i REMEMBER late 60's... early 70's going to the pep boys in so cal...they had all kinds of stuff...then later in years they spread out to other areas... all ways good for valve covers,. carbs., shocks and such... went in one yester day in vegas.... sorry sir... we don't sell parts anymore???
Covina - The tire, oil change, mechanical repair area, is still open. The parts section closed about a year+ ago. Don't know about other locations. Mike
I heard it was because of the ... you can steal 900 worth of stuff and nothing happens. that and the employees not being able to stop the walk out thiefs... they're doing that in vegas at harbor frieght,.. they say they are going to put everything behind the counter and go on line...the stores will be pick up locations... that'll ****... harbor frieght is like dollar tree... never walk out with just what I went there for..
Strickly service in Northern Nevada too.. Changed the parts stores to Auto Zones. O’Reilly’s ,Auto Zone and a couple of NAPA stores are all we got left. Just dumb luck, but w e have a Summit Retail store as well.
They have a couple by me, still open...no parts. Just service. In 2014 they started selling speed equipment, t-shirts, etc. That rapidly fell off. I think covid was the final nail in the coffin. They used to gave great tire sales, back in 1995... 4 big tires for $100. Then that advertising fell off.
Although I liked Pep boys if we are being honest they were few and far between even here in Southern California I could drive by three or four O'Reilly's or three or four AutoZones Plus one or two Napas before getting to a Pep boys generally speaking they are 10 or 12 miles apart from each other. It's not the end of the world except in Southern California That's probably a half hour or 40 minute drive each way. If you're picking up a thermostat and gasket for your daily that's a long drive. Then you top that off with the fact they started selling junk It was totally unautomobile related, electric scooters, ice chests and some other weird things like they think they were western auto and just like Western Auto they are no longer around. Don't get me wrong I bought a lot and I mean a lot of Cornell 235 75 15 tires for my luxo barges back in the day when I started buying them they were four for a hundred bucks back in the late '90s. The prices also seem like they got more expensive and with the rise of the internet and companies like RockAuto and The jungle site plus the bay If you didn't need the part right away it was almost always cheaper to order it by a lot not like 50 cents or a dollar but maybe half off or more. Don't get me wrong I miss Pep boys but I understand why they have gone away just like I understand why Sears disappeared.
My son and I were at Harbor freight on Sunset about a year ago at the check out register when the checker yells out to a guy pushing a shopping cart full of items out the front door. The guy keeps going and turns East and goes between two large buildings pushing the cart. The guy at the register says they can't stop him. When we leave, we drive to the back of the building he disappeared behind and there was a guy waiting in a piece of **** white truck with the back end full of s**** metal. I got a picture of the guys face and the license number. The license plate was from Arizona, a handicap plate and had been expired for one year. I took the pictures into the store the next day and gave them to the manager along with my name and number. The manager seemed indifferent to the whole thing and said he would p*** it on. I never heard anything more.
I started buying stuff from Pep Boys when I was back in HS in the 1960's. Dad and Uncle going back to the beginning of time. One near my place for 50 years. As he said, in the last years they were selling China junk, anything that would sell because they could not find parts at a price the store could sell for a working price. Used to be a wide selection of battery's, oil, filters br*** fittings and all of that out in the open. No more, too much theft. Not only that, people no longer serviced or repaired their own vehicles. It is all, I pay someone else to do it. I am too stupid and too lazy to do it myself. Then, the vehicles have the 100,000 required factory repair and warranty. Then someone has to be a technician to even open the hood. Beyond the trouble shooting and repair of an ordinary citizen, if not illegal. Can anyone here do an engine repair on any vehicle made after the year 2020 ? No. Our vehicles are no longer relevant to the economy in general. We are a dying generation. Can the general population at age 25 or under actually do any repair, care to? Literally, these people can not change a spare tire. Or even have a spare tire. When I was in HS it was not WHAT kind of car you had, it was literally "" You have a car? Really? Can you give me a ride home, to the beach? "" If it ran and had 4 working tires on it, great. I drove a 1945 Ford PU that had been a ranch truck that was totally beat. It was upholstered in used wool army blankets and I used an old bedspread for padding. The headliner was cardboard and wallpaper over fibergl*** insulation for keeping cool or warm. No heat. Open exhaust headers and no mufflers. Bald tires. Bad lights. A windshield wiper that did not work. Dodging cops. Good old days.
I went there to get a battery for an OT car in 2018. The whole area was real messy, so was behind the parts counter, stuff everywhere piled up. I tried to buy something as late as 2021, behind the counter looked more like a hang-out area. With people on their cell phones, feet up on the counter. I never went back. The speed equipment section was badly picked over with more opened up boxes than sealed ones. I was also a Cornell 880 tire fan, in the 235/75-15 size. They had sales, any size for $100 per set of 4.
Just to be clear, the years of 42, 43, 44, 45, are rare years for any production of American cars and trucks, because of the war. But I get what you are saying, today's vehicles, are a total puzzle to most people that did their own maintenance years ago, me included. I and so many others do miss the good old days indeed! Thanks from Dennis.
pretty much the same thing happened... 3 guys filled up 3 carts . then went out the fire door...manager said they can't try to stop them and have to let them go...
I have not been in a Pep boys in probably 10 years. I forget the reason I went in there, but it had probably been 10 years before that that I had stepped inside one.
Our town never had a Pep Boys. Their nearest store was 40 miles away. I went there once, never saw a need to go back. That store closed over 10 years ago.
Yes, a 1945 war model. Was sold black market in early 1945 to a well known person whom had a lot of avocado, lemon and orange groves. Sold to a family friend in 1948 whom then gave to me in 1968.
I ran 6.50 Cornell tires in front and 7.00 Delta tires in the back of the 45 Ford PU. Both were kind of soft walls but at least were legal and no more dodging cops. Spark plugs and what not from Pep Boys. Ran a 2 carb high rise aluminum intake, no name on the flathead and a pair of 97's. And get this, I purchased rebuilt exchange 97's from Pep Boys. Yup, Pep Boys stocked rebuilt 97's as late as 1970. But the parts guys would take them apart at the counter to make sure the exchange had all the internal parts when accepting them in.
Yes, that is Viva Las Vegas. A cousin of mine managed a jewellery store in Las Vegas. In comes some snappy dressed sports gang banger. He pulls out a gun for a jewellery robbery , grabs and runs for the double lock steel grate doors and turns to fire. My cousin was faster in the draw and got him. He was found dead laying on the sidewalk outside the store. LV police said basically " good shooting ". End of story. If the robber had not pulled a gun first, the shooting by my cousin would be held in question.
My last time in a PB was on a Friday evening a few years back. I needed the little clip to hold the e-brake arm to the brake shoe on my Ford. The parts people were mystified. I had them look up newer Ford brake hardware... no dice. Saturday morning at the oldest parts house around.. I had it in 15 seconds.
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