GSF quality? wot u think?

I bought a gearbox mount of GSF yesterday for ?11, when i got home i was just looking at it in my hand, when i realised that the rubber had split on the u-shaped bit on one side, and started to go on the other. Now do i just go and swap it for another, hoping it will last. Or do i just bite the bullit and pay ?30 more for a proper vw one? Any experiences with this mount from gsf or vw?

cheers,
Andrew

I've not bought this part from Gsf before but never had any quality issues with them.

Maybe worth keeping the bracket and replacing the rubber only with a polurethane one? i don't know how cost would compare?

Cheers
Andy

Bad luck Blackie, I've used GSF before and never had any problems. I do tend to favour eurocarparts though and buy from VW if I can.

Good luck with it.

Tian 8)

Yep.  I'm with Tian.  You've got the engine out, new mounts in and they fail.  This could be to most expensive ?19 you've ever saved. Go with genuine replacement where you can - although I did resist paying ?132 for a new filler neck from VAG, particularly as one of the lads had a cooool stainless one made up for a tenner!

I suggest using GSF if/when the risk of a part failure is not critical and/or replacement of a failed part is pretty straightforward otherwise go for genuine replacement quality assured replacements.  my mums old  adage -"buy cheap, buy twice"   

M

Maybe worth keeping the bracket and replacing the rubber only with a polurethane one?

I gotta keep the bracket as the rubber is all you buy (from gsf). i've read that the poly ones are quite harsh, and i'm trying to reduce the amount of dash shake, so i'll stick with rubber, but thanks.

Seeing as vw wont have any till next week, i'll just try out a new gsf part as i want it done this weekend. But if i'm not happy with it on, i'll go vw next time.

I bought the front mount rubber from vw, was ?1 more from vw than gsf (4.50), so at least some of it will be proper stuff

cheers
 :wink:

I suggest using GSF if/when the risk of a part failure is not critical and/or replacement of a failed part is pretty straightforward otherwise go for genuine replacement quality assured replacements. my mums old adage -"buy cheap, buy twice"

This is so true, but i would like to drive the car this weekend (as long as its not rainning buckets!) , so will be going for gsf part. That is if the replacement they ordered me is good  

I'm heading there now so will let you know how it goes…

Right, i feel stoopid    Where i said it had split was actually where its meant to be split so it 'gives'. BUT the part they gave me was a 'cheap' one the guy said. They ordered me another one in, which was of a slightly different design. The first one had no markings, the second is made by MEYLE Germany. Where there was the 'split' on the first one it looked like someone had cut it with a knife, whereas the second one is split from the mould (very evident).

So i didnt realise how the mount worked, but GSF supply wildly different quality's for the same parts. Maybe its worth always ordering twice as many parts then you need to check quality?

cheers
 

So long as your happy mate and it's all sorted.

Tian

Because there is a branch in my local town, I often end up getting parts from ECP. I've occasionally ordered from GSF but because its mail order,inevitibly takes longer, and its often a problem/delay having the postie find my house unoccupied when he drops off the parcel.

I have been surprised by how poor the quality is on some of the ECP-supplied parts. Also, some of the VW Dealer prices are shockingly high (it has to be said, many of the prices are actually quite reasonable).

So there is a big gap between the "top quality" VW and "bargain basement" ECP/maybe GSF. I firmly believe there is space in the market for a quality independent parts supplier who would supply cheaper than the manufacturer, but not sell cheap tat.

Nothing wrong with GS&F and ECP in general.

You've just got to be aware of the quality, assess each part independantly. Always buy BQ (best quality) if available.  Sometime depends what brands they have in stock.  Top mounts for example, if made in europe :mrgreen:, if not :cry:.

I've never had probs with GS&F quality anyway.  And in some cases the price difference is so large that it can be justified!

The 'quality' gap between 'top'VW and 'bottom' isnt not always that wide.

Whats even more stupid is people who insist blindly that everything should be bought from VAG  :roll:, muppets .  My local VW parts factor  (Murrays, Hatfield) stocks OEM quality gear as std anyway.  Its not like most parts are made exclusively for VW.

well they always seem to think the part i DONT want is the part im after  :roll:  USELESS! lol

Hmmm.  I must be a muppet. I go for VAG parts as first preference unless the price differential is so high a to make my eyes water - ?132 for a filler neck made my eyes water… so I'm getting one made up in stainless - just in case I need a new filler neck one day… lots of people do.

With VAG parts, I know what I am getting, and I will have undoubted reliability.  The mk1 Golf was the car that saved VW -  it was massively over-engineered and that's just the way I like it.

I would much rather pay the OEM / VAG premium for (eg) a fuel pump than be stuck on the M11 at midnight in the rain wondering how clever I was to save a tenner.

I bought a pair of GSF wheel arches once - East Bilney Coach Works (www.eastbilneycoachworks.com) spent 4 hours of trying to fit  a substandard poor fitting component.  These were then replaced with VAG components.     

If a bearing is touched, replace it. I don't care if it has done 10 hours work or 10 years - replace it. If a nut is burred - replace it.  If a bolt is rusting - replace it - in stainless.   This all costs a little more but I know what I've got.  I don't have a rebuilt car - I have an average car with all its patena. It will never be as good as a ground-up rebuild - it will only ever be an average car.

OEM parts are perfectly acceptable but if its not OEM or VAG  it won't find its way onto my car.

So there's my view.  Guess I'm a muppet.


Nope - it's not for sale .

M

Ok, sorry I didn't mean people are muppets who buy things from VAG.  I can see the point, and have done myself.

I only said people are muppets if they buy things from VAG just because they 'assume' that they will be better quality than elsewhere!  Thats just plain silly.

Its the Manufacturer and quality of each part that matters NOT who you buy it off!  LUK clutchs from GS&F, top notch, some say better than the sachs ones from VAG!  Big end bearings, top notch K-S ones I got from a local factor.

Besides, replacing all bolts with S/S is exactly what i'm saying.  Your putting non VAG S/S bolts on, are they worse quality?  No, they're clearly better!  Hell, things like that are manufactured to standards anyway (8.8, 12.9 and all that) so no reason why VAG should be better!

:roll:

and the staff in GS&F varies wildly.  In Reading theres a couple that are spot on, and a couple that are useless.  I've met more muppets trying to get parts in VW dealerships.

Discussed here too

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=15632&highlight=hella

I think you just need to have your wits about you when buying or looking for a part. I find that often ECP and GSF stock exactly the same parts, and usually have a "cheaper" pattern version and a "better quality" version which is often from the same OEM supplier as the part VAG will sell you.

VW do overcharge horrendously for some parts, especially smaller bits. Crankshaft oil seals are one example. By mistake I ended up ordering a cheapy from ECP, a better quality one from GSF and bought one from VAG. the ECP cheapy was just that and I didn't use it in the end.

However the better quality GSF one and the VAG one were identical and marked as being from the same OEM manufacturer. The only difference was the VAG one came in a dinky cardboard box with VAG group logo's on it and the GSF one in a plastic bag….. and the price - the VAG one was twice as much!!!

I also had a similar experience with new Fuel regs. The GSF one whilst expensive was a genuine new Bosch unit…. which strangely enough was identical to the one VW would sell me. The difference was the price. The GSF one was about 160 quid, whilst VW wanted well over 200 quid.

I'm lucky in that I have local ECP and GSF shops close to me, so I can go in and examine the parts before buying. I also do believe it is worth buying genuine VAG for some parts.

But I would say that these days VAG makes very few of these parts themselves - most are subcontracted out to other suppliers. Often those suppliers will also sell the identical parts under their own brand to the likes of GSF and ECP.

Its always worth doing a bit of research and asking here on the forum if you are not sure.