So I go to Orielly's to pick up a few things..antifreeze, rags, etc. When it's my turn at the counter, the 20 something says "Is there anything else?" Yep, I need a throttle body gasket for the truck sitting outside(93GMC). I get the usual year? make?,etc. and a long pause while he taps the counter feverishly and gazes at the computer screen. Valve cover? No, the gasket between the TBI unit and the manifold. "OH, I'm not clicking today" he says, "is it carburated?" No. It has the TBI, you know fuel injection. The gasket inbetween.....more key strokes and tapping the counter. "Just a minute". . ..........................returns to counter with bewildered look of total confusion..."No we don't have those"....OK never mind. Geez, this is scary. I watched him "look" for it and he wasn't even close. I can't believe these clowns can open a store and hire people off the street to run the business that don't know shit. All the good old parts store are disappearing and this is what it's come to. Unbelievable. I guess this shit never happens to you guys, huh?
Find a local friendly mechnic who makes his living at it and find out where he buys his parts. Won't be a chrome and air freshner parts store.
All i wanted was a starter for a SBC, thats all. You'd think they would be able to pull that one off for once. Nope... sorry. I found a good place where you only have to give them half of your info and they'll have it on the counter in no time. I cant even go into kragen and have them give me the right pack of m&m's dammit. Brendan
The old real parts places are closing down because you keep going to the "give it to me cheap" place. We have a NAPA here that actually has people that know what their talking about. I don't even go to the other places unless the NAPA is out of stock, or its closed. There is a place here that is even better then the NAPA store, but I just can't bring myself to pay twice the NAPA prices, but I will go there first, if I have no luck at NAPA. The other two places really make me cringe. Gene
Don't give me that about NAPA. I thought I'd give them a chance a few months back and it was worse. Went in to get brake line clamps, shelf item, they're out, OK..order some, be here in two days. Go in to pick them up and they sold em. Reorder be here in two days, again. It's a shelf item and they order one instead of ordering about 6 for the shelf and give me one. There were two girls and two guys working in there and it was giggle, tickle, and grab ass the whole time. By the way, the only reason I went to O'reilly's is that it's about a hundred yards from my house. I figured they couldn't screw up a gasket that bad. What do you want me to do, drive across town and pay the other idiots twice as much. It's a crap shoot and NAPA sucks too. The best ones are the independently owned stores but those guys are retiring or selling out.
We have a guy at O'Riley in lewisville that is really good, But he is a stickler for doing pretty and very anally, but he does give good advice. Believe his name is Bill. Not only that most of their people n thiere are pretty knowledgable Big Tony
My NAPA store SUCKS! I've never bought anything from them, and I've tried several times. O'Riley's is right across the street from NAPA, and we have two O'Riley's in town, plus an Autozone, it sucks too. I go straight to O'Riley's now, If they don't have it, they will by tomorrow at noon. Dean
I go to Van's or what use to be Van's auto parts. Now they are CarQuest? Anyway, the one in North Austin, has good people and parts that I would not expect. exp. I got a brandnew fuel pump with glass bowl for my 50 Plymouth flathead 6. It seems like you just have to talk to the employees and find the ones that actually like cars.
I can understand guys not knowing everything and what not. But the least a parts guy should know is basic shit, whats a carb certain designations for things (GM Ford and Chrysler tranny and engine names) stuff like that. I think that would make life a bunch better...
We have a Carquest on Boulder Highway about 3 miles from home. several of the people there have been there for many years.There is one guy, Don, in particular that I have delt with for close to 20 years, knows his stuff & if they don't have can get in a short time. If you are trying to adapt something from one car to another ,he'll get out the books & start looking up things by size or application or whatever it takes to try to get your deal set up. People some times try to tell me , "hey Manny -Moe -& Jack sell frammis pins & muffler bearings cheaper than that joint why you goin' there?" They don't have a clue!! The help & knowledge that they sell quality parts & give quality help & service is worth every dime more their stuff might cost !!
Ya know, I figured out a long time ago that just because the NAPA store in my town is good, the one in your town might suck. Auto zone, O'Rillies, and whatever the other parts stores or chains are will probably be the same way. Some are good, some suck. Reality is, if you find a parts store that has counter people that have a clue what they are doing, you need to use them, and tell every car guy you know in your area use them so they can stay in business. Unfortunately, way too often the car parts buying public will run over to the most advertised parts store because they can save a few pennies. Gene
Got to agree with the NAPA guys, but their hours aren't convenient for me, nor is their location. I usually do my research before venturing to the local AutoZone, but generally don't have to do much parts interchange research to shop at NAPA. "Hey Doug, I need a flexplate and starter for a 350 Chevy" His reply? "You want 153 tooth or 168?" The kid at Autozone needed to know whether or not the car had air conditioning ............... huh? Parts America (and whatever the rest of the chain is - Advance and a couple others) are at least as bad. Haven't made it to the new O'reilly down the road. Oh, and if Doug doesn't have it, and knows someone who does, he'll send me there instead, if I need it now and can't wait until he orders it! Tim D.
Thats it, talk to the employees and find the ones who are interested in cars. They will go the distance to find you any part they can and next time you come in they will be the one who will step up and go through the books to find you all the right stuff. I have worked in a Autozone for a few years and have built up a nice size set of customers that will not have the other guys wait on them. When they come in, I know what car they usually will be working on and where to get the parts they need. The first time they came in they were usually mad because they have been to other parts stores or even mine before and had no luck getting the parts that they looked for, or a "parts guy" that didnt want to go to the "books". The point is dont be mad when you come in and try to b/s with the clerk and you will find the part man that care about his job and cars, you will have a lot more luck next time you stop by.....................
your satisfaction with any parts store all depends on the counter people...even if it's napa , autozone , checkers, or carquest years ago you could walk into ANY parts store and expect to be helped by a guy who could just identify the crappy part you brought in wrapped in a shop rag you wanted to replace without even looking it up. the guy knew his shit...he fixed , beat on , slept with , sweated over , fucked up and fixed it again ..he knew cars and parts. he just went into the back and got your part usually he had dirty pants..because he was busy working on something it's not that way anywhere anymore..get used to it they don't pay the counter guys shit..then that's all they get , guys that don't know shit my local napa has had a few that knew something..then they are gone to better jobs for more money and benefits
Oddly enough I never had trouble with the main stores I visited. I use to go to a Pep Boys close to my old house and I would get the best service in town. Probably because I was friends with the manager and he'd find anything I needed for me Most other Peps I go to suck donkey balls on a hot humid day... Oddly enough I got lucky again with the Kragen down the hill from where I live now. There is a blond punk rocker chick and another guy that know their stuff or atleast try really hard to find things that they dont even carry for me. About Napa...I like Napa I lived in Arizona for a while when I was little and my favorite field trip would be walking to the Napa store yeah I was a strange kid I would get freaking excited when he'd tell me we where going to Napa...I would day dream about it. The cap ontop of the cabs bring back good memories And in a small town you know the guys behind the counter have to know their stuff I know in that one there was a guy that was in like his 70's in there that would boss all the other guys around lol. Oh yeah the hardware store was another place that was the best field trip for me. Oddly enough those are crappy now too... Oh well atleast I still have the memories... Oh yeah my way of finding out who to get help from is that I figure out a complicated question I already know the answer too or bring in a part and say what is this and who ever tells me the answer I'll talk to next time. Its funny people that know their stuff just cant keep from answering a question even if they arent asked they'll just look across the counter and say what it is and will be like "go take care of that guy over there I'll take care of em".
Both autozone and advance have web sites so i look up the part my self print out the info walk in the store and hand it to em. Some times it confuses em but i get the right stuff. I also look at it before i leave. Right across the street is one of the oldest parts and speed shops in the jackson area and they know thier shit too and believe it or not they are as cheap if not cheaper that advance or autozone. Dave
Good ole J and B auto parts here in Orange died about a year ago. We are all going thru the same shit that's for sure.
Welcome to reality folks!!! This is how you handle the high cost of running a business competitively. You squeeze out the older more experienced guys, because even though they know all the right stuff, they've been there a long tine and they make too much money. You replace them with a kid straight out of school, because they will work for half the wages, even if they don't know shit from shinola. This way you can afford to compete against the national chain parts store up the road, and not have to shut your doors cause your losing money. And it works!!! Oh yeah, we piss off a few old hotrodders with their mix and match cars, but on the whole, we supply by the part number to garages, so it doesn't matter that much about the odd walk in customer!!!
Thank god,That we still have a good old fashon parts store here,it's called H&S auto,it is owned & operated By an old guy named Red,he is an old hotrodder/racer.I can walk in there tell him what I need,He will turn on his heel go to the shelf get it & lay it on the counter,But don't ask if it is the right part,he will get pissed & say "They only built one of the GD things" He has no computer,he does have books,mostly hotrod,playboy,ect...He is suffering the pressure from Autozone,& O'rilley.I won't step foot into one of their stores,Red was closed one day & I went to autozone,The damn kid asked me what color the upholstery was in the ford FI50 that I was buying a universal joint for!!! I even went to the ford house & paid more for a part,Just to keep from going there.I feel like I'm doing my part to keep Red & the American way here & alive.Screw autozone & stores like them that sell china,jap & mexican junk ass parts.
I guess I'm lucky. My friend has a parts store and he lets me pull my own parts. Before that I had the same problems. I worked in a parts store after I got out of the service and if you did not know anything about cars you did not get the job. Back then I guess that most of the parts storesd were locally owned and they had pride in the store. now day it is all about making money and hire a the lowest wage possible. Most of them today are national owned chain stores and they have no idea how each store is be runned. My frind's store is locally owned. And when someone new starts they better now how to pull parts. two years ago he was looking for a counter person he went through 9 people untill he found someone that knew what they were doing. This guy is so good that the owner lets him run the store. I guess a good counter person is a dieing breed.
Jusjuke has a good idea, I do that with Harbor Freight. The one guy that I knew at NAPA and was good, bought a pizza parlor years ago. Not only was he a good parts guy but, he was a great machinist and that's why I thought I would drive, out of my way, all the way across town and back, three times. Fact of the matter is, I really don't care about the shingle hanging in the front window, if the people know their stuff. I really don't mind going out of my way and paying a little more for good service. It's not all about the cheapest part, learned that the hard way years ago, it's about time. What good is a life time warranty on a starter if you have to keep changing it out? Not to mention getting home with the new part only to discover it's wrong or has crutical parts missing from the box and back to the store we go again. Anyway, where's that decaf?
My local NAPA store is pretty good. Its way the hell off the beaten path in a total crap neighborhood. You better watch your car with one eye and try to find you rparts with the other type place. They have an older guy who will dust off the old books and find what you need. My nearest family owned place is good eccept if you get the 20 something kids that work there. They wont look anything up if it snot in the computer. Hell they couldnt find me a C4 transmission gasket, couldnt even order it. Now the middle aged guy that works there, if hes there makes miracles happen. He takes the time and digs in the old books. He found my wheel cylinders for my 49 ford brand new and cheaper than the rebuild kits. It was $4 and change for each wheel cylinder and he had them the next day. You just need to find out what store works and who works in each store.
i wonder how many people who complain about the counter guy not being able to go pull a SBC part off the shelf by memory could do the job they expect done. "hey, i need a head gasket for an 86 totota truck." as you reach for the computer the customer berates you: "c'mon, EVERYBODY knows that truck had a 22r engine, whatcha need the computer for, you should know it by sight! what kind of idiot ARE you?" yeah, SBCs may be comon to US, but the fact is there is a whole shitload of OTHER makes out there now, it's not like 30 years ago when most every car on the road was a Ford GM or Mopar, so that's all the old stores had to carry. now you have dozens of makes and dozens of models per make, and each has many more parts than a 70's vintage car had. so i just remind myself it ain't the good ol days. most of us would be just as helpless without the computer to look up parts.
Thats great, I work for a Autozone and much to your suprise the parts are not china made. The Wells and Duralast ignition parts are made by AC Delco or Motorcraft, just boxed differently. I got a chance to tour the warehouse and boxing facility and they take the part out of the delco box or motorcraft box and place it in their own. Sometimes we open a box in the store and they were to lazy to pull it out of the package and its still wraped in the AC Delco package. Dont get me wrong, I have been to a LOT of Autozone stores and there was only about 10 out of 400 that the guys actually knew their shit. Most of the time they were the little town that the old mom and pop stores closed and he decided to go to work here part time and got all of the younger guys interested in their job and showed them how to use the dreaded BOOKS. Thats just my 2 cents...................
A number of people hit the nail on the head here. I am a corporate IT employee for Pepboys & used to work in a PepBoys store as a p/t counter guy. Back then, there were a few of us who knew something about cars. Each of us more or less " specialized " in something ( rods, muscle, imports, etc )and we all had the ability to find something that would work. Believe it or not, we were computerized but had a full set of books on the counter that we all know how to use ( again.... a lost art) Nowadays, either due to ignorance, lack of motivation, stupidity, whatever, very few people will look past a computer screen to get a part. They ask if your car has AC because the screen asks them the question and like a good little robot, they ask you. The stores are now computerized and the systems are configured to take most of the mystery out of finding parts for Tiffany's Ford Expedition. As such, they can hire people with no car knowledge to be a counter person. They don't need a guy who knows what a zerk is and / or pay for that knowledge. I sometimes get pissed when I see bashing on these stores ( AZ , Pep, NAPA, et.al) but they are not what they once were and probably won't ever change. Don't blame the poor guy/girl behind the counter for their ignorance to your plight...... its nothing more than a paycheck to them in most cases. The consumer public has made these stores what they are today... all we can do is when we find a true parts store, patronize the hell out of them & get your friends to do so as well. Now, can anybody tell me what ever happened to the real Hardware stores??????
This is very true, not just parts stores, but everywhere, including schools....my dad just got bought out as a welding teacher, so they could hire a younger, cheaper replacement...they have yet to find one.
one word: ACE. i love the place, still has that small town feel, all the employees seem really happy to be working there. and they have a much better selection of the stuff hot rodders need than Lowes or Home Despot. most have a huge selection of bolts and the misc drawers of hardware related stuff. it may cost a bit more than a home improvement store, but i gladly pay it to keep them around. speaking of ace, i'm very lucky to have a regional distribution center in my town, once a year they have a huge sale of discontinued, overstock and returned merchandise for a fraction of the normal cost, literally pennies on the dollar, and all the proceeds go to charity.
Right. Actually, it's been like that forever. I left my first parts store job 23 years ago after I had been there for two years, had proven that I knew what the hell I was doing, and the store owner turned down my request for another 50 cents an hour! I got a job as night manager at a Mobil station--the old fashioned kind that still had service bays in it and DIDN'T sell salad dressing and Tampax--and after the parts store pissed its way through half a dozen countermen in two years, I let the on the road salesman know that I might be persuaded to come back, was rehired at a higher wage than I would have been making if he'd given me the half a buck in the first place.
The Jalopy Journal
