[joedoh]

be aware on amazon: if you select the free shipping and do not upgrade to prime, I had a situation where they HELD the order so it wouldnt ship right away. amazon stocks some things but most of it is order handling through the manufacturer/distributor. I ordered some shocks that were free regular shipping, after a week I emailed and they said I should wait for handling time or upgrade to prime for two day shipping.

I called the manufacturer, they said they had them in stock and hadnt even seen my order yet. I cancelled the amazon order and ordered them direct, they honored the free shipping, normally they charged for shipping for direct orders, and I had them the next day because the warehouse was only one state away. I had them in my hand before amazon even confirmed me cancelling the order, and in the cancellation email they said "if they already shipped you may be charged". the distributor said dont worry about it, they hadnt seen the order but if they did they would flag it.

if its stuff like bearings or calipers or pads or rotors, I get them in town, because if I have a problem it easy to exchange. for sensors or control arms I will price shop between amazon and rock auto. rock auto is just a network of auto parts stores (most likely the hub or warehouse stores) with fixed pricing. so you are buying it "local" somewhere else. sometimes they screw you on purpose, I ordered a headlight for a colorado and they sent me a silverado headlight that was broken.