You can tell times are changing

Today I went to 4 autoparts stores and not one 1 inch fan spacers,All the big names Autozone,Pep Boys ,National ,No fan blades either ,I guess everything has electric fans nowadays ,Which is sad ,I did order one from Speedway.Anything else you guys notice when your at the parts store....

 

yea, the counter people don't have a clue.

 

dont even get me started on auto parts stores .. ther only place i will go to is napa ....theres usually one old backyard mechanic that knows what your talking about in there otherwise you get a bunch of idiots that dont know $hit about anything and end up talking to you like your the idiot because you acually know what your talking about .....its rediculous they dont even wanna know there job ...

 

I needed a can of Aerostart to use while I am trying to start a car that has sat for a while. I went into 'Supercheap Auto', big shop and I couldn't find it so I made the mistake of asking the staff where it was. Three of them didn't know what it was and the fourth told me they didn't make it anymore!
I found it eventually, behind some post hole shovels............. WTF? Why does an auto part store have post hole shovels??
Thank god for REPCO!

Doc.

 

Hate how it's mostly check the 'puter for whatever part you want. You should see the meltdown when they ask me what kind of car it's for and I tell them, "Explorer 5.0 into a '63 Austin-Healey."

 

This is non Hamb friendly, but I go in looking for parts for my 1975 Ford Courier and they have no idea what the hell that is, one guy argued with me that it wasn't a motorcycle.... Are you serious? It's real bad when I go looking for stuff for the Gremlins.

 

I got asked how many liters is a 255 Merc Flathead. Huh?

 

Love AutoZone, first question out of their mouth, :What year is it?" I tell them 1928, What motor - I tell them a 428 ..... they say, that motor didn't come in that car. I say DUH.......

 

I was redoing the brakes on my 64 1/2 cuda and needed drums for the back the ass hole looked at me and said he wasnt that dumb they didnt make them till 67 Auto zone they know cars ya right. if you watch there new ad the guy is changing a fuel filter and comes out with a hose clamp style ( old filter ) off an injected car, hay we dont know they take fitted bolt on filters.

 

i am fortunate enought to live 30 minutes from summit racing. i gave up on auto zone and all the others for anything beyond oil and anitfreeze.

 

The people at AutoZone can't make change without using a calculator,so how do you expect them to know anything about car parts?

 

Went to O'Reilly's today for three 1/8" cotter pins, all they had was the assortment, I would've had to buy two packs (@$2.95ea.) to get three 1/8" cotter pins.

Advance had a pack of ten 1/8" cotter pins for $3.24. Screw it, let me have them (highway robbery).

In the 70's, I would walk in to Waynes Auto Parts, cowbell would ring over the door, step over the dog, speak to Ms. Wayne, look at the deer head over the counter, ask Wayne for three 1/8 x 1" cotter pins. Wayne would go to a bin in the back, pull out four pins and charge me $.30

 

Hehehehehehe..I couldn't resist posting this one...A while ago I need a center pinion bolt..you know,the one the chevys guys always break..???LOL anyway I know the number by heart because in the 15 years I did rear ends I knew what was going to break.ANYWAY...I walk into Advanced Auto and give the guy the part number...WOW,does this guy look confused..."Uh...what does that fit and what year..?" I lean over the counter..."Kid,go get that part,its in your parts bins..you have 3 in stock" TOTALLY wiped this kid out..LMAO..he was still shaking his head when I walked away after paying for it.

 

I finally got frustrated and just tell the Autozone Counter Shmuck the make and year of the vehicle I know will have the part. It usually works but I still don't understand what air conditioning has to do with buying brake pads and shoes, or just some standard Chevy 350 part.

 

I'm lucky enough to small the little guy. Has parts that autozone and napa can not probably get.

 

My brother is manager of the local Auto Value. He's in his 20's, but grew up around old iron thanks to our father. Out of all the counter-persons I've ever met, he's one of two that knows "alternative" methods to what the computer says. The other was a guy up in Ely, MN, in his 70's or 80's, smoking cigars behind the counter every time I walked in. When his assistant was there while the old guy was talking to someone else, and asked if he could help me, I just politely nodded, and said I was only looking to talk about old cars. He understood, went on to the next guy, and I waited for the old guy to finish with his customer. I have the utmost confidence my brother will be like that old guy in another 60 years.

 

The only thing I buy from the Mega-Chain stores is Oil and Antifreeze.
Everything else is from these guys...
(I've been going there since '78....)
http://www.winchesterauto.com/index.html

It's great that I can walk in and get parts for a '61 Tbird the same day!


.

 

I cant slam National ,He could of ordered me one .I just wanted one today ,But no one carries a one inch or any spacers at all.I figured I could go to a speedshop but at 4.00 oclock saturday ,I just went on the computer and ordered one .

 

I went to get wiper blade refills for my 63 the other day at Pep Boys....guy said they don't sell them anymore and recomended I buy the whole thing instead. Like I'm going to replace my chrome arms with that new looking crap they sell today. Every time I go there I end up walking out empty handed, shaking my head and wondering why I even bother going there in the first place. If you ask for any part..even a damn spark plug, for any car older then 1970 they can't help you because their computer doesn't go that far back.

 

No they aren't! We get this same topic every 30 days and have for over a decade!

 

You guys really have high expectations of a bunch of people making minimum wage at a go nowhere job. When you go to McDonalds do you expect Wolfgang Puck to serve you gourmet food? No, you expect shit food and crappy service. Have the same expectations of auto stores and you'll leave a lot happier.

 

i went in to an autozone one time and asked for a exhaust egr stud for a 79 blazzer.

she handed me a f-ing wheel stud. i said 'what the hell is this, thats for the wheel'

she then proceded to tell me it was the part i wanted. i then said very loudly in the store 'this flace is a f-ing joke'..its not the first time this autozone has showed they are complete retards.

 

the best one yet for me...@ O'rielys

brougnt a belt as a sample,with a part number on the belt.

clerk takes it to the back,matches it up.brings me the new belt in its sleeve.says "sorry but it comes in a two pack.I look at him.take the belt and slide it from its sleeve.I pull it to its full length.as I was about to say something,the manager stepped in really fast and said "sir,let me enter the part number on the belt in our system.they had it.the clerk still had no clue what had happened.

sheesh........

 

no ajwhisky- we expect ppl to know their shit. if you work at an auto store you should be a bit into the hobby and not just a dumb ass that wants a job.

i dont go to computer shops and ask for a job cause i dont belong there. you can lower your standards whisky. but we wont lower ours.

 

Boy is that ever an understatement. If it ain't on their 'puter they are clueless, HAMB friendly or new. I went looking for a chunk of submersible high pressure fuel line when I was replacing an in-tank fuel pump on a late model (hell, anything newer than a '72 is a late model). Some even tried to sell me vacuum hose, I finally had to go the the regional NAPA warehouse before I could find anyone that knew the difference!?!
Pretty sad.

 

I've had very good luck locally with O'Reillys and NAPA both. Had to get points and condensor for my '41 recently (it has a '58 Plymouth Six)...guy on the phone looked it up in their paper catalogs and had the parts in an hour. Same with NAPA. I called fellow HAMBer Tim and he ordered a rear brake cylinder kit for it, no sweat.

Again, you have to know what stores are even capable of using anything other than that damn computer for parts other than cars and trucks newer than three years old!

 

I asked for a 1 1/4 socket for a spin on oil filter adapter and the kid asked what that is in metric... all I could say was "not what I asked for"

 

that's why my favorite auto parts store is the hardware store.

 

On the other hand you expect a 16 year old kid whose highschool probably dropped there shop class due to budget cuts to know the ins and outs of every make and model from 1928 to the present, and god forbid he may need to use a computer. When you pay minimum wage you are going to get uneducated "new" workers. Pay a decent living wage and maybe you can expect to get someone who has a clue. If the person had a working knowledge of cars he would most likely be working in a shop making better money. Rather than leaving pissed off why not call there corporate HQ and complain that they don't educate there employees.

 

I understand your point, BUT....

The service end of it all goes back to alot of kids (not all, but alot) having no work ethic today and wanting to do / learn as little as possible. It's a job that they accepted and are getting paid (even if minimum wage) to do. So, they should do it to the best of their ability. Life lesson...if your gonna do it, do it right!

If you take a job at an auto parts store, you should know a bit about auto parts, or at least have enough sense to ask someone who does a question, if you don't know. I talked to a kid that had no clue and insisted that Chevy never made a straight 6....that is pretty bad.

Just my opinion, and I don't shop at chain stores anymore either.