I'm lucky in that there are NAPA, Autozone and O'reilly stores within a five mile radius but I got tired of the local NAPA telling me they could get it from their warehouse. I just drive to the warehouse that is about ten miles away and get the part. When the counter person there says they can get it from the warehouse they mean it will take five minutes to send the part up to the counter. Nice thing about the warehouse is they have all of the old time catalogs and will let you look through them to find stuff without having to tell a person on a computer which make and model. I looked through a brake fitting list and found the stuff I needed to plumb the brake system in the current project.
Catalogs used to be the key to finding something that worked or fit... or could be made to fit. The new places don't have them.
I tried. The truth is the little guy does not support me. $ 20.00 a piece for Ford F-1 axle seals?? Special ordered, took 3 weeks to arrive. CG Ford Parts has them for less than 5 bucks. The truth is the trailer axle place down the street probably had some in is bin. Also I paid premium price for a set a brake shoes. I paid a premium price for cheap bonded China/Mexico shoes when for less money I could have got the riveted US stuff and not left the house. I have given my donation to the little guy. From now on I'm using on line resources and companies that specialize in vintage parts. Those are the real folks who support us.
Our town is lucky enough also to have a Napa AP store, family owned. The guys are pretty helpful and still use catalogs for older parts. The newer chain stores are just full of filler and bolt on crap. If I go into one, it's usually to find something OT that I can deconstruct and modify to fit my need. I'am a firm believer in supporting my community businesses, but it doesn't always work that way.
i recently googled "1996 ford f150 front upper spring bracket" to replace a rotten one on a friends truck. cheapest place was from walmart, i could have ordered it on line and picked it up at the store. friend bought it at the local part store who probably bought it from walmart.
Although we are a small city we a blessed with some good autopart stores and some very good parts guys. NAPA is usually good...some of the long established independants are excellent. I usually go to "NAPAONLINE.com" and look up what I need so I'm armed with a part number before I go...especially if its a bit of an oddball part I intend to adapt to something else. Keeps the confusion down. Had to laugh the other day though when one of the local NAPAs kinda rattled me a bit. Phoned looking for some 2-1/2", 3/8" engine studs. Didn't bother with a part # lookup because its pretty generic. Go in and the guy had two BOLTS sitting on the counter. Had no idea what a stud was!!! One of the other guys there trotted out back for a couple of secs and came back with what I wanted. The guy was kinda new there, but now he KNOWS what a stud is...so...thats how you learn I guess!
I live in O'reilly's home town, so it's a bit one horse here. They do have lots of warehousing here, but still nothing in the stores. You can get almost anything same day though, so it is not too bad. I have used a local speed shop for years (Hedden's Automotive) and they have been great. Paul is wonderfully grumpy, but he can find anything. How they stay alive in O'reillyville is a mystery.
The closest NAPA to me sold out a few years back and went from a parts store into a doo dad store. Can order anything, but if I need it from NAPA I just order it myself online. They had a great machine shop, closed it down. Now have to go out of county to find anybody to do any kind of machine work. Two miles from me is an independent parts store owned by 3 brothers. They are great on odd ball stuff, lots of times have it sitting on a dusty shelve. On general replacement parts though, it's hit or miss. They can usually have things overnight through the week, but the warehouse they deal with has went to a lot cheaper grade parts, so quality is sometimes iffy. If I'm not in a hurry, I use RockAuto. Their stuff is a lot of the times closeouts from other chains and store branded parts that you can get for 1/2 or less of normal retail. Bought the stuff to rebuild the front end under the wife's OT Expedition for probably 1/2 or 2/3 of what it would have cost at O or Advance. All Moog parts, too, even though some were white boxed. I think they have buyers that buy out closed stores and deal with parts manufacturers and get the stuff for pennies on a dollar, then warehouse it it different places around the country.
You can thank congress for passing a bill in 2014 stating auto parts manufacturers are only required to manufacture parts for cars 15 years or newer. I'd order from you, good luck
So, just how big will this parts store be? In order to stock EVERY part for EVERY car, you're going to need acreage, not square feet. And in reality, those floor mats and steering wheel wraps are what keeps a lot of parts stores open.
Sad but true. Air fresheners, oil & filters, wax and polish too. Parts stores used to be saviors when you were in a jam, now all they do for me is compound a problem.
Our local Auto Zone has a pretty good supply of in and out parts for old cars. HAMBer "gearsforguts" worked there for many years (up until recently) , and a lot of local old car guys knew that and used to go there. Steve knows his car stuff, and which little pieces would work on custom applications and all that jazz. He was a very valuable asset when i was figuring out my Shoebox . Steve explained it to me - when their computer system sees parts for certain models being ordered, that eventually will become a regular stock item. That's why his store would be the go-to store for that stuff. So it seems to me, if you want parts for your old car to be anywhere near your posts store, you have to frequent that store, as painful as it is right now. It may pay dividends later. If you have a real car guy behind the counter, it will be easier. Now that Steve has moved on to a "real " job (which sucks for me) , I don't know how the supply of parts for old cars will suffer. I hope they will continue to be in the system but you never know. Only time will tell.
Well then, I guess that settles it, if something was discussed on the HAMB it must be true. I've searched HAMB and the net and found no reference to support your statement. I'm truly curious because Congress isn't in the business of dictating what parts manufacturers make or don't make. The parts manufacturers are in the business of determining what sells and what doesn't sell. Now, there might be some legislation that says they have to support new car sales for at least 15 years (and that would be OEM and not aftermarket vendors), but I cannot fathom legislation that LIMITS their support to only 15 years.