You Can Tell You're at a REAL Auto Parts Store When...

Let the record show I don't work at Advance! I got some standards, man! I may drink cheap beer, sometimes I'll date homely women, and I'm guilty of buyin' basket case cars, but work at a chain parts store?! Them there is fightin' words, Heathen!

Tucker

 

haha now that makes me laugh. when I worked as a parts guy i would just answer the phone "auto parts" and i would NEVER upsell anybody on anything. I never believed that customers should be sold more than they NEED. My boss used to ride my ass about how I answered the phone and that I never would upsell people on anything, i told him that if they wanted me to upsell anything then they better start "upwaging" me, he really had nothing to say to that.

 

My carquest is like that. The other day I went in and walked out with 30 or so rad. hoses. He didn't even count them when I left. He told me to return the ones that didn't work and pay for the two I needed. A lot of times I walk behind the counter and look for stuff myself.
It pays to live in a small town, where everyone knows your name, to quote a song I once heard.
John

 

I was fortunate enough that one of my first jobs was in a NAPA, a privately owned one - not a corporate store. The crew of guys I worked with was first rate. They had been drag racers during the early '60s, and had a lot of Division 4 NHRA records. One ran a 10K RPM 301 alcohol-injected Chevy to low-10s in a FED, a record at the time.

Name of the place was Beaver Automotive and Fleet Supply, and that's how you answer the phone. No NAPA.

I learned a lot from those guys. We made all our own high-pressure hoses for A/C, power steering, and other hydraulic systems, almost all of it custom. We didn't have much of a machine shop, but I cut brakes and flywheels.

I'm not sure what happened to Bob Beaver, the owner of the place. Last I heard, his wife Pat wasn't doing so great. But Tad, his best friend and partner, left work one night about six months after I left for college - and was found a few hours later slouched over the wheel of his '56 Ford panel truck, dead of a heart attack. I felt partially guilty, since I ordered up a Whataburger triple/triple for him every Saturday. But he loved those damned things. I've still got the pitted '56 Chevy hood bird he got from a junkyard and polished up for me. People always ask why I have that junky old thing around, but I usually just mumble something. Fact is, I won't ever get rid of it - the best damned parts counterman I've ever known gave it to me.

That was all 15yrs ago now. I guess I'm still pretty young, but about 90% of the things you guys mention about a "real" parts house, applied to that place. Great memories. And great thread...

 

Oh, sure! Big man when you're 400 miles away!

 

this thread really made me laugh and then made me really bummed;my kids will only have memories of the few great part stores that remain.
you know its NOT a real parts store when you trip over that giant occ/paul&paul display in the main aisle.
i need a red rag saturated with 90 wt to sniff
steele

 

They didn't even notice you holding the door open, letting them merge, or wishing them a good morning... They were talking on the cell phone...

Many times I've held a door open for somebody and they are just shuffling along with the cell phone on their ear, not paying any attention... As I stand there like a moron holding the door open.

It started happening long before cell phones, but they just seemed to speed up the process... People are becoming more and more self-absorbed, thinking they are separate from their environment, their community.

The next time anybody wonders why they get shitty customer service, ask yourself if you are being rude yourself.

It ain't you Nads, you are doing your part, we're all in this together.

Wow, you can see far up on that soapbox!

 

This post really hits home! My family has been in the auto parts business for over 80 years. I'm a third generation store owner and have had my own store for 12 years. I started out crawling on the floor of my Grandfather's (later my Dad's) auto parts store in 1970. When I left home to go to college (yes, some store owners have post high school educations) my intention was NOT to get into the family business. But after graduation I found myself enjoying the business and here I am. The main problem I see with my industry is lack of furture "talent". Not many people my age (35), with the exception of many people on this board, look at auto parts as a job career. The big boys (Pep Boys, AutoZone, Kragen, etc...) have taken auto parts and tried to incorporate the grocery store industry into their business plans. How many mom and pop grocery stores are there? Not too many. They feel "parts are parts" and that they can easily train a monkey to look up parts on a computer. Most of the replies to this post come from the pains that consumers feel when they are not given adequate service. I, and many loacally owned parts stores, actually give a shit. I feel that if I sell a product in my store I should offer service for that part. I NEED to know how the part operates in relation to the problem the customer has. It comes down to service. I could go on for hours and hours.... Sometimes I feel like a dinosauer, my breed is dying out and you guys are the ones that are suffering. If you are in the central California area stop by, shoot the shit. I've got plenty of coffee (beer after 5pm, but don't tell my wife), hardwood floors that bounce when you walk on them, real stools to sit on, and a greasy dirty counter that I clean when I feel like it! I don't claim to know everything, but I'll give you the best advice I can. If I don't know how something works I'll tell you "I don't know" but I promise I'll look it up and figure it out. When you're here, look at my collection of old hot rod parts and try to get me to sell some of the stuff to you, I probably won't sell it cause I might just use it some day. Don't ask for an open account, I've got enough on the books. According to my customers, somedays I'm a genius and somedays and idiot. That's OK, I take the good with the bad. I'm part mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, design and production engineers. I've got auto repair manuals that go back to 1922, just in case you can't put your Model T tranny back together after tearing it down. Yeah, I'm a REAL auto parts store and God damn proud of it! If your car breaks when I'm closed, and you get a replacement part at "The Zone", don't come to me to warranty the part when it breaks the next weekend. Just remember when I give you that free 2" piece of 5/8" heater hose because you were knocking on my door an hour after I closed that you, my customer, are my friend and neighbor.

 

Yep! None bigger!

Tucker

 

hehehe - I do that to from about 5 years working in Canadian tires. The computers are the same old junkers they were 10 years ago.

We were getting the other stores sending people to us to find parts for them!

 

I only know of one local independent auto parts store around here. I worked briefly for the crooked idiot who owned it when I was in college. I have not been back since then, and that was 1984.

Oddly, the only guy I know of at any of the local parts stores that can always get me what I need is a 17 year old high school student who works at O'Rellly. He is building up a 4 cylinder "tuner car" or whatever, but he is smart enough and persistent enough to come up with what I need. He is the only person I have seen in years who goes to the paper catalogs when the computer is no help.

He remembers my name. He remembers the truck I am always in there buying parts for. He remembers that a friend of mine races an old Dart because he has sees us at the dragstrip, which he frequents. He always asks for a status report on both when I am there.

The kid gives me hope for the future.

Slonaker

 

This is a great thread, Thankfully we've got a great NAPA store in Laramie, the barstools are there and they are greasy. The counter is dirty, there are a ton of parts books, the place may never have been mopped and the folks working there know their stuff. We also have another independent store here down the block from Napa. It's so clean that you can eat off of the floor and counter, they have a vintage 60's Dr. Pepper machine that works and again, the folks working there know what they are doing. These stores have a genuine quality that Pep Boys or Advance Auto parts can't match - and they don't have the damn TV going all day with their own infomercials running one after the other.

 

In the Milwaukee area, Arrow Auto Parts on North Avenue in Wauwatosa. No counter stools ('cause there's no damn room), and you can go there on a Saturday and find a hand written sign on the front door that says "We're out back wrenchin'!"

Worked as a parts chaser for a small parts warehouse...in Phoenix...during the summer...with no windows...or air-conditioning...except in the Boss' office!

 

the guys at the counter are old enough that they were drive'n the car your try'n to build when it was new

 

We've all seen the"partsmans Prayer".
At a real partstore; He does know the number of the nut, bolts and gears for more than forty years

 

"Just tell me make, model and year!"

 

Just got off the phone with the numbnuts at AutoZone. I need a distributor for a 352 Ford, and thats what I told him. He asked for the year and model of the car.... 58 Edsel must've sounded like chinese to him. I already knew he wasnt going to find my part, so when he couldnt find that I told him it was sitting in a 31 Model A if that helps. I could hear him typing furiously, and all I got back was..."..Is that a chevy?"
I already know that when it comes to Hot Rods, and classics...... Im a dumbass. I break everything I touch, I usually have too many extra parts, Generally it looked/worked better BEFORE I started fucking with it.... the usual; but man.... where do they find these guys?

 

At least one guy in the place still has a lot of hair and wears it in a Duck's Ass cut. As long as I know one guy wearing a Duck's Ass, I'm not old.

 

This is a great thread. It isn't often that I take the time to read all of a long thread but this one is worth the read.

I was a GM parts guy and dept manager back in the '70s and 80's up to the time they started to go computer. I worked in a large old Chevy dealer in Ft. Wayne longer than anywhere else. It was one of those places where a customer could, and often did, bring in his Muncie or Saginaw 4 speed in a box and spread it out over the counter. You could look it over and take a walk back through the bins returning with everything that the guy needed. You could do this without looking anything up because you did it so often you knew all the parts by heart. It just drives me nuts to go into the dealer where my wife works to look up parts and all they have are computors that have such complicated programs that you can't find anything. They don't go back far enough anyway and if they don't have an old parts book they can't look it up.Thank god I have a sizable collection of GM and Ford parts books back into the early 30s. As long as the number is still the same you are in good shape.

My local NAPA store is one of those good old parts stores. They have 3 stores and the one in a neighboring town is also my machine shop of choice. The parts cat sleeps on the stack of oil cases by the front door and is always ready to help you dig through the drawers or sort through all of the items in the body shop section. They have the bar stools and other necessities listed in prior posts and the stack of old 60-70s Hot Rod magazines on the counter. They also have Speedvision on the TV angled towards the counter in case you want to watch for awhile while you are in there.

Need a master cylinder? Take 3 or 4 home to trial fit and pay later. They know my '69 stepside has '72 disc brakes and a '79 Z28 350 that they did the machine work on. Also know my voice on the phone. I save them time quite often by looking up my own parts on NAPA online. This is usually because I want to check some specs or something before I go to get stuff.

As for the chain store employee that can at an instant tell you how much music he has in his IPOD but don't know a 303 Olds from a Volvo here are a few rules to follow.

1). Look up your own parts and take them the numbers. Most chain stores have web sites where you can register and list your cars and projects. When you return to look for something else your info is there waiting for you.

2). Now that you have the number call the store and have them check to see if it's in stock. If the phone nerd still asks for year, make and model remind him that it is their part number or ask to speak to the manager. I'm lucky in that the Zone in the next town has a lady that will check my number without questions and lay it out for me. Be sure to ask that they lay the part out for you.

3). Get the person's name you talked to and ask for them when you arrive at the store.

4). Be aware that the on line price and the store price may not always be exactly the same but it shouldn't be too far off. I can almost always buy cheaper at the NAPA store than the NAPA online price.

5). Many of the store sites have an area where you can cross reference a number from one brand to another. An example would be if you have a Delco number you could enter it and get the NAPA number and sometimes others for that part.

If you do your own homework before you leave for the chain auto parts and taco stand you can save yourself a lot of grief and maybe a couple of return trips to get the right stuff. Of course if you look up the wrong number then you know who to blame.

Tom

 

When you walk into the store with an unknown slave cylinder and before you even ask him what it might be, the guy behind the counter blurts out that its some part from a White garbage truck (or something strange like that). Actually had that happen to me.

 

1. When the counter guys are busy, you just walk into the back and noone calls the cops, or even blinks an eye.

2. You go there to pick up large parts you bought on Ebay, and had delivered there by truck.

3. They let you keep said parts there as long as you want.

4. When someone walks in off the street asking stupid questions, a random customer, possibly yourself, answers them and gives prices.

5. You stop on your way with coffee for 3 guys.

 

They keep PARTS IN STOCK and sell parts every day . We dont care about how fast you can ship it or have it in stock for us- if we wanted to wait we would have ordered from the catalog ourselves... LOL

When you tell them what you are looking for they dont try to sell you the more expensive chrome or polished version. You didnt ask for it dammit.

They have people just stop by to shoot the shit Saturday mornings and you can usually find a half dozen guys out there with their rides.

or the ever popular... owner calls me 'ma'am' or' lady' (which always make me laugh) or better actually has taken the time to learn my name after coming there for years. (Thanks Chip & Dave at INDY AUTO PARTS in MA)

 

I'm Lucky -
The guy that manages the "Advance Auto" store I go to Managed "The Last Real Parts - with Awesome Machine Shop" here in "Springpatch, Illinois. (he still has books) He knows cars and parts! (He works the "Commercial account Counter". He can get me any thing I need in a day or two. Life is GOOD!!! Yeah, he calls me by name! Too bad that no "kid" wants to learn!

 

When you can go in through the back door,have a cuppa with the guy`s and rummage through the old stock for project parts....

 

You know you're in the right auto parts store when you can find another H.A.M.B.er in the store, or the owner is a H.A.M.B.er...

You know you're in a the right auto parts store when the youngest member of the family is sittin' up on the desk in their diaper playing with some auto part, and as soon as they can walk the switch over to getting the parts to the customers!!! "Excuse me, sir, here's your Ardun parts..."

You know you're in the wrong auto parts store when you can buy the O.C.C. toilet paper and Jesse James tissue paper.

You know you're in the wrong auto parts store when they have a "buy four seat covers and get the fifth one free!" offer and some sap falls for it.

You know you're in the wrong auto parts store when they only sell paint in pastel colors with discounts if you buy billet wheels with them.

 

We're so lucky here in Whitehall. White Lake Automotive (a NAPA store) is completely composed of guys who aren't afraid of the paper catalogue, has good prices, and wouldn't hire me all through high school 'cause almost everyone there is a long-term employee over the age of 35. If the NAPA store fails me (which is almost never), I'll hit the Advance Auto in Muskegon, but that's pretty much it. It pays to live in what is still a fairly blue collar community.

 

LOL, when you tell them you need gaskets for a 430 and they say Okey Dokey, instead of "a what"??

 

yeah, and they don't ask what year make and model it is when you ask for a two pin dome light bulb. Does it really matter? Just give me a DAMN STANDARD CHEVY DOME LIGHT BULB, JUST LIKE THE ONE I'M HOLDING IN MY HAND!!!!!

 

Big -

It's not that it's blue collar, it's that whitehall is a wide spot in the road!

The chains haven't encroached on geographics/demographics below a certain level - whitehall falls below the line.

I work in Walled Lake, MI - otherwise known as Waltucky. Pretty blue collar, but it's big enough for an Autozone. I tried to buy a battery for my Moto Guzzi there once...

I'm at the counter with the correct-sized battery in hand.

'What's it for?'

'Why do you care?'

'I gotta enter it in the computer.'

'enter any damned thing you like.'

'I can't do that - it's against policy.'

'Okay...Ford.'

'Ford what?'

'You ask that question again and I'm gonna stick that battery up yer ass B4 walking out.'

He was clearly unhappy ringing up an ass battery.

 

Kragen in the house! CSK AUTO!.......come on guys most of us arnt that bad....kragens at least