Purchasing Car Parts Online

I have a laptop in the garage that I use for parts shopping and looking at parts blow-ups to figure out how things go together. Where the spacer goes, is there supposed to be a washer there, what goes on first, that sort of thing. If you have an old laptop it’s usually fine for this stuff. Everything I work on is old, and so am I.

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RockAuto, Amazon, and a few dealers that do online sales for me. I have used eBay, but only from an American salvage yard with excellent ratings.

Amazon is pretty good, but selection can be hit or miss with newer cars. RockAuto is awesome and I’ve never had an issue. Their website is very 1998, but I love it because it is easy to use.

I stay away from eBay as it has turned into a mixture of Kmart and a scammers paradise. When it comes to your car, buying unknown parts from unknown sellers is almost always a bad deal in the long run.

I hate the new business model for parts stores. I had a very old time local parts store for many years, they knew that everyone in my family drove Mopars and sometime had the part I was carrying up on the counter before I reached it. Because I was a good and frequent customer, I always got a decent price

Eventually the owner got too old and sick and closed it, I have always enjoyed browsing parts store looking for tools or products to stock up on. The two closest parts stores to me are both Advance Auto and now I don’t browse at all because if I don’t pre-order it from home, I will have to pay 20% more for it.