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If it’s something generic and I want it immediately, I can walk to Advance in five minutes. Another minute and I’m at Autozone.
If they don’t have it, or I’m looking for something more specialized, Summit Racing has crazy fast shipping to my location.
Anything truly model specific I have an entire list of websites in my head depending on which car and what part I need
I typically look to Rockauto, unless there is a core charge. Often shipping it back makes the low price not make sense, so I go local (e.g., brake calipers, alternators). I had a couple of instances there where the part wasn’t the part in the picture (different water pumps for similar engines) and it took a while to sort out.
I sometimes use Napa or one of the others, with varied results. I enjoy South Main Auto on YT, his experience with “Napar” is often entertaining. He says that parts quality has declined from many of his sources as a result he goes OEM for certain things to avoid come-backs.
Unfortunately for the Astra, I can’t get too picky on where the parts come from. In the off chance Autozone (and equivalent) has something I’ll get it from there, otherwise it’s usually Amazon/ebay since they ship quickly.
For the run of the mill stuff, usually RockAuto if I can wait for shipping or O’Reilly’s/AutoZone/Advance if I need it faster since they have locations very nearby. I do try to hit the locals often enough they make some money and stick around.
Sometimes I’ll go Amazon but only if I can tell it’s not a knock-off or for things where unknown brands are OK. Most of the time I just use them as a price guide and often they are beat by Rock Auto, anyway.
Specialty things like performance parts or off the wall things I want to build are researched through vendor sites that deal in that stuff. I try to search forums or FB to get an idea of the trustworthiness of the vendor before I buy.
Rock Auto -> Economy. Amazon can get bent, I try to support them as little as possible.
I usually go with Advance Auto, but only because I get a pretty substantial discount on parts through my employer. Mostly brake parts. The pads/rotors/calipers I’ve purchased from them have all been acceptable.
Sometimes I go through RockAuto. Best example being the EVAP canister replacement that I managed to snag from them for 150$ when I was being quoted nearly 500$ from the dealer parts department. It was good enough, since you know, it’s a freaking plastic box.
I recently got all new suspension parts for my 1990 Pontiac Sunbird (yes, really). I got them from PartsGeek.com because that was literally the only place I could find them. Got both front (quick) struts, CV axles, rear coil springs, and rear shocks. Oh, away bar links, too. And an oxygen sensor to cure my intermittent “check engine” light.
I suspect as this car ages more and the J platform becomes more erased in the sands of time, I’ll be even more limited as to where I can get things. RockAuto already is quite restricted.
If I need it NOW, I pay the $$ at O’Reillys. If I can wait a week, RockAuto. If I need it in a few days, Amazon (2-day prime). I’ve found that it’s often not any more expensive to get it from Amazon (shipping covered with prime), but no refrigerator magnet!
For the Roadster, I generally contact BimmerBum: they have the experience I don’t—and I’ve been pretty happy with what I’ve gotten from them. I don’t have the patience anymore to sift through BMW forums after years of NASIOC…which leads to the shabby wrx. For it, I often go OEM, or, if aftermarket/tuner, I grit teeth, pull on my big-boy waders and dive in the above
Had good experiences with RockAuto. Also Autozone lifetime warranty for brakepads.
I have access to WorldPac through work, which works well for all the normal random stuff. For specific old Lancia and Fiat stuff, Midwest Bayless has saved my bacon a time or three.
For really major work, I take my vehicles to a shop…I know they’ve been using O’Reilly a lot lately though when OEM parts aren’t available. These parts seem to be of decent quality so far. For my own work, I’ll go to Advance due to location and their willingness to let me look at a part for branding before I buy it (like a gas cap that’s in a store-brand box, but was actually manufactured by Stant).
Rock Auto’s headlight selection is better than local stores, so they’re my go-to for lights. I’ll also restock on wiper blades from them if I can ensure everything is coming from the same warehouse (to save on shipping).
Since I’m generally sourcing parts for old stuff, most items are NLA. I’ll start with the manufacturer on the off chance there is still something available, then go look for OEM parts on eBay – NOS and used. Sometimes I’ll check Amazon as well, but will avoid the random-character-generator-named “brands”.
Often there are a half-dozen or more of those brands, selling the exact same Chinese product. Absolutely, steer clear of that junk!
Really surprised by the bad experiences told here about Rockauto. I’ve used them for a dozen years, only once got a bum half shaft, called, and they sent a replacement no charge, and didn’t need to send the bad one back. Probably my long history with them helps. So many magnets on the fridge!
Most of my parts budget gets spent at Flyin Miata.
One day my Miata project will truly be done and/or my daily driver will become an unreliable shitbox, and I’ll have to figure out where to get regular auto parts. But until then, I’ll keep shoveling money to FM.
I need to start collecting FM parts. So far I have gotten most Miata things from Moss.
I’ve had good experiences with Moss too! I’ll get stock replacement parts from other vendors, but for drivetrain and suspension I default to the stuff FM develops themselves. I’ve got their high-flow cat, sway bars, and stock replacement Koni kit and it’s all delightful.
Being on this site is seriously detrimental to my wallet haha. I have been looking at that exact suspension kit.
It’s $450 very well spent.
Used to be rock auto. They sent me a different (lesser) brand fuel pump than the one I paid for (in the original brands box). When I complained this was not the one I paid for, or even a comparable quality brand product they said no it was comparable and in their fine print they are able to swap parts if they’re deemed oem comparable (which it wasn’t, according to the Honda techs and my other mechanic friends and literally anyone) so told me to kick rocks. No response on why it was in the different box, or why I paid the more expensive price and got the lesser product. I’ll never buy from them again.
Always check your parts and parts number people
Maybe that’s why I have such bad luck with them. No idea why everything I get there sucks so bad but I too have given up on rockauto.
Beyond all that, I’ve found that by the time I pay their shipping rates, they are no longer a great deal. Usually the savings are minimal enough I would rather just get the part from a local store.
All else being equal? The cheapest one (obviously).
Reviews, warranty and return policies do weigh heavily though, especially if I’m not sure that is the part actually causing the issue or it might crap out on me within the timeframe of a warranty I trust to be honored.
I’ve worked in the auto parts industry for 13 years, so I have the luxury of working with different suppliers through work that I can get parts from, but overall I try to stay on top of what brands are owned by what, because some get sold and quality can taper off or get better in some cases. I also try to gauge the importance of the part to determine if I should cheap out or not, for the most part I buy the quality parts the first time to avoid any headaches because I’ve learned the hard way in the past. If I do need something during off-work hours or from a vender we don’t use I’ll either order it online or Napa, etc are places I’ll go if I have to.
For myself I usually do as much research as I can if it’s something I don’t have any personal history with, and some things I would rather use a used original from a salvage yard over an aftermarket version, like safety equipment.
Descending order of preference:
Rock Auto if I can wait for shipping
NAPA if I need it now
Whoever is local and has their crap together/good employees
Pretty much everything through FCP Euro, their lifetime replacement even on stuff on like oil and brakes is unbeatable. Performance parts through the manufacturer, since most of these places are just drop shipping the stuff anyway. The only place I try to avoid is ECS Tuning.
The fact that there’s a entire Facebook page with 34k members called “Why I Hate ECS Tuning” helps drive this home. I only consider buying things from them that aren’t needed quickly and aren’t stressed by road usage. An ECS branded dog bone mount sheared in 2 on my Mk7 GTI was enough for me to say bye after they told me to gtfo.
+1 for FCP, ShopDAP and many other good shops out there especially for German cars that aren’t ECS.
I always check shopdap when I need something because his videos with humble mechanic are great and he seems like a generally cool dude, but so far everything has been quicker, cheaper or both elsewhere.
Me and my dad get most of our stuff from “Rockauto”. They are reliable and with big boxes you get a car magnet!
I had mostly transitioned to them for a while, but literally everything I have ever bought from them has broken in less than a year. I have done a turbo, a cat, valve cover gaskets, ignition coils, every single one needed to be replaced again in a few months, and warranty claims are a hassle from online retailers. Never had that issue with parts anywhere else.
I’m pretty sure they just sell the stuff, so whoever you were buying from probably wasn’t the best.
I’m aware, but I always went for mid tier stuff or stuff from brands I recognized and still have had nothing but bad luck. Even felpro gaskets from them have failed immediately whereas the same felpros from autozone are fine. I don’t get it.
Fel-Pro is the brand we sell, it’s still pretty good but once Icahn bought them, the company changed a lot. Most of their off-highway catalog got dropped entirely.
Yeah it’s the brand everyone sells, and I can’t think of a single time I bought a gasket from any other brand, but somehow both of the ones I got from rockauto failed within months whereas I never had to replace any from the brick and mortar stores again. It’s weird.
They’re just a warehouse and nothing is their own brand. You have the option to choose from reputable to questionable suppliers. If something breaks from them, it’ll break from AutoZone as well. At least they don’t hide the supplier with a made up brand like Car Quest. I bought knock sensors that were bad out of the box from Advanced
Oh I’m aware, but when I buy mid tier stuff every time and it’s still breaking, I’m just done. I don’t know if crap is getting beat up in shipping or what’s going wrong with it but when literally every part I bought for a year straight broke, regardless of the brand name on it, I give up.
Nothing is anyone’s brand, really. Everyone buys from what are essentially Tier 1 suppliers. In fact, a lot of the OEMs are buying from the same people. NAPA owns a brake pad manufacturer of their own, I don’t think that is typical. Everything else comes from someone else.
Depends on what I am after. I do dealer parts a lot just because I know it’s going to fit whereas the tie rod ends I got from NAPA had the wrong threads when trying to replace them for my Sienna. My general rule, if it’s something I don’t ever want to touch again, NAPA or dealer. If it’s something that’s less important or annoying to replace, autozone or formerly rock auto, but I have never had a single rock auto part last a year so I think I am done with them.
Through work I get trade pricing (30-50% off list) at my local NAPA so basically only go there. The counter staff there are good and have been there for years or decades so I generally trust their advice on parts.
I also get trade pricing at RONA so I do a lot of my building supply products there.
My general policy is critical engine parts like spark plugs, ignition coils, belts and gaskets, I get name brand, generally OE supplier. Rock Auto is always my first stop due to price point. For example, I got a set of TPMS sensors for my CX-30 that were OEM Continentals, and pre-programmed from Rock Auto for about 70% LESS than a dealer, and about half of Amazon pricing.
If it’s a non-critical part, I will go with the best value on Rock Auto. Generally avoid bottom tier, but if there is an option from a reputable 3rd party that’s marginally more than the no-name parts, but 20%+ less than a continental, Bosch, etc, then I’ll go that route.
In the case of my GX470 needing a power steering rack, OEM new or refurb was 1k+, Rock Auto didn’t have aftermarket options from any big name aftermarket brand, so I gambled on the middle priced one, and it’s been fine for the past few months. I figured labor at a shop was only ~300 (still shocked it was that cheap) so I can afford to do a whole second rack with parts + labor and still be under the cost of a single OEM.
The exception is always that if the job is a lot of work, I’ll spend the extra so I don’t have to do it again.
No love for NAPA? And I took that personally…
There’s not a lot of margin in auto parts, at least at the store level. If it’s cheaper, there’s a reason.
Ask the guy what he’d put on his car, then buy that.
I’m a big NAPA fan. The workers actually know what they are talking about most of the time, and the parts availability is significantly better than the other stores. I like that autozone has lifetime warranties on a lot of things though so if it’s something that’s easy enough to replace then I will usually go autozone if there’s a lifetime warrantied option.
I LOVE NAPA for its parts quality. But it’s not cheap usually.
(Sometimes it is, but not often)
I’ll add NAPA.