Where to Buy Car Parts: RockAuto vs. Amazon vs. eBay vs. Dealers vs. Parts Stores

There are endless options when it comes to buying car parts and accessories.

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It used to be that you had just one or two choices when it came to buying auto parts, perhaps a local outlet of a national chain or a mail-order catalog.

These days, however, you’re spoiled for choice. Whether you’re looking for an air filter or motor oil, you’ve got a wide variety of options.

Popular options include online shopping giants like and , , your car’s dealership and parts stores like or . There are positives and negatives to each, so let’s talk about your options.

Where to Buy Auto Parts Online

One of the nicest things about buying car parts online is the filters to confirm that parts will fit your car. On Amazon, for example, Confirmed Fit allows you to enter your year, make, model, drivetrain, and engine type to ensure that whatever you’re looking for will work.

RockAuto, an online car parts leader, was founded in , and the website looks like it hasn’t been updated since, but it is simple and easy to navigate and is tailored to expert buyers who know exactly what they need. RockAuto has parts for vehicles dating back to the s, so it will likely have whatever you need.

eBay also has a massive inventory of new and used parts, and it features My Garage, where you can enter information about your vehicle to confirm whether you’re ordering the correct parts for your car, truck or motorcycle.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of the online stores is getting help if you have questions. Though there are customer service options, you can’t get in-person help installing or picking out a part like you could at a dealership or local auto parts store.

On the positive side, these online stores have enormous inventories and ship within a few days (depending on the part, where you are, and where the warehouse is located) and pricing is often cheaper than in-store fronts that deal with overhead costs.

Buying Auto Parts at the Dealership

Going straight to the dealer is always an option, and you’ll be guaranteed the correct part for your vehicle as well as professional installation and diagnosing issues if you need the help. The downside is that you may pay quite a bit more for the part than you would from an online store. Many car makers offer parts online now as well, making it easy to compare pricing.

Perhaps the biggest advantage to buying from a dealership is the quality of the parts. The automaker is the one that designed the parts in the first place, and you have the peace of mind to know the part will fit and work as the engineers intended when you buy an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) part. Though they usually sell every part you could need, you can save some money by considering what kind of part you’re getting. While it may be a good idea to go with the highest quality you can afford for brake rotors, if you can buy a generic plastic door handle for a fraction of the cost—especially if it looks and performs the same as an OEM part—then you may be able to save a bit.

Especially if you’re in a hurry or the car is still under warranty, your dealer’s parts department might be your best bet.

Buying Car Parts at a Parts Store

Local auto parts stores often offer ship-to-home through the website, but also offer services like in-store pickup of online orders, which can help bridge the gap between the convenience of shopping online and the customer service you get in a retail store. You also have the advantage of taking parts in that you are having trouble identifying and more quickly getting a replacement part, or one on order.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of these brick-and-mortar stores is their network of stores and their combined inventory of in-stock parts. If you have an urgent repair, or a limited repair window, then driving across town for that one part is often far cheaper than rush delivery online. Additionally, many of these stores can likely do an internal transfer within a day or two, getting parts from their larger warehouses to you in a short period of time, often without shipping costs.

The salespeople or sometimes the folks around the store are often quite knowledgeable, and you might even be able to work on your car in the parking lot. You can’t do that at Amazon.

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Jordan Golson

Jordan Golson is a transportation reporter covering cars, trains, planes, future cities, mobility and more — basically, if it moves and doesn’t go to space, he's on it. He is especially interested in the intersection of transportation and technology, and that means he goes deep into electric cars, autonomous vehicle tech, sensors, safety, connectivity, and similar topics.

No particular loyalty – Advance Auto, AutoZone, Pep Boys, Wal-Mart – whoever is advertising a sale on something I need or will need soon.

If these stores don’t have a particular specialty item then I search the web. In rare cases there is the salvage yard, especially for a classic car.

AutoZone, NAPA, O’Reillys, is about it in my neck of the woods although I generally use O’Reillys. CarQuest went belly up due to some management theft of a grand magnitude and Advance also closed their operation here. They were being killed financially anyway by the first 3 I mentioned.

Our local AutoZone is starting to tank again since some of the older guys who knew a bit about cars have left and are being replaced by kids working around their McDonald’s schedule.

(Just a note about the Advance website if you’re not familiar with it. When clicking on a specific part it will give you a prompt about “See all vehicles this part fits” or something to that effect. Pretty good little interchange service if one if curious or has the need.)

Here in NH we have some very very good LOCAL auto parts stores. Far better then AutoZone or PepBoys. Sanel Brothers and Robins. They both are small chains with about 20-50 stores throughout New England. They carry HIGH quality parts that’s far cheaper then the dealer. And they are big enough to have what you need in stock OR it can be there in 2 days. What they DON’T have is a vast array of shelves with things like Cleaners and waxes and wiper blades. They have SOME Waxes and washers…and oil and grease…Pretty much all parts are behind the counter. The other great thing about these places is the guys behind the counters are NOT kids. Most are 35+ and have Automotive knowledge. One store I use to go to (Goffstown Auto parts - got bought out by Sanel Bro) the head of the counter use to build and race cars. Very Very knowledgeable. Try and find a guy like that at PepBoys. I went to PepBoys once to buy a Carb Rebuild kit for my neighbors 85 Datsun (it was Sunday…my normal places were closed). I asked the parts guy (20yo highschool dropout) if the kit came with a Float…He looked at me like a Deer in headlights. What’s a Float??? And these places also have FULL MACHINE SHOPS.

I just bought Monroe Shocks at Sears for the back of my pickup. Half price and wait seven days for them to come in. I guess Sears has changed to bait-and-order. It works. I call around and compare prices. If I buy an engine computer, I want it to say Sorenson on it, or is it Sorensen. I don’t care much about where anymore. I don’t need a lot of parts these days. Some places have just the right part and sometimes you have to go see it. I used to like cast iron goosenecks for V-8 Chevy engines to replace the aluminum ones. Napa had them cheap.

If you don’t plan on keeping the car very long go ahead and buy parts from the corner convenience, 7-11 type parts stores. Purely for the fact that one size does not fit all, and the durability/reliabilty of the part. I’ve used Napa for years and so did my Dad. I haven’t had any problems with their parts at all, and I get the right part the first time, and that part doesn’t fit some other car.

The only parts problems I’ve had were with Auto Zone, a rearview mirror that clearly didn;t properly match the other side…and it was obviously a VERY cheaply made poor imitation,

and front shocks from Sears. Twice. I brought the first pair home, pulled the old ones out, took the shocks out of the box, and they were a whole different configuration! I put the old ones back in (fortunately I hadn’t cut the stems), went back to Sears, and the counter guy argued with me that I was wrong! He looked them up again, gave me a different pair, I pulled them out of the box, and they were wrong again! He argued with me again! I got a refund, went to VIP, and got exactly what I needed the first time around. I won’t get parts from Sears ever again.

Some years back our AZ got pretty shaky with a bunch of young guys fresh out of high school, or recently dropped out, and asking for even a simple part would put them into panic mode.

About 8-10 years ago some older guys came on board (some of them having been mechanics or ASE certifed parts people) and it was pretty nice. None of that deer in the headlights look.

Here about a year or so ago they’ve been reverting back to the young guys again and most of the older ones are gone. There are a few of the competent older guys left here but you won’t find them working nights or weekends.
Going into AZ here on a Sat. or Sun. is usually a lost cause.

I don’t know if there’s a correlation between their hiring practices and the stock market or not…

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