According to corporate records, Tom Taylor is listed as the company president and owners are the Taylor family.
Had a big surprise, had ordered some suspension parts from Rock Auto, the parts arrived in short order and were what I had ordered, price was better than O’Reilly’s. About one month later I get a notification from. AM EX asking if I was shipping parts from Rock Auto, to a town outside of Lexington, KY, I live in Texas. So answer is NO, I tell AM EX to not pay and I call Rock Auto, guy on the phone acts like it was my issue... so I convinced him I did not order the parts and to cancel the order. My account showed my home address in KY, back tracked the address, looked up the house in Google Maps, called the phone number from the order, nobody ever answered. Called Am Ex back and the customer service rep indicated she had handled at least 4 other Rock Auto orders being charged to other peoples cards. Rock Auto would not own up to an issue to me over the phone so I haven’t used them since. Just my experience, for whatever it is worth. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
dwwest1 How long ago did this happen? We are pretty lucky here in our small town. We have NAPA, Car Quest, Orielly's, Auto Zone, an independent parts store, and another small regional parts store I can't remember the name of. We also have GM, Ford, and Chrysler dealers that stock parts. We also have 3 engine rebuild shops in town that do machine work. I do business with NAPA, Orielly's, (both deliver to me) and the dealers, mostly with things they have in stock, or can get within a day. If they have to order more long term, I will look on line and order my own stuff. The Car Quest store is a revamped older independent parts store that took on the Car Quest name a couple years ago, but has recently moved into a new larger location, I haven't been in the new store yet. With this many local options, the competition is pretty stiff, and Rock Auto has to compete, shipping and core charges have a pretty big impact. Gene
Didn't even know DHL even did domestic shipping anymore. They kind of went away around here about 4 years ago for domestic shipping. You know you're old when you can remember the parts counter guy knowing more about the product then you do.
I've had good experiences with Rock Auto. Good parts, good prices, easy to look up and order, quick delivery. I've found the prices of radiator hoses at my local parts stores (O'Reilly, Auto Zone, Napa) to be rather high these days, usually somewhere between $25 and $50. Plus, when I have a specific application, they almost always have to order it anyway. When I order radiator hose from Rock Auto, I get what I need and they have always been in the $10 to $20 range. The local stores are good about letting me go into the back and rifle through their hoses to find what I need for custom applications, but I pay through the nose when I do. I just ordered a pair of good, KYB rear shocks for my '59 El Camino from Rock Auto, $48 including shipping for the pair. Ecklers wants $67 each for some no name shocks, plus shipping.
When its all said and done it boils down to competition. Whoever can sell the best product or service at the lowest price will make the most profit. I pay cash and want the best price. Years ago 1980 I was running a cat for a guy. It was running hot and he suspected that the temp guage was phony. So he bought a new Stewart Warner burbon tube temp guage at the local Napa store. We where installing it and he stated that the guage cost him $27.00. I had just bought the exact same guage a week before at the same store. It cost me $16.00 because I paid cash. He had a credit account. Boy was ole Leon mad. He stated I pay my parts bill every month. The old cat was actually running hot and I only got paid for chargable hours and spent too much time setting and letting it cool off. So I quit. It paid good if the cat would have not got overheated. So his little brother decided he would run it. And he boiled the antifreeze and he quit. Then another guy ran it and he overheated it and poured cold water from a rice well into the hot engine and the heads cracked and the water on the pistons bent the rods. I was rehired and paid for every minute I set in the seat even if I was watching it cool down. He sold the cat and it never ran cool even in winter. Finally a old guy bought it and we tore it down. The water jackets where completely full of rock hard lime. From folks running well water in it. We chisled the lime out and installed new sleeves and pistons. And it never ran hot again even on the hottest summer days.
Good experience with Rock Auto! Good prices, good selection, can't complain. Sent from my Pixel using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
We have a NAPA store here.Been there once,and never again.Talk about nasty.Dirt,dust,flies,spiders and all kinds of creepy crawlers.Sure won`t go there again.Counter help was great though.Talked to one of the employees a couple of weeks later,and he said they found a really nice surprise one morning when they opened.5 feet of pissed off rattle snake in the parts area.He quit.Sure not the NAPA that I remember from my home town in Fl. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
I used to use Rock Auto a lot, really like the good deals, and selection. But my wife( who used to be an assistant manager at OReillys) got a job at a very large wholesale parts warehouse here in St. Louis. Not only can we car pool together, she gets great deals! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I buy a lot of parts from Rock Auto mainly for price. I used to buy from NAPA's main Genuine Parts warehouse at about $400-$600 per month. (No delivery...no returns because I know how to order...paid cash.) Napa says even though I am maintaining 8 cars in our family and building hot rods...I can't get special pricing anymore because I don't spend enough. (I was buying @ green-sheet for those of you who know the industry.) They put me on RETAIL. Private locally owned NAPA stores are excellent and smart people. The idiots I was dealing with was the company owned store. Now NAPA has found out..... I don't SPEND AT ALL. (with them) Those who complain on-line sales hurt the little people, I disagree. I buy from all kinds of small mom and pop vendors on line...and buy about 1/2 my parts off Ebay Motors from common citizens. As far as Government not getting enough of my money for their pensions...I say: Get over it.
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