Buying Parts on Amazon.com

jBlaze3000 · June 29, 2012

I know some of you buy parts for your trucks on Amazon and I'm looking for some feedback. I'm going to replace a noisy fuel pump on my 2000 Suburban 1500 LT with a new OEM unit. As near as I can tell my OEM pump should be AC Delco #MU1618 (I'm about 90% sure this is the OEM brand).

- Rock auto has this pump for $269.99. I've always found them to be the cheapest or else very close to it on most parts that I buy.

- Amazon has a few of these on their website. Here is one for $199.88 but click on the pictures that say "notes" under them. Sounds like at least one customer thinks this may not be a genuine AC Delco part:

http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-MU1618-Fuel-Pump/dp/B00171X63Y

- Here is another one on Amazon for $159.99. The "seller" is not amazon on this one but AD Auto Parts. This has more black plastic than the others I've looked at.

http://www.amazon.com/Module-Assembly-Chevrolet-Suburban-MU1618/dp/B0057IL72K

Amazon is a big site so I would think they would be legit, especially when the seller is amazon themselves. But I'm surprised rock auto is so much higher in price. Not sure if I should be concerned about getting a knock off and instead spend an extra $110 at Rock auto.

Anyone have any problems with these guys?

wages999 · June 29, 2012

You could see if Rock Auto would match prices if it is the same model number. I just bought LED tail lights for my truck. I found them on Amazon for $90.00 cheaper than they were at Summit Racing. I got Summit Racing to match the price and felt much better dealing with them.

Mckenzie · June 29, 2012

what wages999 said id try and get someone who deals exclusivly in car parts to match the price as opposed to going through amazon

2010LTZ4x4 · June 29, 2012

Just went through amazon for my airaid intake tube, everything was good and they where the cheapest.

BlackZ71Silverado · June 29, 2012

Nothing wrong with buying parts from them. If the part number matches what you need, go for it. You will save money over going to the stealership.

txab · June 29, 2012

Just because Amazon is the seller doesn't mean you can't get a counterfeit unit. They are just drop shipping them out of warehouses all over the country

Just as with the AC Delco water pumps, there are two different versions. One much cheaper than the other. The cheaper one is made in China. I'm sure that's the price difference here. The cheaper one is built to sell at a lower price to compete with the other aftermarket companies.

SouthCo · June 29, 2012

I got my Corsa Sport Exhaust from Amazon and I was happy. Can't speak for any other auto parts on there. I do buy from Amazon from time to time for non-auto stuff and have never had a problem. If Amazon is available as the seller, I go with them 1st but have bought from other vendors on Amazon.

jBlaze3000 · June 30, 2012

Just because Amazon is the seller doesn't mean you can't get a counterfeit unit. They are just drop shipping them out of warehouses all over the country

Just as with the AC Delco water pumps, there are two different versions. One much cheaper than the other. The cheaper one is made in China. I'm sure that's the price difference here. The cheaper one is built to sell at a lower price to compete with the other aftermarket companies.

See now I was all ready to pull the trigger on that $159.99 unit until you chimed in with this. What do I got to do get a OEM replacement pump? I assume made in China means of lesser quality? Do they put made in China pumps in new vehicles?

I also can't see Rock auto taking $110 off of the pump they are selling, could maybe see them matching $199. My fuel pump is working fine right now but based on how loud it is it would not surprise me if I had some knock off unit in their right now. Don't want to replace it with another cheap one but done want to spend more than I have to.

Might have to drink on this for a little bit...

nGAbear · June 30, 2012

Just because Amazon is the seller doesn't mean you can't get a counterfeit unit. They are just drop shipping them out of warehouses all over the country

Just as with the AC Delco water pumps, there are two different versions. One much cheaper than the other. The cheaper one is made in China. I'm sure that's the price difference here. The cheaper one is built to sell at a lower price to compete with the other aftermarket companies.

X2 here.

I am fond of Amazon though...

bossier62guy · June 30, 2012

X3....I do use them quite frequently but will stick with Rock Auto for auto parts.

TimmyG · June 30, 2012

I use them all the time, never looked for oem parts tho. Bought my bakflip g2 on amazon it was 100 cheaper then iseen anywere! I hatw to compare the two. By its like ebay and u need to watch the sellers.

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nickvrebel · June 30, 2012

The only fuel pump I bought came from Summit Racing. It was going on a 2000 Silverado with a built motor. I ordered just the pump itself (not the entire bucket, sensors, etc) which made it almost universal. It was labeled as Summit house brand online and on the box. Opened the box and it had a Walbro brand pump inside. I would take Walbro over AC Delco any day. Pump installed easily with a couple wire splices and it provided adequate fuel supply for the thirsty motor. It only cost about $60 at the time iirc.

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jBlaze3000 · June 30, 2012

Email response from Rock Auto about price matching:

Thanks for your message. RockAuto does not offer any price matching, so the price is as shown on our catalog. I do see that you have a 5% discount code available that expires 8/26/12. It will take $13.50 off of this particular parts, but won't get the price down to $200.

Please note that you may use this code as many times as you'd like until it expires, and would be entered in the "how did you hear about us" section of checkout.

Thank you,

Chris P.

RockAuto Customer Service

I'm tempted to go with the cheaper unit on Amazon but will probably still buy from Rock. If I wanted to take chances on my fuel pump I'd just buy a dirt cheap Airtex..

jBlaze3000 · June 30, 2012

Well I made a decision and bought a Delphi pump on Rock Auto for $220 with my 5% discount. Sounds like AC Delco and Delphi are married companies in a lot of ways and many AC Delco parts are just re-labeled Delphi's. This may or may not be the case with my pump but either way I feel like I'm getting OEM quality with the Delphi.

As far as knock-off's go I think you're taking a little risk buying from Amazon and more of a risk buying from Ebay. But just because you buy an AC Delco part that says Made in China it does not mean you are buying a knock off. I found a website where an AC Delco parts dealer started pulling boxes of his shelf and snapping pictures of them and was able to find parts made in 4 different countries.

It sounds like fake parts are a real issue these days but they are hard to spot. Put it this way, you might have an AC Delco factory in China making parts that adhere to all of AC Delco's standards but then the factory next door is making cheap knock off's that look identical. If that new AC Delco pump that you got off Ebay for $50 sounds funny or fails right away I'd say there is a good chance that it was counterfeit.