Frustrating trip to NAPA yesterday

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belmateo said:
Time to move
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Herb McCandless suggested I should move in the early 90's.
He said, have you ever considered moving, after I told him about the machine work or lack of, in the area. lol
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
This day and age you better look up your own part numbers and walk into the door with it.
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They will still hassle you for a make and model and want to go through a cookie cutter routine. You might just overwhelm them with a part number, then you will have to wait for a manager
 
Unless your buying replacement parts for a vehicle that is the same way it left the dealers lot, your in trouble at most all parts stores especially the chain stores. Unless you walk into a store and you happen to talk to RRR. But that is the exception, not the rule.
 
They must not pay much. At my local chain store the turn over is crazy. I always get my part no. from their website then call to see if its in stock or needs to be ordered. They ask me if a 340 is a v6 or v8 or whats the liters. Had to give up on getting valve seals. Ordered them online.
 
aaronk785 said:
They must not pay much. At my local chain store the turn over is crazy. I always get my part no. from their website then call to see if its in stock or needs to be ordered. They ask me if a 340 is a v6 or v8 or whats the liters. Had to give up on getting valve seals. Ordered them online.
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Stopped by the local AZ today to pick up a tube of NeverSeize,,,they were out, the girl behind the counter tried to sell me caliper grease, she said that caliper grease works just like NeverSeize,,, it has to be tough of folks that actually depend upon the folks behind the counter.
 
All the chains have websites. Be your own part guy, and look up your part numbers.
While your at it, write down the website price. Pretty simple.
You know the pimple faced snot head behind the counter is going to piss you off, going in.
Make it simple for the kid. Problem solved.

Or do what a many folks are doing, and do your shopping online.
Rock Auto, Summit, etc etc.
 
67Dart273 said:
So you have personally used these and know what they are?
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Haven't. Never had a magnum motor. They are the only felpro numbers I could find though. Felpro says they are an OEM replacement of better quality.
 
The problem is that if you go to NAPA's site they list something like 6 part numbers and don't tell you squat about what is what. I did find a dealer here that would order OEM from Portland. I think he said they are 35 bucks. that might be worth it rather than buying a couple of different types THAT LEAK LMAO
 
aaronk785 said:
They must not pay much. At my local chain store the turn over is crazy. I always get my part no. from their website then call to see if its in stock or needs to be ordered. They ask me if a 340 is a v6 or v8 or whats the liters. Had to give up on getting valve seals. Ordered them online.
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Usual is 10.00 -12.00 bones an hour, unless you know a specialized skill set(s.. Paint mixing , considerable experience of actual automotive knowledge, or handling commercial accounts) ...
No one wants to learn a trade, anymore.... O Reilly's seems to hire the most experienced people, locally. Still doesn't pay ,what they are worth.
 
I stopped going to NAPA for two reasons. First, the one by me acts like they don't really care for walk in, non professionals. Second, every single time I go in there, the counter guys are different. Believe it or not, I have really good luck with the local Advance Auto store. They do have some turn over, but I always wait for one of the guys I know. Plus, I have done some powder coating for some of them really cheap, and they hook me up.
 
Abodybomber said:
Usual is 10.00 -12.00 bones an hour, unless you know a specialized skill set(s.. Paint mixing , considerable experience of actual automotive knowledge, or handling commercial accounts) ...
No one wants to learn a trade, anymore.... O Reilly's seems to hire the most experienced people, locally. Still doesn't pay ,what they are worth.
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I have had better luck with O'reillys than NAPA as well.
 
Just thought of something else I wanted to say. I was an assistant manager at a big Western Auto store for 5 years after I got out of the Air Force in 1993. We paid our full time parts guys about $8 to $10 per hour. This was the same as EVERY other parts store in town. I talked to several people all the way up to senior management at the headquarters in Kansas City about their pay. I said that if we paid them $2 more per hour than they could get anywhere else, we'd have the best parts guys in town with lower (if not zero) turn over, and it would only cost $80 per week per full time employee. Everybody thought it was a stupid idea. They would rather put up with 25% - 50% annual turnover and pay less.
 
Lustle said:
As a partsman myself. I feel your pain.

I generally don't go into the counter to ask for anything. I look it up. Get a number. Call them, or better yet if their website lets you, I look it up to see where it is. Then I go and get it. That way I only have myself to blame if I look it up wrong. And I can avoid the whole "You got a vin number" garbage. Especially since my car is made from probably a couple different donor vehicles.

Prime example. Replaced my master cylinder couple weeks ago. I searched around. Found the one for my car. Looked it up on NAPA and Autovalue. NAPA could have it in a couple days. I reserved it online on friday. Got a call the next week when it was in. Went in and got it. When I wanted a banjo bolt for the front discs. I looked it up. Said they have stock. I walked in and told them the number. Got it.

Not that the guys here aren't pretty knowledgeable. I come from a pretty serious car city. We have an entire weekend dedicated just to cars. They shut down probably a KM of main road just to have a "controlled" car cruise. There was 950 cars registered for the cruise last year. And they turned away at least 250 cars after that. And most of the parts guys at the automotive stores around here are those same car guys. So they can be excellent. But of course there is always the "it's just a job" type that don't really care about what they do.

Prime example of not knowing what to do? I was changing my rear gears. Going to a 4.10 setup. I was calling around. Pricing it out. Called one of the Dodge dealerships in town.

"I need 4.10 gearset for an 8-3/4 rear end. 489 case."
"Do you have the VIN number of the car."
"Yes, but this rear end is out of a different vehicle. I don't have that VIN."
"Oh we can only look it up by VIN."
"So you can't find rear gears for a 8-3/4 489 case without the vin?"
"No."
"Alrighty then." click

Needless to say. I didn't buy my gears from them.
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I did a bearing -oil pump check on my 440/505 a couple of weeks ago, had to go to a speed shop and order milodon oil pump gasket and o-ring. Non of the dealers had any info on a 440 at all, and didn`t have a clue what I was talking about. How many mopar engines are out there that take the same gaskets? literally millions !
 
toolmanmike said:
I have had better luck with O'reillys than NAPA as well.
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napa around here charges shipping for every item they sell. even the speed shops dont do that, they have a truck coming from Kansas city every day anyway !
 
toolmanmike said:
I have had better luck with O'reillys than NAPA as well.
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I should clarify that. My NAPA still has catalogs and 2 seasoned countermen that know how to use them. Saying that, NAPA will be the last place I will go for electrical/ electronics.
 
I shop based on the following criteria, and it can be time intensive, but saves rework. This also leads me to the damn dealer more than I care to think about.

Is the part a piece of ****? USA made moves to the head of the class every time. Calling and asking then to look saves big time here. I also look for parts that are BETTER than what I'm replacing, in that they solve the root problem. E.g. Moog Problem Solver

Is the parts person knowledgeable enough to get me the part I want/need? Local hardware guy didn't know the difference in 3/16 and 3/8 fuel line yesterday, and he was in his fifties. I now know who's at the bottom of the call list.

Who had it in stock? Online often loses here just because I can't check the first two steps. I don't know what I'm REALLY receiving.

Is a used version better than what's available new? Sadly, this is often the case, especially when the new parts are chinesium.

Note: I have the luxury that cost is not a factor on this list. It's not that I'm rich, I'm just in a position where fixing it right is the higher priority. Not all are so lucky.
 
You hit the nail on the head and its still the same way. Pay squat and put up with turnover. Goes to show you that customer service is not a priority...unfortunately. So, they keep putting profits first and more and more people go online to buy. Makes no business sense to me. Well, if all you care about is quarterly earnings...I guess it makes good business sense.


harrisonm said:
Just thought of something else I wanted to say. I was an assistant manager at a big Western Auto store for 5 years after I got out of the Air Force in 1993. We paid our full time parts guys about $8 to $10 per hour. This was the same as EVERY other parts store in town. I talked to several people all the way up to senior management at the headquarters in Kansas City about their pay. I said that if we paid them $2 more per hour than they could get anywhere else, we'd have the best parts guys in town with lower (if not zero) turn over, and it would only cost $80 per week per full time employee. Everybody thought it was a stupid idea. They would rather put up with 25% - 50% annual turnover and pay less.
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Well I gave NAPA a chance. I needed a fan clutch. O Reillys and NAPA were about $100. RockAuto was $60 shipped for the same exact part.
 
famous bob said:
napa around here charges shipping for every item they sell. even the speed shops dont do that, they have a truck coming from Kansas city every day anyway !
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That was one of my problems with NAPA. Charged shipping on a part to the store. I can order online save 2 trips, 2+ hours time, and $10 gas, pay shipping and come out ahead.
 
I had a good friend working at an Advance Auto. That particular store had parts books, Keystone, Action crash, and whatever else. He would take time to pull books, look up, and order stuff for me. He was getting Spectra gas tanks, rebuilt transmissions, and other oddball stuff for me. Man, I miss him working there. They have the capability. At that point in time Advance would send certain employees for ASE cert. I guess to give them some kind of background. He was one of them, but he was a gearhead long before.
 
The Advanced here in town sucks. I've been in there maybe 6-8 times and every single time I could not find anyone who knew anything.
 
One thing you will find, The parts stores that are open from 7am-10pm daily and on the weekends usually can't staff their stores with top notch partsmen. The smart guys work 8-5 M-F and a occasional Saturday.
 
I like NAPA's online site to get part numbers but won't leave the house until I call the store and verify they have it in stock.
 
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