[fauxrs]

Good info fauxrs. Whereabouts in San Diego are you? I'm up in North County.

La Jolla area - so long as whatever you are ordering is in Summits Reno warehouse and you order before I think 3pm, you are highly likely to get your order by the end of the next day selecting ground delivery.

 

[cyberray]

How is Rock Auto for more common parts like starter, alternator etc?
Do they ship quick and have good return policies?

Atlanta has a great ‘speed shop’ named Barnett Performance, they’re my first try for performance parts. Summit is awesome if you’re near them (I’m an hour from their McDonough Ga store). I’ve never used Jegs. Amazon is great for original equipment stuff but often (for OE parts) your order comes from a dealership that includes their direct contact info in the package. Save that and try them direct for your next item and build a little loyalty. Rock is often the best price but you need to be sure of what you need (i.e. blue connector or black? square or round coil? pinch tab or hook?) in order to avoid shipping stuff back. Their prices are much better than the chains for good stuff. Watch out for shipping if you’re buying multiples; they may come from different places. I prefer to support a local parts store if I can (recently bought a Timken hub assembly from Parks Auto Parts near Charleston SC). I didn’t even call the chains; I tried Advance’s online catalog afterward and found it difficult to use and full of chinese hubs for more than Parks quoted Timken, quickly and without dumb questions, over the phone.
Patrick

Summit is my go to simply because their ground shipping is the exact same thing as next day air here in san diego, I've had good success with rockauto (just got a new electric fan from them yesterday) Jegs is good but i rarely use them, Amazon is fine as well but their price is rarely competitive.

I have used them all. I look Rock auto it is famliy owned. I try them first. the price with teh shipping usually beats everyone else.I always find a 5% coupon . I have all the big parts stores near me for a qiuck Item I prefer Orielly's or Napa. Here is a hint with the local place especially Advance Auto. Sign into your account if you are going to buy some thing put it in your cart. then close your browser. A Lot of time they will email you a 20 -25% coupon overnight . I try to buy items with a lifetime warranty Starter/alternator etc so I usually look for that. Dont forget about Mike's Montes or Dixie Restoration sometime they have the harder to find stuff.

everything here is pretty much spot-on with a few small exceptions I think it really depends on where you live. being in central Texas, far away from the Rock warehouses, it usually takes 3-6 days for me to get some stuff.

for turning rotors, drums, etc = O'Reilly's (this seems to be becoming a lost art) if no other machine shop nearby (I hear O'R employees get up to a 50% discount)

RockAuto = not always the lowest price, but if you order a bunch of stuff from the same warehouse, you can make a killing. For those who care, IIRC Rock was started by a family in Israel. their customer service is all online. one time I got a rebuilt starter for my 351W for $25...shipping included! worked perfectly.

Advance = as Riatta pointed out, standard discount is 20% but you can get that 25% by doing what he says. (disclosure: I work part time at Advance on weekends. even employees only get a max of 20% discount, soooo.....). also, look for the RED tags in the store, that is stuff they are usually getting rid of and has been marked down lower than even Amazon usually. I've seen it go down by 75%
PBR400 seems to have experienced some of the issues I see. instead of the online catalog, call the store and talk to an AsstGM or GM or CommercialParts Pro. they can actually access a Second Source to get normally unobtainable parts. not sure why he had an issue with Timken because we do carry it in-store.

 

[One Feather]

I use Tasca for Chevrolet service-related parts (not just Ford people it turns out). They have been excellent and less expensive than the local dealer.

 

[pbr400]

Thanks for the info, Ray!
Advance did list Timken, but it was about fifth or sixth on the scroll down, after several no name units. The no-names were cheaper than Parks’ Timken, but Advance was higher on Timken. I get calling the store, but I’d already called Parks (dealt with them years ago) and was served like a partsman likes. No dumb questions, no hold, quoted a USA part first at a great price. No cheap BS even offered. In stock. Sold.
My Tahoe has 258k miles on it and I’m just now starting to have parts wear out.,I want to see how long I can go, and factory quality parts make sense.

Patrick

 

[kat0069]

Jegs is my favorite, but i grew up in ohio and frequented their stores, so i might be biased. I haven't really had much issue ordering from any of them, except for lately and that really shouldn't be the yardstick we judge them by unless their customer service just completely fell apart.

 

[Haastalavista]

One thing not mentioned here is with Amazon there’s a chance you’ll receive counterfeit parts, which is an issue due to Amazon not being the actual seller. Similar to eBay. Also many of the sellers don’t package items properly. My wife bought me a new Racequip helmet for Christmas. The box specifically says it is not adequate for shipping and to put it inside another box. It arrived in just the Racequip box advertising to everyone it was a $340 helmet begging to be stolen and severely increasing the chance of being damaged. I’ve had good luck with Jegs and Summit and have used them a lot over the years. Rock Auto is ok for regular replacement parts if you don’t mind waiting a few days.

 

[cyberray]

Thanks for the info, Ray!
Advance did list Timken, but it was about fifth or sixth on the scroll down, after several no name units. The no-names were cheaper than Parks’ Timken, but Advance was higher on Timken. I get calling the store, but I’d already called Parks (dealt with them years ago) and was served like a partsman likes. No dumb questions, no hold, quoted a USA part first at a great price. No cheap BS even offered. In stock. Sold.
My Tahoe has 258k miles on it and I’m just now starting to have parts wear out.,I want to see how long I can go, and factory quality parts make sense.

Patrick

Know what you mean about the No BS, no waiting, etc.

I work the registers sometimes (mostly drive for delivery) and can look up parts, but even I don't understand the way they list parts in the register screen. It seems to be whatever they have the most in stock of, but it could easily be whatever is on sale and being pushed. About the only consistent thing I see is the parts that have Zero in stock are listed at the bottom of each category and it lists it by brand grouped together, but even that has exceptions. And I while I can tell the register to give me a compressed description, I can't tell it to not show me parts with 0-0-0 (see below). That can really suck because if you have 20+ options in stock and only the first 3 and the last 1 have any, you have to scroll. And if the customer wants/insists on Timken (as in your example) but it's all the way at the bottom....

If you have a part# we can look that up directly and will know whether it is in the system. If it says 0-0-0 then it's there but no product in Store|Nearby Stores|Hub , however it may be able to be ordered from Regional. If a search finds no part at all, they can 'Second Source' from a subsidiary possibly which is why I said talk to GM, AsstGM, CPP (they know how to locate parts in that system). We've even picked up parts from dealerships for the various mechanic shops we deliver to. I KNOW for a fact that they order parts for mechanics from the LKQ junkyard (AA has an account with them).

Lastly, I ordered some strut assemblies last year from RockAuto. My GM (cool guy) asked what I paid, he checked and said that was less than his cost on the same exact model and brand! Even with shipping, I saved.

 

[drmdlucas]

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've not had problems with any of them. For body parts, I favor OPGI and choose the part made by Restore. For engine, suspension etc., My go-to is Summit. They have a warehouse in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and I live on the eastern edge of Dallas County. Thus shipping is fast. I a!so use JEGS with good results. I've shopped several others, but gravitate towards these for a combination of parts quality, price, customer service and delivery speed. One thing I have come to know is that the cheapest parts are cheap parts. I try to buy brand name regardless of where I shop. I'be been known to buy from eBay, but not usually unless I can find NOS. I'm a little afraid to buy from them because of my history of not getting what I expected. Their returns policy always made it right, though. That's my two cents.
Doc

 

[One Feather]

One thing not mentioned here is with Amazon there’s a chance you’ll receive counterfeit parts, which is an issue due to Amazon not being the actual seller. Similar to eBay. Also many of the sellers don’t package items properly. My wife bought me a new Racequip helmet for Christmas. The box specifically says it is not adequate for shipping and to put it inside another box. It arrived in just the Racequip box advertising to everyone it was a $340 helmet begging to be stolen and severely increasing the chance of being damaged. I’ve had good luck with Jegs and Summit and have used them a lot over the years. Rock Auto is ok for regular replacement parts if you don’t mind waiting a few days.

That's not good. Then it sits on your front door waiting for the porch pirates to sail by.

 

[Led]

I recently purchased some chrome trim from OPGI and I was impressed by their delivery time, and their excellent customer service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[johnwoods]

Howdy all,

Just thought I'd throw this our there for discussion and opinions based on personal experience.

After Amazon "lost" another engine component I ordered recently, I am curious what you all think is the best "one-stop" source for performance parts for our beloved Elks.

Summit? Jegs? Give Amazon one more chance? Or possibly other vendors? If so, which ones and why? Curious not only about variety and good prices but also staff knowledge, customer service, return policy, friendliness, etc.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions and examples.

John

So, just an update for the group. I ordered an Edelbrock manifold from Amazon. Many days after receiving "delayed" updates from Amazon I called them. They lost it. They did process the refund almost immediately but still, they "lost" it. Waited a few days and ordered again. Over a week later, I have now received another "delayed" update. Done with Amazon, at least for a while... Summit, here I come.

 

[cyberray]

So, just an update for the group. I ordered an Edelbrock manifold from Amazon. Many days after receiving "delayed" updates from Amazon I called them. They lost it. They did process the refund almost immediately but still, they "lost" it. Waited a few days and ordered again. Over a week later, I have now received another "delayed" update. Done with Amazon, at least for a while... Summit, here I come.

who was the seller on Amazon? that's the key thing

 

[johnwoods]

who was the seller on Amazon? that's the key thing

AMAZON itself ("fulfilled by Amazon")

 

[cyberray]

AMAZON itself ("fulfilled by Amazon")

yeah, why am I not surprised? amazon. I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing arbitrage with your money and making money that way. I don't order anything off them unless it is in stock and a guaranteed delivery date. they're just too many sellers to worry about lowest price offer which only seems to save you a few bucks anyway

 

[Prodajr]

Summit is my primary source - good prices and quick shipping. No shipping or handling on orders over $99 is a great deal - I hardly get out of there for less than a $100 anyway. They've been great with returns and making things right. I also use Ground Up SS396 quite a bit when it comes to specialty parts. They're a bit pricey at times but I find their quality and fit to be better than OPGI and I haven't had to return a single item. RockAuto's shipping just seems expensive to me and takes longer than the competition. I use Amazon for comparison shopping and after triple checking part numbers, I might order from them due to Prime delivery. Haven't had trouble with Amazon products yet but I definitely don't buy as much from them as I do Summit and Ground Up.