When I looked the only difference I could see was that CP4L were web only.
ECP are generally a little more expensive but with the semi-permanant discounts they offer there is usually only pennies difference in the pricing.

There is an ECP depot near me so I usually order on-line to get the discount and collect in store, much easier to return stuff or check the parts before I take them home.

[mjb]

There is an ECP depot near me so I usually order on-line to get the discount and collect in store, much easier to return stuff or check the parts before I take them home.

That would be my tactic, but they only let you reserve&collect on stuff the store has in stock