i got some good deals from rockauto but lost faith with them. up here shipping is a big part of the cost. who do you guys use for online car parts?
Top 10 Best Online Auto Parts Websites This is a pretty good list, but I never used a couple of them, like "Buy Auto Parts" or "Car Parts.Com" but the rest I've heard of or used myself. Mostly, I use AutoZone (the online store is way better than local because they have more in stock) and Amazon (much more to choose from), but Advance Auto Parts is good, too. The thing is, many of these places will try to sell you garbage parts (not always but you have to know) at a premium price. At Auto Zone for example, they will sell out in my town immediately -every low priced item is gone in no time. All that's left are the expensive parts, and they are SLOW to reorder. The clerks (really they are salesmen) try to sell you their overpriced crap all the time. Rock Auto is good for things you can't normally find, including whole assemblies. AutoZone is great for cheap parts if you can find them. Advance is good all around, but sometimes it sucks getting what you really want at a great price. Oh, and NAPA is relly good for gaskets and solvents and the like. Local stores are best, their web presence is a little lacking. Amazon is fine for those odd things that you never thought could be possible to replacement parts for the best price anywhere and liquids, my God I pity the poor bastard who has to deliver that stuff. But you are up there in Alaska, so everything is expensive. That must suck even more.
back in the day you would pay more at nappa but they had better quality. not so much now you just pay more. i put a 130$ fuel pump in a 03 dodge cummins and it lasted 4 months. rockauto i think. it was not the cheapest,, midrange on price. nappa is 280. i dont use amazon but some one up here said he gets all his tires there so il check them too. thanks
parts for older vehicles - EBay >> figure out exactly what the common industry name for the part - any particulars about the part - part numbers by manufacturer - then plug it in >> most times the vendor is a distributor or rebuilder or independent retailer ........ got all the major chain stores within 15 minutes - sometimes get lucky with inventory and $$$$ ....
Rockauto screwed around for over a month the first time I tried them....their final excuse "we don't carry that" but they were quite fast to charge the CC. I don't buy online parts anymore.
I hate buying online stuff, when I pass my money across the counter,, my part is sitting in front of me. I can't count the number of times I've returned stuff and they had to do a refund to my card ,,, and I never remember to see if they actually did it. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before,, but I'm a technological dumbass,,, I just don't like it,, to old stool I guess. They say keep up with the times ,,, I'm trying to keep up with the old times,,,
yep. got the delphi part# from napa 303$ found it several places 140ish (ebay). rock auto has the best shipping options for up here. cost extra for dog sleds. some will not ship to po boxs,,, like bambu labs. everything cost more here,, one way or another.
I have switched to Amazon or the little ex-Carquest down the street. I get Prime free shipping so I wear it out.
The mark up is high but a friend of mine ran an independent store. Cost of operation, store rent, labor, insurance etc was high. If you wanted to keep a good selection you had a lot of parts on the shelf and some never sold, but you had to figure the cost of having stuff available. What did sell had to cover all the costs and have some additional for profit and expansion if you wanted to stay in business. In end it didn't make any difference. The bank went bust due to bad real estate loans, they called his mortgage, he couldn't get another loan and he lost his business and house due to foreclosure and had never missed a payment..Place is run by a chain now and they have advantage of being able to draw on the stock of more than one store and selling stock, don't have to borrow as much capital.
