Just a quick note for those of you who repair your own cars, buy parts at Autozone or Advance Auto parts.
Here is my recent experience with buying auto parts from Advance.
We had to put a front wheel bearing in my brothers explorer last night.
Advance had the bearing in stock for $219.00.
Rockauto.com had it for $150, plus like $20 to ship.
I walked into my local Advance Auto store and started talking to the friendly parts jockey working there.
I asked if they match prices from other vendors, and he said yes sure.
I showed him a printout of the RockAuto website, and he asked "ok how much is shipping."
My brother jumps in a bit dishonestly and says "Five Bucks."
A split second passed and we all looked at each other when we awaited the parts jockey's answer.
The guy says ok fine and rings up the part for $155 plus tax.
Saved like 50 bucks just by asking.
I'll continue to shop there.
I'm sure that some guys will give you a tough time about it, but the guys at my local store were more than happy to take care of me.
I still love the service and prices from RockAuto, and will continue to purchase from them, but when I need a part direly I'll price match it at Advance Auto.
Oh, finally. If you guys want to save 5% off your Rock Auto order (or your Advance Auto Pricematch), then the current coupon code is..
857610758706
Good until December 18th, 2007 (Remember to put ONLY the code # in the "how did you hear about us" line)
11 comments:
I went to Autozone to price match on radiator with rockauto (regular price). They wouldn't do it.
I bought a heater hose for $6.49 and I cut it to fit but it wouldn't. They would not take it back.
I spent hundreds at Autozone a year. Last year I purchased brake pads, rotors, CV axles. Now I am replacing heating and cooling system. And parts I just bought I returned based on this experience.
I will no longer support Autozone and going to be ordering all online from shops like rockauto.com
It is not the price matching it is the fact they wouldn't take a part back which wouldn't fit to replace OEM part.
If I pay 20-50% more compared to online I would expect top notch service.
I went to two stores to get all the parts and I still wasn't able to get them all.
What's the point of driving back and force and even get to deal with uninterested autozone employee.
So apparently the front Parking Brake cable for the Xtra cab 4x4 is not available in Canada except from the dealership anymore? The worst part is that nobody's computer shows this. This week I have tried to install one from a regular cab only to find out it's a foot too short (Part Source thanks guys ), and had the rear cables show up when I ordered the front (thanks NAPA).
The only non OE manufacturer I have found making it is Raybestos, but none of the web sites I have found ship to Canada. I ordered it from the dealer for $140, or roughly tripple what is is listed at everywhere else. Anybody know where I can get one in the great white north?
autopartsonlinecanada.com says I can wait 3-4 weeks and the parts may come i...great I'll just carry around wheel chocks untill then
These are all ridiculous! I started to get my stuff at autoparts123.com its been great.
Cheers,
Malory
Thomas said:
I've been a mechanic for 23 years (+ diesel for 4) I worked for AutoZone as 1st. PSM for two years, bringing them $3k-$5k in sales a week. Everything I sold was what a customer needed, even if they didn't know they needed it. Not only have I seen the random deletion of warranties, over-charging of customer's batteries, 12v battery chargers that state anything holding less than 4v is damaged (needless replacement) & lack of training regarding diagnostic equipment, but I was burned on a meager $110 bonus check for making top of regional sales after Katrina refugees came through. Now, wouldn't I have been angered if I were as greedy as them & just sold those poor refugees anything* to make a sale, rather than helping the hurting people whose Red Cross discount numbers wouldn't even work on the system & then they ripped me off on bonus.
85% of NAPA "counter-monkeys" have always had a problem with ordering what they* think you need rather than the parts you ordered... Like ordering a 12" clutch that wasn't listed, for a `78 IH Scout II, & they ordered an 11" because it was in 90% of the MT-equipped vehicles. However, 3 years as Assistant Manager for them showed me that there is nothing preventing a good employee from making cha-ching if they know what they are doing. With monkeys the way they are now, what's the odds of finding a good employee though? AS hard as finding a good NAPA.
Rockauto has sent me the wrong parts, sometimes because of year-model changes & others because of something stupid. Print out the return label after filing an RMA and ship back for free. They have always taken the return, no questions asked & if filed within the 30 days, even if the return didn't make it to them until 60 days later (just have to contact them and re-open the claim). They have always had hard-to-find parts & they are open to additional parts if you know* there's a part that's not listed. This to me is about as close as there is to an online "Ma & Pop" shop.
Cheese heads or not, they get it done right... TY & "have a nice day" included, even though you don't hear it.
Thomas said:
I've been a mechanic for 23 years (+ diesel for 4) I worked for AutoZone as 1st. PSM for two years, bringing them $3k-$5k in sales a week. Everything I sold was what a customer needed, even if they didn't know they needed it. Not only have I seen the random deletion of warranties, over-charging of customer's batteries, 12v battery chargers that state anything holding less than 4v is damaged (needless replacement) & lack of training regarding diagnostic equipment, but I was burned on a meager $110 bonus check for making top of regional sales after Katrina refugees came through. Now, wouldn't I have been angered if I were as greedy as them & just sold those poor refugees anything* to make a sale, rather than helping the hurting people whose Red Cross discount numbers wouldn't even work on the system & then they ripped me off on bonus.
85% of NAPA "counter-monkeys" have always had a problem with ordering what they* think you need rather than the parts you ordered... Like ordering a 12" clutch that wasn't listed, for a `78 IH Scout II, & they ordered an 11" because it was in 90% of the MT-equipped vehicles. However, 3 years as Assistant Manager for them showed me that there is nothing preventing a good employee from making cha-ching if they know what they are doing. With monkeys the way they are now, what's the odds of finding a good employee though? AS hard as finding a good NAPA.
Rockauto has sent me the wrong parts, sometimes because of year-model changes & others because of something stupid. Print out the return label after filing an RMA and ship back for free. They have always taken the return, no questions asked & if filed within the 30 days, even if the return didn't make it to them until 60 days later (just have to contact them and re-open the claim). They have always had hard-to-find parts & they are open to additional parts if you know* there's a part that's not listed. This to me is about as close as there is to an online "Ma & Pop" shop.
I think dealing with any company these days is coming down to 3-4 days longer than you planned if you cannot see the parts' image at least. Using RockAuto to get part image/numbers so you can order locally is cool & all that, but why donate to the corporate giant if they're not doing anything for you. If the corporate giant is screwing you, let em fall to their knees. They raise prices 500% at NAPA. Bring our economy down by bringing the corporate giants down.
Cheese heads or not, they get it done right... TY & "have a nice day" included, even though you don't hear it. My vote, RockAuto before corporate giants.
Dont buy ANYTHING from Advance Auto.....When buying batteries from Advance Auto Parts, check the warranty period VERY CAREFULLY! They give you a useless, bogus, warranty. They warranty batteries for 90 days with NO PRORATED period. So, if you spend 79.99 on a battery like I did, and it goes bad 9 months later, you are S.O.L. They dont care, all they offer to do is sell you another $80 POS. They dont care about the public like they say, all they care about is putting the mighty dollar in their pocket while screwing the public. Well, they got their last mighty dollar from me. With any luck, they will get what is coming to them in this economy.......BANKRUPTCY!
i used to trust advance,now not so much.their rebuilt starter for a 02 camry worked on the bench,but not in my car.after 2 trips back to the store they did take it back and refunded my money.got starter from napa,works perfectly and was about 15 bucks cheaper! only bought a couple things from rockauto,so far i'm pleased.
I don't know about their pricematch policity but of the retail auto parts chains, I get the better customer service at Oreilly Auto Part
( way better than Autozone or Advance .
I was able to find the part I needed at RockAuto that could "only be purchased at a dealership"!! The dealership wanted me to pay $271.56 for a part that I just paid $67.50 for INCLUDING THE SHIPPING!!
All this bad mouthing of Autzone suprises me. Having lived in 5 different cities in 3 different states in the last 4 years, I have yet to have a bad experience. I just today returned a fried alternator, fried because the mounting bracket broke away and the alt grounded out... what's more I had painted the housing blue, LOL.... they exchanged under warranty no questions asked.
The Autozone stores I have patronized have always helped me out and gone the extra mile. Sometimes I get the wrong part and have to return, sometimes I damage them and return, and sometimes the part is bad to begin with or I was given the incorrect one, but I have NEVER had trouble getting a new one or a refund.
Of course, I could always just be lucky and find myself near stores that aren't staffed by jerks, LOL.
I don't know what AutoZones you guys have been shopping at, but mine in Clarksville, TN, are awesome. I've done some Jeep rebuilds and routine maintenance and have asked some pretty amateur questions, yet they had no problem answering them or helping me. I don't know about their price matching, but I'm about to find out (found their $62 part for $12).
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