rockauto experience

Grumpy

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
I had one of my son's friends stop by complaining about squeaky brakes
its a 2009 mazda (3) with a 2-ltr engine
I put the car up and we pull the wheels off and the metal brake backing plates resting on the rotor discs
obviously bad!
I look up the intended minimal vented disc thickness listed, run minimum and its a bit over 1" thick, his rotors are at about .860
a call to the local napa store gets me the info that I can order them for over night delivery for $59 each
(he needs both PLUS THE DISC PADS OBVIOUSLY )
or roughly $159 for the disc pads and two front rotors from NAPA
12cal.jpg

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/mazda,2009,3,2.0l+l4,1443699,brake/wheel+hub,rotor,1896
BR31373.jpg


mazdabr.png

rock auto has a similar set for roughly $90, Ive ordered many dozens of parts from rockauto over the years
so hes low on cash,
we order the rock-auto set,
they say they will be there in 4-5 days,
they arrive in three days,
and Im pleasantly surprized untill I open the box ,
and find that instead of part number 31373 vented discs,
someone at rockauto put 31273 non-vented rotors in the package,

I try to call rock auto.....good luck with that, every number I find simply refers you to the internet resolution site, I spend 20 plus minutes and can,t locate a valid phone number that connects to people!

https://www.rockauto.com/orderstatus/
only after filling uot the forms do you find they simply say,
heres a return shipping label
, we will pay the return shipping and ,
then send you the correct parts
while thats much better than an arguement,
its darn frustrating not being able to talk with anyone !
and it looks like it will be an additional 3-5 days more to get the car out of the shop.
they seem to have no problem correcting the mistake at their expense ,
but not being able to talk with anyones a P.I.T.A.
 
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I have never ordered from Rock Auto but they have a pretty good rep in general.

Hopefully you get it resolved to you satisfaction.

Keep us posted.

Thanks
Randy
 
well, an up-date!
the CORRECT brake rotors showed up on my front lawn,
like usually the U.P.S. JERK simply pitched the parts over the fence !
I found the package only because It happens fairly often ,
so I've learned to look along the fence line every afternoon
but at least they were the correct parts and packaged well,
so ROCKAUTO did their part in correcting their original parts selection and delivery screw-up,
now IF I could only get UPS too give a crap about their delivery skills things would be much better!
I had the parts installed in only a few minutes after the car concerned came back to the shop.
and yes the parts I got from ROCKAUTO looked to be very good quality and the price was less than 1/2 what the local auto parts shops had available
 
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I bought brake lines for my nova, 19 bux shipped here. Parts house wanted 50 bux for all three of them. Rock Auto is pretty good I think!
 
I got asked again about ROCK AUTO as a parts source,
I've purchased several THOUSANDS of dollars worth of basic maintenance, parts like brakes, water pumps distributor caps, spark plugs , etc. for repairs on daily driven cars, over the last 6-7 years and the only screw-up was once, in all that time some guy pulling parts in the shipping department who could not read numbers correctly, they exchanged them for the correct part number without any problems at their cost, so yeah! good company to deal with.
OBVIOUSLY IF YOU WANT TOO AVOID PROBLEMS, TAKE YOUR TIME TO ORDER DECENT PARTS< these guys supply the type of parts your average auto parts store sells but at times at lower prices and yes the prices can be much better at times.
and yes its up to you to use some reason and do your research, carefully.
use the correct part numbers
read the info on the parts you order very carefully,
and ID try to stick too well known name brand parts suppliers,
USE NAME BRANDS ,your familiar with like MOOG, CLEVITE, DELCO, WARNER, BENDIX
if those or similar parts cost $X and company Y has parts that cost 40% less, you should assume there's a damn good reason, and that reason is frequently lower quality parts,
and yes you tend to get the quality you pay for,
theres no free lunch!
you never know what you'll get if you just shop price alone!

http://oemcats.com/oem-parts/
 
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most places now to keep costs low and that have such volume of sales would rather deal with it electronically. A+B+C=Cost if A= what you pay b=is cost of parts c= price of doing business those number need match proper for you to get that cost you pic where you want those numbers. Simply put you want some one to talk to in person go to the parts store you can drive there and check your parts before you leave. Or order online rock auto and other good parts companies are quick to resolve issues but you still gotta play by the rules. I have used rock auto lots of times a suggestion next time you order parts order wiper blades and other little items you normally get at walmarts or local parts store much cheaper
 
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