mopar jon Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Just wanted to take a poll and get some opinions on your local Autozone, Advance, O'reillys, and NAPA auto parts stores. Do you agree they sell junk and are staffed with morons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsi_tom Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Around here NAPA is good. They have stuff you need. O'Reilly's has some good stuff online, but there are none around here for me to judge. The rest I could do without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Mostly staffed by retards but every once in awhile you'll get an experienced person at any given named auto parts store. I mainly buy my conquest parts online for this reason. Only get my chevy truck parts from either the dealer or O'Reilly's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87redcat Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I worked at an Advance in Pittsburgh when I was in aircraft mech school. We had our share of idiots working there but a bigger share of idiot customers. I see it everwhere. Some people should just not work on cars.Never had a problem with NAPA. They seem to have all the odd stuff nobody else has. And I normally go to Oreilly's to get anything else I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTTY Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Agreed on the NAPA replies , staffed by older and more seasoned peeps who actually remember the Starion and don't think a Conquest is a mini-van . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aknorthstar Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) I had a kid give me steel oil drain plug gaskets for my oem fuel filter. The boss saw that and took over. at Oriellys Edited December 31, 2013 by aknorthstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I prefer Advanced over Autozone. The Advanced in our area is a supply store for other regional stores, so they always have a tons of stock. Rarely do I go in there and they don't have what I need in stock. All Starion/Conquest parts though I order online. Regarding NAPA, all the NAPAs in this area seem to be closing. Wish there were more around. I was really bummed when NAPA closed down the machining end of their business too. But that's the way the auto industry is nowdays - they don't what you working on or replacing anything ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper1355 Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I work at an O'reillys, and while initially I might have disagreed with you, after some staffing changes I see what you mean. NAPA usually hires good people, and as stated, there are good people at other stores here and there. But all these companies have adopted terrible personnel policies and can't keep anyone worth having for very long. As far as parts go, they have good brands, but they cost to much. Even with my employee discount it's often cheaper to order online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I've been pretty lucky, as pretty much all the parts stores I've dealt with have been really good. NAPA has probably been the best, but I did have an excellent AutoZone by my in MI that never let me down and was open 24 hours, so I shopped there mostly. The AutoZone down here is pretty good too, but not as good as the one back in MI. They all seem to have at least some knowledgeable employees... at least knowledgeable enough to NOT ask "You mean Concorde?" when I ask about Conquest parts. A couple have even gotten excited when I brought up the car because they hadn't seen one in a long time. That said, I rarely go to those plaves for SQ parts... I typically just find what I need for SQs online. Oh, one place I WON'T shop.... Pep Boys. I went in there many years ago to buy a set of tires. I wanted larger than stock on purpose... wanted some bigger off roady looking tires on my Celebrity Eurosport winter beater, but they wouldn't sell them to me because they swore up and down they wouldn't fit and would rub constantly. I went to Discount, bought the size I wanted no problem, and they never rubbed a bit. I decided that day that if Pep Boys didn't want my money then, they'd never see any of it ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyW Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Lately I have just been shopping at advanceautoparts.com. You can find what you need in your store, click pick it up at the store and save 20% and pay for it right there. I just wank into the store hand them my invioce and they give me my order. No frustration and I saved 20% to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mopar jon Posted December 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Thats what im finding as well,seems the auto parts stores are looking more into online sales and expanding their commercial departments instead of paying for professional counter help. Its a shame that it has come to this and is more about the bottom line for shareholders then about customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-R-Quest Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 ^^^ BINGO!!! ^^^ Mopar Jon nailed it! That is the number one point driving all auto parts stores; Shareholders. Each store is allocated a % for personnel. If store A is allocated $75,000/yr to staff it's store, and it requires 15 team members, how much do you think each team member is going to make an hour? Do some quick math and you will see why parts stores can't afford to pay decent, knowledgeable personnel. It has been like this for the last 8-10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESTurbo4 Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I worked at Advance Auto for a few years then worked at a more professionally geared mom and pop type store. The Advance with the corporate backing made the employee powerless, clueless and broke. The mom and pop store gave the employee more everything. For example when I worked at Advance a customer tried to return a Pep-Boys battery (said Pro-Start right on it) I refused to return it and told the customer he had bought from Pep-Boys and to go there for his warranty. He insisted he bought it from Advance called Advance's home office and complained. I got written up for mistreating the customer, our store returned his battery for an Advance equivalent and also gave him a $25 gift card for the trouble. I couldn't believe it. The mom and pop store would back the employee up, if I didn't want to return something for whatever reason it didn't get returned. At the garage I run now we use small local chain store called Eastern, its a professional type place. I Rarely use Advance, Zone or Pep Boys (don't have O'Riely's here). But if I were to choose, I'd use Advance because I know what they stock and how their system works. I just look up the parts before going or calling then just give them the part number so they cant screw it up. Whats funny is at times they'll tell me they don't stock an item, I simply say try this number... suddenly they're dumbfounded when its on the shelf right behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) well with my experience that i had years a go at AutoZone...my friend bob went in and asked for an upper radiator hose for his chrysler conquest.they didnt have one. so jokingly i asked for an upper radiator hose for a mitsubishi starion.he had one. so i said they are the same car. the parts guy looked me and said it would not fitthe conquest they are different. Edited December 31, 2013 by importwarrior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntercooledFlatty Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 me - i need a ... for a mitsubishi starion....... counter dood - a wut ? me - try chrysler conquest ...counter dood ?me :lol: ...and walk to the computer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 well with my experience that i had years a go at AutoZone...my friend bob went in and asked for an upper radiator hose for his chrysler conquest.they didnt have one. so jokingly i asked for an upper radiator hose for a mitsubishi starion.he had one. so i said they are the same car. the parts guy looked me and said it would not fitthe conquest they are different. LOL! That's a hysterical story. Along those lines, I was at a car show a few years ago w/ Chris Martin (aka Helrazr70) from SQC here and he was showing the 89 Starion he had at the time. Some admirers came over and after a while of checking it out started insisting that the car was a Conquest and there was never a such thing as a "Starion". Pretty funny claim to make when it's parked right in front of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Thats just crazy! I had people look at my 88 starion i had in the past and wonder what it was as they walked around it.it was Black and had no badges with tinted windows. it was in mint shape. they had no clue what it was. Edited December 31, 2013 by importwarrior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edde Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 It's all hit or miss for me. No O'Reilly's around here and only one Napa that I recall where it is. Not convenient. Have 3 Advances and 1 Zone fairly nearby. I also don't hate the very close by Carquest, their oil filters are Wix. And Pep Boys? LOL. I don't have time enough in a day to wait on those guys. I did get a nice deal on a small boat cover there this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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