Cheaper VAG parts - oil filter housing almost gone

[TotalControl]

I purchased a run of the mill 1.6 A3 with 174k miles a few months ago for the princely sum of £450. Good deal or was I nutter? Well, it ran fine up until a few weeks ago when I started losing coolant. Wasn't much, so topped it up and went on my way.

Fast forward a few weeks and it'll really lose the coolant. One fill every 20 or so miles. I've not used the car much but when speaking to my mechanic, he said the part is best purchased from TPS as any other manufacturers making this don't last that long.

Now, at £330, I can't justify that, so are there any alternatives that are better for the oil filter housing? It might just need a gasket and clean up but if the cost is less than £100, it might be worthwhile trying to do it myself. Gives me something to do really during the holidays even though the part seems an absolute bh to get to.

Any recommendations?

[Belle427]

Have a look somewhere like Autodoc, Febi are a reasonably good quality make.
Link just an example.
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/febi-bilstein/15256599?u...

[TotalControl]

Thanks for that. Was looking at Autodocs offers on the app which got me to post this as their 44% offer is on today. I couldn't decide as I'm not really accustomed to which parts are decent.

I know some febi stuff is actually pretty good with my previous cars (BMWs and a Diahatsu) but that's been mainly arbs, links and whatnot.

[catso]

I would second Autodoc, not the quickest delivery but good prices on quality parts.

Also, I recently bought new discs/pads from them and found that, for some reason the prices were quite a bit lower on the phone app than the website.

[TotalControl]

Placed order late last night for a smidge over a ton. Quite impressed as I got the oil filter housing, oil filter, air filter and 4l of 5W-30.

Now we wait to see the quality of the part.

[Arnold Cunningham]

Febi, Meyle, INA, SKF, TRW, Vaico, Dayco, Contitech. I find they are all good quality brands on a par with VAG OEM (and in some cases, are the supplier to the OEM).