Got Laughed at Today at the parts counter!

Dealing with the square-box stores is a lot easier once you learn how to work the system- but Autozone is by far the worst. Just go to their website, find your correct part (you'll usually have to do the make/model/year/ blahblah routine, but on your own terms.) Once you find your part, you can see if your local store has it. Then the key- PRINT IT OUT and take it with you. Has a picture of the part, and whatever PN their system has assigned to it. Take it to the back counter and hand it to Pimples or Pantslow. Get your part

 

This goes back a few years(about the day after Noah grounded the Ark).
We had a NAPA store in Fl where I grew up.Just a small place.About 260' across the front and about 300' deep.Two stories.Top floor was all exhaust parts.Ground floor had just about anything that your little heart could desire.From a set of points for Briggs lawn mower engine to a complete overhaul set for a hemi.When I say complete I mean everything.Internals and all.Custom services for any hydraulic hoses that you could possibly imagine.Complete engine machine shop in the back.They could grind any crank from a Briggs to a straight 8 Cat,and anything in between.Hot tanks for aluminum and ferrous metals.And the counter people?OMG those guys and gals probabaly forgot more about parts that most folks would EVER learn.At that time(early 60`s)you could even get a model A starter across the counter.Those were the days.They will never return.RIP.They could also regrind cams on site.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

in this one horse town we welcomed the thought of O' really's... then when they finally moved in and set up shop we found the only main purpose they have is the perma sale on cleaners and keeping the prices at our 50 years of napa store honest...... long live the real parts man

 

...I had a good laugh one day when I told them I needed rubber valve cover gaskets for my 33 Chevrolet .060 over 350 V-8 the second kid asked if it was a 2 or 4 door but the third kid (the Chic) said "gotcha -thats a good one old man !" and brought me out some FelPros

 

It took me most of my 66 years to figure out that not everybody loves motorcycles, hot rods and old cars. Unless the guy behind the counter is old(ish) chances are he's never heard of an Econoline. Ask for a part for a Honda civic and he'd probably have the part on the counter before you finished asking. Times are changing. In 1952 a 59 year old ford was nothing more than a piece of junk that parts were not all that plentiful for. A '63 Econoline is 59 years old. Fortunately today its not considered to be junk (to some people). But to an 18 year old 1963 is practically the stone age.

 

Silly question, if you had a tv that was made in 1960 for example and it broke would you expect the local electronics store to have that part ready and waiting for you to come buy it to fix your 52 year old television?

I am not trying to be dickish but these thread leave me scratching my head, most on the hamb have cars that exceed 50 years of age these cars have not been manufactured in the same amount of time. The technology has long been surpased and many of the parts today are very very different, you go into a parts store and you tell the young guy or girl at the counter who is just trying to get through the day that you are after a part for a say 50's studebaker or something rarely seen, now the poor guy or girl behind the counter is scratching his head as he is only 20 years old and has never seen or heard of this car.

You the parts buyer is fuming as it is the worlds biggest abomination that this 20 year old kid has never seen nor heard of a car that was made over 30 years before he was born. You storm out in discust and instantly post on the hamb about the uselessness of said parts store and young guy or girl.

Whats that got to do with a tv made in the 50's, simple one it is accepted that you arent going to easily find parts for, yet the other it is for some reason unacceptable that you cant got to the local store and get a part from the shelf for.

I am 24 and get old ford and hotrod related parts sent to my work. One of the guys I work with is in his 40's and is allways asking what my parts are for, he apologised to me once about it saying that he hasn't had much to do with cars as when he was growing up his parents never had one.

The cars we like are no longer the center of the automobile universe, we are a minority.

 

This is another thing that confusing me, how do you expect parts people to find a part for a car when the part like in this case is for an engine that NEVER EVEN CAME FROM THAT CAR!

Excuse me for sounding rude but sometimes I wonder if people are intentionaly trying to make it difficult for parts people.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein

 

Part numbers are the key. When the guy at the parts counter asks me what kind of car it is, I feel like that guy from the Cash song and start spouting off years...They are always less than amused with that, but i find it funny. My grandfather owned two parts stores in the 1970s and he knew everything, had a machine shop and even a used parts section. How the times have changed.

-WD

 

These threads make me laugh.You walk into a retail store catering to common vehicles and expect them to know something about a 50 year car.Then of course all the young clerks are morons,ask an older guy....except the older guy is laid off accountant with the same knowledge base as the kids. .Do your homework first as suggested,know the part numbers.Or just order online where the only moron is the person at the keyboard

 

I went to the auto parts store last week to get what I needed for an oil change. The best value on oil came with a "no name" filter, but the store had Purolaters on sale. So I go to the counter and ask for the part number for the "no name" filter so I can get the discount price on the oil. I figure I'll just toss it later. I asked for a cross reference for a PH 8A, and the guy says What year, make, bla, bla..... So I tell him '66 390 Ford. We don't have it. Are you kidding me? There must be about a million of these things out there. So I just go to the shelf and pick one without looking. After all I just want the oil discounted and go home. So later I see a cross reference on the "no name" box. Guess what it fits, a FE Ford block. What a bunch of loosers.

 

"I fully expect every young kid fresh out of high school working at a major chain part store for minimum wage to know everything about every car ever made and to have every part number in history memorized. What could possibly go wrong?"

 

I agree just a wee bit with some of the defenders, but I typically don't get my old car stuff from the McAutozone or Orielly King. When I do hit those places for my DD parts, some of the folks you encounter CAN'T help you without the most worthless info about your car. The force behind all of this is as much the corporations protocols of entering tons of info before they pull and sell a part as a form of inventory managment, and perhaps to figure out the next dirt cheap widget to have made offshore.

It's not just auto parts. I tried to get a mulch gig for my yard tractor. The fucks wanted to know when I bought it, the serial #, engine serial #, exact model designation. "Really? It's 40 miles from here and I was told you carry this line." 'Well I need that info before we proceed.' "It's a 54" deck. How many different 54" decks did Husqvarna build in the last couple years? You won't even look up what's available?" 'Nope, gotta have it.' "Next you'll tell me you want my blood type and hand me a piss cup, right? You must not want to sell parts very bad." 'I really don't give a shit.' I gave him a singlefinger salute and walked out. Went home and built one rather than try it again.

Again to you supporters, you're right but just a little bit. That exchange happens a million times a day with a different script from coast to coast. It's clearly a product of corporate demands and a lack of will to help at any additional degree.

I really like the "...judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree..." quote BTW.

 

I know the help isn't as good as it used to be but think of the amount of companys and models there are today. In 1960 Chevy had a 235,283.349, and a corair 6.

 

It's 2012, minimum wage is 7.75ish an hour. If you're looking for information on DUBs or sound systems, most 20 somethings know about that. In fact, that type of stuff sells and makes money, a lot of money. Stores are in business to make money, I doubt AutoZone has a test on 40 Fords in the job application.
It's a different generation, just like 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, etc... And every new generation gets hammered about being new. I know I did.
So don't hold your breath if you're thinking a company is going to hire a DeSoto expert to please a couple crusty old crabs when they come in looking for a 6 volt regulator.

 

49... I'm a '64 model... Are you trying to make me feel older than I am?

You have to think about it... in 1963, a '32 Ford was a 31 year old car... an '81 Fairmont is a 31 year old car now.

 

I miss so much the small owner Speed Shop of the 60's/70's

 

"we don't have parts for cars that old" was something i heard when i started off at Autozone about ten-twelve years ago... the customer was looking for Mustang stuff. i was at another terminal listening and by the time the youngsta was through i had found four wheel cylinders, two front and one rear brake hose, both sets of shoes and the hardware kits... IN STOCK at our store. "don't jump to conclusions, kid, just because the car's older than YOU."
too many "counter guys" simply don't want to look shit up. those are the ones who bitch when other guys get raises and promotions to management based on their sales records. they're also the ones that regular customers walk past and look for the "other guy" when they come in.
it sucks, too, that 'zoners spend so much time out in the parking lot fucking with customer's cars.... really; would you trust your car to the kid that can't find your parts? somebody does.

 

I worked at carquest when I was going to auto tech school and they gave me a tech test before I could be hired. I passed with flying colors of course. LOL

They actually hired me because I had lots of Mopar knowledge, the manager was a GM guy the assistant mgr was a Ford guy and the two other counter guys were imports.

 

I mail-order from Rock Auto. I don't expect my local parts supply store to stock parts for the old stuff that I work on. And I don't expect the folks that work there to know much about this old iron. Think about it; how often do people walk in their door asking for parts for pre-historic iron? Pretty rarely, I'd say. So I can't possibly fault them for not knowing anything about this stuff. Besides, I love having parts delivered to my doorstep for less $ than it is to buy it from Autozone. It's a win-win.

 

I recently had to get some radiator hoses for a Nova Im building so I stopped by the local Autozone. I asked the twenty something counter kid to look up the part numbers for the Nova and he looked at me and said"who makes a Nova?" I was in shock... then I figured this kid has got to be f#*kin with me. When I saw him starting to sweat I knew I was in trouble. I started to laugh out loud and he got beat red. I said "let me help you out... try a company called CHEVROLET ,you are familar with them right?
Well counter boy has the light bulb go off over his head and says "yeah I know who they are" Then he finds Nova and sees the hundreds of part numbers for Novas and starts feeling really stupid. I did manage to get my hoses and as I left I said "why dont you read some of those Hot Rod magazines you have by the cash register so you look like you know something about cars".
I dont know what this country is coming to when you a simple thing like radiator hoses is so much trouble. End of rant LOL

 

Glad to see you did such a good job humiliating a kid who is probably younger than most of the underwear in your drawer. Did you walk away feeling like a big man?

 

How did this thread go from a customer getting laughed at, to rants about parts stores (there's already a thread for that) to member bashing???

 

and fresh out of high school know it all kids.

 

X 1,000,000


If you do not do that then its pretty much YOUR fault

 

I go to the local N.A.P.A. store that is the local distribution warehouse also. They have 4 or 5 counter persons at once and are really excellent. I am so frustrated with the other stores as they have a large percentage of mexican workers because their customer base is Mexican, all nice people but not versed in older stuff and mostly tuner smart. We have a large Mexican population in South Omaha and these dudes seem to fix their own rides more than others. We also have a good percentage of women that usually are as good as the bet. ~sololobo~

 

He shouldnt have taken a job where he has no knowledge of the product, I felt great when I left ,I did my part in educating the youth of America. Oh and keep your nose out of my underwear drawers.

 

The concept that a person should know something about what his place of employment does is a dying one. After all, he or she won't be there more than 3 months anyway so what's the point?

Then again, it's just as much the fault of employers who treat the employee "the longer you're here, the less valuable you are". Job hopping has become the national method for advancement in pay and status.

 

So, he never heard of a Nova. When was the last Nova built? As I recall it was more than 20 years ago and was a rebadged Toyota anyway.

You have high expectations for a dead-end job with crappy pay. Do you also expect that the kid should know about Studebakers, Nashes, Kaiser-Frazers, and all the other fallen flags as well? You're simply not gonna find the place staffed with automobile historians on a career-track, just like you're not gonna find culinary school graduates working at a fast food joint.

I know enough to manage my expectations of auto-parts counterpersons, which is why I suggested we should walk in the door armed with the right part number. It's US that have the obscure needs for our old cars. It's not up to them to know what we want.

 

Good thing he didn't know what a Nova was. Had he known he would have been your equal and your intellectual superiority would have taken a nose dive.

 

I'm amazed at the parts you can still find at some of these parts stores. I constantly find parts for all of my cars '46 Chevy, '50 Chevy, '52 Buick' '55 Chevy, '55 Pontiac, Usually cheaper than online or catalog, plus I can get them and install in the same day. Just remember to a lot of these counter guys its a source of income, not a way of life.