The news pages of Autocar are filled with pictures of disguised prototype cars, caught in the open while the manufacturer tests them to destruction. At the press launch, they will boast about how many hundreds of thousands of miles have been covered in the pursuit of longevity and reliability.
But despite being pounded in the heat of Death Valley, thrashed at the Nürburgring and frozen in the Arctic Circle while in development, many of these cars can’t seem to survive a decade being driven to the shops in Britain without a significant component failing. We don’t mean the entire engine or gearbox, but tiny grommets that can’t be fixed without replacing big and expensive parts.
Luckily, there’s a man in an industrial unit in Ramsgate who is making those grommets to allow owners to fix their cars at a fraction of the cost – and re-engineering them to make sure the same fault doesn’t happen again. His company now sends out tens of thousands of parts to grateful owners around the world and it has earned him an Aston Martin, a Range Rover and a house on the beach, aged just 32.
How come Kieran Mannings, owner of X8R Limited, can succeed where the world’s best engineers have failed? “Some of the parts fitted to cars are completely unsuitable for the job. They use materials that won’t last or they’re just poorly thought through,” he says. “Some of it is cost-cutting, or a need to save weight and time, I think. But it’s the poor owner who has to pay in the end.”
Mannings founded the company when he was a schoolboy, selling parts to make Honda mopeds (the X8R in particular, hence the company name) go faster. He then moved on to selling undercar neon lights on the internet, cashing in on the Fast and the Furious craze by sending parcels from his university student digs.
While there, he noticed his girlfriend had to use a pencil to open the boot of her Renault Mégane. The release button had failed and a replacement was £150 from the dealer. Mannings took the lock to pieces, saw a tiny plastic ring had disintegrated and made her a new one from stainless steel. It worked perfectly and will never break again. He began selling them online and it is still one of X8R’s core products.
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It's claims legislation that stops repairs
Imagine if a main dealer fixed your brake system with an aftermarket part that later failed causing a serious accident. It's not been through any type approval tests. What would you do.......?
That's why main dealers these days replace not repair parts.
I'd happily use this guy personally though.
Deputy wrote:
This article is about reducing the total cost of repair, by selling individual parts that need to be replaced, rather than whole units, most of which work, but are not needed for the fix. With such lack of attention to detail, you will never be promoted beyond deputy.
The big boys.....!
I'd have thought he'd have been head hunted by a major parts company?, I'd have thought a parts company would've hit on this idea yonks ago?, but, if it's a small article here, from small Acorns and all that, then , good luck to him!
Lots of BMW stuff
I notice there is quite an emphasis of BMW spares on their website - does this say anything about the quality and longevity of its cars???
streaky wrote:
Maybe, but could also be they sell complete units instead of individual components. I had an issue with my Suzuki that possibly needed one of two sensors replacing. Other options were tried because only complete units were available, one at £300, the other £500! In the end I went to another garage that solved it by cleaning the throttle body for £75. That was a reminder that the expensive repair is not necessarily the best. X8R are a brilliant example of that. Maybe one day they can expand into home appliances.