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Rockauto alternatives?

wazzabie

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I order often from rockauto. I like how the user interface is still from 1999. It keeps it simple. Still I wish there were some user reviews and costumer photos of the parts. What are some other vendors that you have used besides Amazon?
 
I have the same compliant/ wish user reviews. My son just did struts on his lady friend grand caravan. Bought a budget brand from rockauto. Not even 2 full weeks and right front strut has failed. Internal clunk going over small bumbs.
I just checked it over making sure nothing had come loose from the replacement process.
Gonna have to do it all over again. With different brand.
That said I use Amazon frequently. Amazon's prices can very so double check always
 
I use Rockauto a fair amount, and have only had one problem so far.
If you buy a manufacturer closeout, open it and verify the part when you get it. I waited until past the return date...

I have bought replacement lights and a few parts from 1Aauto. Good results and pretty good customer service with a warranty item.

Found some things on ebay too. No regrets yet, but...

I avoid Amazon personally, just my choice.
 
Same as above, I like being able to pick the brands I want, versus duralast silver/gold/platinum level parts. Not a big fan that Rockauto seems to have ghosted the forum.

Edit: I wouldn’t mind having another option though!
 
I use a combination of Rock Auto, Summit Racing(they have OEM replacement for a lot of stuff) and Amazon for a bulk of my parts.
 
I use rockauto to find the right part number then usually go to Amazon to buy it. Rockauto has good prices but their shipping costs are rediculous! If you need a small part the shipping is more than the part.

Walmart.com has good prices too, I guess they are like Amazon and have a big supplier network.
 
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I use rockauto to find the right part number then usually go to Amazon to buy it. Rockauto has good prices but their shipping costs are rediculous! If you need a small part the shipping is more than the part.

Walmart.com has good prices too, I guess they are like Amazon and have a big supplier network.
Or you need 3 parts, and they are in stock, and you get to the checkout and it's three warehouses and three shipping charges.
 
Amazon, local or summit, mostly Amazon, like 95+%. Amazon has reviews, questions and answers and the easiest return policy, hard to beat.

Shipping costs keep me using amazon. Summit you need a small $5 part, $15 shipping. That goes for many places. I was shopping for the Chevy grille emblem, $60 + $20 shipping. F that crap. Lmc, classic industries, cj pony its all the same, they rape you on shipping and pain in the rear returns.

I only use other places if Amazon doesn't have it
 
You guys realize that shipping is expensive, right? I understand that Amazon has soured the idea of paying for shipping, but shit ain't cheap. For a 8x8x8 box, it is AT LEAST $12-15 dollars to ship.

We offer free shipping for anything over $100, but a lot of times that means we are breaking even or losing money on stuff like that sometimes.
 
It's one thing to pay necessary shipping costs but it's another to have a flat rate of say, $15 shipping for something that costs a stamp or two to ship in the mail.

So when you, let's say need a grommet or AN fitting from summit for example, then having to pay $15 for shipping that $5 part. They do this, so you needlessly add shit you really don't need to your cart to justify the shipping cost you're paying for that part. Maybe not all do, but...
 
You guys realize that shipping is expensive, right? I understand that Amazon has soured the idea of paying for shipping, but shit ain't cheap. For a 8x8x8 box, it is AT LEAST $12-15 dollars to ship.

We offer free shipping for anything over $100, but a lot of times that means we are breaking even or losing money on stuff like that sometimes.
Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that the huge companies who offer shipping drive the cost up for the rest of us with negotiated contracts. No real evidence, though.
I just know that I can't afford to pay the rates that I get quoted when I walk on the door most of the time. Sucks for whomever may want to buy something that I have.
 
I'd rather pay shipping than get garbage China crap with free shipping. I hate Amazon for what they have done to stores and the whole I shopping industry. I'll drive to my local parts store and wait a day or two before ordering offline most of the time.
I agree that the Amazon and Walmart's of the world have shut down a lot of smaller businesses, but this is thankfully a capitalistic society so only the strong survive. There are tons of studies out there on why this is happening, but my view is that Americans want a lot of "things" and they want those things cheap! We all bitch about Chinese made AC Delco parts but we keep buying them. We get virtuous online but all of us can swing a dead cat and hit something we bought from Amazon or Walmart. For a project vehicle, waiting a few days for the local shop to get it is good, but when I am trying to keep my daily driver going, I need that part today and the "local" shops don't carry much for 40 year old vehicles anymore.

Rant over, and I haven't even started drinking yet! I run a small regenerative farm and trying to buy supplies locally is about impossible, so unfortunately most of our stuff comes from New Zealand, and their shipping is still cheaper than Rockauto.
 
We all bitch about Chinese made AC Delco parts but we keep buying them. We get virtuous online but all of us can swing a dead cat and hit something we bought from Amazon or Walmart.
I am not trying to sound like an a$$hat, but I buy the ACdelco China crap, because it often is better than the other China crap, and there isn't a USA alternative quite often, because of the masses wanting cheap and quick. (Corporate greed, too) I have paid extra money a bunch of times for USA products, personally, and for trucks at my work.

BUT!! I haven't bought anything from Amazon in years, I cannot tell you what i did buy back then, and I only go to Walmart for a few things every month or so.

It was painful to buy my wife's Buick, knowing that it was made in Korea. So far, it has been very good quality though. Very well designed for a little CUV, (imo).
And the dealer quality had a fair amount of influence on that purchase, as well as wanting a GM product after testing a Honda.
 
I’m the same way with WalMart, been there 4 times in 6 years, and only to buy Mobil 1 oil. Its hard to find US made stuff. I blame unions on that but thats for another time.
 
Or you need 3 parts, and they are in stock, and you get to the checkout and it's three warehouses and three shipping charges.

They've been playing this game for years. Watch the warehouses associated with parts as you add and subtract items. You may start out with two parts coming from the same warehouse, but magically once you add item three (as an example, not a rule) you'll see one of the two previous parts will now ship from another warehouse.

You can usually remove item three and see the first two revert back to the original warehouse. I guess it's either play their game or buy elsewhere.

I will avoid buying from Amazon for anything that is likely to be counterfeited, which is pretty much everything...car parts, electronics, etc. Amazon has been plagued by the same counterfeit issues as eBay, and neither of them seems very interested in resolving it.
 
My oil pressure and water temp sensors are supposed to be bere from rockauto today, shipped via DHL so they must have come straight from the Chinese mainland. Only took 10 days.
 

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