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Depends on the car and the part.
I have a BMW 325i and have had EXCELLENT service online with Pelican Parts and Bavarian Autosport.
Also have a couple of Honda Accords. For those, I like Majestic Honda (online) and sometimes my local dealer when I need OEM parts.
For parts like oil filters, bulbs, etc. my local Advanced Auto works just fine.
amazon.com
partsgeek.com
local NAPA stores
O’reilly
autopartstomorrow.com
autoanything.com (no personal buying exp. here; just browsed)
I buy OEM if the people can afford it, It just depends on the job.
Next week I’ll be doing a rack and pinion on a chevy malibu and the owner is very tight on money, local pepboys/autozone want $175 for a reman, I found a reman on E-bay for $90 bucks shipped so I’ll go that route.
I also have to do a belt tensioner on that and It’s only like $40 bucks at pepboys and it’s held on with one 15mm bolt so I’ll go with that one cause it’s real easy to R&R if I need to take it back off to get a better one.Parts Plus and Auto Value.Won’t buy parts from AutoZone,sell the cheapest garbage out there if you want to do the job so many times.Luckily the Auto Value parts stores sells Delphi fuel pumps instead of the junk Airtex fuel pumps.
Carquest, Napa I normally go to first.. cheapest. Next would be ebay. My latest purchase was from http://www.autopartsway.ca u.s.a. link at top of that page. Go there if you are looking for Genuine parts. I found that some are very expensive while other parts such as electronic components are super cheap. Plus delivery time is amazing.
Just about everything I get is OEM from the dealer. If not available, than NAPA.
If there is one thing I cringe at when a customer brings me a car or provides their own parts to the garage, is to see anything from AutoZone/Advanced.
I agree that rock auto is very good, but shipping does seem to be a problem for them. You cannot discount a dealership either, as others have pointed out. One really strange source for me for exhaust parts lately has been amazon.com. Usually , I buy enough for free shipping and there is no tax. It is usually a great deal if you have access to a Walker part number and search for it there. Sometimes just a general google search turns up a great source as well.
The wierd thing is that usually most vendors are within about ten percent or so of each other except for maybe one that ends up being almost half the price of the rest. Guess which one I buy?
I buy almost all of my parts online these days because it’s almost always cheaper – and yes, I go the quality stuff.
I prefer:
http://www.germanautoparts.com
http://www.autohausaz.com
http://www.ecstuning.com <----they have a surprisingly large selection of German OEM parts for great prices http://www.amazon.com <----Amazon also has a surprisingly large selection of OEM parts (all brands) for great pricesQuality and price what is driving me as everyone. Usualy I’m browsing web including Advanced and Autozone because I can pick up from the stores. Funny, I recently needed brake hardware for 02 Infiniti I35 and Advanced charged me $62.36 for pins, bolts and boots (all made in Taiwan) and AutoZone price was $19.00 (made in China). Big difference in price but not in quality.
i usually go to Autozone because i have found their customer service is better. but what i cant find there i order from Rockauto.com
I use NAPA as much as possible, I have used CarQuest, its the same quality.
I try not to use the discount stores for hard parts, the parts seem to work but with starters & Alternators the quality is very poor. I can’t justify replacing defective stuff due to workmanship (my opinion). I did buy the clutch in my Toyota from Advance Auto and it has lasted 100K miles, just depends on the part. I seem to get a better price from Napa and I think the quality is better, plus the parts people know what they are selling.
Check these people out….. I am using http://www.techchoiceparts.com for my AC compressors, prices are good and no complaints about the quality. I noticed they also have a bunch of common replacement parts.. Did I mention S&H is really fast!
for electronic parts (like sensors), i learned to go through the dealer. my recent example are the o2 senors. i bought my o2 replacement sensors from rock auto for an incredibly cheap price compared to the dealer later to find out that the sensor was super long in terms of length and i think for that reason, it wasnt working correctly. i ended up buying it from the dealer and it worked right off the bat. so lesson learned there.
other parts like suspension i go through online. i just bought a set of shock absorbers and a complete kit for the front strut/coil from amazon all for a great price and works wonderfully. i bought my tie-rods at advance autos, brakes/rotors from amazon, oil filter from amazon, oil from wal-mart, got the air filter from nissan but going through the K&N route next time. it all depends on the importance of the part that is being dealt with for me.
Quoted From KZ 259:
for electronic parts (like sensors), i learned to go through the dealer. my recent example are the o2 senors. i bought my o2 replacement sensors from rock auto for an incredibly cheap price compared to the dealer later to find out that the sensor was super long in terms of length and i think for that reason, it wasnt working correctly. i ended up buying it from the dealer and it worked right off the bat. so lesson learned there.
When I was a teenager, one of the locals from my church learned me to buy dealer parts when it comes to electronic modules and the like. Yes, an O2 sensor is well over $100 but the car don’t come back to haunt you with a warranty claim.
I worked in this little garage PT as a helper back in 88. This man was a dealer tech for Chrysler and Nissan 7-8 years at each place. I value my experience working under the supervision of a well trained and experienced mechanic. I understand the man passed a few years ago.
Quoted From dollman0:
When I was a teenager, one of the locals from my church learned me to buy dealer parts when it comes to electronic modules and the like. Yes, an O2 sensor is well over $100 but the car don’t come back to haunt you with a warranty claim.
I worked in this little garage PT as a helper back in 88. This man was a dealer tech for Chrysler and Nissan 7-8 years at each place. I value my experience working under the supervision of a well trained and experienced mechanic. I understand the man passed a few years ago.
yes, the o2 sensor from nissan was 150 compared to rock autos price at 32 dollars + shipping. i cant understand how there is a HUGE price difference between two of the same products, but i guess you get what you paid for. sorry to hear about the man that you learned from passing away. we need more people with wisdom and good experience who are willing to share it and pass it down.
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