Are there any real parts stores left?

Unlike the vast majority of modern day parts guys, who'd rather send people off with the wrong part.[/QUOTE]

No, not people, not customers, not those who need help and work with us to solve the problem and get the part. Dickheads who don't know their ass from a carburetor kit and think someone else, anyone else, owes it to them to know or possess information that is not available to them and then go the extra mile so they can get a cheap Chinese part while the old shops that they profess to support are closing their doors! You put the Hip in Hypocrite. I am a pretty good parts guy and I do have a large group of customers who only come to the store when I am working. or who call and ask for me. As I said several posts ago I use my old parts books at home, the net, and friends at other parts and service shops to help find what is needed. I totally agree with the telephone thing. I think it is bad business and just plain rude to take a phone call when I am helping someone and I risk my job every time I don't answer the phone. Like wise I will stop helping a customer if they choose to talk on their cell phone while I'm trying to help them. But be a rude unhelpful .....oh this is where we started.

 

A a joke, I tried filling out an online job application for Pep Boys. I failed the entrance test. I guess I was overqualified. The make you take a test that has no automotive related questions. It is mostly about doing the right thing in different situations. Go online and try it. It was kind of funny.

 

Just keep telling yourself that.

 

Any body in Michigan ( western wayne county) got to Larry's Auto Parts on Ford rd. Garden City. They KNOW parts and can have most anything by afternoon.

 

I'm a pretty good parts guy,and you're a ?? Works for me!

 

I'm just saying. You've got a limited amount of hiring power these days, and it isn't the fault of the counter guys, the manager, or anyone working in the store that some of you take so much sad pleasure in berating.

Not to mention the fact that it is harder and harder to find anyone qualified to work a counter, so you're stuck training high school kids who may or may not show up for work and if you're lucky you've got one vetran that knows what he is doing. 10 years ago you had to pick if you wanted to hire the guy with 10 years expereince or the guy with 8. Now its just Lincoln Tech drop outs that want the job so they can steal the tools when the manager goes home for the day.

Any of you who think it's some kind of dream job cakewalk are welcome to come take my store keys for a month and let me know what you think if you make it. Half the time I go out of my way for someone with a hotrod or try to talk them they end up being a bigger dickhead than some of the people posting in this thread, and I'm no punk high school kid. Pardon me if I don't shed a tear when I see "the poor absued cutomer" with his ten million complaints when I've been on the recieving end of some of the shittiest bits of humanity after going out of my way to help someone out. Want to help the problem? Go fill out an application.

 

have you gone to Wild Bill's speed shop on Buffalo rd(next to Dave Greens Auto)? I've dealt with him a few times,really willing to help,prices are good.He may be able to help.Other than that,try Tony's hook up.If I think its possible to get something locally,I usually go online to their website and get the part # myself,plus they usually have a picture to see if its the right part.If they don't have it I use www.speedwaymotors.com cheap,good,fast.

 

Sorry man, but a job is a job. IF someone accepts a position, they should do their job. You don't like customers? Get a new job. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I was a parts guy for most of my adult life. And I loved it. If I was able to support my family, my habits, my hobbies, etc on parts store money, I'd do it the rest of my life. I can say the things I say in this post without remorse, because I know the resources you that the stores have. Those that say they are not available, bullshit. If a part is out there, the store can get it. You have books, computers, telephones, warehouses, etc. Like I said, if you get offended it's only because in your eyes you are part of the group of people I'm talking about. I don't know you personally talisman, nor do I know six ball. But you guys got a lil defensive, when in fact you may be great parts guys. I don't know. But you don't work in any of the stores I've been to, because the people I come across are slow, lazy, and have no desire to do the job they were hired for. Anyone notice fergenboysinc get upset? Know, the man pm'd me with a list of carb kit part numbers from different manufactures. I didn't ask him to do that, but he offered. If he was the person I came across at the local store, man I'd be thrilled. You'd never hear a peep out of me.
You can't get all defensive when I'm not talking specifically to you (well I guess you can, but it's for no reason). Look at the replys on this post, I'm not alone. You can assume I don't know what I'm asking for when I go to the store, you can assume I don't know my gasket size from my hat size, but you don't know. There was a time when you could walk into a part store, ask for an alternator for such and such a car (and I don't just mean sbc shit, I'm talkin honda, chevy, ford, etc) and the man behind the counter knew the part number off the top of his head. Not just one super counter guy, but all the counter guys. I take no pleasure in talking shit about anyone. But I am a firm believer in doing the job that which you are paid to do to your fullest. Which means that when someone asks for something, if have to tell them you can't get it it truly means it's not available.

 

I'm gonna use Tony's hookup in my future, a lot of the parts I'm looking for currently aren't speed related. I've gone to B&D quite a bit, he's a real cool guy and has helped out a bunch. He's even had some oddball shit I needed. The difference between him and the people I'm talking about is that he wants to make a sale, he wants to get you the right shit, and he usually does. My brother just picked up a SFI rated flywheel from him for cheaper (I believe) then Summit. I got no complaints about Bill.

 

I know I posted on this earlier, but I worked for AZ when I was in college.

I have been working on cars for most of my life, but in all honestly nobody knows everything. I'd do everything I could to make sure my customers left with what they wanted; I'd break out the paper catalogs if I had to. (The computers were just so much faster, so I always tried them first) But it wasn't always easy, and sometimes the customers didn't make it any easier....meaning that, despite what you might think, hot rodders/car guys were often the rudest customers of all. The worst cases were ones that had installed SBC's or SBF's in cars that didn't originally have them, but wouldn't tell me that when I first went to look for their part.

Or the people that got frustrated when I didn't know what that little plastic thingy that was attached to the metal part that was underneath the round metal thing on an 82 Subaru.

 

Anyone in the York PA area, try Al's Auto Parts on the corner of N. Sherman St and Rt 30...place is great. First time I walked in there, I was greeted by a dog..good start. Then, couldn't lean on the counter 'cause I was in work clothes and it was covered in greasy parts and parts BOOKS...2nd check mark in the "pros" column. Then, thinking forward to the Plymouth, I asked him how he was with getting hard to find parts...his reply? "Well, I don't deal much with foreign shit." It was then, dear reader, that I knew I was home.

 

Man am I lucky. I live less than 1/4 mile away from Clarkesville Auto Parts. They've been in business over 50 years, with the original family still there. The owner is sharp, and the manager is a former oval track racer and old car enthusiast. They were independent up until a few years ago when they went with Car Quest. Right now they are the only store in our small town, but a new AutoZone or Advance is building up right now. I won't be going in there.

 

I have worked in a Car Quest store as well as NAPA (Still do). So It is very interesting reading here. Right now I work in the main store/wharehouse here in Fresno. And as much as I hate the phone there that at times will ring non stop for an hour, I also hate having a manager yelling at us to answer the phone. We have to multi task there and help 3 or 4 customers at once so it is unavoidable. Some of the other NAPA stores in town aren`t as bad though. I don`t like having to push customers through like an assembly line but thats just the way it is at times. For the most part people understand because they are regulars but you can`t please everyone.
The parts business isn`t what it used to be for sure but I embrace the computers and even the sometimes ridiculous questiong they ask me but also rely on books constantly during the day too. Give us a counter guys a break. Some of know a thing or too.

 

i love going to those big parts stores and asking for old parts. ya know a 8 inch 6volt headlight for a dodge powerwagon or a head gasket for a straight 8 hudson. or brake parts for a 65 international 5 ton truck. in my town we have checker and bumber to bumber both are pretty much crap sell cheap parts etc. then theres car quest and napa which are both pretty good. we always go to car quest and pretty much when i walk through the door they start diggin under the counter for the books cuz usally me and my dad or looking for old or weird stuff.

 

There you have it. The parts guys you remember and revere supported their families, habits, and hobbies on their parts house pay. Why would any smart young person take on a low paying career that has no future. So what you get is young folks with few choices, little experience, and no incentive to master the trade and a few old farts like me who don't really care about the pay, the future, or the ill-mannered. The company gets it's money's worth out of me I sell them my remaining years by the hour, my choice. They don't have enough money to buy my self respect. So, treat me with courtesy and I'll do the same. If not don't expect much. Get really out of hand expect what you get! As far as resources and the availability of parts, if you have been away as few as 5 years I think you would be very surprised with what is no longer out there. Parts are being pulled every month. If it isn't moving the big warehouses won't stock it, and the manufactures won't make it. In many of the things you say I fully agree and it is a damn shame. So, to the solution or at least the prolonging of the inevitable maybe there should be a thread here to post the really good parts houses that are left. possibly by state or city. As for me I'm done here my whole life was spent for naught I have failed the public's interest and your new parts guy will be truly blessed! Enough/Uncle/I Give Where's that dead horse thing?

 

Us folks in the Raleigh ,Garner , Benson area are lucky to have
Loop Road Auto, They are great parts people and some of my best friends...
BUT......I hear them work with people everyday that don't know their A**'s from a hole in the ground and they still treat them well and help them find the parts they need..........Like I said LUCKY for US ...........
LONG LIVE LOOP!

 

you still in the store in sinking springs? your truck still looks bitchen!

 

Going off on a tangent here, I actually did try that. The manager at the local Advance has had a help wanted sign on the window for several months. I hand him my application and resume and pretty much verbatim he said thanks, I don't know if the company will let me hire anyone, but I'll put this in the pile. What the heck? You don't say you're looking to hire people when you're not even sure you can. That's been about 3 months ago and the sign is still up.

BTW, in case you're wondering, I went to WyoTech and was a mechanic at Carmax, so yes, I do know a couple things about cars.

 

I'm sure that you do, as do most of on posting on here. I worked at Carmax for awhile in the Parts Dept over here in dfw. Good job, a little over corporatized for my taste. As for the Now Hiring sign, our company makes us keep one in the window too. Probably due to the fact that for every 20 applications you get 1 that is worth looking at. Sounds like yours is, but you might be above what he can pay someone with your experience. Calling him back to check on status never hurts.

 

Yeah, they were a little too corporate for me, too. You may be right about the sign. It's been about a month since I checked back with him, probably ought to stop in again. Too bad they probably think I want a lot of money, I just need a little extra cash right now.

 

Talisman= You sayed thay will steal from you, yes the pay sucks so theay think its a way to get even with you.

 

Wonder if they still think they got even when they are being lead out of the store in handcuffs? Happened more times than I can count.

 

For those wondering, the thought process on taking care of phone calls instead of those standing in line is that the person standing in line is already in the store. Basically, odds are your gonna buy something. THe guy in the phone is not, therefore he is (in their eyes) more important because you need to get him in the store. Plus, it's easier to stand in line for several minutes then it is to sit on hold. The low pay thing/stealing thing is all wrong thinking. Stealing is stealing, should never be done regardless of how you feel about the pay. When you accepted the job you accepted the pay. Don't like it? Don't work there. Plain and simple. That's where my problem comes from-if you can't go to work and do the best possible job, don't go. Now, I obviously didn't mean to offend anyone on the board, because I am of the assumption that any parts guys on this board do care about doing a good job. I should have made this disclaimer earlier, because it was not my intention to piss off any good hearted hot rod enthusiast. So to anyone that actually is a good parts guy, keep up the good work. And please, relocate to NY so that I don't have to deal with the bullshit that I find in our stores.

 

Final straw that made me give up on Advance / Auto Zone when I had to explain what a vaccumn gauge was and what it was used for.
Went to a Napa that had just opened, walked in, said "Vaccumn gauge"..had it in my hand and out the door in minutes.

I also just found a family owned, hole-in-the-wall, auto parts store. It is great..reminds me of my ones I used to go to with my dad 20 years ago.

 

I am lucky in that I have an old school NAPA store just down the road. The still have a machine shop in back and are more than willing to help me find oddball parts. They use the computers for any of my daily driver stuff but pull out the books when I am doing funky adaptations (like putting a Toyota mini truck transmission behind a V twin H-D motor, or S-10 spindles on a Dakota).
Most of what I do is race car related and I get those parts from the appropriate suppliers but for everything else I use the NAPA guys pretty much exclusively. I figure that the difference is cost amounts to pennies and I need to help them stay in business or I will be back to the "what year, model, and do you have the VIN number" when I need a gasket for a 9" rear end.

Roo

 

independent, I should have just read your post and gone on but I let it get to me. Why should what you said possibly matter to me? The only part that did was the broad brush you used to paint us. It doesn't fit, but a lot of what you say is legitimate. We are required to answer the phone in two rings with one of those annoying greeting/sales pitches. Corporate has secret callers that check up on us. Woe to the store that lets the phone ring. When I am with a customer and 2 or 3 managers are standing around discussing daily sales averages or plan-o-grams I don't answer the phone. Often I put the caller on hold, that's a real no-no. It will really piss you off to know that while you wait the phone customer on the phone is getting a 10% phone discount! He has already used his phone to cut in line at other stores and get the lowest price he could so Kragen (CSK) will beat it by 5%. That means that while you stand in the store and wait the guy at home lounging in his Lazy-Boy sipping a cold beer and saving $$$$ on gas is getting his parts for at least 15% less than you. This is just not right. I wonder what would happen if one of the spy shoppers the send had to wait while I talked to a phont caller. This corporate policy could be used to get some real deals. They say they will beat anybody's price 5% Harbor Freight, Summit, Northern, etc. There are lots of other discount groups too. Some stores will even beat their own online prices. There is a price war going on among these huge chains as their corporate heads try to eat each other. I mentioned the talk of CSK being bought by O'Reilly. In the short term it could be good for us but in the long run we'll lose all of the little guy who often can't buy parts for what these places sell them for.
A real problem for me is that the place I work doesn't have the parts that people here need. Someone in Phoenix, I think, decides what is on our shelves. My old boss at Car Quest worked long and hard to taylor his stock to fit the area. This could now easily be done if we logged lost sails for parts requested but not in stock. Each store's inventory could match it's local. But the you get into inventory taxes! These places sell what the have no so much what the customers need. It has become this for many reasons mostly because shit floats. The people who stay with and now run these companies are either retailers from other businesses or the kids who sold the most flashlights and answered the phone. If there truly are 40K of us here we should form a plan to help the little shops, but it's tough to expect someone scraping pennies to spend more in hopes it will keep someone else in business.
So why do I work there? It's 11 miles from home rather than 30. It's my town. I pretty much get to name my hours. There is a good bar on the way home! Sorry for the rant. We'll see if there are corporate spys on the H.A.M.B.

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=lName width="100%" colSpan=2>MARS AUTO PARTS </TD><TD noWrap align=right rowSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>108 E Main St # 112
Bay Shore, NY 11706
631-665-0890

Best auto parts store I've found on Long Island. Once went in there looking for a new water pump for a Ford flathead. Told the guy at the counter what I was looking for and he asked me "Passenger or Truck?". At that time I wasn't really sure, he told me he'd get both since he had them IN STOCK. Picked the one I needed and was on my way. Same thing for new brake cylinders for a 1947 Ford, and a 6V flasher to put in my 1929 Model A (was a Volkswagen flasher). The place has been in business for years and the store is 2 buildings next to each other. One is the main store and one is their parts warehouse(was the original store and is only accessible to employees.) I'd love to look around that old building and see what they actually have.

"If you can't find it anywhere on Earth, go to Mars."
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

You're right, I did lump everyone into this category, and that was my mistake. I don't ask for much when I walk into a parts store, I fully realize that 9 out of 10 times they will not have what I need in stock when I walk in the door. All I ever ask for is that the guy behind the counter do his best to help me out. I used to be a parts guy, I took my job very seriously, and loved it. That's why I try very hard to not be one of the many asshole customers that he will come across during an 8 hour shift. But I cannot stand the laziness. There are many resources available to the modern counter guy. It's up to him to use them. I don't mind waiting for the phone customer to be delt with, I don't mind the discount the phone guy gets (ten years ago when I worked for Forest City Auto there were at least 3 different prices for any given part). I just want to know that when I get my turn to talk to the dude behind the counter, he does his best to help. There definitely has been some good that came from me making this post, as I now have many online resources to look up my own parts, so that when I walk into the store I can be armed with my own part numbers. So for that, I thank everyone.

 

I learned how to be a parts man at a dealership to many years ago to tell about. We were in the foreign car business and also had aftermarket lines like the defunct BAP line. One of our parts books had hand written numbers in it because the factory book didn't list the part or picture of it. All parts were looked up in factory manuals and we did inventory on inventory cards. We ordered, tracked and did year end inventory on those cards. Now that makes me older than dirt.

Being a parts man was the best job that I ever had and it was with a small, family owned business and it was challenging. Viet Nam came into my life and when I returned to civilian status, my job wasn't available for some reason and I ended up in another career. Better pay, you bet. As good a job, no, even though I really liked it for the first few years and it presented a challenge. I never had as much pride in my work as when I was a partsman. I guess it helped to be a car junkie, which I am still to this day, with a 29 Ford/Cretors popcorn truck and a recently obtained 28 Ford AA Express truck.

For the pay aspect of it, I'm sure that the business doesn't pay all that well, especially when one first starts out in it. One has to remember that if they are starting out as an apprentice in this field they are not going to get journeyman wages while they learn. Yes I know that learning has a lot to do with who is teaching you and their level of expertise. I was fortunate to have had a very good supervisor and I also learned a huge amount from the mechanics at the shop and also from my own customers. I was always a huge sponge for more information so that I could become more proficient at my craft. I liked my job, was interested in my customers, which included my mechanics as they were ordering parts for the customers, and took pride in my work. I still like to work and will continue to until they throw dirt in my face.

As for the fellow behind the counters today, they may not have had a chance to start with if they didn't have the opportunity to have been taught properly in the first place, have been tainted by fellow senior workers who have dug themselves into a rut and dislike their work and resent anyone who asks them to perform. To top it off, it has a lot to do with management, which has been pointed out here on this thread, weather it is a small locally owned store or a chain store. To make the point there are two NAPA stores within my reach. Holley listed one of them as a dealer and I wanted a base gasket for a 1bbl and a 2bb ProJection TBI so that I could begin working on making an adapter for a manifold that accepted 97's. When I went into the store I was yelled at by a counterman asking if he could help me. He was hidden behind a catalog rack and didn't have the decency to stand up ID himself and walk my way and talk to me in a normal tone of conversation. I answered him, yes and asked if they were still a Holley dealer and did they stock Holley TBI parts? The retort was "Well what make and model and year are you working on? NOT A CLUE did he have. When I further explained in detail what I wanted and that I came there for a base gasket for each style TBI he then wanted to know if I had the part number and maybe he could order it for me. (Gee, I thought he was the parts man, but I guess I was wrong.) I just turned and began walking out and related to him that I could do all of that and order it on-line and kept going. The reason for his attitude, his sloppy appearance which made him look like he hadn't shaved, showered or put on clean clothes for a week was that the owner of this store had all but given up on personnel and left the store as soon as possible each day to go play golf. You get what you run into at a parts store often because of ownership. An owner has to spend as much time at the counter as his parts men and supervise them at all times, like it or not. They represent him and his business and if he isn't going to hold a tight rein, then he is going to see his business fritter away. It is so bad at this particular store, that the counter personnel berate their fellow employees behind their backs in front of customers without even thinking anyone else might hear and not appreciate such conversation, let alone that it might also get back to the individual. A very poorly managed store.

In this particular stores case, I talked to one of his commercial customers and asked him if he wanted to go in with me and buy the store and the first thing we would do would be close it, dismiss all the counter personnel, perhaps hire one, two at the most that had been there and proved themselves and then hire one or two really good counter personnel and spread the pay from the lackies into their pay checks. Then we could end up with two really good counter people and a relief and hire two really good parts runners (instead of the four or five now employed) and pay them a good wage with the pay of three let go. And I'm willing to do that even though I haven't worked in such a store, those selling to a variety of marque, but I at least could manage it considerably better that it is now and get it back to being a real parts store. As it is now, it's rare to find a car parked in the lot. It even has a machine shop in the back, which may or not be an asset as his (the machinist) rep. isn't all that good as well.

On the other hand, the other NAPA store is clean, has parts counter personnel that are clean, neat, courteous, and keep the store in the same manner. They have a woman that works the counter who is SHARP at being a counter person. Knows her stuff. I'll go to her first if she is available. I have noted when it comes to the hard stuff the other counter personnel depend on her. So it's not just a guy thing in this business anymore, it's still people doing business with people. When corporations set that aside, they are on a slippery slope.

If it were not for health issues, I would go back to the business to keep myself busy and once again enjoy the craft. I can still look up parts numbers better than 80% of the younger set that are behind the counter, even though I haven't worked behind a counter in eons. What I do do, is ask if I can show them something new on how to look up an older part if they have any books left. Good stores never trash their old paper books, if they have a brain, and will defy even corporate policy and will be able to go back to them to make that sale. Sales cannot be measured in number of items on the ticker tape that day, but only by returning customers. How quickly they forget that in their overpaid executive jobs.

I believe there are to many factors to put the blame at any one place, but added up, it is irritating to deal with the incompetency that one runs into more often than not when going into a parts store today. If you can help teach a young new counter person who is willing to learn from you, please do so. You will eventually find a new ally at the counter and get the best possible treatment that you have been looking for. We can be part of the problem or part of the answer. It's what we choose to do. In my personal case listed above, it was not the time and place for me to attempt doing that, due to many other events that have been seen or have taken part in at that particular store. Enough was enough that time.

Just one more view from another individual who is not right or wrong, imho. There have been a number of other very good suggestions on this thread and if one has the interest they should make note of them. The best to you all. Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

I'm regards to O'Reillys buying "Little guy CSK." Doesn't that conglomorate have about 1400 stores? Hell, O'Reillys "only" has 1800!