Superformance Parts - My experience

Hi All,

Just wondering if this is a normal experience from this supplier.

I ordered a bunch of parts for my 348 as I finally had an economical order as I wanted to replace the cooling hoses with a silicon set.

When it arrived, i had a note saying the cooling hoses were not available and they charged for the remaining parts and postage (i would never have placed the order if i knew only some parts were available). The other large item I got was 2 X cv boot sets. I decided on the full set as it included lobro caps etc. (shown in the picture on there website). No mention of non-genuine parts. Now I have gone to fit this and these parts (137 pounds) and they turned out to be non genuine and all I ended up using were the boots themselves and the grease. so that's $137 pounds + 80 pounds shipping. The inner clamps were too small and the lobro/cv end cap did not fit inside the gearbox hub end.

All up, it has cost me approx $350 AUD to get me a couple tubes of grease and some generic CV boots which I could have sourced locally for less that $50AUD. Not happy!

This is also not the first issue I have had with non-genuine parts not fitting correct. On my prior car I had some issues with the Throw out bearing seal being 2mm too small causing the clutch to randomly spill fluid and result in a tow truck ride and when they tried to resolve the issue they again sent a non-suitable seal. I ended up going to a local bearing and seal shop and found a replacement again at a fraction of the price. When comparing the replacement(s) to the original I removed side by side it was obvious.

My warning here is buy genuine where possible from trusted sources as this mob mark up incorrect non-genuine parts with what seems like no quality control or testing of those parts before selling.

 

Superformance does indeed ship the order regardless of its completeness. From time to time it is annoying. On the plus side this allows them to be lightning fast.

To my knowledge, Superformance does not sell genuine part(?) They do belong to Hill Engineering (H.E.) which is a well known manufacturer of after-market parts. Based on my own experience the quality of he part is quite good. These as the same part that are sold through renowned US based shops that also distribute H.E. products. So far their parts have been a better fit than what I've bought from Eurospares (although slightly more expensive).

As far as compatibility is concerned, Depending on what the workers had on their shelves, your parts may or may not be fully compatible with what our suppliers do have to offer! I've come to understand (the hard way) that Ferrari has made numerous iterations on its products, and what fits in a car of a specific month may not fit the next batch of cars that were produced. I do have a December 1981 Ferrari:it's a mixed bag of 1981/1982 parts! The wiring harness does not include the pulse relay timer (so newer version), the chain tensioner is the old style one not fully compatible with the later variants, new type of mirrors, TRX rims but regular tool-case (meant for the regular rims)...

Maybe we should bear with our suppliers: from time to time we have to adjust a few bits and odds, but once these companies will be gone, we will miss them!

 

H.E do not own superformance. They do supply hills parts through their website though.

 

I recently purchased a 275/330 clutch master cylinder from them. There were several parts dealers in the UK and US offering the same part at various prices. Even with the shipping, Superformance had the lowest price. With Ferrari patrs, you have to do the research before placing an order. I only ordered one part, and it was shipped the next day since it was in stock. I wonder if you could submit an email request to not ship unless all the parts are in stock. They promptly replied to my email request for an estimate of the shipping charge.

 

They did a similar thing to me. I don't remember what the main part of my order was but I added 2 shift gate screws to the order. It turned ou they only had the screws so they shipped those. The shipping charges were ridiculous, especially considering I really didn't need the screws. It would help if they contacted customers when they can't ship parts that show as available on their site. Also, I ordered 308 rubber brake hoses in a separate order. They didn't fit. I was offered a refund for the parts but not the shipping. Most of the time SF is Ok, sometimes not.

TomB

 

Hi, have ordered engine mountings, draining screws, hoses and other parts for my Testarossa.
All went smooth with fast delivery to UAE and no bad surprise with the parts.

 

I have purchased from Superformance many times over many years. Incomplete orders, sub-standard parts, wrong parts, dangerously out of spec brake parts, poor knowledge of the cars and poor attitude - I have encountered all of those from Superformance, all too often. They are far from my preferred supplier but I still return to them because they also sell some good parts at very reasonable prices, sometimes from the very same suppliers as the official channels. I'd love to say I'd never buy from them again but it's often not easy to get quality parts and, for the older cars, just because you buy from the official channels doesn't mean you'll get genuine or good quality parts either. If I refused to buy from Superformance on principle (which I'd love to do) then I'd just make life harder for myself so I begrudgingly go back there like a gambler to the only casino in town who'll take their bet. And yes, the odds aren't wonderful either but sometimes there's no reasonable alternative and sometimes they do come up trumps. The idea of ordering from them fills me with dread rather than excitement though. I do now have a pretty good idea of the things they're good for, the items I'd never buy from them and the ones I need to ask for further information and photos before purchasing (because their website doesn't tell you much). A go-to place for quality parts and service? No way.

 

Ricambi and Eurospares are the only outfits I've had 100% good experiences with. The "low" prices of some of the other places seem like a bait-and -switch technique, after adding shipping/VAT and all the other fake charges, you are better off just ordering from the places you know.

 

Another supplier I've had good luck with:
https://www.dinoparts.com