Spare parts specialists (UK & Europe)
 

Hi all,
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Apologies if this has been discussed already but I looked through the forum and found nothing so far.
I was wondering if you can give some feedback on the UK based parts suppliers for a Mk2 Jag.
Prices, availability, service?
I have been proposed David Manners and Mcwilkinson in UK but I have no experience with them.
Are there any other good sources along Europe or I should mostly focus in UK?
Best wishes
Nassos

SNG Barrat, Limora,

+1

But, prices vary, so it's best to shop around.

SNG Barratt, Martin Robey, David Manners.

Barratt's has the largest catalogue by a long way. And a great refurbishment workshop. Also produce a number of obscure parts in-house.

Barratt's also gets & offers the best courier rates by some margin. I have found their service to be outstanding over my restoration (long distance to South Africa). Barratt's also understands EEC & GATT rules intimately & declares things properly which saves you on home country Duties & Tax where applicable.

Manners is also most obliging.

Robey's makes & stocks some obscure body parts/panels along with a reasonable catalogue & some access to used parts.

In the US XK's Unlimited is very helpful if new owners Moss do not mess them up.

I have contacted SNG as well, but they do face some difficulties in setting up a trade account for me.
They tried again, but with no luck :icon_emm:
Therefore it is to my regret, but I think that I should proceed with the other suppliers.
From the communication I have so far, both M&C Wilkinson (M&C Wilkinson ? Jaguar Spares & Specialists) and David Manners appear to be helpful and kind.
I will try Martin Robery as well.
But I dont know the differences in quality. I will mostly need service items for the engine, brakes, clutch and suspension.

Without access to Barratt's there are going to be certain things you simply can't get. Suggest you speak to Thomas Rochelle at Barratt's UK. I don't understand the account issue unless you want to act as a re-seller. Standard service items are less of an issue. I would not want to try & do a ground up restoration without Barratt's.

re: Limora

I have no esperience with this company, they are in Germany (I think) and they have been in business for a good number of years.

https://www.limora.com

I tend to find David Manners are better on price than SNG Barratt but the catalogue from Manners isn't very good.

That said if you have the part number of the item you want then type it into David Manners website and they usually have it but its just not listed.

As others have said shop around and see who overall is doing the best deals on what you want.

I have found both helpful when I have had issues with parts.

You could also consider Martin Robey, they make most of the panels (if that's what you need) and I think you can pay £20 per year to join their scheme where you get a discount on all panels (if this is still going).

M&C Wilkinson are ok when I have had odd bits off them (mainly at shows) and I have also used John Gordon who is good but again only used them at shows.

Also look at E-Bay as you can get some great bargains on there for used parts.

I think the big difference between the suppliers is what you are doing or trying to do. If you are UK based it affords you the luxury of shopping around & waiting a few days for items to arrive by Royal Mail or the couriers. This is viable if you are doing service & running maintenance. For the rest of us the further you are from the UK the less viable this option becomes.

If you are doing a ground up restoration & placing large, complex orders at intervals for spares you want a supplier that can ship reliably 99.99% of an order in a single shipment to keep the work flowing & avoid unnecessary issues with Customs etc. & other delays. The parts count on these cars is enormous. This is where Barratt's shine as they have the inventories, or access to other inventories that the others simply can't match. They are also highly responsive.

David Manners is the most delightful, old school gent to do business with & has helped me with some hard to find items. But being multi-brand he simply does not have the Jaguar parts range of Barratt's.

I find Robey's to be a frustratingly unresponsive company to do business with & they get the worst courier rates out there ~ "Oy ~ we'll get back to you. It's summer holidays you know" ~ a pre Thatcher era company in culture.

You should not have any issue with SNG, if you are asking for a trade account as an individual, they may not want to set this up, but there should be no problem buying from them and as Glyn says they do have impressive inventory, I have used Manner a lot as as well as SNG, Manners do more Original parts than SNG in my opinion, their website is not as easy to use I have to say, but I just email my orders directly to one sales guy I use and he emails me back and it's all sorted (usually next day in the UK).

I have had issues with some products from both SNG and Manners, but they are generally sorted quickly.

If you are doing Ground up Resto as Glyn has said, you really need to do your homework, get on the phone and get talking to the sales guys, get a direct email to someone you feel is helpful, and check and double check part numbers, there are errors in both Jaguar parts books and the online catalogues, so when your orders may be complex try and make sure you have given them the correct information, personally I would do it via email, get quotes and all should work out.

There are quite a few on this forum that would not recommend XK's Unlimited , saying their after sales service is appalling, hopefully Glyn had better experience, I have never used them as being in the UK it would not be viable.

Homer is correct re Robey, they do have a scheme where you can get 10% off panels for a one off fee of £20, there postage costs within the UK are not as bad as they appear to be when shipping internationally as Glyn has mentioned, they are not as up to date as many other companies, but I have had good dealings with them and they are often cheaper for panels as most other suppliers do buy from them in the UK at least.

XK's Unltd. is out of business. Moss Motors bought their inventory. Good ridance!

This is not accurate. Moss Motors bought the company not it's inventory. They are very much in business although I think Moss might close them & trade as Moss. The good thing about XK's is that they have some extremely high quality reproductions made for them to serve the concours environment. They are the only source of some parts.

Moss has a history of not wanting to hold slow moving inventory so they will probably trash what was good about XK's Unl.

Moss sent out a message to all customers after the purchase.

From my very first & admittedly large order to Barratt's they put me on maximum discount & gave me a single point of contact ~ one Thomas Rochelle ~ unprompted! This was the start of a great relationship. I place all orders by e mail direct to Tom at his request. Due to Barratts shear size their global UPS 5 Day Saver rate on courier is unbeatable. It is close to half the rate Robey gets from Fedex

I have found Barratts to have more original parts than Manners but suspect that this is model specific or that Jon's finding is as a result of Manners smaller range. Manners also has a space issue. As I said Manners has helped me. He probably found me the last new one of these in the world as an example. Delightful gent that that is not shy to roll up his sleeves & get personally involved. The same can be said for old man Barratt.



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...7773b378d8.jpg




I'm not going to defend XK's. I only bought from them on 3 occasions that were faultless. I might just have got lucky. I will defend their quality on some items.

The UK suppliers I've had plenty to do with & stand by my comments.

Hello Nassos,

Can i assume you have attempted to deal with SNG UK with regards to your 'account setup'?
If so and you're having difficulty, i would urge you to contact the Sales Manager there Alex.Dent@SngBarratt.com whom will be glad to explain any requirements to setup either Trade or Re-Seller accounts as well as resolve any issues you may have with parts supply.

Bear in mind that there is a difference between a person restoring a car (whom of course we can offer discount and assistance where possible) to a workshop and a re-seller that is purchasing quantities of any given product per order.

Any questions please do drop me a PM and i'll be sure to help or point you to someone that can!

William Wigglesworth - Sales Development Manager USA
T:+1 800 452 4787
DDI:+1 603 606 6547
william.wigglesworth@sngbarratt.com

I have also had dealings with Alex Dent.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...7538f9a520.jpg


Also a pleasure to deal with & most responsive.

many thanks william
I have contacted them and I exchanged emails with mr Philip Casey
He has problems with registering my company's details to their system so to exempt me from the VAT.
He tried twice and told me "Unfortunately it is the Inland Revenue that does not recognise it as our system here has a direct link." and by saying "IT" he meant my VAT number.
I didnt push him further (I had already pushed him twice) as I didnt want to be a pain in the ass.
But this is strange as I already deal with many suppliers in UK (as well as in Netherlands and Germany) who have successfully registered my VAT number in their system :icon_neutral:

Ahh i see...
Please PM or email me your email address & VAT number and i will be happy to look into this for you.


William Wigglesworth - Sales Development Manager USA
T:+1 800 452 4787
DDI:+1 603 606 6547
william.wigglesworth@sngbarratt.com

Did they fire Michael Marter, their VP & GM? I hope so! He provided such a terrible experience when they provided me the wrong parts and would NOT do anything about it! They do have a few unique bits but ever since that experience I try NOT to buy anything from XK's

thanks William
I will drop you a line through PM now