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

I thought of a good one at NAPA today.

You can tell your at a real parts store when they don't put your parts in a bag, they put your stuff in an empty case of oil for you to carry

 

Hey, I used to work with Virgil !!!

 

Another for the list:
When they know you know what you need and invite you back to the holy-of-holys behind the counter to get it yourself.[/QUOTE]

I have to give credit to an Auto Zone in SanDeigo we (wife and son)called into to get spark plugs and wires the young guy behind the counter couldnt find the car (1956 Dodge Coronet)in the computer so he dug under the counter for the books that were older still no luck so he sais to me "how about you come back here and see if you can see if you recognise what you need,dont have to ask me twice.They had the plugs but the only wires they had were individual or make your own so i got the make your own set.They bent over backwards to help even though they could tell that i was not going to be back again for repeat business(returned to aus a week later)so i have nothing but praise for these guys.

 

I work at a local toyota dealer (again after i quit 11 yrs ago)the first time i worked for this dealership i was working one saturday with two apprentices (2nd year and 4th year)ant they were both staring into the engine bay of a ke70 corolla with points and condensor in hand after about 45 minutes i decided to see what was taking so long ,neither of the guys could figure out where the parts went .so i popped off the dissy cap and figured they would work it out from there. Another 20 min goes by and i here this corolla winding over and over and over so i wanders over again .no points gap no condensor fitted proceded to show these two how to fit points and condensor and gap points and they both said that they were shown that at tech but it seemed to old to need to remember

 

reel parts store guys bring your parts to the track in there race trailer or loan you parts off there car if thay are allready eliminated

 

My Dad had this sign in his station my whole life! lol

 

They have all the old ads still up
Pot bellied stove by the counter
garage/machine shop out back
They know you by name
The counterpeople know where the parts are
...and they know what a nailhead is!!!!!!

 

They ask me what year is the engine in your car...they know me well enough to assume my 55 doesn't have a 55 engine, and my 59 GMC doesn't have a GMC in it...they know what a wheel cylinder is, and have it on the shelf, and they have about 400 diecast vehicles on shelves all over the store....When I walk in, they go towards the books, not the computer.

 

The parts say made in USA and they don't ask if it has 4 wheel drive when you want spark plugs.

 

I worked in parts stores 1972-75. I learned plenty!
The "interview" for the second job (1972) consisted of "find the numbers for a '68 caddy exhaust system"!
Thirty seconds later I had the list from the AP book.
I still have part numbers for '65 Chevy ball joints floating around in my memory.

Recently my son had battery problems with his car. I had replaced the battery in July.
I charged it and it went dead again overnight.
I checked for a drain using my DVM. No drain.
I took the battery to Autozone for testing and replacement.
They had some problems getting it to charge. I called back and they asked if I could leave it until the next day.
I went back next morning and they said it tested fine. I asked about a load test and they said their $xxxx machine "Tested for all that"!
I took the battery home and reinstalled it. It wouldn't turn on the dome light the next day.
I charged it again and left the battery cables off. Voltage was 12.3. Two hours later 12.
Next morning 11.7.
I took it back and told the Autozone guy the story.
He asked how many amps I charged it with. (4 with taper to 2)
"Did you leave it on the concrete floor?" (I think this is an old wives tale)
I explained that it was in the car with no cables attached.
He copped an attitude and said "Well, sir, we will warranty the battery, but the old one may not be bad."

End of story: New battery has been in the car five days and is working just fine!

I think the next time I see him I will explain battery problems and testing to him.

 

Two weeks ago I went to Knight's Auto Parts in Raton NM. Looking for brake shoes for a 59 Plymouth wagon. When I walked in I was the only customer he had, within 2 minutes there were 5 people in there. He handed me the book and look them up and the brake shoes re in the left set of shelve and went to wait on the other customers. Unfortunately he didn't have the shoes. I felt that I went back 30 yrs in a parts store. This was the first time I've been in his store.

Lee

 

ya ask for a part for a '50 ford, and the counter guy doesn't start looking in the book and asking "is it a galaxie, falcon, thunderbird,..............."

 

You know youre in a real parts store when you walk into S and S Auto Supply here in Ft Worth. Its the real deal.

Even pressed the axle bearings on my 9" axles for me. WHILE I WAITED!

Oh and you will get an empty box from a case of oil to tote your stuff in.

 

After going to every parts store in town looking for flexible brakes lines and being asked what make model etc. that they go to and explaining that it doesn't matter that I just want to see a book.

Then walking into the locally owned parts store, should have gone there first, and the owner gives you the brakeline book to take home for the weekend so that you can find exactly what you want.

Then you go back to order them only to find out that he has the obscure things in the back, and then puts them on credit cause his card machine is broken.

Then he spend the next 45 minutes teling you all about his 1940 Ford that he sold a few years back and really wishes he could find it and buy it back.

 

bleh.....

 

Only way I'm gonna find a place like that around here is with a fucking time machine...

 

You're in a real shop when: You ask for such and such part for a small block 350 and they are able to help you without asking the year, model, and make of the vehicle. You don't have to say "Well it is in a 1930 Ford now, however I have no idea where it came from other than General Motors"....

 

My loacl Napa is pretty good. It's been in the same spot for 50 years. Old guys behind the counter and stools in front of it. It's amazing what they have pulled off the shelves for me over the years when I went in there expecting they would have to order it. Unfortunately, they are closed on Sundays so if I need something I have to go to Autozone or O'Reilly's.

Now, over at Autozone the must think I'm rich because I give them a different application for the parts I need every time I go there. I don't even bother trying to explain that it's a '72 engine in a '58 etc. They wouldn't get it. Apparently they now think I have a '64 Impala, '65 Chevelle, '70 Nova, '72 Blazer and a whole bunch more.

 

Now in a real auto parts store, that's been around long enough, they'd have the parts so you could get that dead horse up and running again, and you wouldn't have to tell them the make, model, or year of the horse.....

 

i worked the counter for over 25yrs. in mostly independent stores. only worked for one corp. store and that didnt last long.i quit workin the counter in 98.now guys when i walk into a store its sad. it really hurts. man i want to go back in time so bad. i think im loosing my mind. i think about the old days more and more. this thread is kinda sad in a way. because it makes you see the writing is on the wall,so to speak, for the real parts stores.

 

I blew out a fuel pump in the local Chili's parking lot. A friend took me to Topps. I told the counter guy I needed a fuel pump for a 350 Chevy. Without any other info he went to the racks and came back with one. Young guy - so there is hope. I know it was the right one because I went back to the parking lot, installed it and drove home. The Napa store in Los Alamitos is also worth patronizing.

 

when there are 20 vintage steering wheels hanging from the ceiling, a hilborn setup on the shelf above the counter and the guy behind the counter says "you got that model A done yet".

 

you walk in at 5:00 PM flip the sign to closed, go over to the "pop" machine and get yourself a cold one and light up a smoke and then get your parts and leave 2 hours later.

when they use a cash drawer, not a cash register.

you walk in and can smell the hot tank!!

you ask to use the brake lathe to turn some rotors or drums.

 

The parts guy remembers using a pencil to write down part numbers on a book with carbon paper ( not that fancy carbonized form book ). And they memorize the sales tax to save time.
Drums and flywheels turn in the back and there is a disc brake machine on order.
60 wt Valvoline racing oil is sold all day long to the Harley riders and there Studebaker Lark with 289 in the lot is the company Sunday drag car, when the cops aren't around.

Oh wait .... That s where I used to work.

 

The owner knows me by name,knows my kids too,and he will send someone out to with a part to a local farmer that broke down in the center of his bean or corn field.
Later Russ

 

Piston ashtrays ! Wow I had forgotten - my first boss used a hubcap! My job was to stock shelves but I always dumped Georges ashtrays BEFORE I punched in. I was promoted to counterMAN in six months - and my mentors included Grand pa Al your auto parts pal- used to be the local Nash expert

 

We had the good fortune to have a real gentleman,friend and mentor as "the" go to guy. I followed that man from one parts house to another for 50 years.90% of the time he wouldn't even look in the book, he'd just go get what you needed, even if you weren't really sure what was wrong. Jimmy Dudas was this heros name and I'll never forget him.

 

Our local town Speed Shop is where most of my parts come from....He deals in 85% Stock Car Round Track parts but can get anything...He opened it in 1966 and still runs it till today...he's 79 and pulls a trailer full of parts to the local round track every Sat night it's open.....my cousin is his oldest continual customer and I'm next....if I walk in any other parts store I ask for someone with grey hair that knows the difference in a long and short neck small block Chevy water pump...that usually seperates the real parts guys pretty quick.

 

Free Chips And Coffe.
Wore Out Old Drag Racing Times Magazines
A Box Full Of Old Shit Marked Free
Hound Dog Asleep On Hte Floor Next To The Wood Burning Stove.

 

This thread is hilarious and oh so true! When I was in the Navy in Norfolk, VA in the '70s I had a part time job at a small auto parts store. The owner, an old WWII vet named Mr. Leake, was just amazing to listen to. He knew part numbers off the top of his head, what would interchange etc. Customer service and respect were a must, even when people had no idea what they were looking for. If the store was slow I better have my face in a book, learning about parts, interchanges etc. He taught me so much, plus let me buy all my engine overhaul parts at cost.
Another store over in Portsmouth had been there forever, had the machine shop in the back etc. I was fixing the brakes on my buddies '54 Ford Country Squire and went in to order the parts. The old man says "Hold on", goes in the back of the store and comes back with a dust covered box with all the parts we needed, didn't even need to look the numbers up. This was in the early '90s. Stores like those two are priceless.