Rock Auto buyer beware

[Rusty Nail]

Brown rice is better for you anyway.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

@HotRodPC has been singing this Airtex tune for a few years, too. That’s what dissuaded me from buying any of their products. You know, I’ve actually had really good luck with Spectra stuff, senders, sender/pump combos, and tanks. That’s only three vehicles I’ve used them on, and I don’t trust any one brand implicitly, but I’ll continue to use their stuff until I get burned, which hopefully that doesn’t happen. I know some of their stuff is Taiwanese, which doesn’t bother me as much as other places, but I think some of it is Chinesium also. Probably better to stick with Delco; I’ve read reviews on Delphi stuff in this area that made me think twice, but their mechanical pump is as good as anything else out there IMO.

 

[eskimomann209]

This was kind of my point. The last brake job I did on my wife's Sequoia I did the whole job, specialty truck towing line pads from raybestos and raybestos rotors shipped to my house in a rural area for less than white box rotors were going to cost me at the local chain auto parts stores if I drove the one hour round trip to get them were going to cost. A(yes it was the lower quality line of rotors raybestos makes but this Sequoia is so hard on brakes if this set is anything like the last two sets I will be doing them again in 16-20 miles anyway.)

I just had to plan it out a little and buy them and wait the three days. I was a few days behind cause the pad got into the rotors and ground it out and sounded horrible. But I didn't care I was putting new rotors in anyway. I figured old ones were out of spec, but more importantly I had to do the job on the weekend and there is no where close to turn them on a Saturday and I couldn't pull them during the week cause she needed the car. New ones are only like $7 more each.

What the ****!? 16-20 miles. Gotta figure something out here man!

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

What the ****!? 16-20 miles. Gotta figure something out here man!

I hope he meant thousand. Yikes.

 

[HotRodPC]

@HotRodPC has been singing this Airtex tune for a few years, too. That’s what dissuaded me from buying any of their products. You know, I’ve actually had really good luck with Spectra stuff, senders, sender/pump combos, and tanks. That’s only three vehicles I’ve used them on, and I don’t trust any one brand implicitly, but I’ll continue to use their stuff until I get burned, which hopefully that doesn’t happen. I know some of their stuff is Taiwanese, which doesn’t bother me as much as other places, but I think some of it is Chinesium also. Probably better to stick with Delco; I’ve read reviews on Delphi stuff in this area that made me think twice, but their mechanical pump is as good as anything else out there IMO.

Wow, and here I thought people didn't even listen to me. Yep, I've never heard good things about Airtex and been told either go AC Delco or Delphi which is also an OEM name brand GM used alot. Being there's so much labor involved in dropping tanks I figured I'd listen to the warning from many others, 2 of them personally where I helped swap pumps.

 

[shiftpro]

I used to buy Airtex in tank pumps alot - when they were still made in Canada. Now all chicom and junk. I've even had them wired backward from the factory. OE Volvo intank pumps are reboxed Airtex with 90 day warranties and 3x the price.

Typically what I have done is go buy one at Autozone.....someplace thats a tad higher price, but no qualm lifetime warranty....that, and they are everywhere if ever there's a problem. Did that with the 2 Delco Pro pumps for my FI conversion.

Warranties, having to ship the parts back (I've had to cover shipping on THEIR mistake / defective parts out of the box), convenience, etc.....is why I dont buy more at Rock.

I acknowledge Canada failed you in this respect, and I humbly and profusely apologize on behalf of all Canadians. I bend a knee to you sir, I am truly sorry...

 

[80BrownK10]

What the ****!? 16-20 miles. Gotta figure something out here man!

Should be 20k

 

[Doppleganger]

I acknowledge Canada failed you in this respect, and I humbly and profusely apologize on behalf of all Canadians. I bend a knee to you sir, I am truly sorry...

As long as you still have the good maple cookies and the Molson ***.....we're still friends.

 

[Big Chip]

I acknowledge Canada failed you in this respect, and I humbly and profusely apologize on behalf of all Canadians. I bend a knee to you sir, I am truly sorry...

Like your PM!

 

[john mccarthy]

Good Morning Everyone
It is with interest I read the comments from Ricko1996. I do understand how "pissed off" you must be. I use Rock Auto and have done so for 13 years now and while there should be no such thing as a new bad part and a warranty is a warranty, unfortunately times have changed and there is a lot of "crap" parts out there. With Rock Auto you have to be very careful as to what you buy and make sure it is the correct application for your vehicle, as it is hard to get refunds from them. They list their parts from "economy" meaning cheap to the more expensive brands, listed as "daily driver" and/or "premium". I try to avoid the "economy" range as you continually see brand names like "Air Tech Wells" in that bracket. That sends alarm bells running for me. I mostly stick to the "Daily Driver" bracket and with names I know and can trust, AC Delco, Raybestos, Mahle and more. They are cheaper than most of our local parts stores and unfortunately I don't have loads of money to spend. I do try to use my local spare parts store when I can as they provide an excellent service and also a lot of valuable information about the parts they are selling. As for parts being made overseas I would also like to avoid Chinese made, however can you be realistic about that? In my younger days the first after market manufacturers were from Taiwan, (Nationalist China) and they started off with cheaper parts which were good quality. Once they established themselves, the quality of the parts started to go down and the prices went up. Along comes China and does exactly the same thing. China does make good quality parts, however you must pay for them. We now have the "new" players in the after market manufactures which include India, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil and more. In recent times I will always try my local spare parts stores first because of their good service and being able to return a part if it is defective. A lot of the big name brand suppliers do not make their parts and a good example of this is that AC Delco do not make their own spark plugs. If the AC Delco spark plug has a smooth outer ceramic surface it is made by Bosch and if it is a ribbed outer surface it is made by Champion. What you are supposed to be getting from AC Delco is "quality control" of their labeled products. Don't give up on Rock Auto they have done a lot of good for people like us, keeping prices down with competitive pricing. I don't like the way the shipping costs are added up with them, if you have a large order which comes out of multiple warehouses. Rock auto needs to adopt an Amazon approach here, ie free shipping for larger order. However where possible use your local parts stores we also need them to remain in business. I hope that you get your pump sorted out. Take care John

 

[Ricko1966]

Ah it's no big deal.43.00 Just letting everyone know RA picks and chooses. Which warranties it will honor.I didn't know that.You also can't get live help when there is a problem with a return.Its convienent to not drive an hour to get parts but. From now on locals get my business.Now it's time to pull the intake, change the cam and run the freaking mechanical pump, like I should have done to begin with.

 

[Ricko1966]

Good Morning Everyone
It is with interest I read the comments from Ricko1996. I do understand how "pissed off" you must be. I use Rock Auto and have done so for 13 years now and while there should be no such thing as a new bad part and a warranty is a warranty, unfortunately times have changed and there is a lot of "crap" parts out there. With Rock Auto you have to be very careful as to what you buy and make sure it is the correct application for your vehicle, as it is hard to get refunds from them. They list their parts from "economy" meaning cheap to the more expensive brands, listed as "daily driver" and/or "premium". I try to avoid the "economy" range as you continually see brand names like "Air Tech Wells" in that bracket. That sends alarm bells running for me. I mostly stick to the "Daily Driver" bracket and with names I know and can trust, AC Delco, Raybestos, Mahle and more. They are cheaper than most of our local parts stores and unfortunately I don't have loads of money to spend. I do try to use my local spare parts store when I can as they provide an excellent service and also a lot of valuable information about the parts they are selling. As for parts being made overseas I would also like to avoid Chinese made, however can you be realistic about that? In my younger days the first after market manufacturers were from Taiwan, (Nationalist China) and they started off with cheaper parts which were good quality. Once they established themselves, the quality of the parts started to go down and the prices went up. Along comes China and does exactly the same thing. China does make good quality parts, however you must pay for them. We now have the "new" players in the after market manufactures which include India, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil and more. In recent times I will always try my local spare parts stores first because of their good service and being able to return a part if it is defective. A lot of the big name brand suppliers do not make their parts and a good example of this is that AC Delco do not make their own spark plugs. If the AC Delco spark plug has a smooth outer ceramic surface it is made by Bosch and if it is a ribbed outer surface it is made by Champion. What you are supposed to be getting from AC Delco is "quality control" of their labeled products. Don't give up on Rock Auto they have done a lot of good for people like us, keeping prices down with competitive pricing. I don't like the way the shipping costs are added up with them, if you have a large order which comes out of multiple warehouses. Rock auto needs to adopt an Amazon approach here, ie free shipping for larger order. However where possible use your local parts stores we also need them to remain in business. I hope that you get your pump sorted out. Take care John

Good Morning Everyone
It is with interest I read the comments from Ricko1996. I do understand how "pissed off" you must be. I use Rock Auto and have done so for 13 years now and while there should be no such thing as a new bad part and a warranty is a warranty, unfortunately times have changed and there is a lot of "crap" parts out there. With Rock Auto you have to be very careful as to what you buy and make sure it is the correct application for your vehicle, as it is hard to get refunds from them. They list their parts from "economy" meaning cheap to the more expensive brands, listed as "daily driver" and/or "premium". I try to avoid the "economy" range as you continually see brand names like "Air Tech Wells" in that bracket. That sends alarm bells running for me. I mostly stick to the "Daily Driver" bracket and with names I know and can trust, AC Delco, Raybestos, Mahle and more. They are cheaper than most of our local parts stores and unfortunately I don't have loads of money to spend. I do try to use my local spare parts store when I can as they provide an excellent service and also a lot of valuable information about the parts they are selling. As for parts being made overseas I would also like to avoid Chinese made, however can you be realistic about that? In my younger days the first after market manufacturers were from Taiwan, (Nationalist China) and they started off with cheaper parts which were good quality. Once they established themselves, the quality of the parts started to go down and the prices went up. Along comes China and does exactly the same thing. China does make good quality parts, however you must pay for them. We now have the "new" players in the after market manufactures which include India, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil and more. In recent times I will always try my local spare parts stores first because of their good service and being able to return a part if it is defective. A lot of the big name brand suppliers do not make their parts and a good example of this is that AC Delco do not make their own spark plugs. If the AC Delco spark plug has a smooth outer ceramic surface it is made by Bosch and if it is a ribbed outer surface it is made by Champion. What you are supposed to be getting from AC Delco is "quality control" of their labeled products. Don't give up on Rock Auto they have done a lot of good for people like us, keeping prices down with competitive pricing. I don't like the way the shipping costs are added up with them, if you have a large order which comes out of multiple warehouses. Rock auto needs to adopt an Amazon approach here, ie free shipping for larger order. However where possible use your local parts stores we also need them to remain in business. I hope that you get your pump sorted out. Take care John

The irritating part is it is a Universal Pump listed as a universal pump with the correct specs as listed on Airtex website, confirmed by airtex rep but Rock Auto says wrong application.Wrong application on a universal pump, hmm, what is the correct application for a universal pump. You know it's just 43.00 .I had no idea a company could be so weasel about a lifetime warrantee.Just wanted to warn others, so at least they were warned.

 

[jeff406cid]

I've been burned by schlockauto aswell. Absolutely NO customer service, they leave you holding the bag even if you make the slightest mistakes on the website, no one to appeal to.
I use Advance auto, the best customer service and 25% discount codes. Even ebay using paypal gives better protection.

 

[Crispy]

Hopefully they make it right. I rarely have an issue with a part or their website. I tried returning something once and accidentally clicked that I had installed the part so it closed the return with a denial. A quick phone call later and everything was set right. Its been a few years though. Its tough buying auto parts local when the local Napa wants $47 for a serpentine belt. I stop in when there is a sale and buy some fluids and a bucket, otherwise the 20 mile drive to a box auto store just aint worth it. I like getting my parts on the porch lol.

As for avoiding Chineseium, its hard. Its almost all made there and just branded differently. As mentioned above I think what you pay for (or at least expect to) is added quality control. Maybe, just maybe, one day something will click in peoples heads that having as many aspects of design, engineering, and manufacturing as possible contained within our borders will greatly benefit the majority of the populace.

 

[Mikes78K20]

I've gotten some parts from R/A but haven't had to warranty anything yet...mostly I use them for looking up part numbers if I know the application then buy from amazon or locally.