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Do People Actually Use Rockauto?


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Several times I have priced purchases through these guys and each time they have been 20 to 30% or more higher than local shops. I am pricing the same quality level of parts at each site. 

 

Today I priced brake pads, shoes, drums, calipers and hardware kits for a 1998 XJ, my axle donor vehicle. 

 

Advance Auto:  148 shipped (plus I would get a $25 off of $50 future purchase offer)

OReilly's:          155 shipped

RockAuto:         195 shipped 

 

At the top two places you can return your cores in-store. At RockAuto you have to pay shipping to return the cores and they caution you upfront that the shipping costs to return a core will often be more than the core charge! And warranties claims? What a hassle.

 

Unless you live in the middle of nowhere and can't drive to a parts store for under $40 worth of gas why would you shop RockAuto? 

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I agree with above. I buy tons of stuff from rock auto and have never seen the price higher before shipping. I just recently pieced together an entire new MJ exhaust from them because it was cheaper after shipping than going through NAPA, Advance, Pep boys, or Auto Zone. They have great prices most of the time and you can always ise a 5% discount code. I agree, for something with a core its a hassle, but i just buy those items locally.

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one i remember off the top of my head. timken unit bearings. autozone 126 bucks, rockauto, 66 bucks. so i got two for a little more than the price of one.

 

that might be one example but i know there are others. I'm a cheap @$$, so i only buy from places where i know I'm saving money or getting a deal.

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You are not alone.

 

I have never found Rock Auto to have a 'stellar' deal on parts. If I price Rock Auto (+shipping), and the cost is within 10% of what I can buy locally (+tax) , I buy locally. I am preparing to rebuild a D30 and will be pricing Rock Auto vs Napa/O Riley/Advance/Autozone. My guess is Rock Auto will loose out on some, or all of the parts, since they will probably ship from 5 different warehouses. 

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I just ordered $600 worth of stuff through RK. When my shipment arrived it was missing two parts out of the box. The box was not damaged during shipment. They simply did not put the parts in the box. This has set me back three days getting my Cummins put back on the road.

 

I will never buy from them again. This is not the first time they have screwed up my order. I will use either a local vendor or Summit Racing from now on.

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I agree with 87Warrior, I shop the price and if its within 10% of the local stores the shipping always kills the deal. They do ship from multiple locations so I always try to combine items from the same warehouse to hold down the cost as well.

 

I usually buy my axle parts from them : the ball joints, tire rod ends, sway and track bars and bushings, steering dampener, and so on. They have my favorite brand (MOOG) and they are all at one warehouse....

 

But - they also offer what they call "Manufacturer Close-Outs" which can be a good deal if you find them. Seems the only difference is the part comes in a retail box (as compared to a plain cardboard one), and they want to get rid of them quick. 

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Living in Canada I have to say RockAuto rarely is a good deal after shipping. Shipping stuff here can be outrageous for smaller/cheaper items but sometimes it is cheaper to order from them. Personally I've never ordered from them but I've used them to shop and compare pricing (including shipping), along with availability.

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:dunno: Honestly it depends on what I'm looking for. Usually I go to rockauto if I'm looking for niche parts that I simply can't find anywhere else. 

 

 

But - they also offer what they call "Manufacturer Close-Outs" which can be a good deal if you find them. 

This is also very pertinent to my rockauto shopping experience. I've snagged some good prices on certain parts this way.

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Adding onto what dainternetguy says about them. Quite often once you add shipping, there's not really all that much in terms of savings to get stuff up here. However, they carry things that the chains up here don't. Cheapest quote I got on a flexplate for my MJ locally was $225. That was at the dealership. Everyone else said they couldn't get it. Mine came shipped from RockAuto for $85. Napa wants $350 to get a gas tank shipped up here from the US (even though the Spectra ones are made in Canada). Rockauto will get one here for $250. Sometimes with large orders coming from the same warehouse you might win on shipping, but not always.

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I buy frequently buy from Rockauto. Yes the shipping can be high, especially if the parts are coming from separate warehouses or vendors. Why???   Because the quality level of local auto store parts has gone down and the availability of certain brands ( MOOG, DELCO, etc...) is NOT available locally, BUT is available from Rockauto. I do not have Reilly's in my area, but AutoZone, Advance Auto and NAPA are everywhere.

 

Having used what is called "Professional Auto Parts" from several vendors in my area for the last 40 yrs to perform professional work in a shop, I have watched the quality of parts go down dramatically. Everything is made overseas and cheaply made. Hence, more failed parts. I prefer to stick with brands that last longer or perform better than the inferior quality parts. Soooooo, i buy from the vendor that carries the brands that I prefer.

 

Just my 2 cents worth!

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You are not alone.

 

I have never found Rock Auto to have a 'stellar' deal on parts. If I price Rock Auto (+shipping), and the cost is within 10% of what I can buy locally (+tax) , I buy locally. I am preparing to rebuild a D30 and will be pricing Rock Auto vs Napa/O Riley/Advance/Autozone. My guess is Rock Auto will loose out on some, or all of the parts, since they will probably ship from 5 different warehouses. 

Right there is part of the problem. One thing that kills RockAuto is their shipping practices. My brake order cited above would have come from FOUR different warehouse with separate shipping charges for each. Not only does "bundling" the items together cost less for large volume shippers but the bundling does not cost more as they usually pay a flat rate for certain parameters whether they are determined by weight or box dimensions. And for such large scale shippers the actual cost is often much less then they charge you. So does RA care that you are overpaying based on their shipping methods? Nope. You are paying it and they are making money off of it.  I was a security manager for Limited Brands (aka Victoria's Secret) for 4 years following retirement. They are one of the largest shippers in the world. I was responsible for internal issues (employee theft, for example) and was trained on many aspects of the business including shipping. I dealt with UPS & FedEx daily and got to know a bit about the shipping business. USPS was almost impossible to work with but that is another issue entirely

 

I am glad they work out for some people and I can see that they have access to some harder to find parts. But not only are they never lower than purchasing locally for me they have always been markedly higher. I did snag one of their "manufacturer closeouts" ( why not call them clearance items?)The brake hardware kit was $5 cheaper by going with an unknown brand on clearance. Even so the total was $40 more than O'Reilly on a $150 order and $50 more than Advance and that is ignoring the core issue. No one is going to pay $15 to ship a $15 core caliper back to them and if you don't think they are profiting from it....

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After this weekend of trying to get my hub and brakes installed, I can's recommend enough the advantages of local Auto.

 

Advantages:

 

1) You can buy a bunch of different stuff and return the stuff that doesn't work.

2) If you miss something, drive back and get it.

3) price is not that bad; very comparable to on-line.

 

Disadvantage:

1) May not get the brand selection as you would on-line.

2) High performance stuff is not readily available.

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We have the usual local parts stores, AZone, O'Reilly, NAPA etc. in town and good support from sister stores within 30 miles.

 

However, When I go to AZone to get a part and compare it with Rock Auto and it's CHEAPER and BETTER with better service I'll use RA.  If I find the same part at RA for the same price at NAPA I'll usually go NAPA, but that is very rare.  If I want/need it NOW I will pass on RA.

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I buy from Rockauto often. I like their prices (even after shipping charges) and the choice of brands. Plus, if I order from warehouse A, I can have my stuff in 1-2 days.

 

You can save on shipping costs by ordering stuff from the same warehouse, which can be tricky. You just have to play around with the site a little. For example, if you want Bendix rotors and Centric pads, they may ship from two different warehouses. But if you get Centric rotors and Centric pads, they'll likely ship from the same warehouse. But that's not always the case. You may have to get Bendix rotors and Raybestos pads.

 

You have to put items into your shopping cart to see which warehouses they are shipping from. It would be nice if the site showed which warehouse items were shipping from without putting them into your shopping cart.

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I use Rockauto a lot, but I have learned to always price locally too and compare it to the price of the part + shipping.  If the price is within a few bucks then I generally just buy it locally, because I can get it that day instead of having to wait for the mail.  On the inverse though, some parts even with shipping have been over a 50% savings vs. buying at the local parts chains.  My steering rack for my Isuzu was $370 locally, and $174 on Rockauto for the exact same brand.   Heater core, $47 vs. 220 locally.   I just ordered some moog front springs to replace the sagging ones on my Comanche.  $70 (shipping included) vs. $110 through the local chains.  My shocks were the same.  KYB Gas-A-Just through the only local chain that sells them (NAPA) were $80 each.  $36 ea. on rockauto.

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You have to put items into your shopping cart to see which warehouses they are shipping from. It would be nice if the site showed which warehouse items were shipping from without putting them into your shopping cart.

 

Pay attention next time you are on there... They put a little icon next to the parts you are looking at if it ships from the same location as parts already in your cart. I think it is a little box truck if I remember right.

 

Rob

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