You gotta hand it to the El Camino Store (elcaminostore.com).

Based on appearances only, they appear to be a solid company that caters to the every need of us old Chevy owners. They manage a well-organized online store and printed catalogs.

But looks are deceiving.

My advice is to stay away. Far, far away.

My latest (and last) transaction with them went like this:



Ordered a new fuel tank on 3/12.
Got an order confirmation the same day.
Order confirmation stated my shipping choice was "Ground - 3-5 days."
Fast-forward two weeks to 3/24. Haven't heard a peep, no emails, and no delivery.
Contacted customer service via email asking for status on the order.
Received reply: Hi, I apologize for any inconvenience. The part you ordered ( 11-0732) is on backorder with an ETA of 5-5-11. Thank you for your time and patience.
Sent reply expressing polite disappointment with this utter lack of communication. My reply was ignored.
Attempted to call El Camino Store to cancel my order. The phone was never answered during business hours.

There was no 'backorder' note in the item details, no update to the order to indicated the item was not in stock or backordered. No nothing. As if it is normal to expect to wait two months for a part.

Shopper beware.

There are better businesses out there we can turn to.

I will never order from them again. I order a shop manual from them and there was over a 100 pages that you couldn't read. Why do I want a shop manual that I can't read some of the schmatics. At least I did get a hold of customer support (more than one phone call to get a person) and they did allow me to return it and they even paid for return shipping. But never again.

I bought a new gas tank last Aug. from Bob's , it was delivered four days after I ordered it, when I contacted them 2 months later about my gas cap not going on tight and that I could smell gas when walking by the car they sent me a new gas cap within 2 days of my contact. I thought that was great service.

Mike

I've ordered from them a few times,and also had a few requests for them. They were always very helpful and went out of their way to help me out. As with every business,now and then there's a hangup.But I haven't had any problems with them.

You would think even in this economy (unless your into oil) that businesses should make every effort for customers to fix problems -- don't they know that one bad rap gets more attention than a million satisfied customers??

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/T3RMN8R/siglogo/terminator-ss-1.png

They have been the pits sense the sale out, Eckler is just plain bad about most of there customer service.

Thanks for the warning..:beer:

Thanks for the warning..:beer:
Ditto on Eklers. I'll dump there mags.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/T3RMN8R/siglogo/terminator-ss-1.png

You would think even in this economy (unless your into oil) that businesses should make every effort for customers to fix problems -- don't they know that one bad rap gets more attention than a million satisfied customers??

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/T3RMN8R/siglogo/terminator-ss-1.png

This post has been deleted due to the political naure of the comment. Politics are frought with bad blood because of auguments that get out of hand and nasty, along with other hazards. Let's try not to go there on this friendly Forum...................Ken

This post has been deleted due to the nature of its content, which could be seen as racially and politically offensive.............Ken Rogers

^^^Nailed It^^^

Ok, so where do most of you feel is the best source for 5th Generation parts? Who has good service and a large selection of parts? So far I have only bought from Dixie Monte Carlo.

I'll never order from them again. Same kind of issues with them on radiator support bushings.

A little clarification on the " unless you're into oil" statement. I'm in the oil bidnuss and am feeling the pinch just like everyone else. If you want to use a broad brush to castigate a group and blame, aim it at the Nobama administration. The drilling moratorium is killing jobs all pver the gulf area. Blaming bad service on the oil industry. Is like saying all El Camino owners are rednecks. Ok, bad analogy. Btw, I've had good and bad service
from the El Camino store

Hey Jarhead, can i just hangout at your place?! I want to be like you when i grow up:You_Rock:

I was talking to my boss and reasoned that gas is cheaper now. He had to sell his 454 Vette when gas got to be $1/gal and he was making $1/hour at the time. Gas is roughly 1/3 of my hourly pay now and I'm doing the same work he was doing back then, hence gasoline is a third of the price now.

Anyways just so no one can blame me for hijacking a thread:
Wouldn't a specialized store like that do everything to keep in business? I mean, there are a finite number of el caminos in the world and that number keeps getting smaller.

Hey Jarhead, can i just hangout at your place?! I want to be like you when i grow up:You_Rock:
Bill, so you want to be short fat and bald?
but come on over anyways and help me build my deck.

m ziegler, where is this bob's that you mentioned? sounds like they are a good source of parts?

m ziegler, where is this bob's that you mentioned? sounds like they are a good source of parts?
I think he's talking about Bob's Chevelle parts.
http://www.bobschevelleparts.com/

Correct, BOB'SCLASSICCHEVY.COM

I too have had issues with the EC store. It seems they drop ship many of there parts, but never tell you whether or not it's in stock when you order. They do however bill you regardless if it's in stock or not.

Well, that is good to know because I have a wish list there, but I will get the parts elsewhere if they cannot provide better service than that.

I get most of my parts off of ebay ,fast shipping and no back orders ,I'm going to the swapmeet at raceway park in Englishtown NJ on April 16 to find a fuel tank and some other parts . I usually get my big parts there and save on shipping !

Try here also Tom from Dixie Monte Carlo just started this store and as of the first of April he will working on updating his website . I just got a shadow box from him this week and received it the 2nd day and if mention your a member he will take off 5% off your order also. http://www.custommontessparts.com/

Racers rule; Contact by phone and NEVER buy anything on backorder. Dale

Ok, so where do most of you feel is the best source for 5th Generation parts? Who has good service and a large selection of parts? So far I have only bought from Dixie Monte Carlo.

These are the best ones I have dealt with over the last eleven years:

www.honestcharley.com (http://www.honestcharley.com)
www.ecparts.net (http://www.ecparts.net)
www.nationalpartsdepot.com (http://www.nationalpartsdepot.com)

Hey there, as the original poster I'll chime back in.

I can give another solid vote for National Parts Depot.

They have a REALLY great online catalog here:

http://npd.dirxion.com/WebProject.asp?BookCode=cev09flx&from=2#

The reason I didn't order from them is ElCaminoStore had it a bit cheaper.

But never, ever again.

By the way, they finally responded to my request to cancel the order. It is nearly unintelligible. This came from 'service@ecklers.net.'

Dear Sir,

Per your request I have cancel the order and I'm very sorry you were not able to get thru on phone the phones have been extremely busy we are trying to take care of everyone. The item was on back order till 05/05/11. I'm very sorry for the problem you have had. I'm very sorry no one got back to you.

if ur in socal can hit up rob from rare el camino parts he sells on ebay too new and used parts i get all my parts from him but he only does fifth gen:poke: but its pretty cool hes only like ten mins from my house..

NPD has always been great, as well as The parts Place. Haven't dealt with the Elco Store since it was in California.

I have also had good results when dealing with Rob of Rare El Camino Parts in CA.
NPD has also been a good place to deal with. I recommend both of them.

"The reason I didn't order from them is ElCaminoStore had it a bit cheaper.

But never, ever again.

By the way, they finally responded to my request to cancel the order. It is nearly unintelligible. This came from 'service@ecklers.net.'"[/quote]

Dear Sir,

Per your request I have cancel the order and I'm very sorry you were not able to get thru on phone the phones have been extremely busy we are trying to take care of everyone. The item was on back order till 05/05/11. I'm very sorry for the problem you have had. I'm very sorry no one got back to you.[/quote]

Honest Charley usually beats other suppliers and doesn't gouge you on shipping.

Because of my limited budget I've been buying stuff from members here with great success.

I've had my ups and downs with elcaminostore.com. Anytime I have a question, they find the answer. They've done well with a few shipments but this last order there were a couple of window seals that were backordered. I located some that were available about a month after the order was replaced so I called them to cancel the remaining items on the order. They billed and shipped them anyway. They did provide me with a shipping label to return them and I will recieve credit when they have possession of the items or so I hope...

Good and bad, it's a pretty narrow market for Biscayne/Bel Aire chassis... Can't be choosey for me anyway

I have just purchased an El Camino so I have the same question as AZ Camino. Where is a good place to order parts, a place that does have good service?

For good service and proper return policy and fare shipping charges I have done 4 camio's and find myself using a few differenct places but the # one in my book for all around is NPD (National Parts Depot). They have for stores and if you order from the one nearest you and a part is out of stock but one of there other places has it, they ship from both asap with only one frt charge always. I have had some issues with and item once and a while they always make it right, and if the general order desk persons answer does not work and you ask for a manager or decession maker you get one and it has always been customer driven.
Remember if you buy cheap you usualy get cheap or bad servcie. Like all places not everything they have is going to work for you so they will cover 80% of ones needs as an estimate. I have also had the good fortion to work with NPD on a few shows for the NECOA 50th and the ALL GM show and these guys are car guys and racers and walk and talk the walk with you or for you as much as they can. Ask any of the FLorida guys about NPD even if the don't buy parts the like the NPD guys.


Stay away from the "El Camino Store" period, it was sold to Eckler and is in the toilet now real bad.

Great info here guys as I am ready to buy a lot of parts. I also had a problem with Ausley Chevelle. I odered a Heartbeat of America " El Camino " license plate over 2 months ago, they charged me for it and then said the same thing, its back ordered.

I emailed them and sstill have not recieved a reply.

Poor service

I have the same problem, El Camino Store sucks. I ordered a bag of clips for my back window chrome and this is my 3rd week of waiting. No e-mails, no appology, no attempt to contact me at all. I am going to e-mail tech support today. I am very unhappy with this store and I will not shop there again. :banghead:

wow. thanks i was considering buying from them but after reading these stories ill stay away.

I just bought the 2 tone trim kit for my 85 and had no problems. 2 trim pieces were back ordered, and my 1st receipt had the listed back ordered items. I did have to call to get a delivery date on those. The lady was nice and gave me the date. I received them on the date she gave me, which was about 5 days after the first pieces came in.

I have had no problems with them. The thing is i keep hearing these horror stories and now im scared but the problem i have is finding parts for my 60 is really hard. Like the front Glass. Where are some good places to go then for a first Gen.

I have just purchased an El Camino so I have the same question as AZ Camino. Where is a good place to order parts, a place that does have good service?

I've never had a problem with any of these vendors:

www.Honestcharley.com (http://www.Honestcharley.com)
www.ecparts.net (http://www.ecparts.net)
www.nationalpartsdepot.com (http://www.nationalpartsdepot.com)

I bought some stuff from SS369.com. They had quick shipping and some of their packaged "kits" save a lot of time and money. I would recomens checking them out.

I really enjoy going to swap meets.... if you can find what you need the "price is ALWAYS right".... I have bought a few things from the El Camino Store and had "no problem".

i'll just chime in here and say i have had the best luck, by far, with national parts depot

My problem with the El Camino Store is a problem I have with all of these suppliers. By and large, they sell poorly made chinese reproductions that almost always fail to live up to expectations. I spent many hours trying to find domestically made repro goods. Almost impossible. I got most of the NOS and really fine pieces I wanted by diligently combing through ebay almost daily.

The only way resto enthusiasts will get relief from this problem is to continually demand American made goods, even if you have to settle for imports. I believe that if we all make a concerted effort to encourage our suppliers to come up with better products, even if we need to pay more, changes might happen.

My two Elkys were made in the USA. I want to keep them that way !

I agree with lockjaw. I've ordered from all of the big suppliers with mixed results. I'm more then willing to pay a premium for MADE IS THE USA parts. When I buy tools from NAPA I always pay almost double for the American made tools. I hope some free market seller doesn't get the idea that we'll pay any price form homegrown goods cause there is a limit to my spending. So keep that in mind if you try and gouge us. I've also made a commitment to not buy another foreign car. New or old. I have 2 now and when they bite the rice dust, I'm buying a Ford. Nothing from Government motors or Dodge. I've already bailed them out.

I have ordered many things from El Camino store because of my lack of ambition to go to the junk yard or search online to find the correct parts. I ordered a few items with two day shipping only to get them two weeks later.

Ordered a carpet kit that wasn't even close to a factory fit. $130 down the drain as I ended up throwing it away and making my own which turned out way better than anything they could sell. $50 my cost by the way.

Recently ordered a headliner and has been over a week and never a tracking number provided so no counting on when you might receive the item or if it will even fit. I agree on the lack of customer service.

I run an owners group forum for boats and this would be unacceptable. I am online 7 days a week and 24 hours a day and manage close to 500 people with questions and parts orders. This is on top of my normal job. Everyone is correct about customer service. Bad word spreads much faster than good.

I wish I could find another parts supplier that was reliable as well. Suggestions appreciated.

Hello everyone !! Man what a day,iam in the market for el camino stuff, so lets post your Favorite places to shop !! Thanks Can't wait to see them .
Items i will need soon, Bucket seats/floor shifter/ console/ who makes the best dash cover?(Covers the hole dash) After seeing all the nice el camino's at Belton,i see i need to up date ! :You_Rock:

Every business has good people that will go out of their way to help and those that just seem to care less.The problem is you don't know which one your talking to at a given time so before you put money down you need to ask if it is in stock,if it is not when can you expect delivery or is it going to be back ordered and when can you expect it to be filled and get the name of the person you talked too.If you get an answer you don't like don't get nasty with them just tell them you'll have to get back with them and check elsewhere,who knows you might find all the parts you need by purchasing from more than one vendor.

The only things I have ordered from NPD are a couple air cleaner decals, but great,fast service and were cheaper by 2 bucks each than all the others.

Another chevy forum I'm a member of also has a "thumbs down" thread going in their vendor forum about Ecklers/El Camino store.


I was going to order stuff from them but after all the horror stories I'll pass.

The only things I have ordered from NPD are a couple air cleaner decals, but great,fast service and were cheaper by 2 bucks each than all the others.

Another chevy forum I'm a member of also has a "thumbs down" thread going in their vendor forum about Ecklers/El Camino store.


I was going to order stuff from them but after all the horror stories I'll pass.

I resemble that remark!:beer:

I bought a set of interior dark red door panels for my 64 about 6 years ago from NPD. Being they were almost dead last on my resto plan I just recently went to install them. I am very disdappointed with them. Of course, it is way too long to expect NPD to do anything about it.

The problem is universal. All these suppliers are buying the cheapest "stuff" they can to compete and maker a profit. But, we hotrodders are the ones who end up disappointed and sometimes cheated due to the poor quality control of most goods arriving from China. We Motorheads are not like consumers of daily necessities and trinkets. We have too much blood & sweat ( and divorces) over our rolling money pits. I, for one, am willing to pay more for a better domestically made product, within reason, whenever I can.
Every resto supplier I have dealt with, but one, have disappointed me.

when I started my first 64 resto I had two rear quarters flown into Newark airport from "Death Vally" auto. After all that expense, drama and work it is a shame to have to combine original parts with chinese knockoffs! This is my pet peeve with resto work.

I bought a set of interior dark red door panels for my 64 about 6 years ago from NPD. Being they were almost dead last on my resto plan I just recently went to install them. I am very disdappointed with them. Of course, it is way too long to expect NPD to do anything about it.

The problem is universal. All these suppliers are buying the cheapest "stuff" they can to compete and maker a profit. But, we hotrodders are the ones who end up disappointed and sometimes cheated due to the poor quality control of most goods arriving from China. We Motorheads are not like consumers of daily necessities and trinkets. We have too much blood & sweat ( and divorces) over our rolling money pits. I, for one, am willing to pay more for a better domestically made product, within reason, whenever I can.
Every resto supplier I have dealt with, but one, have disappointed me.

when I started my first 64 resto I had two rear quarters flown into Newark airport from "Death Vally" auto. After all that expense, drama and work it is a shame to have to combine original parts with chinese knockoffs! This is my pet peeve with resto work.

Are you gonna keep us in suspense, or tell us who that one supplier is. :nanawrench:

Mike, that would be "MASTER POWER BRAKES" Absolute first class organization to deal with. Start to finish a total cake job. They have a great site and are a bricks and mortar business.
Since you are a tranny guy, i'll tell you i bought a 10"converter from "REDNECK CONVERTERS" through ebay. Wow! Just one step up from stock allows my red car with a TH350 trans and 3.23 rear to leave like a rocket.

Like all suppliers of most parts there are always more than one quailty available and with panels they come in actually three most suppliers cary two. I learned the same way but I opened them up and saw that the lower price one that appeared to be the one to buy by reading the description was not and called they told me I needed to buy this set. NPD took back the base grade and shipped a cmplete set with rails, felts and assembled at no extra charge and did a follow up phone call with a check on the shippment and a sorry for the problem. The more expensive assembled panels were as near factory as you will get, and trust me I am picky. Also most of the restro parts distributors have I believe a choice of 3 mfg's on interiors two are OK and one is junk for sure.
You are so right Lockjaw on the China Cheap on many repro parts some of it is getting or has always been bad. One of the interior companies is US made I believe PUI but you got to inspect there stuff to. Seam like the users of products today have a bigger job pay for it, re-make it to fit and maintain it to last.

For what it's worth I'd like to say be careful of the El Camino Store. Aside from their bad customer service and lack of parts being in stock, I had a different problem that I think may be linked to shopping with them.

I used my credit card to pay for my order about a month or so ago and I'm very careful where I use my card. I just now caught several charges being made on my card and had to contact my credit card company's fraud department. All of these charges are being made in Ohio and I'm a California resident. I have never had a problem with a credit card before until now.

Get a new credit card with a new number, don't let the credit card tell you otherwise.

Ken thank you VERY MUCH for the donation for Brett! I didn't know where to post this but when I saw your post here and it reminded of THANKING YOU!!
It's gowing a little SLOW but things are rough out here! And we are VERY THANKFULL for Any & ALL the donations. :beer:
Today (06/26) is Brett's Birthday he jut turned 16!
Thanks again,
Rich & Becky M&M Speed

I ordered a few time from GBODYPARTS.COM his name is BWEAVY and had parts delivered in 2 days even before i sent him the money he sent me parts great guy to deal with.:nanawrench: EZFrank

Brian Weavy is really a great guy to deal with. He's big in the Turbo Buick world and highly thought of.

I first started using The El Camino Store when I first got my 65 5 or 6 years ago now and was very impressed. They were friendly, helpfull, polite and coutreous. Unfortunately it seems that since Eklers bought them out none of the original staff are there any more and the people that are, are the complete opposite of the above. I ordered a new headlight switch and floor dip switch from them earlier this year and whilst the dip switch arrived ok the headlight switch took over 2 months to turn up and as others have said, they're quick enough to take your money but they're not as quick with replies to queries either by phone or e-mail. I only use them now if I really have to and this is from a Limey one the other side of the Atlantic where options are far less than what you guys have and takes 3 times as long to get here....lol. Cheers, Rog, sunny England.

I have been using Ausleys Chevelle in North Carolina.

http://www.chevelle.com/

Very good prices, I just ordered new interior door panels, SS Emblems, gas,brake pads & trim. Ordered on a Sunday night, had the parts by Wednesday.

Great place to buy parts guys & gals

ECC is good for anything thats IN STOCK, everything else please forget about it. How can you tell if its in stock online, cant. Expect to receive an email stating your parts on backorder? forget about that. I ordered a fuel sending unit from them the 15th of august. Called five days later wondering why i didn't receive a shipping confirmation, was told it was back ordered till the 25th of august. Call back on the 29th of august to be told it was back ordered till the 25th of SEPTEMBER! But they calmed me by saying its only a month and I am one of 2 people ordering this. Called back on the 1st of October, only to be told I was on BACKORDER TILL DECEMBER 15th! and now I was almost last on a list of 10 people ordering this? for one I was confused why other people were set to get theirs before me when I was originally the first to order back in August? Second, WHY IS THE DATE CONSTANTLY PUSHED BACK!? I asked the sales guy, and he told me the low down:
we (el camino store) do not usually send notifications of backorder. I ask does this constant backorder issue happen a lot? He told me yes, their ordering department (who orders parts from suppliers) doesnt do a good job at all, and that I could expect this to happen a lot. I asked him, well why should I buy from you then? He was dead silent, and just said, well Its set to come in the 15th of December (totally avoiding the question) I canceled order and hung up.
I then ordered the same part from Original Parts Group, amazing and friendly customer service, they told me 30 days and the part would be in, 15 days later I get a fed ex tracking number! Great service, and the guy could only laugh when I told him i tried Ecklers first...
Did I mention cheaper prices, and the fact the part doesnt say "Some modifications required to fit"

GM Classic Parts and Rare Elco (both of them are on ebay) are two very good places to get parts. Don't really have anything bad to say about The El Camino Store. Every part that I have ordered from them has showed up and if it goes backorder, it got here when they told me it would. The only knock I have is that they are rather expensive, but it is kind of a one stop place instead of having to search all over the net they did have alot of what I was looking for.

What about this www.opgi.com (http://www.opgi.com) Their about 20 miles from me. Are they any good? Looks like their pricing is high but i haven't needed anything to compare it with yet.:dontknow:

I like www.biscaysclassic.com (http://www.biscaysclassic.com). They are just south of Olympia Washington. Jim, the owner and Jeff know their Novas, Chevelles and El Caminos. They stock a lot of parts, have very competitive priceing and carry El Camino stuff for 64 through 72!

I've had great service from The Parts Place. Also from OPGI, but the the prices at OPGI are higher than many others, and of course it's better to shop around for the more expensive items...

I too have had issues with the EC store. It seems they drop ship many of there parts, but never tell you whether or not it's in stock when you order. They do however bill you regardless if it's in stock or not.

Hmmm, now charging before shipping, I'd contact my credit card company/Pay Pal. That's NOT kosher. I've bought many parts from Eckler's for the '56. Only problem I've really had is their OUTRAGEOUS shipping and handling charges. Unfortunately, if you don't like them, that is, is the fact that they carry things you can't find anywhere else. If you want to spend the time, you can usually find what you want on Evilbay. I shop there also. Just bought an AC compressor and dryer (new AND US made) cheaper than I was quoted from a shop here. But, back to EC Store. I just bought spray adhesive and spray dye for a dash I will be putting to to replace the one in it now. Came when it was supposed to. I've found they WILL tell you when something is discontinued, as I tried to order a horn relay at the same time. They said, "None in stock and it's discontinued" Just as well, as I found out I really didn't need it.

If you want a place to shop that's REASONABLE, shop at Mike's Montes. They carry an abundance of EC parts. I just placed an order with them.:texas:

If you're gonna order from EC Store, do it by phone. It's free. Then you talk to a person and know whether it's in stock or not.