Rebuilding the 22re for my 1993 Toyota pickup and have accumulated the parts needed from Rock Auto. I started putting it together yesterday and today I was putting the timing components on. Torqueing the tensioner which is supposed to be 12-14 Nm and by the the time I'd get to 8 NM the plunger would be bound up. Put the old one back on and it was just fine at 14 NM. I paid extra for a Cloyes brand which I thought would be good quality but guess what made in china. I went through their BS on their website and can't get a refund but if I'll pay half the shipping I can send it back and they'll send me another one! Can't email anyone there can't call and talk to anyone!
I've probably spent at least $1000.00 with them in the last year and by the way I got a rear brake kit for my 2000 silverado from them a few months ago. Everything from the hard lines all the way out to the rotors/calipers/pads paid extra to get another good American brand name (Raybestos) every part was made in china.

 

Hate to be that guy but I wouldn't blame the parts quality on RockAuto, they don't make anything. I've purchased plenty of Denso brand parts from them and have always had good luck with the parts I've purchased.

 

looks like you need to do a little homework about where the parts you are buying are made. me, i like my OSK timing set, which was (and probably still is) made in japan.

i try to avoid buying parts made in the land of almost right [but not quite].

i've also made numerous purchases through rockauto over the last 8 or 9 years. so far, so good.

 

Not blaming them for the quality of the part I'm blaming them for their return policy on defective parts. Also to me Raybestos and Cloyes are American brand name parts and have been for decades now it appears you get the same chinese junk with a old time American brand name on the box.

 

I installed the Cloyes heavy duty timing set four years ago on my 92 22RE, and it's been working just fine. Back then the gears were made in USA. The tensioner was made in Taiwan. The chain was not marked, so I don't know about it.

 

the rockauto return/warranty procedures are covered in their website, pretty clearly, under the, surprise, "product lines and warranties" page here

 

Oh yeah they'd take it back and send another and they wanted me toI pay to ship their bad part back to them and who's to say the next one will be good.

 

This set was made in china says so on the box in VERY small print. I'll trash it I have a OSK set on the way.

 

This is why I like to deal with local parts people. Napa, Orilleys, Autozone.. etc. When there is an issue, you can walk in and deal with it in person.

You saved a few bucks by buying online, but youre paying for it now.

 

Unfortunately found ToyotaPartsDeal, IMO has the worse return policy of any Toyota part suppliers, they sent the wrong oil seals so I sent them back to the supplier, which was a car dealership who reviewed it and denied the refund due to packaging and they also kept the items. I have purchased from TPD in the past and pleased but will not purchase from them again.

 

I have purchased from Rock Auto a number of times in the past and my experience has been generally good. The plus and minus of that are:

Plus:
- A good selection from a variety of manufacturers that allow you to hit your preferred price/quality point
- Fast and relatively inexpensive shipping from their warehouses
Minus:
- Annoying problem when ordering multiple items (sometimes for the same subassembly) that are stocked in different locations, resulting in multiple shipping charges
- That less than perfect return policy

Because I live in British Columbia, just north of the US border, it makes returning anything twice as hard (and expensive) so I just try to make very sure I am ordering the correct parts, while checking to make sure they are coming from as few different warehouses as possible. They are still near the top of my list for replacement parts.

JG

 

I've had only one part come in bad from rockauto. An AAE power steering pump and reservoir bundle for my yota. Bearings were bad from factory.

The return was easy, just enter order #, click which part was bad, go through the steps on how you want to proceed and done. I've even canceled certain parts on orders before they have shipped with no problems.

I will say the rockauto shipping is a little fishy, with how they calculate shipping price. But it's still cheaper than anywhere else.

 

When I buy from them I buy the higher priced items which are brand names I am familiar with which used to be USA made stuff and good quality but when I get it is made in china now and probably is made by the same factory that makes the cheaper stuff they sell and what I end up with is not the quality I expected and paid for. Can't contact them before ordering to ask where it's made now and when you get a bad one they just want to exchange it and not give a refund plus I have to pay to send the bad part back to them.

 

You might not be able to contact them, but if you were, they wouldn't be able to offer the prices they do. There's a reason they're so much cheaper than Autozone, and it's because you can't walk in and yell at someone. You can, however, do your own research and verify the country of origin before ordering something. They do state exactly what brand each part is, it just takes some extra work to verify where it was made. That being said, made in USA doesn't guarantee better parts. Things aren't what they used to be. If they paid return shipping on defective parts, again, we'd all be paying higher prices. I still stand by Rock Auto though, with a few exceptions I almost exclusively get my parts from them and have never had a bad experience (buying for years and years -- I have a ton of fridge magnets). It's definitely frustrating I'm sure and not your fault, but I wouldn't be so quick to write them off for good.

My only issue with them is that they can't ship to my house due to not being able to charge the correct city tax rate or something, so I have to ship everything to work down the street.

 

I found this online, says it’s their phone number. https://gethuman.com/phone-number/Rockauto/dial/~10304

you should just be able to cross reference the part number and see where its manufactured tho

sadly everything is made in china and taiwan now. it’s just what the world is moving towards. it’s what happens when you have cheap third world labor. i rarely use amazon anymore because its a flooded market of cheap chinese stuff.

i personally would pay higher prices to support jobs in the US but not everyone agrees, and would just have save a dollar. I have moved to a company called Tekton for some tools because they have started manufacturing certain tools in Michigan.

 

I've personally never had any problems ordering from Rock Auto and I have about 75 of their magnets attached to my shop fridge/freezer to prove it.

As with ordering anything online:

1) Make sure it's the right part. Always cross reference the part numbers. Rockauto is a retailer and doesn't manufacture anything. 90% of their part numbers are regurgitated from the actual manufacturers.
2) Give yourself the proper amount of shipping time. My 4Runner is the garage queen so i know this isn't exactly feasible for a lot of people
3) Rockauto's return policy is pretty reasonable. I've never had to pay for return shipping or to box the part up I'm returning and within 2-3 days, the money or credit is back into my account.

 

So why did they expect me to pay to ship this back to them?

 

It's difficult to explain but if you claim that the product doesn't fit, they'll email you a shipping label. I do this everytime when the option is available.

 

Gave it a try and that didn't work either. They still expect me to pay to ship it back. Thanks for the reply with something to try though.
I'm sorry but I just don't see why I should be out any more money on this when the chain tensioner was defective right out of the box.
I bought a OSK tensioner elsewhere works fine and engine is all buttoned up.

 

Rock Auto you get what you pay for.

Most companies have sourced to cheap labor markets not so much for labor but to save on taxes.

My one experience with Rock Auto who can sell so cheap is because they have very little over head .

When the shipping from Rock Auto was twice the cost of the parts because it was shipped from three different places.

I deal local I have a great relationship with my Local Toyota Dealer parts manager and my Local Napa store before they started a lower price line of cheap parts to compete with the other auto parts chains Also with how long all the shipping companies are taking it is faster.