Alright, so, there are many people on this forum that refer to NAPA, as a "good parts place"... maybe where they live, but if youre in washington, don't bother... unless you're up for a good laugh. so the story goes like this. I'm lookin for extra long u-bolts and possibly lowering blocks for my '54 ford, called napa to see if they had either, and was told that they had the u bolts in stock in many different sizes so they would deffinately have something that would work. so I proceed over to the local napa to pick up the u-bolts and then to the shop to fab up some blocks. upon arriving at napa, after I told the guy at the counter "I was the guy that called about the u-bolts" I was told " let me take care of the four guys behind you, then I'll find what you're looking for." of course no one goes into a parts house knowing what they're looking for, so about a half an hour later, the counter guy walks up with one, square u bolt. I explained to him the several reasons why it wouldn't work, as he looked at me with a confused gaze. once he finally understood, he "checked the computer", and of course, my luck, they did not have the u-bolts I needed. so I payed for the other crap I needed and as I went out he said " fifty Ford huh?, I replied,"naw man, '54." at that he grinned as if ne new what that ment. then opened his mouth and slobbered out "Oh, a T-bucket!" uuummmmmm????? needless to say I was stunned. now I know no ones perfect, and I'm certainly no exception, but here I was at "NAPA, the real parts house", and the person working there, who (one would hope) should know just a little about automobiles, didn't understand the difference between the 2 ton pieces of steel of the fiftys, and a Model T, the first car mass produced in America. well atleast he had the make right. I told him he was about 25 years off. and left, headed over to Autozone, and low and behold, they had the U-bolts and lowering blocks... all in one box no less . say what you want about Autozone. but every time I go there I find what I need, and usually a bit cheaper than other parts houses. and as for napa. well maybe I'm just in the wrong state. anyway. I just thought this was funny. told a coupple friends about it they got a kick out it. so enjoy.
id have to agree, i usually have to end up going thru napa's parts books because they are clueless...and they usually dont have it in stock. I unfortunetley would rather go to autozone and deal with a moron for 15 minutes and actually get the part instead of dealing with our napa
We have a carquest, napa and autozone in our little town: You go to carquest for hard to get stuff, you go to autozone to get car care products and you go to NAPA only as a last resort
guess i'm lucky then,,the guy that owns my napa has been the owner since the 50s.....super knowledgeable, especially about old fords,,,he even gives me some cool old 50s stuff every once in a while for free, just because he knows i appreciate it,,,,i even recenlty bought some 50s NOS clear red spark plug wire from him,,,,,
Sorry you had a bad experience at your napa. The napa people here in Elkridge couldn't be more knowledgable or helpful when it comes to helping us hot rodders here. Probably(hopefully) it was just one bad encounter for you at napa.
On this side of the hill I can walk into Valley Auto Parts in Sunnyside and there are a couple of experienced countermen who can get me what I need but the store has been is the same spot for close to 50 years. I generally suggest NAPA because the stores still do have paper parts catalogs behind the counter and If the parts person can't read them I can.
I don't like the computer geeks at the parts stores. They say we don't have it, I look in in the book and say thats what I want, they had it. Then they look at you all stunned and hurt.
I live in a little town in Georgia and the Napa store has been here since I was born and that is a long time. I walked in and bought wheels cylinder for my 51 F1 pickjup and they had them in stock for S12.00 bucks apiece. Had the master cylinder in the warehouse and I had to wait till noon, and it was $28.00 dollars. I couldn't believe it. So I guess it is where you live and how long the dealer has been there. I had the starter rebuilt by a little starter shop in a town twenty miles away and they charged me $42.00 dollars.
Then they're not computer geeks they're just dumb retail employees. Computer geeks have good research skills and would know enough to find the parts, if they're not in the database add them, if they're wrong in there to fix it. They're probably in need of a few good geeks.
You're always going to find at least one idiot when you look for parts. NAPA 10 minutes away isn't too bad but NAPA 15 minutes away in the other direction can be a real joke. One guy in there has been there for a few years and still can't get shit right but for some reason they keep him. Wrong parts, wrong prices and just doesn't care that he screws up.Advanced Auto has alot of young guys and girls working there that have some knowledge but the differance there is they will take the time to learn from YOU cause they know that you know what you want and will look for or order the stuff you want. Guess some of the young folks there figure they will learn from the grey beards
It all depends on the personnel and the direction the owner takes. We have a NAPA store close to the shop. The manager has a couple of rods and is always curious as to what I am up to. Needless to say, he goes out of his way to accommodate. They will deliver a rattle can of paint if I ask them to, no delivery charge. We have an Advanced Auto Parts a bit further away. Nice store, great hours, but their focus is late model, car care and the Hispanic community. Nobody has knowledge or gives a hoot about anything pre-1990. I am okay with that, it is all about focus and specialization. I will pay up to 10% more at my local NAPA just to reward them for caring about our hobby and for offering good service and free delivery. I would hedge a bet that this is more a store specific situation than a national direction.
The guy that owns the one here knows his stuff. Of course he's been at it a LONG time and cares about his customers. For 'real' parts, I go there and we have SEVERAL stores here in town.
The garage I work at is a Napa affiliate shop but when I need parts for my own projects daily driver, i go to Carquest , bunch of " better then thou, know it all knobs" that really know jack shit working the counter at our local napa. It all depends on the personal working at a parts store, you cant really blame the chain in most cases unless the teach their employees to be knobs. I love it when you go in for somthing simple and generic like a light bulb and they need to know the year, make, model , # of doors, auto or manual, colour, I just need an 1157 bulb!
If you look on the application for NAPA, check the box that says you're on mind-altering drugs, because I've never seen anyone working there that wasn't.
No not the wrong state just maybe the wrong store. Sometimes, though, bad information in bad news out or as they say, garbage in garbage out. I have a friend who works at a Napa store up north from me who knows a lot more than I do. Gup here on the Hamb. I think he'd be insulted by what you said.
san diego has a coupole good but most bad, what is it about parts stores and the customers knowing more then the employees, at least i got e&m auto parts they teach me somethin new everytime
my Napa is great , but 99% of the time i go in there i already have the part number either look up what you want first on Napaonline , http://www.napaonline.com/default.aspx , or keep a record of part numbers and applications for future reference
Lately I haven't been happy with the one here in Orange Ca. I thought their books etc would be better. I don't think this store has the books anymore. They said their books didn't go back to a 57 Ranchero for rear brake shoes. No part number. I ordered them elsewhere. Oh well.
I guess it all depends on who's been around the longest and who's behind the counter. We have two NAPA parts stores. The one near me just shut down after something like 50 years of doing business, same family run place. I could get most anything I needed there. The woman behind the counter would often say, go around back and check it out and see if we've got it, if not I'll order it. The other one about 20 miles from me specializes in old parts. We lost the NAPA by us because of the Advanced, Aides, US-1 Wax, polish, oil and Battery dealers. Oh yeah, and stick on flames too.
Last time I went into Napa they asked what I needed. I rattled off the parts I was looking for. Then they asked what kind of car. I told them the year and make. The guy behind the counter stares at me and says, "Oh, shit." Then I handed him a slip with all of the part numbers I had written down ahead of time using their web site. Got the parts and left. I was in O' Riley's the other day for a universal part and after they insisted on looking my car up in their computer they informed me that my car was pretty old. The employee and the manager then started arguing about how to look it up on the computer. I just slowly backed out of the store. I've learned not to rely on the folks at the parts stores around here. I find what I need online or have the part numbers ahead of time if I go to the store.
I got all the parts to rebuild a 409 overnite,, not once, but twice. I have just scored another 409, so I know I can get the parts at NAPA.
They only hire fools at my local NAPA. I have stopped going there a long time ago. "Studebaker", is that made by Chevrolet? No, you idiot. Well, it's not in our computer, sorry. Thanks, dumbass, all I want is a battery. I guess Chevy batteries don't work in Studebakers.
Hey, I gotta stand up for our local NAPA stores! Both of them, one in town and one south a few miles. We are lucky around here and so I gotta brag them up! One of our store owners is himself a dedicated "old school" rodder. Always quick with a suggestion and help. I can go into either store, and since they know me, they are always ready to answer a question or make a suggestion. One of our guys rebuilt the tired old starter on my tired old '49 flattie for our current rod project. They also walked us through the art of brakes and ordered the special things we needed to hook up all those mismatched parts. I'm standing at the counter between all the farmers and mechanic types, guys who must really buy a lotta stuff, and my little account is probably more of a nusiance by comparison. But, our NAPA folks around here are always there for me and our project!!!!!!
We have two Napa stores in the area, the one you call for a part number and the one that is 20 mins closer where you go to pick it up. Seems odd that the store with the knowledge does not have the bigger in-stock part selection. I spend more time in the local carquest store as they will go out of their way to find a part you need. Helps that they have the best machine shop in the area attached to the store.
Napa ..Not a place for Ubolts & lowering block !! .. I just got some from Speedway http://www.speedwaymotors.com/ALUMINUM-EXTRUDED-LOWERING-BLOCKS,3353.html
That's good to hear. More than likely it has something to do with your approach. If you're nice to people they usually respond in kind. If you act like they're just a bunch of dumb counter jockeys because they don't know about your old car then they will also respond in kind. But....it is pretty funny to get asked for the year and make of car when you ask for a 6V battery. Scott
i always love the idea of a "simple, generic part" like an 1157 bulb... most, if not all, retail auto parts places keep the stupid shit out front of the counter so you can find it yourself. AutoZone even groups all the cheap chinese hotrod shit in one spot. NAPA has one drawback; they are forbidden by corporate to "match prices" with competitors. other than that, they have pretty much anything you want within reason if you can wait a day or two for it to be shipped in. for some reason they keep NOTHING in depth in the stores. i've worked for Advance, Autozone, Ford, John Deere, VW, and now Audi; along with a few years in salvage yards and a couple of fabrication shops. why would you NOT give the counter guy the information needed to help you find what YOU came to the store for? seems like instant karma to me; you get back what you put in.
I don't think it's the store as much as the person. Problem is How do I know when the idiot they have there is gone. Am I supposed to go in every once in a while and try them again. It might my last experience at our local NAPA. That is until I hear through the grapevine that another idiot has gone and they have a new guy. Last month I went to get some of "The World's Best Stopleak" They have carried it for years. That's the name, the ground up aluminum powder that works so good it will plug up the air bleed in the thermostat. No problem for that on the 292, it has a waterpump bypass already, can't airlock. I've used it for about 40 years, when it was named something else. It works good and lasts a long time. I want, am going to, wait until spring to decide if I'm going to use the radiator I'm using stop leak in or buy a new one, so I'm not going to take it off for repair right now, the stop leak is a temporary thing. The guy at the counter said "we don't have that anymore", I said I was sorry to hear that, you've been carrying it ever since 1976, and before World's Best, it was called ECHLIN something-or-other. He said the reason they don't have it is because it is junk and he wouldn't use it in anything. Went on to rave about what crap it was. I was really going to leave, to chalk it up to ignorance, but then I asked, "Would you believe that I've used it several times over the years and had good results?" He said, "yea but it won't work in modern motors. It eats up the seals". He had the last word, because I am not one to belabor a lost cause. IT'S POWDERED ALUMINUM for crissakes! My question is, do they train these guys to say things like this, or is it my best guess that they hire the first idiot that applies without screening them? CARQUEST is furtherest from my house, but I go the extra mile now, wll from now on. Autozone and Brakes Plus are okay for most common parts, supplies, oil, etc. But I drive right by NAPA now to get to them.
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