Rockauto shipping craziness (or where to buy parts online)

My 2008 Saab 9.3 needs front brakes.  After reading this thread, I decided I would get the Centric rotors and Akebono ceramic pads.  Rockauto had sent me a discount code so I decided to try them.  First, they didn't have the Centric rotors in 302mm diameter which is what I need.  So I switched to Raybestos rotors.  I added some brake lube and fluid.  At checkout they want to charge me $37 for shipping from three different warehouses, which seems nuts to me.

I looked at napa, advance, amazon (boy does searching for parts on amazon suck), and they are all more expensive.  Finally checked fcpeuro which has the akebono pads and Zimmerman rotors, which I have not heard of.  Their price for the parts is higher but without $37 for shipping the total is lower.

Can you ask Rockauto to ship from one warehouse even if it is going to take longer?

Am I missing a better place to look online?

Anything wrong with Zimmerman rotors?  Am I going to regret buying them?

I haven't had a bad experience yet from FCP Euro, so I'd probably trust them. And yeah, I've become similarly frustrated by RockAuto.

For rock auto, use the feature of selecting multiple acceptable choices and letting it pick which to minimize overall cost.  Or, I pick the one thing that I am least flexible on brand and add to my cart, then look for the other parts that have the little truck icon next to them that indicates they are shipping from the same warehouse as what is already in your cart.  
 

Even with shipping I can rarely beat the Rock Auto prices.   Also, rotors are heavy, that's more expensive to ship. 

Tom Suddard said:

I haven't had a bad experience yet from FCP Euro, so I'd probably trust them. And yeah, I've become similarly frustrated by RockAuto.

Just placed an order with FCP Euro myself last night. 

FCP Euro or eSaabParts for Saab stuff. I generally use Rockauto for my part numbers but always cross shop Amazon. I normally come out ahead on Amazon for most of my GM truck parts either on price or shipping, sometimes both.

David S. Wallens said:

Tom Suddard said:

I haven't had a bad experience yet from FCP Euro, so I'd probably trust them. And yeah, I've become similarly frustrated by RockAuto.

Just placed an order with FCP Euro myself last night. 

I just got a text that there's an FCP Euro box sitting on my doorstep! 

If FCP is selling it, the chances of it being crap are pretty low, in my experience so far.  I will typically shop Rock Auto versus Amazon (although the counterfeiting that goes on there concerns me) versus FCP versus AutohausAZ versus idParts (for diesel parts).  One thing I've found to reduce the shipping costs from Rock Auto is to use a commercial address, but their whole multiple warehouse thing is a real PITA.  I swear that I've had three things in my cart, all showing the same warehouse, and I will add something else to the cart that has the little truck icon on it and suddenly items 1, 3 and 4 will be warehouse A and item 2 will be in warehouse B.  How the hell does that happen!?  (Okay, I guess it's just that things are in multiple warehouses and its algorithm isn't accounting for that because of a bad JOIN or something, but still, fix your E36 M3, amiright?)

Let’s just say that counterfeiting concerns me, too. Something I ask myself: Do I trust the supplier? 

Not even FCP Euro's OE alternatives are bulletproof, as I talked about in this thread

Must I literally only use OEM on my BMW!?

their replace policy is generous but nothing beats Amazon for returns

Oh!  I forgot another potential supplier: Pelican Parts.  I've had good luck with them in the past.  Right now I have a couple PCV-related parts for my 1990 Saab 900 on the way from them.  They were the only place in the known universe - including esaabparts or whatever - that had a catalog that would admit that the plastic elbow in the valve cover (that I broke because I'm a dumdum) even exists.

Hey, I was on the Pelican Parts forum last night. :)

You can mitigate a lot of the RA shipping costs by ordering things from the same warehouse. Once you add an item to your cart, all other products that come from the same warehouse will have a little truck symbol next to them. So once you pick your pads, you can see all of the rotors that ship from the same location. 

That said, FPC is pretty good for the European parts I have needed. 

Zimmerman rotors are fine, I had them on my Audi Allroad.....

Between their shipping costs and return policies and lack of true customer service for any other issues, I've mainly just been using RA for part numbers. 

I  ordered shocks for a car that I was working on. The box from FedEx came empty, with nothing in it. After the runaround from rockauto they wanted me to file the claim with FedEx. Once I got to the point where they filed the claim with FedEx and to move forward with getting me the parts I ordered, they wanted me to pay for shipping of the replacements. Like you literally sent me an empty box and charged me $32 for shipping of that empty box. You can eat the costs or just refund me in whole.  

I use FCPEuro, Pelican Parts, and ID Parts for my VW/Audi stuff, but for SWMBO's Pilot I usually end up on RA. I've been noticing a lot of the same issues lately as well, but I'm not sure of a good parts site for the Honda stuff, so I'm stuck rolling the dice on RA or a FLAPS 'premium' brand.

In reply to alphahotel :

i've used Zimmerman rotors on several BMW brake jobs with no complaints. they are high quality parts.

I used Zimmerman's on my 99 9-3 for years, they are good to go.

Thanks for all the feedback.  FCPEuro order placed.

I did notice that 1aauto.com has a front brake kit for $130, which I might consider if I were purely looking for cheaper.  They had a video on youtube about doing the brakes, which I appreciated because it clearly called out the fastener sizes so I know what tools I need to buy :-).  e-torx?  What is that!?

These things:

I got a fairly cheap set on Amazon for servicing der Scheißwagen and they've held up well enough.

If I remember FCP Euro also does life time warranty for everything they sell.  From what I heard this applies to oil and filters as well.  I have never tried it but I should.  I have vehicles that take 10 quarts of the good stuff for each oil change so even if I have to pay for shipping it would still be worth it.

dean1484 said:

If I remember FCP Euro also does life time warranty for everything they sell.  From what I heard this applies to oil and filters as well.  I have never tried it but I should.  I have vehicles that take 10 quarts of the good stuff for each oil change so even if I have to pay for shipping it would still be worth it.

I couldn't believe it myself, but yeah!  The $110 oil change on der Scheißwagen only costs me $20 in UPS shipping to send the old stuff back to them.  I pull it out through the dipstick tube with a vacuum extractor, pour it back into the original bottles, bag it, box it, and ship it.

The only downside is that they recently changed the program so that they don't credit your card anymore, they give you a store credit instead.

In reply to wae :

That's f'ed up.

I never had any issue with Amazon.  If I don't want to pay for RA shipping (or wait forever while they get off their butt to ship) I will just copy the part number and search for it on Amazon.  I often get things next day for free.

You're right that searching for parts on Amazon sucks, but searching for the part number almost always gets the result.

I've heard good things about Zimmerman rotors, they're popular with the BMW crowd. There's nothing you can do about the multi-warehouse issue on RockAuto other than possibly changing your choice of parts to minimize the number of different warehouses involved. So just go with FCP Euro for this order.

It worth it to check out AZ Autohaus as well if you are driving something European, I've bought from them for far longer than Rock Auto and never regretted it.

Got an email today from FCPEuro that my order shipped right about the time someone turned left in front of my wife who was driving the Saab.  So this all might be moot.  We'll see what the insurance company says.  I'm sad, but it's only a car and my wife is fine.