RockAuto Shipping

[Ramblejam]

Years ago, ordered most parts from them. Eventually though, it seemed like shipping charges were getting ridiculous (paying for multiple warehouses, etc.); not doing a ton of business with them, but when you're spending as much in shipping over a few months as Amazon Prime cost for the entire year (without even considering all of the other Prime benefits/features), it makes sense to consider a different supplier.

(On that note, I'll mention not only does Amazon not charge anything for shipping from multiple warehouses, but have actually sent an item next-day air at no cost to me on a few occasions.)

Anyways, tried RockAuto again the other day. With their excellent parts catalog, I'd like to give them some business...

Placed an order mid-day Friday, and paid $11 for shipping.
Received order confirmation, but nothing about shipping. Checked on their website, and status said they wouldn't ship until Monday (today), with arrival by next Monday (28th). Two day shipping (to match Amazon Prime) was over $30, and they still wouldn't ship out until today.
Cancelled order.

Went over to Amazon at this point, and placed order on Saturday.
Item shipped Saturday, and was delivered today at no cost.

Am I being fair here? Same part, same price from both.

 

[mez]

I agree. Rock Auto shipping is crazy. I think some people don't consider the cost of shipping as part of the total price. I look at everything including taxes when i buy online.

 

[ford46guy]

It depends, sometimes shipping times will change even if things come from the same warehouse. Rockauto keeps no inventory, they send emails to parts warehouses to ship your stuff. Sometimes they really come thru and the part is there the next day. Can't really compare to Amazon Prime. They should probably create a shipping club type thing for $50 a year with two day shipping.

 

[02SE]

I've only ordered a few things from Rock Auto, and it was about a year ago. But I found they were still cheaper than Amazon, even with shipping charges included. The items arrived from multiple warehouses when they said they would.

YMMV

 

[blupupher]

Depends on when I need it.
I usually will compare Rock Auto and Amazon. Rock Auto does not charge me tax, so it is sometimes cheaper even with shipping. Some items on Amazon are available from other sellers with free shipping (not prime 2 day) with no tax and is cheaper than Rock Auto most times, but not always.
The multiple warehouse thing is annoying with Rock Auto though. I ordered 2 catalytic converters for a '05 F150, over $500 shipped, wanted to add some of their clearance filters, but it added $10 shipping for 5 filters since it was a different warehouse.

If I need it today, I usually hit Advance Auto and their discount codes. Usually cost a bit more, but I get it now.

 

[Trav]

You are being totally fair, they have gotten crazy with the shipping cost and delays. I needed a front bumper cover for an older but still decent 2005 Toyota Corolla, I wanted OE or at a minimum CAPA certified.
Rock $52.79 + $156.99 shipping for a total of $209.78 the same CAPA certified bumper on Amazon was $65.50 including free shipping, OE was $175 pick up at the local dealer so yeah the folks at Rock need to back up off that crack pipe just a tad.
I went with the one from Amazon, it was here in 4 days and fit perfectly, the nice thing about the CAPA part is it is primed and the OE isn't which adds about 2 hr labor and an extra $30 worth of materials to prep the OE, no brainer.

 

[Wolf359]

They're not an automatic go to. I usually check them, Amazon and a few other sellers. They don't always carry that many parts for my car. I do have it set so that I have a page of their clearance items and getting wipers, air filters and oil filters from them is a pretty good deal even with shipping. Sometimes when the price is high enough, the 5% off helps with the shipping. Also it tends to recalculate the shipping after you place the order and it's typically lower by a few dollars as I use my work address. Now that I think about it, I don't get that much from Amazon, they always miss out for one reason or another. I got a nice kit from Rockauto that Amazon didn't carry, brake pads were cheaper at Advance Auto after using a discount code, and other specialty items, Amazon just didn't carry, plus in my state I have to pay tax on Amazon purchases so the no tax with RockAuto and others is still a factor.

I'm guessing with stuff like bumpers, fender panels and hoods, they don't qualify for regular shipping and a freight company has to be used. With Amazon I guess they've got so many distributions points and have their own fleet of vans, they don't have to use a freight company.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: mez
I agree. Rock Auto shipping is crazy. I think some people don't consider the cost of shipping as part of the total price. I look at everything including taxes when i buy online.


+1

 

[dlundblad]

I may be the only one here who doesn't think their shipping is bad. I bought 2 A arms for my brothers truck.. $13 shipping and 1 giant box.

Seems like they treat their warehouses as individual businesses so it makes sense they'd charge so much for multiple "shipping from" locations. I try to get everything from the same warehouse to keep costs down.

Trav's 'Yoda bumper for $65 shipped was a screaming deal no matter how you put it. +1 for Amazon, but think about the traffic they see vs. even Rock Auto.

 

[FirstNissan]

I stopped buying from RockAuto last year, ordering from there turned into a 2-hour ordeal trying to consolidate items from the least number of warehouses in order to lower the crazy shipping fees. I now buy mostly from Amazon or advance auto.

 

[Kira]

"I agree. Rock Auto shipping is crazy. I think some people don't consider the cost of shipping as part of the total price. I look at everything including taxes when i buy online."

+2 (How else?) Me, I check with Amazon too but who says everything they sell includes or qualifies for Prime?
I see stuff which says "not eligible for Prime" often, but I still look.

I feel working the single warehouse route makes RA competitive.

EX: My Sachs shocks/struts for my Volvo V70. RA for the fronts and Amazon for the rears. Amazon doesn't always have what you're looking for.

 

[stephen9666]

I can't remember a time I had RA say it would take a week for a part to arrive. Every time I've orders from them, which has been quite a lot of times, I've received the items quite quickly. I have Prime, too, and my experience is Prime is faster, but RA is faster than Amazon orders from before I had Prime.

I still order from RA a good amount because they often are the cheapest. I always compare RA, Amazon, eBay and a couple other places.

They won't always be the cheapest, but the total price on RA will be the cheapest on some items and sometimes by a lot.

 

[Kruse]

Whenever I want to place an order from RockAuto, I put the exact part numbers into Amazon Prime. Sometimes Amazon is cheaper. Sometimes RA is cheaper. To me, it could go either way. However, I will NOT do any RA shipping that involves DHL. DHL sometimes is the cheapest way to ship, but all DHL shipping to my house involves leaving the warehouse by DHL and then DHL drops it off at the post office, slowing down shipping by at least two days.

 

[fdcg27]

Rock is often insane on shipping.
There are better sources out there offering better parts.
Rock is also sometimes insanely cheap even with shipping.
One thing that kills me is that unless you select a more expensive shipping option than the cheapest, the parts take days to arrive while with any other online source, you get the parts in a day or two with free shipping.
Does Rock hold orders when the least costly shipping option is selected?

 

[AIRJAC3]

I stopped Rock Auto around a year ago as well. I wanted to get some GM OE Rotors and Pads from them for my Camaro and the shipping was more than the rotors and pads combined ($396 in shipping????). Absolutely ridiculous.

I'm a big fan of Summit now. Anything over $99=free shipping. And it has never taken more than 3 days for me to get anything with standard shipping.

I mostly just use Rock Auto now as a part catalog for part numbers and search them on Summit.

It's a shame though because the navigation on Rock Auto is so easy. But they need to chill with the shipping costs.

 

[mjk]

Just ordered a Timken Hub Assembly for my Tahoe. RA beat Amazon by around $15.00. Both places were cheaper than the garbage house brands at AZ and ORLY.

 

[Merkava_4]

The return side is where RockAuto excels. I needed to return a ball joint because the boot was torn. The very instant that FedEx scanned and weighed the package, the replacement ball joint was shipped out from RockAuto. In other words, the replacement ball joint was shipped out BEFORE they received the torn one. You think Amazon would do that ?!!? I had my new replacement ball joint in 48 hours.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Whenever I want to place an order from RockAuto, I put the exact part numbers into Amazon Prime. Sometimes Amazon is cheaper. Sometimes RA is cheaper. To me, it could go either way. However, I will NOT do any RA shipping that involves DHL. DHL sometimes is the cheapest way to ship, but all DHL shipping to my house involves leaving the warehouse by DHL and then DHL drops it off at the post office, slowing down shipping by at least two days.


Pretty much this. RA's java website is excellent and to-the-point. Amazon is littered with 3rd party sellers and unwanted accessories, and one has to click a bunch of stuff to sort. Their memory of my car is poor. AND THEIR PRICES VARY FROM DAY TO DAY. They also vary upwards depending on if their algorithm thinks "I really need it" which is shady as anything. If I check a price on Amazon and it looks decent I jump b/c it will only go up from there.

RA doesn't mind if they lose a sale b/c the warehouse is on the other side of the country. They would be more expensive if they had their own centralized warehouse b/c then you'd be paying to ship stuff to them to begin with before the 2nd trip to your house, as well as a need to heat, insure, etc.

Amazon is still trying to "build buzz" or market share or whatever and will sell stuff at a loss sometimes. Heavy stuff like brake rotors though, I'd say, not often, as the shipping is obviously built into the price.

I'm presently waiting for a $1.49 fuel filter for my project camry to arrive. Shipping from RA is another $4. Az wants $8 and Advance wants $20. RA is also reasonable at around $2 for a 10-pack of light bulbs with another $2 to ship. The markup on bulbs, wipers, spark plugs and other small stuff is ridiculous almost everywhere else.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The return side is where RockAuto excels. I needed to return a ball joint because the boot was torn. The very instant that FedEx scanned and weighed the package, the replacement ball joint was shipped out from RockAuto. In other words, the replacement ball joint was shipped out BEFORE they received the torn one. You think Amazon would do that ?!!? I had my new replacement ball joint in 48 hours.

I have not had issues with returns on either.

The 2 items I have had to return to Rock Auto (defective intake manifold and defective catalytic converter) I had to place and pay for a new order and they credited my account when they received the return. They paid for the return shipping and to ship the replacement part.

On all my Amazon returns (only 3-4 in past 3 years), they send the replacement part immediately without charging me anything (they pay for return shipping)). If they don't get the defective part back, then I would get charged for it.
I did have an issue with a fuel filter that I bought on Amazon for my mom's Saturn Vue. Since it was not my regular vehicle, I checked Amazon and it said it had a replaceable fuel filter (as did Rock Auto, Advance Auto, Auto Zone, etc...) so I ordered it. Well I get the filter and a week later I go to change it, and the car does not have a replaceable filter. Contacted Amazon and they just said keep the filter and credited my account, was not worth the shipping for them apparently. Since I had no need for it, I cut it open

.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: blupupher
The 2 items I have had to return to Rock Auto (defective intake manifold and defective catalytic converter) I had to place and pay for a new order and they credited my account when they received the return. They paid for the return shipping and to ship the replacement part.


You must've ordered the new parts before taking the defective parts to FedEx. What I did is get the return authorization and then as soon as FedEx scanned it, RockAuto shipped the replacement part.