My state decided they would charge RA $11,000,000 for back taxes from i believe 10+ years ago under a law that was just created a year or so ago. So RA just decided to no longer ship here anymore.
Don't quote me I may be wrong on some information. But anyways. Are there any other sites that can compete with them in terms of prices??
I'm so pissed about this but there isn't anything I can do
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PartsGeek. Used them. Maybe a little more expensive than RA. I Also use 1A Auto.
1A Auto seemed to have a lot of higher quality items.
I bought a powered/heated Sienna outside mirror from 1A. It worked okay but rattled a very little bit (I am OCD re these things). For the price, I let it go, and reviewed it at 4 stars with mention of the slight shaking. I never contacted anybody.
About a week later I received another mirror from them. I called and they said it was because of my review, and to please keep or toss the first mirror.
It's rare now that I don't order from 1A
I'll have to check them out. I already felt kinda bad never ordering from or even looking at their store because their videos are so high quality and have helped me out a million times. They deserve the business honestly lol.
1A Auto has god tier how-to videos.
Their videos are sooo good, I would be happy to buy any non critical part from them. Even if the part is meh. Just to support the video production. Lol
Id never bothered looking at 1A until this comment. I just recently bought quite a few things for my 2011 avalanche so I figured id compare. Couldn't find an oil pressure sensor, found 10 pages of TRQ brake pads and no other brand, and the wheel bearing hubs were all at least $40 more, also TRQ, than RA. Am I missing something? Id never heard of TRQ so I have no opinion on them but I'd typically like some options.
TRQ are 1AAuto private label parts
They have great video tutorials as well. I haven't ordered from them but now will. Thanks dude.
Do they send cool magnets?
I have dozens of those all over the garage.
I honestly think the quality of 1A parts is mid at best. 8b don't mind the trq brakes. What I do love about 1A parts is their repair videos. So many extremely high quality, descriptive, but not drawn out videos for so many repairs. For this reason I try to support them when I can.
Used their suspension parts on my 4runner. I'm glad they had a good warranty policy because the parts didn't last long.
Had their cooling fan come loose and almost took out my brand new radiator after a year in service. I will not buy them again and would rather buy from the economy section on Rockauto.
I got a soft spot for 1AAuto myself since I learned a lot of wrenching from their videos after I bought a 03 Impala in 2018 with over 200k miles for $700. Plus they are great at putting together the complete job kits for suspension and a bunch of other stuff, while quality on my usual go to eBay nosedives over the last two years.
Had issues with their coils for an 03 es300. Once I submitted a return with details of troubleshooting done and a receipt for densos, got a refund that same day. Gotta give credit where credit is due!
1A is legit
1A Auto has great customer service and crap parts
My guess at this point would be to get enough people to complain about it that the state negotiates a settlement with the company so they can resume shipmemts to the state.
Honestly if what you say is true, that's the way it would have to go.
I've called and filled out multiple contact forms. It's my first beef with the governor, but holy moly does this one hit hard. RA is the only thing that lets this disabled guy (me) afford to repair his car!
Do you mind sharing the contact form? I want to help amplify the message
Yeah what's that contact form
Was this recent? I just ordered from RockAuto last month and it shipped to E. Mesa without issues
I just got an order as well.
Yeah I tried putting in an order the day before I made this post
to clarify on the real reason. in 2018 congress passed a law that all states could regulate their own sales taxes for ecommerce sellers, creating a nexus threshold. For a state like AZ, as soon as you sold $100k+ into the state, you are responsible for collecting sales taxes on those purchases, and filing those sales taxes back to AZ.
many many many businesses didn't start right away, started really late, or never started at all. many of them are out of business.
Knowing RockAuto, they skirted the law as long as possible to remain a price leader, and now got caught. They're forbidden from selling in AZ until that bill is paid. And i bet the news about this has triggered many other states to audit them, and i'll put money down there will either be another story like this from a state like Washington, or they file Bankruptcy in 2026.
You’re just making stuff up. Arizona said a 3rd party supplier is the same as a having in-state personnel of a company that uses said supplier, something no other state has done. RA was never banned or forbidden from sales in AZ but withdrew themselves as all the appeals work their way through the courts. RA favored initial rulings AZ favored initial appeal and now the process continues.
You are correct.
https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2024/08/22/state-wants-11m-from-online-auto-parts-retailer/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20appellate%20court,specializes%20in%20Arizona%20tax%20law.
It’s still ongoing… and they’re not banned from selling in AZ… RA has decided to stop selling products in AZ until the case is settled.
Ah yes.... Classic case of a business voluntarily choosing to NOT make money because of ongoing litigation... You believe that for real?
They’re not doing business in Arizona to avoid further tax liabilities while this issue is being litigated.
They have also been banned from accessing automated jurisdiction and tax rate data, which is a huge inconvenience. So it’s easier for them to step away from the state entirely rather than risk being entangled in another dispute.
Also as a snub to AZ by not continuing a tax revenue stream
Yes… that’s something that happens literally all the time
It's pretty common. Illinois passed a law that makes any company open to being sued there even if an injury didn't occur there for toxic tort cases which has resulted in some companies saying f the great corrupt state of illinois and stopped doing business with the state or created only subsidiaries that would deal with sales in the state.
Having worked for a supplier to RA this did not surprise me. They are known for such tactics to save themselves money. Including not paying their invoices on time.
I used to work for a big defense contractor that did this too. Drove me nuts, like obviously they have the money, just a dick move to not pay the little guys on time.
Ah, that's fucked. Would rather not support a company that's fucking its suppliers and being slimy. Of the retailers you worked with, are there any you'd recommend over RockAuto?
It's a catch-22. Get the best price from the slimiest source, or purchase from a dealer/shop that pays well and you pay more for the part. A lot or people are pretty righteous and pitchforky until their wallets are affected, myself included lol.
The guy you are replying to is making shit up.
AZ claims that RA is based out of AZ for a variety of dumb reasons, and as such is subject to these taxes.
RA, while underhanded in some ways, is not based in the state and so shouldn't owe these taxes.
https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2024/08/22/state-wants-11m-from-online-auto-parts-retailer/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20appellate%20court,specializes%20in%20Arizona%20tax%20law
Inaccurate.
https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2024/08/22/state-wants-11m-from-online-auto-parts-retailer/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20appellate%20court,specializes%20in%20Arizona%20tax%20law.
I just fucking found them
yep, even the smallest of retailers have to comply when they hit the thresholds - no reason RA has any excuse. If a small$10M company has to comply and finds ways to, RA should too.
The thresholds have nothing to do with it. AZ said since RA has a major supplier in state (I think 30% was what was documented) , it’s the same as RA company having a physical presence in the state. No other state has tried to somthing like this and RA has no employees in the state of AZ.
Yeah, once you hit nexus you become an entity of that state and register with the state as a seller.
They have been collecting taxes since 2019 for Arizona orders. This is a different tax issue that is less clear cut as the courts are not even agreeing on the issue.
RA's contention was that they had no business nexus in AZ since they were technically drop-shipping everything from independent auto parts suppliers, some of whom may be located in AZ (RockAuto maintains no inventory whatsoever).
That's not true, I have done e-commerce for 10 years in automotive and now at an agency.
If you collect money to ship goods to another state and transact across lines, you are doing business in that state. Pretty cut and dry.
The law is if you ship into a state, and hit the sales level dictated by them (some are 50K, some 100K, etc) then they are to collect tax from the customer and send it in.
Many tax platforms automate this.
You actually have no idea about how this works.
The idea is products bought outside the state bypass revenue and put it into another state, which is somewhat unfair.
It can be a burden, but this is the law.
RockAuto is the one who said made these contentions to the court, not me.
Here's the opinion of the appellate court:
https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/court-of-appeals-division-one-unpublished/2024/1-ca-tx-23-0002.html
RockAuto's entire case was based on their claim that they lacked sufficient physical nexus in Arizona to be subject to an obligation to collect sales taxes on behalf of ADOR.
Yeah, and oddly enough the stopped shipping there per their legal council's advice.
No it has to do with the physical presence. https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2024/08/22/state-wants-11m-from-online-auto-parts-retailer/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20appellate%20court,specializes%20in%20Arizona%20tax%20law.
Check nexus tax law that discusses if you do a certain amount of product into a state, you collect tax.
Every tax platform handles this now, if you are right, why would this be standard in every platform now.
How do I know, I ran e-commerce for 10 years and now work at an e-commerce agency that does this daily.
It’s like you didn’t even read the article.
The state's argument is that RA is based in AZ, which is how they are pursuing the court case.
AZ is also, supposedly, being weird about telling them how to figure the tax rate. I believe that one less, but the first is how they are trying to get the money from RA.
I dont blame RA in this
For a while I would enter my AZ address and the country would default to Mexico so they could still sell me parts tax free. I’m glad the government went after them.
Don’t fall off that high horse of yours.
If you have certain European makes you can shop at fcpeuro.com or autohausAZ.com or bimmerworld.com or pelicanparts.com
If you have a 4 cylinder toyota or lotus you can shop at monkeywrenchracing.com or a subaru nasioc.com.
I know there is more specialty sites but I can't think of any others right now.
Is jc whitney still in business?
+1 for Autohausaz....for euro cars at least.
RA is awesome. But WTF is up with Arizona?
Rockauto appears to ship to me in arizona still. When does it say it will not ship to you?
"My state decided they would charge RA $11,000,000 for back taxes from i believe 10+ years ago under a law that was just created a year or so ago. So RA just decided to no longer ship here anymore.
Don't quote me I may be wrong on some information. But anyways. Are there any other sites that can compete with them in terms of prices??
I'm so pissed about this but there isn't anything I can do"
It came into effect early November AFAIK. I havent tried to buy anything from them since then, but I live in Arizona and have heard of this as well.
Have not yet attempted or been denied.
It's just odd that I have a shopping cart and I get everything filled in for Arizona before clicking "place order". I doubt they would say no shipping to arizona after actually placing the order.
I'd try an order I just don't need parts for once.
When you are shopping, it doesn't know where you live. Not until you put your shipping info does it know. I put stuff in my cart but on check out told my no good for AZ, Pissed me right off.
Ok well I put my shipping info and never had anything that said I couldn't put in an order.
I couldnt check out earlier this week. It displayed a message that they could not ship to Arizona. So no sale.
You can put items in the cart it just won't let you checkout and purchase
Send to another state address and through the shipping portal, redirect the package to your address in AZ. Will likely have to pay a fee, but should work
Please explain
I'm a fan of 1A Auto. Decent selection and quality. Plus every part you buy has a video of how to install.
Have you tried ordering?
I got an order at the beginning on December.
It looks like the only people that have tried to order have gotten stuff while all other comments are speculation.
Yeah i couldnt purchase. Everytime I checkout a message appears referencing the stopped orders to AZ
Lmfao, they should have been grandfathered in.
I have started using rockauto mostly for part#/brand lookup for a couple reasons. Mainly shipping. RA makes part of their profit from shipping charges. I've had two items in a cart from the same warehouse before, add a third item and all of a sudden the parts are coming from 3 different warehouses. Stuff like that.
I use ebay the most now. Sometimes you can get free shipping and the return process is much better as a customer. Ebay buyer protection is great!
I just received an order that ended up coming from 4 different warehouses and shipping was $32.96, which is pretty reasonable to me. Parts + shipping was almost 30% less than if I went to one of the local brick and mortar stores.
If it were say brakes from one warehouse, ignition stuff from another, engine seals at a different one, etc I could almost understand but when my brake pads come from one warehouse, rotors from a different one, and calipers from a third I start getting annoyed.
But don't get me wrong, parts at a brick & mortar location are 10x the price. Literally cam adjustment bolts from rockauto for $2.50 vs $38.99 at autozone is just a recent example.
As far as "cheap" parts go, I delivery pizza so I go through parts fast either way. I've had the same failure rate of the absolute cheapest parts ($5.00 tie rod ends) as the $50 moon brand. Brakes same: raysbestos wear pit just as fast as the closeouts.
It was shocks, struts, LCAs, end links, and sway bar bushings.
I get what you're saying about it being annoying, too. 1 package on Wednesday, 1 on Thursday, 2 on Friday (but 1 gets delayed and isn't delivered until Monday, so the job gets dragged out). That doesn't work so well if you need to have it up and running every day.
eBay is full of new ‘fake parts’ labeled OEM. Buyer beware. Not saying you can’t find a good or authentic deal, but it’s like finding needles in haystacks.
If the part works and holds up, I can’t say I care all that much what brand it is
There is a difference in quality aftermarket parts, and the fake stuff deceptively trying to impersonate the real stuff. The fake stuff doesn't tend to hold up or work well.
I don’t know how they make profit on shipping when you can get a very large box that’s 20lbs of UPS $13 shipping. I’ve also had an order where I ordered two axle shafts for an 8.8 and another box of parts, all separate labels but only one shipping charge of like $20 I’d say.
Sometimes part of this shipping price is included in the markup on the part (your axle for example). Other times part of the overall price comes in additional shipping costs (I suspect rockauto does this).
At the end of the day though, ebay has a much better return policy so thats where I try to get parts from!
I get what your saying but I believe RA does not do this, I think their shipping cost is weird sometimes because of how their software works and it’s not very “smart”. You have to game their system sometimes and know how it works, which most don’t want to do. I just looked at the invoice of that order and it was $16.99 for shipping and $115 for the axle x2. Just looked on eBay and the same axle is going for over $200 from all sellers with free shipping. With RockAuto you also have a pretty easy experience with doing warranty claims. Not sure how that would work with eBay. And from RA you know you will get a genuine part, at least I always have.
eBay is much less guaranteed of getting a genuine part, I do like them for cheap tools though. I just got a hydraulic press that weighed over 100lbs with free shipping, you really can’t beat that. Plus NOS stuff is nice on there.
Are they going to try and collect that 11M from RA or is their option just to never sell there ever again and that’s that.
From what I've learned here is that they are currently not selling here because they are going through the court process. So it depends on how that goes I guess.
Try partsgeek.com
Usually, I’ll go on rock auto and copy parts numbers into Amazon or Walmart to see if I can get it shipped quicker for around the same price
I have gotten fakes from Amazon and Walmart (third party) before. I don’t trust that shit at all anymore.
PartsGeek?
I don’t know if it still works but when Colorado was unable to be shipped to, I would place the order to my family out of state and then go to the order details page and change the shipping address to my actual one.
Look up Parts Authority, they’re basically taking over the space rock auto has in a brick and mortar sort of way lol
All the parts your car will ever need in some states.
Hahahaha that’s hilarious actually. I’d probably agree with them and do the same thing.
Just visit r/alternativerock
Why are you posting this prior to a simple google search?
I would imagine asking Reddit with at least a few people answering would be better than asking google a question about shopping.
Yea. Id rather ask actual humans for advice. What companies have you tried? How was the service? Quality? Etc. googling shit you get fake reviews and fake (counterfeit) items. Can't trust shit anymore.
A google search just gives you:
Reddit is basically the only place left to find used generated content or objective company reviews. And who knows how long that will last.
Thats what reddit is
God forbid we ask fellow humans before a computer
Uh..Reddit isn't other humans. It's just another computer.
Hello fellow human
it’s seems tongue and cheek, but working in the IT industry, legitimately 60% of the posts/comments on reddit are bots. multiple people on my team have their own bots that go around and just spam shit in random subreddits to boost karma (then they sell those accounts).. so, not necessarily.
Curious, why would anyone pay for a high karma account?
To appear credible and bypass karma restrictions to push products or propaganda.
It's a problem with social media sites in general.
Thanks
Google often has a lot of old info or suspicious info. Reddit has actual human boots on the ground who have real experience.
I trust you fucks before Google results any longer.
Would rather ask people with firsthand experience
That's the question to ask for about 80% of the questions in this sub. They need a require a captcha before posting here.
Carparts.com
you could ship to a freight forwarder like shipitto and then ship it to yourself
painful if you have to pay for shipping twice though
Oh shit so I must’ve got my radiator right before they skiddadled lol
every parts search should begin with a google search for year make model trim part.
That’s terrible news.
Can you open a PO Box in a neighboring state and ship there? Then you can set up mail forwarding and get the parts.
Carparts.com
I ordered a radiator from Rock auto for my truck literally two weeks ago and it shipped just fine? That’s strange
If they aren’t based in that state, state shouldn’t be able to do anything. A different company is the one shipping the stuff.
BAM Wholesale
Walmart. Seriously. They don't have much in inventory but it has worked fine with me and they don't commingle inventory like Amazon does
Amazon prime
I use eBay., I use RA to find the parts number. Just get returnable items.
I literally just placed an order to Tucson to see if this was true. Had no issues placing the order and shipping to my house. Not sure what you’re even going on about.
I have ordered from 1A Auto several times. Everything from a water pump to a new tailgate handle to window trim. I've had good quality everytime. I replaced the window trim on my 2006 Tundra after it became sun-rotted. OEM was ridiculously expensive for a non-critical part. The 1A auto part fitment was perfect to the millimeter. I don't hesitate from purchasing from them.
www.1aauto.com Great prices, and they have videos installing the parts you buy.
Autozone. Parts arrive next day typically if they don’t have it in stock.
It's some bullshit. They don't even have a warehouse in Arizona. They did the same to Amazon, but they do have warehouses there.
eBay is pretty good
i order from carid.com price is reasonable
I love amazon if it's sold from amazon directly or the 3rd party seller is legitimate (usually car dealerships selling stuff on there)
You don’t necessarily get the item from the seller. If a counterfeit item with the same part number is closer, that’s what you’re getting. That’s why Amazon isn’t a good idea for auto parts.
I usually check the sellers to see if they have a brick and mortar store and haven't had any issues. A couple of times the items came from a Toyota dealership in the same city I am in.
not quite, most sellers don't use comingled inventory any more because Amazon's own policies usually hold an authentic seller responsible if someone elses counterfeit comingled inventory gets sent in place of that sellers authentic inventory.
Edit: Funny I'm getting downvoted for being right. I've never received a counterfeit part on Amazon. Furthermore Amazon is changing its policy next year. All sellers except the brand owner will be required to label each item. That means 3rd party seller inventory will no longer be comingled.
I know for a fact that the major OEM brands do. I’ve had several customers purchase from the official seller page and receive obviously fake parts in an authentic looking package.
I’ve seen fake AC Delco, Motorcraft, Toyota and Lexus, even aftermarket brands like Fel-Pro, Mahle, Aisin, Arnott, etc.
You didn't read what I said. If you're buying from seller "RTQBUG" with an address in China, then yes you'll get knock off parts. No shit. Turns out of you use common sense and buy from a 3rd party seller with a good reputation you don't get burned. Use common sense. Amazon is refund happy anyways.
turns out if you use common sense you'll don't get scammed. Its pretty funny that people on here find that a difficult concept to undetstand apparently.
Amazon is usually cheaper by the time you factor in shipping in my experience. Outside of that eBay? RA pissed me off years ago so they are a parts look up site for me now. I take whatever PN I want and google it. Amazon, Summit, eBay in the order is where I end up ordering from.
Amazon’s inventory is flooded with fakes. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.
Amazon is kind of a pain in the ass to use for car parts. And a very limited selection compared to RA.
Is that only if you don't buy from amazon themselves? Feels like when people would blame "eBay" vs a shitty seller
Believe it or not, “sold and shipped by Amazon” is actually the worst offender for fakes.
Google “Amazon commingled inventory”. I’ll probably get this wrong but basically Amazon sources a single sku from say, 20 different suppliers. Then Amazon lumps them together in their warehouse by sku (not by supplier.) Then sells them as “sold and shipped by Amazon” to make you feel warm and fuzzy. But as you could imagine a bad actor could add fake/broken/b stock parts to amazons inventory and it’s basically impossible to track them down.
Amazon is filled with counterfeit parts. Do not buy auto parts from Amazon.
The way they mix stock with the same part number means that there’s no way to protect yourself. If I order from the official Motorcraft store I might get a counterfeit Motorcraft ignition coil with the same part number since it was closer to me.
Is that only if you don't buy from amazon themselves? Feels like when people would blame "eBay" vs a shitty seller
Be careful with eBay and ScAmazon for auto parts. There’s a lot of fake and counterfeit parts selling through them. Stupid stuff too, not even crazy expensive parts. I’ve had $50 knock sensors that weren’t genuine AC Delco, but some repackaged Chinese garbage. Unfortunately I didn’t know until I completed the 3 hour job, only to have to re-do it over with the correct parts. Sure I get a refund on parts, but not on my time wasted! If your time is valuable, I wouldn’t mess with those companies.
Is that only if you don't buy from amazon themselves? Feels like when people would blame "eBay" vs a shitty seller
It’s any of it. Amazon often gets their shit from third parties. You can see who the “seller” is if you dig deep enough. Often times it’s some bullshit no name company that is “fulfilled” by Amazon. Also stuff gets returned and sometimes shoved right back into the warehouse system. So if someone swaps out an expensive name brand part for some Chinese knockoff, you may or may not realize it.
Order your moog slop and enjoy it!!
eBay. I tend to always find stuff cheapest there
https://www.carid.com/
Ship it to a family member outside of AZ and then have them ship it to you. Or just order from somewhere else
They've been threatening to stop shipping to AZ for at LEAST a year now & I've still been ordering from them & receiving timely deliveries the whole time 🤷🏻 I think they just would like for all of us to get more involved & write letters to our local state representatives & stuff & help get them off of their case/backs but I'm not gonna...if they owe, then they owe...if they're doing shady business & my state caught onto it, why should I care!?! They've never shipped anything to ME for free except for maybe some advertising magnets and they've been ripping off my state this entire time as well!?! I say f- 'em, if they wanna keep shipping here that's fine by me I'll still order from them sometimes but they are far from the only game in town!!
https://preview.redd.it/2ilobttbq28g1.jpeg?width=1076&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02389fa0c57b882a7b8042fbc8abf528750f62e6