The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Performance Parts Suppliers...
 

I'm starting this thread because I constantly see people asking about this company or that company... Maybe if this is informative enough, it can get stickied so it's a handy reference.

I'll start with the obvious:

The good:

Racing Beat. I've ordered over $3k in parts from them. Perfect shipping, delivery, etc. The one time they messed up, they express mailed me the parts they forgot.

The bad and ugly:

CP Racing. I ordered a strut tower bar from them. It took FOREVER to arrive, then it didn't fit under my hood... (This was my old T2). When I called them, they told me it must be my car, "that it was probably in an accident." No, I bought it from the original owner, who is also my boss' husband. He told me there were no accidents. "Well, he must be lying to you." After more b.s., I just gave up. I actually left the bar in the basement of the house when we moved out.


Edit by Jon: This has now been stickied. READ THE RULES on page two before posting

although im a newbie:
I have spent a few hundred $ with Mazdatrix
this was done through mail order which often times can get screwed up
they have always been fast and sent exactly what I have ordered
great place

I've had good experiences with MazdaTrix and RacingBeat as well.

I have had good experiences with both Mazdatrix and Victoria British. Parts received quickly (for having to go through customs), and no errors.

++ for Mazdatrix.

A+ for Racing Beat and Mazdatrix. They both go the extra mile.

good: mazdatrix, racing beat, carl the bananna


so-so:rotary shack

bad: mazda racing, cp

A+ for MazdaTrix and VictoriaBritish.

I also give an A to both VB and Mazdatrix.

What about Mariah?

CP F------- and lower

Victoria British and Racing beat have done me well so far, except for the damn door handles from VB that are STILL on backorder(5 months now)

A+ to rotary shack!!! great products every time and some of the best tech help anyone could dream of!

.
 

Summit Racing Equipment is very good. ++++++ :icon_tup: :icon_tup:

it takes robert FOREVER to ship things, and normally theres some sort of hold-up..but he doesn't bother to tell you :(

I just put in an order with Rotary Performance AKA rx7.com. The check out was easy but isnt the money taking process always!! I will tell you how It turns out. It is Texas based company, so I holding high hopes!

A+ to RB, VB, and Mazdatrix

A to Summit....took 5 months to get my SS brake lines, but everything else has been very fast.

well i give cp racing a D+ just becasue i orderd one thing got it quick and something else jsut never came, although they did refund me after 1.5 months.

and btw they use jigs i am sure of this, and it fit my car A+++++++++ (strut bar)

yeah, racing beat is good. got an exhaust system from them and it arrived relatively quick.

how about atkins rotary? are they good?

Is thre a way to set upa poll for each company and then let everyone rate them?

That would be something to run by Ryan, the site owner. Maybe he could put that in the vendor section.

It would be interesting to see how many companies would be willing to be publicly rated. I guarandamntee you that CP Racing wouldn't want to be. They know they suck.

I'm with everybody else on Racing Beat and Mazdatrix (A) and I've also had good results from Dave Gibson (Speed Machine Performance). Mariah was good on customer service but my Cold Air Box was way to expensive in my opinion.

Ive Ordered from them, It was easy and quick! I had to order some OMP lines, they got here in about two days so that was pretty sweet in my book!!

Victoria British is great!

mazdatrix(a) i had to change my order, and they handled it.
and Rotary Shack, great products, kinda slow, but i understand it can get busy.

Inside or outside door handles?

B

I have excellent luck with:

Mazdatrix.com
rockauto.com
rx7.com
radiators.com

A+ for mazdatrix, rx7, racing beat, and mariah (though i use to live just 5 minutes from them), summit too!

i have done business with victoria british over the phone and internet and i must say they are on it. it took 7 days since i ordered through the phone for a cmc and air pump fan belt.. it took 3 days after order through internet for an air filter.. of course all the parts were in stock already at time of order..

Alright, this thread has gone well so far and I like the idea, so I'm willing to sticky it ON THESE CONDITIONS:

1. Facts above opinions.
This is not the place to vent. State the facts and leave the emotional flames out of this.

Can-Say example: "x company never shipped my part and the engine they rebuilt for me blew up, so I would personally never recommend them"

Can't-Say example: "x company is just a bunch of drunk motherfuckers ... (insert flames for 'x forum member' being a fucking idiot for using that company)"

2. No Flaming, Trolling or Direct insults
You'll recognize this as part of the regular forum rules. I find that in threads talking about vendors you often see this happening more. NONE of this will be tolerated. Your post will be deleted and you will be dealt with individually if you're found to be flaming people or businesses, insulting people directly, or trolling for flames. This could include temporary or permanant bans in extreme cases, so consider yourself warned

[b]3. No LENGHTY stories, no drama, and no requests[b]
This is an informational thread. If you're looking to post your horrendously bad (or good) experience, make a thread in the good guy / bad guy sub-forum. I have let this be stickied to the First Gen section for the benefit of our forum members and I reserve the right to remove it at any time. There IS a subforum for this, there IS a search function you can use. Just post your experiences in facts and keep this thread clean.

Jon

My experiences:

Mazdatrix: Awesome. Bought a fuel level sender from them, very satisfied

Racing Beat: From my RB Springs to just a simple ACV block-off plate, they ship promptly

Victoria British: Again awesome but Canadians should know one thing: Order by phone, and make sure they have a telephone number where you can be reached on the package. My shipments got held up at the boarder because customs needed to call me and didn't have my number. This happened twice.Only seems to happen with VB, but a good precaution for all US vendors.

Rx7Heaven in Ottawa: On many occasions sold me non-functional used parts (starter, clutch cylinders, rear brake line with crushed threads) for almost the price of new parts. My personal opinion: avoid like the plague.

Coté Pieces D'autos in Hull: They can get anything any other local supplier can, but in the same day. Great for brakes, steering, and any other regular car stuff that isn't "special order"

Performance Mazda in Orleans: They're expensive (they're a dealership) but they keep BR8EQ's in stock most of the time and their parts guy actually knows how to look up and order parts. You only get "that's discontinued" from them when it actually IS not available from ANY of their supply channels.

Lowe Performance: Call Them for OMP rebuild kits. They mail it to you (express if you request). They're curteous. I just wish they had a website.

Jon

cant anyone do something about cp and do they even know how bad people talk about them on here

I told them yesterday in an email and I actually got a response back and they said:

"We offer specialty components for people that can simply not get the products anywhere else. We do not rush our components, any of them. Quality 1st, the only complaints people have is we are slow to deliver or ship. Never a complaint about the quality of the component, everyone gets what they paid for."

After 3 emails they still never told me the status of my order.

Outside

Atkins rotary is very good excellent quality apex seals and always fast shipping. Same goes for racing beat and mazdatrix. Fast eddies and pineapple racing are also excellent for rebuild kits and are fast and courteous as well. I have mixed opinions of CP racing I wasnt impressed with the fitment of my stryut bar and had to modify and repaint it same goes for the steering rack kit. Also very slow shipping no contact and hidden customs charges. I will not do business with them again. Its worth paying a bit more and ordering from racing beat or mazdatrix the parts fit perfect and you get what you pay for. Just my opinions.

Outside?
Really? i just went up there and picked mine up with no order earlier in the summer.
that's odd. Mine was passenger side if that makes a difference.

I bought some SS brake hoses and pads from them and received them in about a week. They sent me the wrong pads (rear, I've got drums), but I shipped them back and got the right ones in less than a week. Just lost out on mailing the pads back.

I hate to say anything, but the more I think about it I probally should.

I purchased one of the 3 gauge stereo surrounds from Manntis (rotorhead.ca)knowing that he didn't have them finished yet. Manntis does return emails and seems to be honest, I am just dissapointed in how long it has taken. I can understand if he is busy but it would be nice to at least get updates on the product progress.

As far as Racing beat goes, they are easily one of the best companies I have ever dealt with. When they are unsure about anything or have questions about anything they MAKE SURE to call you. When I ordered 1 front tokico blue and 1 rear, they made sure to call me and confirm that it wasn't a typo, its great that they actually take the time to make sure.

I also have had good luck with Robert from Rotary shack. He gives the best internet help he can, although like has been mentioned his shipping is sometimes off (which was no problem in my case...). I was overall happy and will buy from them again. (you pay a little more for the jets but the technical help can be really helpful.)

Respeed, (http://www.mrcmfg.com/respeed/) hands down is the company I have had the best luck with. Very honest, when my shipping costed less than planned he made sure to tell me and sent the money back to me... Great products and a good price!

Racing Beat - Great customer service, great products. A++
MazdaTrix- Just the best. Dave Lemon is awesome. These guys race and drive our cars every day.A++
Malloy Mazda - Ray is very helpful. Wholesale pricing and free 2nd day delivery. A+
Rotary Shack - Robert just race prepped a 48IDA for me. Took a little while but it's a thing of beauty.(I'll post picks at some point) A
MazdaMotorsports-Great guys, great products, great support at the Runoffs. Just run some autocrosses and u can sign up. I run a lot of their race parts.A+
Gotham Racing-Steve has done a lot of work on my 3rd gen, and 1st gen race car. Highly recomended. A+

I have also used Jegs, Summit, and Pegasus Racing.....all without issues. I'm going to try REspeed soon.

I want to add to what's been said about Racing Beat

When I placed the order for my suspension springs online I got a phone call at my house in CANADA less than an hour later to tell me that there would be a delay. They explained that they were out of stock, waiting for shipment and offered to cancel my order and call me when they had stock to see if I wanted to re-order!

Luckily for me I was ordering in November and my car was already away for the 6months of winter, so I just told them to send them whenever they could. And even then it was still pretty fast.

Jon

rotorhead.ca do not buy the hoods. dont know about other products, but do not buy hood! do a search and ask those who sent money. but thats just for the hood.

Well I give RX7.com a Freakin AA++. I ordered my pilot bearing and other stuff. I placed the order Tuesday Night and I got the stuff Thursday Morning!!! Talk about fast shipping!!!

I've had great experinces with racing beat and mazdatrix AA+
rotary performance i'd rate as an A
team fc3s store as an F
speed machine performance D-
banzai racing has all my respect only place i'll take my car out side of my self. AA+

I got burnt from CP Racing in Toronto. Go to nopistons.com & read my long story ... I'd never do business & suggest anyone to again..

all good
 

Great Places:
blp.com (Holley performance parts)- knowledge is everything
Summitracing.com- customer service
G-Force- very nice to talk to
RB- customer service
ISC- personally I don't like mig wire stuck inside my exhaust pipes, but otherwise good

Jegs.com is good too. Some of the Jegs brand stuff is better than Summits stuff so I always check before I buy. For example the Jegs low pressure fuel pressure gauge seems much nicer than the comparably priced Summit gauges. I usaully go with Summit though.

Holley customer service is good if you call but non existent if you email. But either way you have to take it with a grain of salt, they don't like to suggest anything that isn't tried and true- and who can blame them? But sometimes tried and true just isn't good enough. Great overall.

I'd love to buy the CP fender flares but just can't get myself to give them money considering everything I've heard at this forum.

Compared to the Toyota 4X4 big time vendors the rotary community seems much better

ALEX LOPEZ at Lopez's Racing 305-255-1352

I been everywhere and got Screwed everywhere but when I went to alex and told
him what I wanted he delivered my car is making 384 WHP w/ stock Turbo II in a first Gen.
I'm so happy W/ my car I will never take it nowhere else

Its one stop shopping and you'll be happy

Door Handles
 

I picked up mine last week off the shelf. Better check again

Vibrant Performance make good exhaust systemes

another negative feeling from rotorhead.ca. Sent in money probably 4 months ago now for a rotary clock and the 3 guage pod, nothing. Have emailed twice, no response. Very frustrating. Good things about Mazdatrix and Racingbeat too.

rb as always...great
mazdatrix...great
rx7.com...great
rotary aviation...great
atkins rotary...great

i've been fortunate enough to not get burned by any of these. Now this is not my debate on which parts are better from where, but when i've decided what to buy, and where from, all of these have come through without any problems at all.

ISC Racing, MazdaTrix, MazdaSpeed, Atkins, Racing Beat, 7s only, all two thumbs up.