RockAuto Parts Lately...

[MaximumMini]

Hard to make your own ball joints and tie rod ends.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Being that I'm an electronics person (I study electronics and repair most devices), I actually started rebuilding or repairing electronic items from my vehicles on the bench. Even going so far as to fabricate new copper tracks and sliders for headlight switches and blower motor controls. If a motor fails it gets new brushes and cleaning (as long as the windings and commutator test good)

Right now I'm learning to cast rubber and plastic parts. I'm sure some of you already do this. You guys that have nice lathes and milling machines at your disposal are lucky. I need both. The more you can do yourself the better you'll do with vehicles going forward.

I think it's coming to that. If you can't get decent parts, you have to be able to essentially make them better.

You know what's sad to think? The thought that mankind has peaked and due to our own human traits, we're digressing and these things like diminishing parts quality is just one of the symptoms. Fermi Paradox. All civilizations have eventually self destructed due to the nature of evolving life.

But I digress.

3D printing will be the way to do lots of these things in the future. You can print TPU as a rubber substitute. The printing part is easy. Creating the 3D model is the hard part. I presume 3D measurement lasers will become cheaper as time moves on - of course you still need a good one to copy.

I don't have steady enough hands for the electronics repair. I do know some techs that are awesome at it. Companies still running machines on 20 year old obsolete PLC's rely on them.

 

[D60]

Being that I'm an electronics person (I study electronics and repair most devices), I actually started rebuilding or repairing electronic items from my vehicles on the bench. Even going so far as to fabricate new copper tracks and sliders for headlight switches and blower motor controls. If a motor fails it gets new brushes and cleaning (as long as the windings and commutator test good)

Right now I'm learning to cast rubber and plastic parts. I'm sure some of you already do this. You guys that have nice lathes and milling machines at your disposal are lucky. I need both. The more you can do yourself the better you'll do with vehicles going forward.

I think it's coming to that. If you can't get decent parts, you have to be able to essentially make them better.

You know what's sad to think? The thought that mankind has peaked and due to our own human traits, we're digressing and these things like diminishing parts quality is just one of the symptoms. Fermi Paradox. All civilizations have eventually self destructed due to the nature of evolving life.

But I digress.

Check out WWW here starting at the ~4:55 mark

 

[Arc]

Bought a remanufactured wiper motor from autozone or advanced, can't remember which one but it didn't work at all. I opened it up to see if it was something simple and the inside was nothing but rust around the motor. All they did was paint the outside and clean it up to look new or somebody did a return and swapped in their old one. I don't know but they did replace it with a good one.

 

[Jeep_Riot]

I no longer use RA or Amazon. I only use genuine OEM parts from online Subaru dealers. Shipping is not fast, for the most part, but at the end of the day I sleep better.

 

[Arc]

Being that I'm an electronics person (I study electronics and repair most devices), I actually started rebuilding or repairing electronic items from my vehicles on the bench. Even going so far as to fabricate new copper tracks and sliders for headlight switches and blower motor controls. If a motor fails it gets new brushes and cleaning (as long as the windings and commutator test good)

Right now I'm learning to cast rubber and plastic parts. I'm sure some of you already do this. You guys that have nice lathes and milling machines at your disposal are lucky. I need both. The more you can do yourself the better you'll do with vehicles going forward.

I think it's coming to that. If you can't get decent parts, you have to be able to essentially make them better.

You know what's sad to think? The thought that mankind has peaked and due to our own human traits, we're digressing and these things like diminishing parts quality is just one of the symptoms. Fermi Paradox. All civilizations have eventually self destructed due to the nature of evolving life.

But I digress.

It's good to hear that you are repairing instead of just throwing things away. I do the same as much as I can. Couldn't get parts for my battery charger so I gutted all the fancy circuitry and threw in a cap, digital voltage/amp guage and bridge rectifier. Now I have an old school charger.

 

[dogememe]

It is not a fun endeavor. In January I rolled the dice with a 2014 BMW X3 and part of my routine at 74k was changing plugs. I ordered the NGK OEM plugs from Amazon and admit I like the sticker over the seal and signature noting verified .... not that a fake couldn't do the same. 5K in and no issues.

Fake. Sorry

 

[goofy]

I have been ordering parts from rockauto since they started, so its been a long time lol. I have recently had some troubling incidents with the parts they have sent. A few months back I had a dead starter sent to me. When I looked at the box, it looked like it had been opened previously, but being heavy and it looked clean, installed it. Only to find it was dead.

This week I ordered a AC Delco purge valve, opened the box, it had dirt in one of the crevices, which I then tested and was open, so defective (should be closed). But the part right off the bat was used, they didn't even clean it well. Which has me thinking *** is going with rockauto now.

Anyone else seeing anything similar? Bad parts, and now used parts?

Last order from them was a problem. One oil filter was eleven years old, and another got substituted. Rebuild kit was opened, some parts removed and stapled closed. Other parts were good though. Now I put them toward the bottom of my store list.

 

[VolvoZ]

It's not JUST Rock Auto.
The automotive industry from the auto manufacturers to the parts manufacturers are ALL going to hell in a hand basket.

There is no accountability in the industry.
Everyone is maximizing profit above ALL else and buying from lowest cost manufacturers (often China) quality be ****ed.
I see no way for this trend to turn around. People will not spend more for quality (partially because in this economy few can afford it).

Your dollar is worth less than ever now so there's that too.

I don’t think things are THAT bad! I worked at an auto parts store 35 years ago (circa 1990). Wow, I couldn’t believe the cr@p that was being sold back then…and for a lot of $$$. Today, we have a much more competitive landscape and vastly more selection. That being said, there’s still a lot of cr@p out there!

I learned a lot about business in those days at that job. Learned about dumb business decisions and how bad corporate thinking and inertia work. Going off on a tangent here: Every week, the auto parts store would run out of rebuilt water pumps for a small block Chevy. Many times, I suggested to the manager that instead of ordering Qty 5 (which was the corporate required quantity to order, for whatever reason), we should at least double or even triple the order, thereby not running out at the end of the week. I was given all sorts of reasons that we shouldn’t order more (related to profit margins IIRC). So EVERY week we ran out of SB Chevy water pumps, and we were told to send the empty handed customer down the street to the competition! I recall broken water pumps (bad bearings, broken pieces, cracks, etc) being sent to the store to sell.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

There is a lot more scammers now who put bad or used parts back in the box and return the part and the person in the warehouse had no clue.
We are slowly sliding towards low trust society.

 

[MaximumMini]

I don’t think things are THAT bad! I worked at an auto parts store 35 years ago (circa 1990). Wow, I couldn’t believe the cr@p that was being sold back then…and for a lot of $$$. Today, we have a much more competitive landscape and vastly more selection. That being said, there’s still a lot of cr@p out there!

I learned a lot about business in those days at that job. Learned about dumb business decisions and how bad corporate thinking and inertia work. Going off on a tangent here: Every week, the auto parts store would run out of rebuilt water pumps for a small block Chevy. Many times, I suggested to the manager that instead of ordering Qty 5 (which was the corporate required quantity to order, for whatever reason), we should at least double or even triple the order, thereby not running out at the end of the week. I was given all sorts of reasons that we shouldn’t order more (related to profit margins IIRC). So EVERY week we ran out of SB Chevy water pumps, and we were told to send the empty handed customer down the street to the competition! I recall broken water pumps (bad bearings, broken pieces, cracks, etc) being sent to the store to sell.

No.
Things are much worse today.
Back in the early 90's there was still some value remaining in quality in manufacturing and corporate mentality. That is gone now. The focus today is increased PROFIT above everything else. Even the planet itself.
Not to mention what Rust_Belt_Pete mentioned above. He is absolutely correct.

Humanity has lost it's collective mind.

 

[goblin]

...

Humanity has lost it's collective mind.

Maybe so, but engineers have not. We can complain all we want, a clutch made today outlasts one from the 90s, brake pads outlast the ones made in the 90s, rotors don't warp anymore, and my Michelins are going on 95k miles with still some meat on them - which would have been absolute science fiction in the 90s.

The good parts are there. RockAuto's low prices are there too.
Expecting to have them combined together every single time might be a bit of a tall order.

RA is an acquired taste with strong caveat emptor seasoning mixed in. Dealerships are always here to help with parts if RA doesn't work.

 

[MaximumMini]

Maybe so, but engineers have not. We can complain all we want, a clutch made today outlasts one from the 90s, brake pads outlast the ones made in the 90s, rotors don't warp anymore, and my Michelins are going on 95k miles with still some meat on them - which would have been absolute science fiction in the 90s.

The good parts are there. RockAuto's low prices are there too.
Expecting to have them combined together every single time might be a bit of a tall order.

RA is an acquired taste with strong caveat emptor seasoning mixed in. Dealerships are always here to help with parts if RA doesn't work.

wow.
So not true.
Engineers are employees who must do as Corporate instructs them to do. It makes no difference how good they may be.
I suppose you also get 20 years out of car batteries today compared to only 2 years in the 80's ?
Your Refrigerators, Dishwashers etc now last a lifetime compared to short lives back then?

I could explain to you in painful detail why you're wrong just based on metallurgy, process and corporate mindset, but you think dealerships are "always here to help", so what can I say?

Dealerships are there for one reason and one reason alone...to extract as much money from your wallet as possible.
Please don't visit Thailand. You would not make it.
And please don't take this personally. I mean no disrespect and enjoyed your response above. I just see it differently.

 

[Olds394]

My last order was a differential cover that had the holes misaligned. They wanted me to return ship a cast iron cover at my expense.
This is the chance I took trying to save a buck, but it will give me pause if I’m on their website again.

 

[goblin]

wow.
So not true.
Engineers are employees who must do as Corporate instructs them to do. It makes no difference how good they may be.
I suppose you also get 20 years out of car batteries today compared to only 2 years in the 80's ?
Your Refrigerators, Dishwashers etc now last a lifetime compared to short lives back then?

I could explain to you in painful detail why you're wrong just based on metallurgy, process and corporate mindset, but you think dealerships are "always here to help", so what can I say?

Dealerships are there for one reason and one reason alone...to extract as much money from your wallet as possible.
Please don't visit Thailand. You would not make it.
And please don't take this personally. I mean no disrespect and enjoyed your response above. I just see it differently.

I believe you completely misread my irony about dealerships...

My point is that bad products with planned obsolescence exist now that maybe didn't exist eons ago, but what also didn't exist eons ago was stuff priced like peanuts that mostly did the job.

Refrigerators were a major purchase back when refrigerators were made to last decades, parts for a dime a dozen did not exist, a TV was a major investment and most convenience products were a buy once and last thing not because we wanted to but also because we couldn't replace them every couple of years.

We marvel at how reliable a Benz W124 Diesel was, but I still have its options catalog somewhere at home back in Europe. A/C cost about 15% of the original MSRP, everything was optional, and in general it was known that to load the car decently (A/C, passenger side mirror, power windows at least in the front, anything that could play any sound at all on four measly speakers, etc) - the msrp would have to be doubled. At least - that was the case in Europe.

We do have things to complain about - Healthcare, education, housing are things that have proportionally skyrocketed, but goods is not something I lose sleep over. Grass is always greener in our memories. And the world is way better off with RA than without.

 

[tblt44]

I got a previously installed O2 sensor but they did send me a new one out for replacement

 

[SC Maintenance]

wow.
So not true.
Engineers are employees who must do as Corporate instructs them to do. It makes no difference how good they may be.
I suppose you also get 20 years out of car batteries today compared to only 2 years in the 80's ?
Your Refrigerators, Dishwashers etc now last a lifetime compared to short lives back then?

I could explain to you in painful detail why you're wrong just based on metallurgy, process and corporate mindset, but you think dealerships are "always here to help", so what can I say?

Dealerships are there for one reason and one reason alone...to extract as much money from your wallet as possible.
Please don't visit Thailand. You would not make it.
And please don't take this personally. I mean no disrespect and enjoyed your response above. I just see it differently.

If you adjust for inflation I think you will find @goblin correct for the most part. Prices for the appliances you reference adjusted for inflation are half of what they were 10 years ago. And subsequently last half as long.

Were discussing car parts. Car parts are generally better than they used to be if you buy OEM or quality. If you buy the cheapest part then you get the cheapest - and there maybe is a lot more variance now. There are exceptions of course, but this illusion that things were better in the 90's I don't think is accurate. I worked in a GM dealer in the mid 90's as a kid and we couldn't keep enough alternators in stock, for example. Alternators now last hundreds of thousands of miles. Same with suspension parts. Just a couple examples.

 

[MaximumMini]

If you adjust for inflation I think you will find @goblin correct for the most part. Prices for the appliances you reference adjusted for inflation are half of what they were 10 years ago. And subsequently last half as long.

Were discussing car parts. Car parts are generally better than they used to be if you buy OEM or quality. If you buy the cheapest part then you get the cheapest - and there maybe is a lot more variance now. There are exceptions of course, but this illusion that things were better in the 90's I don't think is accurate. I worked in a GM dealer in the mid 90's as a kid and we couldn't keep enough alternators in stock, for example. Alternators now last hundreds of thousands of miles. Same with suspension parts. Just a couple examples.

Nope.
And I find it odd that you believe prices today are half what they were for similar products years past. Odd.
This entire thread is about RA. Do you think most people who buy from Rock Auto (or any parts store) are there only for the OEM parts?

Question - Do both you and Goblin do all your own repairs or are you both owners of new vehicles and have purchased those costly extended warranties?

Also, we should do a survey....how many here that do therr own repairs only use OEM factory original parts all the time?
Do you believe car manufacturers manufacture all their own parts and always make sure they are top quality?
All car manufacturers use contractors to make their parts. The same contractors make those parts for the aftermarket.
"Sometimes", the manufacturer might specifiy higher quality materials and process in order to make the vehicle last until the factory warranty expires.

Planned obsolescence makes for recurring income for the vehicle manufacturers.

 

[goblin]

I am ok communicating when communication is the goal on the other side. When the goal is to keep a point - not so much .

My vehicles have respectively 193 miles, 140200 miles, 216500 miles and 300500-something miles. The last one I shared in the photo thread recently. I might know something about doing my own repairs.

I wouldn't want logic and sane polite discussion to interfere with anyone's bliss of being categorically right with goalposts sliding air-hockey style. My work in this here thread is done. Whoever can read will read, whoever can't - will keep writing

 

[SC Maintenance]

Nope.
And I find it odd that you believe prices today are half what they were for similar products years past. Odd.
This entire thread is about RA. Do you think most people who buy from Rock Auto (or any parts store) are there only for the OEM parts?

Question - Do both you and Goblin do all your own repairs or are you both owners of new vehicles and have purchased those costly extended warranties?

Also, we should do a survey....how many here that do therr own repairs only use OEM factory original parts all the time?
Do you believe car manufacturers manufacture all their own parts and always make sure they are top quality? - juAll car manufacturers use contractors to make their parts. The same contractors make those parts for the aftermarket.
"Sometimes", the manufacturer might specifiy higher quality materials and process in order to make the vehicle last until the factory warranty expires.

Planned obsolescence makes for recurring income for the vehicle manufacturers.

That was a little holier-than-though, no?

My resume. I spent my life automating manufacturing plants and have been in many tier supply plants making auto parts.
The Xterra in my footer was purchased by me new and has 415K miles, yes repaired and maintained by me. My Frontier 225K - same. I put myself through Engineering school partially by working as the shop rat at a GM dealer. I drive my cars to the end, do my own work. Enough resume for you?

First I said OEM or quality. If OEM was Denso I can buy a Denso aftermarket. Want to argue about this difference -OK, maybe - but good parts still exist. If you choose not to search for them thats on you.

Planned obsolescence is a thing and always has been. It was when I entered the workforce in the late 90's and wasn't close to new then. And it remains. It hasn't changed.

Yes, there are more failures now - because there are more systems. All the integrated safety stuff, infotainment, emissions, CAN controllers in the tail-lights. More parts is more things to fail. But part for part - the parts themselves if you buy quality are not much different than 20 years ago. There are brands that differ. Moog used to be great 20 years ago. Now its made in China junk. But there are still good suspension part suppliers - you need to be selective.