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A Trustworthy OEM Part Seller Website?

5K views 28 replies 9 participants last post by  TigerHeli 
#1 ·
Hi,

I was looking for a reliable and trustworthy online OEM part seller, but looks like most of the threads are too old! So I decided to renew the memory of the forum by asking for an OEM part seller website with good prices, customer service, and more important 100% really OEM parts!

Thanks everyone
 
#12 · (Edited)
Rockauto has always been overwhelming for me with a lot of options, as the opinion of the members of the forum is different.
I was thinking of finding one reliable source of original parts with the best price. (same thing that I'm doing for my Honda with www.hondaautomotiveparts.com) There are many sites with a little difference in price, but which one is 100% trustworthy on selling real original parts?
 
#4 ·
Toyota should have a warehouse in la that they store parts in. I know it took me a long long time to make a conection to that warehouse to get cost + 10% on genuine parts. Rock auto will beat that price everyday but some items just have to be genuine. Try posting on kijiji for a parts supplier the guys i use are always looking to move stuff outside dealers.

Another way to go is use amazon. If you have the part number you can find most if not everything well priced.
http://www.toyotapartszone.com/ Its a good site to look up part numbers takes your vin too :)

Thats how i get mine hope it helps.
 
#13 · (Edited)
www.toyotapartszone.com is a good site for getting part numbers.
The only dealership in LA with online parts store that I found is more expensive than most of the other online stores.

One of my items is the serpentine belt. It's around $41 to $45 in most of the parts stores but in the LA dealer online store it's $51. On the other hand, Autorock has 2 items around $17 to $18. It makes me confused between these options! If I'm going to buy something from autorock, each part will be a series of forum questions about it like this: "OK, now I'm going to buy from here. Which one should I chose?"
 
#5 ·
Oem or oe?

Most of the Toyota dealerships now have websites if ur looking for OE parts.

OEM is available anywhere nowadays from amazon to rockauto. Whatever is cheaper.
Aftermarket same. Just go with what's needed.
 
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#8 ·
This site has a number of different vendors who pay to be on the site and help the members. Just go to the supporting vendor forum and there is a list of people there.

I think Autoguide may need to help us stand out a little more so people are more aware of the role supporting vendors play on their sites.
 
#9 ·
those who suggested rockauto... i love u

me seeing this post just saved my father over $300 for some parts for his infiniti... again I love u

I will definetly be using this site for my 'rolla and probably far into the future for any other cars i may own
 
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#10 ·
Be careful though cheap parts are always a bad idea. Sometimes nothing but genuine will do like motor mounts, spark plugs,maf sensor... But if you need brakes go nuts.... Toyotanation has pretty much covered any repair/mod you want to do and parts are often discussed.
 
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#16 ·
Exactly also pretty close to any job you might attempt or problem you may have should be already covered on toyotanation so spend some time read what your getting into then buy what the masses agree are quality parts. Usually those are the same companies...

Btw for your belt go goodyear and please dont ever use belt dressing. Ever. Really never ever. Its an easy job again well covered on TN.
 
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#15 ·
And look at the details tab on Rock Auto.

For example - AC Delco hoses on Rock Auto have a lifetime warranty. Gates hoses have a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser.

I tend to like Goodyear Gatorback or Gates serpentine belts, but not sure if that is what the member would recommend for a Toyota.
 
#18 ·
RockAuto sells Motorcraft for Ford.

We need to define terms here:

OEM - Toyota part with Toyota P/N - unlikely to be at Rock Auto.

OE - Original equipment supplier - Lets say Denso for thermostats or NGK for spark plugs. Usually this is the same part as Toyota buys. If you get it from the dealer, they take it out of the Denso box, put it in a Toyota box with a different part number and charge more for it. RA will have these.

OE equivalent - Gates hoses, Goodyear belts. These are NOT OE/OEM - but are made to meet or exceed the OE specifications and in some cases are a better choice.

Really - you need to watch the forum a bit as for some parts (motor mounts, etc) OE or OEM is best and for others (belts) aftermarket is best.
 
#22 ·
I think u mixed up oe and oem

OE is Original Equipment and only available via a Toyota PN at an authorized dealership. They are not available through the rock. These items are designed and/or spec'd by Toyota and either made directly by Toyota or outsourced to an independent mfg.

OEM or Original Equipment Manafactured parts that have separate part numbers an available at authorized retailers. They are made by the same suppliers that make the OE parts but with different pns. They are essentially the same items 99.9% times without the Toyota stamping or branding.

OE Spec is a 3P mfg that makes parts that are similar and designed to be as generally the same. However these are not guaranteed and verified by Toyota. Some have excellent warranties but that doesn't mean the item is robust :p


Aftermarket Upgrade: designed by people who appreciate the vehicle and design to generally enhance the vehicle characteristics. This is a give and take. Some offer high performance or higher longevity.

Depends on the build and also forum experience.
 
#19 ·
Something else with Rock Auto besides the "heart" ...

Rock Auto generally charges $5-10 shipping, but it is per warehouse location.

So if you are ordering 4-5 items, it is often less money overall to pay a few dollars more for one part to have it ship from the same location rather than paying double-shipping.

They have a little truck icon to show you parts that are in the same warehouse as the items in your cart.

(They also have an Auto-Choose function, but I never figured that out.)
 
#24 ·
Another thing with RockAuto is their inventory changes daily.

I was ordering about 20 parts for my Focus (mostly hoses) from two locations.

Put everything in the cart, but didn't place the order yet.

Checked yesterday and the order price when up by $5-ish b/c one of the small items (hose clamps) went out of stock at one warehouse and the order was now shipping from 3 locations.

Decided to wait to order and today they are back to two locations and the original price.

Just something else to consider (BTW - their software does do a good job of trying to consolidate your order and I didn't have to remove the item from the cart and re-add it for them to drop back to two warehouses).
 
#26 ·
Wanted to follow up a bit more with things that RockAuto is good for and not so good for ...

Good:
- Brake Rotors

- Suspension Parts

- Belts and hoses

- Sensors and switches

- General parts - they have a huge inventory and generally better quality and pricing than the local parts store.

Bad:
- Most anything with a lifetime warranty that you might actually use the warranty for (alternators, starters, radiators, fan motors). If you buy this locally (AutoZone, O'Reilly, Advance, etc.) when it fails you just buy a new one and return the old one for a full refund. If you buy from RockAuto, even if it has a lifetime warranty, you still have to pay return shipping. (Sometimes the deals are good enough for it not to matter - i.e. if the alternator is $200 locally with a lifetime warrant and $50 from Rock, I might be better off just buying 4 of them from Rock over the life of the car.)

- Things you have to have NOW. (Although they often get me items within 2-3 days.)

- Items you need or want to see before purchasing.

- Items you might not need. (I recently bought a brake master cylinder locally and it ended up not being the problem. Since I didn't try to install it, I can return it locally for a full refund. I also bought brake hoses from Rock at the same time that I didn't need (b/c I liked the name brand and quality. I can return those also, but on a $18 purchase, I lose $5 shipping and $6.50 return shipping, so I will only get about $7 back.)

- Inexpensive items if you can't bundle them with a larger order. (If you need a single lug nut, it will be $0.75 and $3.00 shipping from Rock as opposed to $2.50 locally).

- Large items due to freight - although ... (A bumper from Rock might be only $25, but shipping will be $200. - But you likely won't find it for less than $225 locally.)
 
#27 ·
Another example with Rock Auto where you really have to know the products before you order:

Rear shocks for my 2002 Focus (sedan, not wagon):

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1385557,parttype,7556

The KYB 34329 for $30 looks like a great price/product ...

But the boots/mounts on my shocks are worn as well.

The pictures aren't always representative, but the picture doesn't show any of that.

If I go to KYB's website http://showmetheparts.com/kyb/ - You can see I need an SM5206.

Rock has that under Strut Mounts - even though the car definitely has rear shocks, not struts:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1385557,parttype,7600

But they sell for $20.79 each, so it is less expensive overall to pay more for the Sachs or Motorcraft shocks in this instance.
 
#28 ·
appreciate the list above.

To Summarize, the main factors most I think are basic retail factors as well:
1) Overall Cost
2) Ease of getting something
3) Returns Process

Amazon, RA, were really covering their bases well on all those points up until recently. However nowdays the benefits from those e-tailers are hard to justify over the adaptive strategies offered from MNC auto stores.

Batteries: Everyone basically buys them from AAP with their reserve in store

Brakes: Besides those who actually like having to research and buy quality aftermarket upgrades from stock, its actually simpler and better overall to buy them from stores. Plus it was hard finding say Hawk HPS, or EBC Reds in stores since they usually advocate buying store brand, but PepBoys recently carrying them. Easy as pie on that end.

Returns process is also getting stringent. Their are multiple threads and posts of how people return items on Amazon, but amazon has recently been more careful in the way auto part returns are being handled. RA returns process I have no clue of but I assume their is Restock fee+shipping fee.

The biggest advantage though that RA and Amazon have is it offer the largest catalog of parts available, even OE. local chains dont have that ability so
 
#29 ·
RA returns process I have no clue of but I assume their is Restock fee+shipping fee.
No restock fee, but no returns after 30 days and shipping discounts and the usual new condition and original packaging.

I mentioned that above. I ordered brake hoses from RA b/c I liked the name brand they carried. $7 each and $4.90 USPS shipping (non-refundable) for a purchase price of $18.90. To send them back, they give you their shipping rate and let you print or E-mail a pre-printed FedEx label, but it costs $6.66 (which they just deduct from your refund), so in the end, I am going to get $7-8 refunded on an $18.90 purchase.
 
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