Parts suppliers

a_kelley

a_kelley

mechanical fixer
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Location
Rutherfordton
What's y'all's take on parts places?

Store, in person?
Online, to your door?

I know the people behind the counter make the difference... That's my reason for advance over AutoZone. Napa sells the exact same part advance does but in their box. Ditto for carquest(owned by advance). I'm partial as I do a good deal of business with advance in rutherfordton(first call, reason being the people). I think if everyone I dealt with there quit, I'd probably change to napa because they are next closest to my "home" location(mobile service mainly). O'Reillys has pretty good availability on import stuff but their customer service is lacking. And too they dragged their feet about getting me a commercial account for over a year, even though I spoke with the commercial manager and told him how much business I do. (35-50k yearly, some of the parts guys at advance said that was as much as most of the 3-5 man shops :-O I still don't believe that, I'm only one tech, how? Unless they are not exclusive suppliers, but keep in mind I usually do 15 hour days and only 10 is work, rest is driving, 20 miles to the parts store sucks, explains my xj getting miled to death. Btw, I got this motor from someone on this forum from Canton with 155k, it's now got about 330k on it, thanks, the roll didn't hurt it, but it does knock cold, I don't expect any less with that many wide open miles and 25k rotella t and carquest filter oil changes.)
 
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I like in store in person myself. I tried rock auto one time but the tiny amount of money saved vs the wait for shipping wasn't worth it. And I don't want to think how long the wait would be if that part fails and I have to ship it back to use the warranty on it. With a store I just walk in and swap out for the warrantied replacement.
 
Online only unless I need it that day. Rock Auto, Amazon and Ebay are my go-to places when I need parts. I typically save 25-60% even after shipping and usually get a better brand part than what the local places have.
 
My shop buys from World Pac , they supply most every part we need for Mercedes even OE in Mercedes boxes. Our oils and transmission fluids are through bulk suppliers as we have overhead reels. The odds and ends; washer fluid, hand cleaner, some hardware, anything we may need ourselves etc.. comes from O'Reillys and only because of the guy they have working in the commercial department. He used to work at Advance at the commercial desk and we used them for years, but when he left we followed. I know many other shop owners who do the same thing , following people not stores.
 
I used to use Rock Auto quite often until I ordered an air filter for my wife's 2013 Toyota Sienna. There is only one engine option for this van, so it made it easy to select which one I wanted based on name brand and price. When it arrived, it didn't fit. I submitted a ticket for a return and had to deduct the return shipping from the cost even though the part doesn't fit. They go by the label on the box and since it matched, they deem it as my problem. It wasn't a large loss, but it was more the principal of the thing that mattered to me. It didn't matter that I think someone stuck the wrong filter in the wrong box at the factory. The size was off by several inches in each direction. I even compared against the cabin air filter to see if perhaps I ordered it instead and it's way off from it as well.

Also, at the beginning of the return process you have to decide if you want a store credit which will be immediately available, or a credit back to your credit card, which can take days. Since my plan was to exchange it for one that fit properly, my selection was a store credit. In retrospect I wish I had taken the credit card credit since now I'm stuck with a store credit for a company I really don't want to buy anything from.
 
I hate having to even step into the local box stores around me.... mainly due to the people that they employ, even the napa close to me is sketchy. I try to buy OE parts, but sometimes cost is a factor. I've ordered from RA and Amazon, both with good and bad results. RA sent me the wrong part but made good on sending the right one w/o having to return the other. I just ordered a brake master cylinder for my dads MG. Amazon had the exact one as RA for $30 less......
 
At work we use napa 90% of the time, advance auto then O'Reilly as backup. I know who to ask for at the local advance or napa and only deal with them.

At home if I'm working on my junk, I research those three online and check with autozone for good measure online mostly to see who has it in stock because I hate waiting. I'll then go to the store with my own part numbers. Zero bullshit that way. At work there's no time to play online, so I call NAPA first and ask for one of the three guys that you can trust to get it right. There's bullshit occasionally but it isn't as bad as just walking up to a random parts counter person.

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I had a cousin that worked the comm desk at the local Advance store so I always went there.If there was a problem he would take care if and he knew I needed stuff that wasn't nessacarily on the comp so he'd let me look thru parts to find what I needed.He has since left and their service has went to shit.I walked in w the part # I needed (off their website) and instead of them walking back there and getting my part off the shelf they wanted to know the application,ect.Ive used RA a time or two,bought a gas tank and sending unit for a chevy truck,but I prefer to see what I'm buyin before hand and have a local place to take it back to.
 
Local shop for most stuff, on-line for specialty stuff...

I work with Autozone mostly because they are close to my shop and open in the evening when I'm there, and I have built a relationship with the counter people... When you are there 2~3 days a week, the turnover doesn't matter, because the old counter people will tell the newer counter people that you know what you are doing and just to get the part # you ask for.

If I need something out of the ordinary, It's Summitracing, Amazon, and Rock Auto, in that order. Almost every order from Summit arrives within two days. Amazon Is usually quick too. Rock Auto has the really odd stuff you can't get anywhere else though (Like Air Filters and Wheel Cylinders for International Scouts), But they've gotten stupid with shipping stuff from a bunch of different warehouses making it really difficult to plan a job based on there shipping.
 
rockauto, amazon, ebay, the local parts store 30 yards from my house, lmctruck, autozone for tool rental, lowes for materials/liquids/stuffs

i have two advance within 2 miles of my house (walkable if need be), 1 autozone within 3 minutes, local auto parts (as many parts as autovance) 30 yards from the house. i avoid autovance like the plague. i dont go to napa unless i need the part pronto (overpriced). i am usually building so use rockauto almost exclusively, then amazon/ebay for specialty tools and parts. Local hardware store for bolts/screws/etc (5 minutes away). all hoses/adapters/etc from local hose/fitting store next to bolt/screw store.

i feel like i live in builders dream area, haha. #blessed now if only i can locate Midas and befriend him...

regarding having to return parts... so what you have to wait for it to show up on your card? order the part you need and the return will show up eventually. you dont have to wait for it show up to reorder (unless youre working with pennies to spare).
 
I'm a huge rockauto fan.
If you take your time you can see a picture of the part and make sure its what you need. Ive even clicked around various years to find exactly what I needed.

Regarding returns, it is a dumb computer. You have to eb smarter than it, while also being honest. If you click the "defective part" box shipping is free. If you click the "wrong part" box that means my dumbass ordered the wrogng thing, in which case YOU SHOULD pay return shipping. Either way return shipping is cheaper, to me, than time and gas to go back to the parts store if I am not in a hurry.

A while back I was working on a TJ and ordered all new stock control arms (8).

4 arrived 3 days later. I double checked my order and confirmed that I had ordered all 8 and it said they were all shipping together. I filed an e-claim that pat of my order was missing and explained exactly what I recieved and didnt.
Two days later the other 4 control arms arrived. Cool. Well the next day 4 more control arms arrived. Through no fault of RockAuto UPS had screwed up the shipment. I tried to process another claim and tell them they sent me too many and I wanted to return them. I printed a return label, left for business of two days and didnt return them. The next Monday brown Santa showed up with 4 more control arms. Back to the file a claim now I need to return 4 more control arms....Do you see where this is heading yet?. Claim filed and label printed and I dropped 8 extra control arms off at my friendly UPS store...fast forward a week and 8 control arms show up at my house. These is a different (green) box than all previous shipments.

Now I contact RA via email, I think. Somehow I end up on the phone with them. An American native named Paul, like the Apostle (his words), who lauighed hysterically at the whole situation and says, the system says everything is good now. Lets not upset the crazy computer. Free control arms on the house.
 
I use Advance almost exclusively because I can get 30% or more off with online coupons and pick it up in store. I still price shop the others, but noone comes close. I prefer NAPA because they seem less prone to tardhiring, but I know what I need, so the guy at the counter offers me zero value. I can see almost the exact same information as him when I shop online. Then drive over and pick it up while avoiding the dumb questions. If nobody local has what I need, I'll google the part number and use google "shopping" tab to find the lowest price with shipping/tax. Then check Ebay if its a higher dollar item. But I'd say 80% ends up being from Advance Auto for me.
 
Online vendors like RockAuto/Amazon/EBay...unless I need it immediately, then I go to O'Reillys. Sometimes online coupons from the auto parts stores pan out well to get a wicked discount to buy online and just pick it up in the store. I usually check there too.

Been doing the same for the dirtbike. Save for the few "sponsorships" and I use that term loosely, where I get a discount on stuff vendor direct and have a rep to call or a login code to order stuff; Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, MotoSport and AOMC usually have stuff at my office within 2 days for free. I worked small shops/small business for a long time and totally get the drive to support them, but when the cash is leaving my wallet I look out for me first.
 
I hear y'all. If I had to choose for parts, local house would be napa or Oreilly. For people and service, my rutherfordton is the win. Some of the people I enjoy dealing with have left but I've still got 5/7 employees there, so I'll keep them unless that changes to 0. Then I'd follow the people that left. Napa sells same stuff advance does for fuel pumps, solenoids, can't imagine anything else is any different. Oreilly has different vendors for most all else. Adv uses worldpac for fdo import stuff, and if it's in Charlotte i can have it tomorrow. Oreilly uses import direct, also next day. Starters that are fdo at advance are next day at Oreilly. Same for calipers. If i don't need it now, I get it from advance for warranty, my account, and they deliver to me. Thanks y'all, i was curious about every one else's perspectives on it.
 
We average $80,000-$100,000 a year in non-oem parts, for years we used advance but after the merger things fell apart. Inside sources say the advance boat may be sinking but I'm not sure how true that is. We've switched to Napa with auto zone and worldpac as backups. All of our ordering is done via email or online interfaces through our management system.

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ECGS is where probably 90% of what I install comes from. It's a seamless ordering transaction 99% of the time. Email customer service, indicate what I'm working on and what i need. Wait less than a day and there it is.
I also use @Oliver's for all of my driveline needs. Same deal as ECGS, seamless ordering and always the right part.
Locally I use Advance as they have the the friendliest staff of the other local stores. We are lucky enough to have a regional Carquest/AAP distribution center not even 2 miles away. So getting something really obscure is not an issue either.
I'm old school, establish a good relationship with your vendors, thank them, show them loyalty and appreciation and in return enjoy years of good service.
 
Slow clap for the OP for working so hard....

I shop online unless I have to have the part immediately, then its advance, autozone, oreilly (in that order) until I get what I need. Napa is hit and miss in my experience.
 
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