Rex Burkheimer wrote:
> I am curious about members of the list who buy parts online.
Hmmm.....interesting topic. Normally I keep my counsel and just read the posts
here. This I gotta bite on. Remember it's only one man's humble experience,
tho.
Shopping for auto parts online. I do about 85 percent that way for my 427
Cobra, 2 Harleys, and Dodge Cummins 4x4 PU. I buy all my "speed" parts on-line.
I shop around, and the two most pertinent factors are price & availability.
Many of the on-line vendors have hard catalogs, so research can often be done
ahead of time (Jeg's, Summit, Racer Parts Wholesale, etc.). Others, such as
Race Search, Carparts and Wrenchhead, are strictly on-line. There are new
vendors popping up monthly; lots of impressive banners and home pages. Some are
pretty feeble clones, with more hot air than inventory to back 'em up.
Several of the more stable vendors have price-matching policies. It sometimes
takes a little work to produce the info they want (evidence of the ads, URL's,
etc.) Summit Racing is among the more bonafide of those....they do keep their
word.
Another factor I use is the turn-around time, but it only counts if I'm in a
hurry. Some companies will tell you it's in stock, then tell you it'll ship in
10 days. I used to assume that vendors on my side of the Divide would get stuff
here sooner, by virtue of the miles. Not always so.
Condition of the product upon arrival is a concern, particularly since it
appears UPS has begun to hire the Samsonite Gorillas to handle packages. I have
had packages show up with gaping holes, small parts spilling out, all because
some dull knife in the shipping dept. dumped the order into a flimsy box with a
bunch of peanuts, ran a strip of tape around it and sent it into oblivion.
For that matter, the same packing technique occurs with expensive hard parts
like alternators, starters, carbs, electronics, etc. except in these cases you
haven't got a clue of the condition it arrives in except for the accordion
effect on one or more corners of the box.
I had to send an entire V-twin shortblock back to the assembler because it came
half out of the crate and off the cradle. Definitely a way to test the quality
control of a vendor. If they quibble and try to backslide, I drop 'em
regardless of the deals they offer. The returns and adjustments on mail or
on-line orders are one of the shortfalls of these processes.
On balance, I get better deals up here in remote coastal Oregon by online or
mail, due in part to the isolation. That may be a big factor. I hope this
helped launch some discussion, Rex.
Tim
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