lrrs
HalfDork
10/24/19 5:46 p.m.
So a few years ago, eBay and Amazon where the cheap ways to go if you wanted to save a couple bucks. Not so much any more, vent lid for my RV, 20 bucks cheaper at the \local RV shop.
After a break down today, fuel filter/pump???, something fuel related, I was looking locally for a filter. AutoZone and Advance are my 2 go tos around here. Advance always use to be cheaper, then you got the buy online pick up and store savings after that.
Looking for the filter, 10 bucks cheapy AutoZone, 27 advance cheapy, the premium at AZ. 24. What happened to Advance, did the loose to much money and are in need of making it back ? Thinking I should check Orielies now....
Oh yea, was a bit nervous, when the cop said "I saw you this morning"
I always assumed I was getting a decent price on stuff from Advance, but in the process of replacing coil packs on the Duratec in the MPV, I discovered that instead of paying them $98. each for an unbranded made in China coil, I could get OEM Denso coils from Rockauto for $38. Quite the eye-opener.
I did not make this discovery while I was using the MPV as my DD, since it was necessary that I fix the vehicle immediately, hence a trip to Advance. Once the car had been relegated to backup service, I had the luxury of a little time to procure the parts, and found I could order the Densos online far cheaper and get them in just a few days.
Just an observation, but once Advance bought Carquest their prices went up and their selection went down. I buy much less from them now.
Advance is only price-competitive if you order online with a 20% or more) discount code. but that's what i usually do because i hate waiting for stuff to be delivered.
spitfirebill said:
Just an observation, but once Advance bought Carquest their prices went up and their selection went down. I buy much less from them now.
This had a lot to do with it. I still go to Advance because one of their distribution warehouses (with retail store front) isn't far away from my houe, so they have a wide selection of parts in stock. They also run pretty decent specials on oil/filters every week.
Sorry about your problems, and glad you spotted the prices, but lets get down to the important stuff. More ingo on the Kelmark GT please!
As always it pays to shop around. Rock Auto, Amazon, Ebay, and Advance/Autozone all seem to get my business. The local Advance has better parts selection and more on hand than Autozone and more OEM (Denso) stuff than Autozone. Oreillys has literally never ever been cost competitive. Used to do a ton with Napa, was looking for a filter the other day, called them up and they were $50, set of two from Amazon were $30. Asked if they would price match - nope. Hur de durrr Amazon Prime to the rescue. If you are feeling frisky, you can google search the part number and buy from some pretty skeezy online vendors. Pay by CC (I have a burner CC I use just for things such as that) and it usually works out but not suggested if you are not in a rush.
Might be strictly a local phenomenon, but I witnessed a huuuuge decline in customer service at Advance many years ago that continues today. O'Reilly's on the other hand, has great people that go to lengths to help you. For that reason alone, I am far more likely to head to O'Reilly's if I need a part like right now.
The big thing about Amazon is that they are so big that they cannot possibly monitor everything going on within their site. That means they leave a lot of things to algorithms...and they can be gamed. When you look for something you are barraged with listings that are actually ads, listings that are pushed to the top from bogus reviews, Amazon recommendations that are gamed by overseas sellers, and a ton of other crap. Finding the right part that isn't a knockoff and that has legit reviews is getting harder and harder to do. Getting results that are in any way related to your search is also getting hard. I use Google to search Amazon in fact.
Having a BMW in the Midwest kinda forces me to buy online for anything that could be considered "obscure", as I'd rather not give the dealership my only child to pay for a fresh set of VANOS.
lrrs
HalfDork
10/25/19 3:08 p.m.
Dang... forgot to use the grm rock auto code when I ordered the replacement pump.....
About the kelmark, 73 its beetle chassis, still all drum brakes, but well adjusted. Beetle trans, I assume it's not a freeway flyer. Subaru ej22, chk eng light still not coming on see other post from a week or two ago, I also assume it will fail to give up the codes too, hopefully not related to the fuel issue.
Kennedy adapter of course. 20k miles, I put on the last 9k. Ej went in about 3k ago. It pulls alot better than the dual carb beetle engine that came out, and I currently only get 54% throttle, working on that. The ej ecm still controls the rad fans, I figured why mess with subies engineers on this. Exhaust is a cheap flea bay turbo header, turned around backwards with the up pipe shortened, a thrush turbo, and a couple of good elbows from my old neon acr mid pipe.
Heat, not rusty metal on the wire wheel heat allows me to drive to work when its 35 out and not arrive a popsicle with the inside of my nose burning.
Ps. I get 32 mpg with the ej driven harder than the beetle, which the best I ever raked out was 24. So technically it's an economy car.
Sorry about the spelling, on my phone, fat thumbs..... will correct when I get ti a real PC.