At eht zone up the street from my house, they know my name and face. I walk in goto a machine and look the shit up myself and then have them dig it out for me. Another zone gets pissed when I look up my own shit, theyd rather I stand In a line of 15 people and then wait for the ONE guy to take my year make and model info. I just dont get it.
At the Roundup over the weekend, I was having some cooling issues. I determined it was my crappy low profile fan, so I thought I would see if the local Autozone or Oreilly down on South Congress had one. Went to Autozone first. The young girl at the counter asked what I needed. I asked "Do you sell universal flex fans, like Flex-A-Lite?". She looked at me like I had just spoken to her in some kind of alien language. She turned to the manager and asked, "Do we sell universe flexible fans?" The manager immediately said "I'll take this one." The manager was very helpful. They didn't have any universal fans in stock, but she knew to pull up some later model reverse rotation flex fans for SBF. The ones they had in stock were too big, but she knew exactly how to look up parts just based on the description. Cross the street to O'Reilly. Same question. The woman at the counter knew exactly what I was looking for. She ran to the back and brought out a stack of Hayden flex fans. A couple of them were reverse rotation like I needed, but were to big (19"). She spologized for not having what I needed and suggested I try the NAPA down the street. My local Autozone within walking distance of my house knows me by name and comps little stuff for me all the time. The manager is a 5.0 Mustang guy, so he usually knows what I need when I'm buying engine related parts. I guess it all depends on the competence of the individual clerks. I still prefer my local NAPA. A couple of those guys have been there forever and have half the catalog memorized! BTW - I grabbed a 10" fan at the Roundup from the A/C vendor for $12, installed it as a pusher/helper fan on the front of the radiator and ran super-cool the rest of the weekend!
Being 17, I'm so glad I've had the upbringing I've had. Helped my dad repaint his buick and do the interior when I was 10; Car shows all my life. It's been great learning everything as I grow up. I've worked at a trailer business and am now at a marina where I'm going on my third summer. I've been so lucky to be able to learn under the direction of the head mechanic who must be pushing 70 this year, and hes taught me how to rebuild carbs and starters. The irony is the business owner bitches about him taking too long to put new brushes in a starter, because he can make more money replacing the whole starter. Thats where the problem lies.
Before you get all jacked up on NAPA let me run this past you. I bought a 89 Chevy Dually, 454, etc...there we have that out of the way. I go to NAPA because I had been having better luck with them than the other two. I'm looking for an alternator. I buy one take it home an install it. Battery light comes on. Checked the connections all the way through the system and everything is connected properly. My son say's Dad I'll bet it's the alternator..don't you remember the time I had to get three from Autozone before I got one that worked? Hum...I reach for the volt meter and check the output voltage...11.8 volts. I go back to NAPA and exchanged it and buy a new belt, this was on Friday. On Sunday my son and I stall the alternator and the belt. The belt is too big. It's Sunday and gues what? NAPA is closed on Sunday. I have two days a week to work on my shit and their closed on Sunday. I go to the PEP boys and get a belt. I take the old belt and explain it's too big and need one that is one inch shorter. The turd behind the counter gives me this shitty look and reaches around the counter and says "well this one is one inch shorter". I measure it against the NAPA belt and he right. Took the stuff home and installed it. Things work fine now. It only took the better part of two days to replace an alternator and belt. GEEZ, back in the seventies I could have done this in an hour. Now I'm gun shy as ever to go to a parts store. I've got more stories but I going home to install a light on the same truck. I got the light out of a junk yard that, according to the asshat behind the counter, they didn't have. The light from the Chevy dealer was $90 bucks and 3 days delivery. Pray to the great white parts gods folks, we're losing the battle.
I have read a few of the comments on this post. I believe it is unfair to blame the counter salespersons for the difficulties that arise. Yes they are instructed on how to sell a part. Yes they have computers to look parts up. Yes they probably have parts books too. The main problem is the corporate people. They are just too cheap to make up an old car database for their customers. I would think it wouldn't be that hard and time consuming. So go prepared with a part# when you go to the chains and maybe if you are lucky you will find someone that is interested in selling a part and not pretending to be a corporate robot.
Had a 59 Chevy with 283 and had a leaky rear main seal. My dad said, don't buy good oil, just buy re-refined oil. Got from the old Hudson station for about a buck a gallon (you furnished the container), man that stuff stunk and was thick as a brick. Put it in till I did the valve job and found 2" thick crud in the valley. Cleaned up the engine and brought it back to life. Put a spin on oil filter and dad said "What the hell are you doing?" I said keeping the damn engine clean with a filter and good valvoline oil. BTW he was too cheap to get the optional cannister filter when he bought it new.
Question: Why are'nt there anymore "auto giants or auto parts warehouses" where you go in (looks like a auto parts Costco) and find your own damn parts. Their prices were really decent and if you needed help there were counter people too. Used to find all the old stuff, had all the catalogs out on the floor. Miss those places!
I've got a couple of really good places. Engler Bros. in Santa Monica is number one. I was getting a rteplacement bulb for my friends 62nova part #1034 I was at autozone and couldn't find it. I had a new bulb in my hand that looked the same so I called Engler Bros. told the guy I needed a 1034 bulb. he said oh you working on a camaro or a nova or something? then proceeded to tell me they changed the number to 1157 which was the package I had in my hand. I looked at it and hung it up on the shelf and drove 20 minutes to buy the part from Engler, any store that knows what I'm doing without a hassle and anybody who can tell me what a part number is off of the top of their head wins my business any day of the week. others are SC auto parts and Diamond auto parts both in the valley. Diamond is cool because they don't pretend that they're the all knowing keepers of parts and will listen to you in order to detertmine and fulfill your needs. SC is cool because it's a pre requisite thart you actually have an old car before you can work there. for hot rodders,lowrider's,muscle car boy's by the same lot.
You're pretty sharp for 17. sounds like you had an excellent upbringing. Sounds like you and the head mechanic could school that owner on some ethics. If someone does the right job at a good price for me I'm their customer for life, I'll even pay a little extra if I know I'm being taken care of and not taken advantage of.
The parts store see no profit in small quantity items such as gen brushes etc, time is money and as long they can hire someone that can use a 'puter thats all they want. I have had good luck with Napa especially with flathead parts (carb rebuild etc)Auto Zone, Checkers ?? good place for people that couldn't pass a G E D in my opinion
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