This was my second order from Autobarn, the first being a battery in August of this year. Since that transaction worked well, and I needed an item that my normal supplier Rock Auto did not carry, I thought I would try this merchant again for part of the order since they offered free shipping due to the amount of money I was spending. My order consisted of maintenance items like belts, hoses, PCV, tune up items, etc. for a Dodge- nothing special order or exotic from Autobarn. The one special order item I bought came from Rock Auto, who promptly contacted me via email for additional information.

I split the order between Rock Auto and Autobarn and am sorry I did so. Both orders went in on the same date (9-21), and Rock Auto as usual emailed order confirmation and tracking information, which included what was in each box with the tracking number for each. I had all but the special order part delivered in a few days (by 9-25, four days) via ground shipping.

After about a week and a half of no info, on 10-2 I did a status inquiry with Autobarn via email and this netted an automated reply followed by a reply on 10-3 asking what "item" I had ordered (I had included my order number in the original email inquiry, so this was a truly stupid question). I replied by copying the invoice Autobarn had sent me. A few days later (10-6), I finally received notice my order had shipped, although it did not say what. There was a disclaimer that if I had ordered multiple items they may not arrive at the same time.

As another indicator of how slow the Autobarn shipment process is, I placed another order for a foreign car with Rock Auto on 10-2 and had these parts in hand by 10-5, again with ground shipping.

Also, the online catalog for Autobarn is far more difficult to navigate than the one for Rock Auto.

In summary, I guess if you only need to order one thing and don't need to know when it is going to arrive; this is a good place to shop. Otherwise, go someplace great like Rock Auto. I know this sounds more like a positive review of Rock Auto, but I was in a position to review both at the same time, so this is what I did. The few dollars saved at Autobarn were not worth the inferior service.