Freelander 1 Buying parts. Any recommendations on getting quality?

I have been on a mission recently to sort out all of the issues with the wife's Hippo. Whilst purchasing parts I have fallen foul of the 'You get what you pay for' rule.

For example, I purchased a LP pump from the local motor factors. The make was blue print (not sure if any good) at a cost of £125. The pump was so loud when in operation (sounded like an angry wasp on the boot) I took it off and put the original landrover pump back on. It wasn't the pump that was stopping the car starting so i didn't actually need the LP pump.

Now I need to purchase a front drop link and a set of rear diff mount bushings. It's a minefield out there and prices vary massively.

http://www.lrdirect.com/Parts-by-Mo...-Rear/Differential-Rear/KHC500080-Diff-mount/

When ordering parts is there a question I can ask to deduce whether I am buying sh!t? eg, can I ask is that a land rover dealer recognised part?

Just curious how others on here deal with buying parts and what you look for?

Thanks

Rule 1: If it says Britpart on the box, send it back
Rule 2: If it says Bearmach you might be ok
Rule 3: If it says Britpart on the box, no, really, send it back
Rule 4: Goto Rule 1

@B34R Agree completely with you.. ironically.... both brand names I wanted to mention, but didn't feel confident in sharing.
they may as well make their replacement parts out of modelling clay.

Balljoints wise if you want real quality go with Lemfoerder however you spell it - they're like the rolls Royce of suspension components.
Can be had from Euro Car Parts for reasonable cash...

The BMW boys used to use them on the classic E34s because they were the ONLY aftermarket ball joint that could put up with the weight of a classic 5 series for a couple of years.

Many thanks Chaps for being honest!

I took the plunge and purchased genuine Land Rover rear diff bushings. They were very expensive, but I could not get my head around how you could buy a rear diff bushing for £15 and it be good quality.

Going forward I will definitely pay more attention on quality over cost. It's easy to fall into the trap of always trying to buy the cheapest parts so as to save money. It's a false economy in the long run though.

It is a continual dilema when buying parts. I think you need to take an educated guess each time. The price difference between Genuine LR parts and aftermarket is sometimes ridiculously huge. The one that gets me is driveshafts : Genuine LR £532, aftermarket £64! There are some things that repeatedly come up on here as bad choices to go 'cheap' - eg VCU support bearings, drop links. But there are times when a £470 difference just doesn't stack up. Having said that, if there is an OEM option, surely that is basically the same LR part? (that is a Q not a matter of fact - I don't know) Taking the drive shaft example they are £234, and if they're identical to Genuine LR but in a different box, that's presumably the way to go?

That is why I like Rimmers, they usually list Genuine parts and equivalent OEM & aftermarket so you can compare easily.