Trying to love Rock Auto is like...

...trying to love a woman who's great in all ways except you're not attracted to her. Well, for me, anyway. Basically, my gripe is: who the hell is Beck/Arnley and Quinton Hazell, and since when does AC Delco make parts for 20-year-old Saabs/Volvos?

It seems like a huge chunk of parts on the Rock Auto site for my cars come from Beck/Arnley, Quinton Hazell, or AC Delco, or are otherwise listed as being manufactured not by the actual manufacturer but by the distributor. After a decade-plus of buying parts and learning brand names (Bosch, Balo, Brembo, ATE, Wahler, Elring, Lobro, etc.), I have no idea who the hell Beck/Arnley or Quinton Hazell is, never having seen their parts listed in World Pac reseller sites or on eEuroparts.com. (And I know that AC Delco doesn't make parts for old Saabs.) If I can't determine the actual brand, then I won't buy the parts. Most of us know that there can be a huge range in quality when buying parts, and brand is a good way to know how that might play out after you've put them in your car.

Sorry to rant -- I like their prices, and I like that they are very well-regarded here; I just can't identify the stuff I might want to buy (I've even tried calling, to know avail), and after dropping countless thousands of $$ at other sites whose parts are easily identifiable, I can't get on board...

I don't think that's really Rock Auto's fault. I know for the '72 Capri it's the same brands you mention. My guess has always been that people bought up the more desireable brands years ago and that's what's left. My experience with QH has been hit or miss. Mostly miss. I've had better luck with Beck/Arnley- who I think is a parts importer.

"Beck/Arnley is a leading supplier of genuine foreign nameplate parts. We supply wholesale distributors, who sell to jobbers, and retailers."

"Company Overview
Exclusively dedicated to supporting its distribution channel partners who service the maintenance and repair market for foreign nameplate vehicles, the Beck/Arnley® brand is a leading specialty supplier of premium, quality import parts for cars, light trucks and SUVs. Unlike others, we are committed to meeting our promise to provide the import parts by model and year to equal OE form, fit, and performance. Beck/Arnley's broad product offering for the aftermarket is organized into six modules: Brake & Chassis, Electrical, Clutch & Driveline, Engine Management, Engine Parts & Filtration, and Cooling Systems.

Customer Commitment
Since 1914, Beck/Arnley Worldparts, Inc. has focused on the customer, offering high quality import parts that look and perform the same as OE parts, while providing exceptional customer service. This ideal has never changed. Today, Beck/Arnley is committed to meeting the needs of professional service technicians and is dedicated to the success of its channel partners. Beck/Arnley's customer-driven philosophy still focuses on optimizing the services it provides, while streamlining operations for increased efficiency. We partner with our distributors to deliver parts when needed, providing the best coverage and availability in the aftermarket. With new numbers being added to the Beck/Arnley product line each year, Beck/Arnley continues to bring solutions to technicians that make their life easier.

Sample Parts Library
A unique difference of Beck/Arnley is a multi-million dollar sample parts library of over 70,000 original equipment and supplier parts. With every Beck/Arnley part, product managers identify the latest coverage by model and vehicle. Product standards are determined by the OE part, which Beck/Arnley maintains in this library. Rigorous product management and global sourcing practices are used to bring technicians the best part every time, as well as to help provide accurate answers to installation and application questions.

Global Sourcing
Beck/Arnley takes pride in providing quality parts sourced around the world from over 400 manufacturers who work directly with product managers and experienced sourcing experts. The company has proprietary relationships with leading European and Asian sources. Beck/Arnley requires suppliers to meet high standards of quality and represent OE performance (form, fit and function).

Decades of experience and proprietary sourcing processes delivers you with the most up-to-date applications for foreign nameplate parts. Beck/Arnley's expertise in global sourcing provides you the right part, for the right application, with the efficiency of only one source."

Sounds like a big, old company that has been making parts for a long time. Perhaps other companies stopped making them because BA makes them cheaper? Or they picked up when other suppliers stopped production? Either way, still no guarantee of quality.

"...who the heck is Beck/Arnley?"

You are joking? Or you've never owned a foreign car that was built before 1990?

My first "acquaintance with B/A parts dates to the early '70s and 2 different Triumphs: a 1960 TR3 and a 1972 Spitfire (owned the Spitfire first, sold it to buy a "real" sports car, the 3). I wouldn't be surprized if today's B/A parts are manufactured in China, tho if they are would that be an improvement or downgrade from when they were made in Europe?

It's too bad that China has such low regard for copywrite/intellectual property rights, otherwise, if they made a part and sold it under someone else's name they would be more easily identified.

I've had great luck with Beck/Arnley parts from rockauto.

I buy a lot of B/A and Mevotech parts.

When I worked the counter at Advance Auto about 12 years ago, Beck/Arnley was the supplier for most of the British/German/non-jap import parts. At the time most came special order and were boxed in B/A labeled boxes, and were of seemingly higher quality than the average behind-the-counter bits. Lately I've notice more and more of the small electronic bits I'm getting from the local Advance are also B/A branded, even for the Stang

Now, wether or not they are buying and rebranding, I couldn't say. I never looked that close but always thought they were a european based broad-spectrum manufacturer. Given the current range of available bits, rebranding seems more likely now.

I don't know how you've missed Beck/Arnley, they are massive parts supplier, and have been for many years.

AC Delco makes parts for my Triumphs, my Volvos, Toyotas, etc. And I've no doubt they make parts for Saabs.

Quinton Hazell is another massive parts supplier, though more for European vehicles. Not noted for high quality parts, but they are cheap. Their US market share has been growing, judging by the increased quantity of their parts I keep seeing on the shelves.

ultraclyde wrote: When I worked the counter at Advance Auto about 12 years ago, Beck/Arnley was the supplier for most of the British/German/non-jap import parts. At the time most came special order and were boxed in B/A labeled boxes, and were of seemingly higher quality than the average behind-the-counter bits. Lately I've notice more and more of the small electronic bits I'm getting from the local Advance are also B/A branded, even for the Stang Now, wether or not they are buying and rebranding, I couldn't say. I never looked that close but always thought they were a european based broad-spectrum manufacturer. Given the current range of available bits, rebranding seems more likely now.

B/A is not a manufacturer, they are an importer and distributor of parts for import vehicles.

The great thing about Rockauto.com is they actually list the brand of the parts you're looking for, and you often have a choice of several suppliers.

Thanks for letting me know about Beck/Arnley. Nope, never seen them before, but my automotive repair experience is pretty narrow, the vast majority of it limited to lots and lots of work on 80s-90s Saabs. I have bought the vast majority of my parts from eEuroparts, a few WorldPac resellers, and, if I have to, the dealer.

ACDelco is to GM as Motorcraft is to Ford

I'll never buy from Rock Auto after they screwed me with about $100 worth of Datsun parts. I ordered inner tie rods, wheel cylinders and a bunch of other stuff. I've got a 70 240Z which has some parts on it that even the late 240's don't have. When I got the parts that were listed under 70 240Z, none of them were right. Their customer service is E36 M3. Even though their return policy says they'll take the parts if they were wrong, they refused. Filed a complaint with the BBB, which got nowhere.

The problem is they're essentially parts whores. They don't directly sell anything. It's like the Amazon of car parts.

I'd rather pay extra for quality parts that are right (and if they aren't they just send it back) at Car Quest/Napa than play part roulette with Rock Auto.

I've had very good luck with Rock Auto, but never tried to make a return. Their catalog / parts lookup works well for me, buy maybe it's because I'm dealing with relatively common cars like the Miata and WRX.

Though come to think of it, the big Benz parts were pretty easy to find too. Maybe they just hate Datsuns.

I love Rock Auto. They've always had what I needed, and shipped it promptly for a fair price.

I'm so sick of walking into my local NAPA and hearing: "we don't have it in stock but we can order it for you." I'm like: "If I wanted to order it, I could be sitting at my desk at home and order it my damn self, and get it cheaper to boot!" I'm just about done with local parts places. Just this week, I've been in three different stores, and none of them have an air filter for my MPV. Think I'll log onto rockauto.com right now.

My first car was a used '73 Mazda RX-2. I bought Beck-Arnley parts for it in the 80's. Never had a complaint.

I gotta agree, I only go local for parts if I cant wait a few days for it. Rock Auto has been as low as half the price for the same or better parts as what I can find locally. Also, using their system is MUCH easier then dealing with counter monkeys.

Although, the local Car-quest as been really good lately as far as getting parts and helping me. (might be because I know a guy working there)

I got to the point where I was ordering almost everything online, but a few wrong parts and return issues combined with stupid shipping costs have made me pretty much return to the local store. Except for the Spitfires for which everthing is ordered online.

I have a Nissan dealer that sells wholesale, but it has to be done online and they have to ship it to you. The shipping cost can really hurt as its usually based on the cost. A MAF sensor can cost a bundle to ship and fits in your hand. GO figure.

For most of the 80's if you walked into a parts store and they didn't have any Beck/Arnley parts you might as well have walked out because they weren't going to have anything at all for an Opel. Put a big B/A sticker on the front window, like the BAP/Geon's in Houston, and odds were good you were going to walk out with what you needed.

I bought a B/A water pump for my G20, and it was an OEM part. Presumably due an agreement with Nissan to not undercut the dealerships on Nissan branded parts, there was a little rectangular area on the housing casting where the Nissan logo had been ground off by hand, somewhat half-assedly.

I've ordered lots of stuff from Rockauto and have never had a problem. I've returned stuff just because I ended up not needing it and they gave me full credit.

Their online storefront is awesome for interchange info.

I buy as little as I can from local parts stores.

NAPA really rubs me the wrong way. The old guys at the counter are not helpful at all unless you come in wearing a shirt from one of their big customers. The pricing usually isn't very competitive. The parts quality doesn't seem to be any better than AZ/Advanced.

I was at NAPA the other day placing an order for a pair of brake rotors for a VTEC Prelude because they can't take my credit card info over the phone to place the special order when the old man at the counter tells me it is going to cost $10 for shipping from another store out of town. That seems ridiculous to me so I cancel the order and leave to order the same parts from Rockauto for less money. It will take an extra day for them to arrive but they will come to my house and I won't have to make a second trip to a store staffed with lazy old timers.

If I need something right away I get it at Autozone. They seem to be set up to cater to DIY folks. Their loan-a-tool and online repair info is great.

I like Beck/Arnley A-LOT!!!!! Its usually a genuine Toyota part in a beck arnley box at a fraction of the dealer price.

I've had great luck with RockAuto. Only had to return something once, one of the grease packs with the brake pads broke during shipping and oozed all over the brake pad. I called, and they had another set at my door w/in 2-3 days.

With that being said, I don't think they're as cheap as they were before, and their shipping costs have gone up considerably.

All of them (Beck Arnley, Quinton Hazell, AC Delco, Motorcraft etc) are reboxers to some extent. BA and QH don't manufacture anything AFAIK, but Delco and Motorcraft etc do. Actually, they get it from their momma company but I digress. Never had a problem with anything from BA or QH. OTOH, some of the Bosch stuff is really cheap and chintzy. There's a couple of other less well known reboxers with some real crap out there, too.

I have never had a problem with Rock Auto. It pays to shop them, sometimes their stuff including shipping is cheaper than the discount chains over the counter assuming you have some time.

dj06482 wrote: With that being said, I don't think they're as cheap as they were before, and their shipping costs have gone up considerably.

This. I used to order most of my parts for my N/A FC from Rock Auto, but the shipping costs are getting kind of crazy and I can get many OEM parts for McParts store prices via Mazdaspeed Motorsports. I like Rock Auto's prices and selection and many of their parts are better quality than the McParts stores' parts. However, ordering multiple parts from multiple warehouses jacks up the shipping costs to the point where the total cost is more on par with stealership prices.

Since were talking about companies Rock Auto sells, anyone have a problem with a Motorcraft, AC Delco, or Denso remanufactured alternator? I have a blown Mercury Topaz 95amp alternator and a possibly-blown FD3S 100amp alternator (getting second opinion tomorrow) that were supposed to replace the 80amp alternator in my turbo FC. Most of the chatter here on the boards seems to be leery of remanufactured parts.

TreoWayne wrote: I've ordered lots of stuff from Rockauto and have never had a problem. I've returned stuff just because I ended up not needing it and they gave me full credit. Their online storefront is awesome for interchange info. I buy as little as I can from local parts stores. NAPA really rubs me the wrong way. The old guys at the counter are not helpful at all unless you come in wearing a shirt from one of their big customers. The pricing usually isn't very competitive. The parts quality doesn't seem to be any better than AZ/Advanced. I was at NAPA the other day placing an order for a pair of brake rotors for a VTEC Prelude because they can't take my credit card info over the phone to place the special order when the old man at the counter tells me it is going to cost $10 for shipping from another store out of town. That seems ridiculous to me so I cancel the order and leave to order the same parts from Rockauto for less money. It will take an extra day for them to arrive but they will come to my house and I won't have to make a second trip to a store staffed with lazy old timers. If I need something right away I get it at Autozone. They seem to be set up to cater to DIY folks. Their loan-a-tool and online repair info is great.

This is my NAPA experience as well. Also, when you have stuff out in the store on shelves, put prices on it. That irritates the hell out of me.

My Napa has really gone down the toilet recently. I used to go there for eerything but after they sold me a set of front wheel bearings for the wifes Malibu that lasted 22,000 and 25,000 miles and told me that was how long they were supposed to last I switched to Rock Auto. I can get name brand parts without having to beg some old guy that smells like schlitz to take my cash (only, debit cards are too complicated to bother for purchases under $1000)