Anyone here ever deal with LKQ?

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volaredon

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Yeah the big junkyard chain.
They pissed me off yesterday.
I have a Durango with nearly 300k on the body. I replaced the engine and rebuilt the trans at 258k.
Well now the pinion bearings in the front diff are screaming for new ones. I priced a kit and thought about buying it, and rebuilding the existing one.
But in the interest of least downtime, I decided to see if I could find a good used one. I did. Or so I thought.
I looked up one of their pick a part yards and decided I could rebuild mine cheaper and not have to go thru the work of pulling the 2nd one.
Well then I got on ebay and went thru 274 listings for them, about 2/3 of them were at an LKQ somewhere around the country.

And about 1/2 of those, were cheaper than one from their U pulls without me having to pull it myself. So I bought one at the closest location a place I have been to many times before LKQ was invented.
But work is 2x as far from there as home.
That's ok, website said they were open till 6.
So I drove an hour and a half from work to pick it up
It's already paid for via eBay, just have to show them a code number from my phone.
Well I get there and guess what CLOSED!!! I was there just before 5, website says 6. WTF???
So I go to leave and run into an employee coming from a different direction. He says I'm not the 1st, he's been after them to change the website.
He understood but being he isn't a salesman he couldn't access the computer. So I go to leave again and see 4 guys come out of the locked door that I was told to pick this up from. One said they shortened the hours from 5 to 4 because of covid. The website didn't say that. So I asked if since I was there and they were there could they help me...
Answer was no, they hadn't seen an email saying they had sold one of those and no parts can be released w/o the email.so all I got was a "sorry".
I was hoping to install the replacement TODAY.
So I said I'd be back tomorrow, and one of the 4 said they were closed Saturdays. Open M-F 8-4. Website didn't say so. I get off at 3:30 and these clowns are 1-1/2 hours from work. So no way I can get there.
So now I get to lose a day of work and go up there AGAIN, on Monday.
I'd tried calling throughout the day and got put on a long hold and finally a guy in Wisconsin answered then transferred me to this location/ which got me a voicemail box in which I left a message, and never had a return call.
I am going up there Monday again and though I probably won't get it am gonna ask for a discount on my front diff to compensate me for at least my gas and time.
 
Work in a body shop when every cut throat insurance company forces you to buy from Lkq on every damn part you need to repair a vehicle. Then spend the rest of your day crunching the numbers to find price matching opportunities so you don't have to use their junk.
 
Too bad you're not closer. I've got a 3.55 front diff from a '99 just collecting cobwebs...
 
I've have a great relationship with LKQ. Should have bought their stock too. They deliver right to my door and returns are a breeze too. Their Platinum bumpers are better than O.E.M. if you ask me. I mostly buy body parts.
 
Jim Lusk said:
Too bad you're not closer. I've got a 3.55 front diff from a '99 just collecting cobwebs...
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thats the goofy prt... according to interchange tehre were 3 among all the years of Durango. 98-99, 2000 model and 01 model early prod. til 9/11/00 production date then all durangos from 9/12/00 til 2011/ which crosses body style changes.
I can see the 98/99 one being different. Though I don't have one in front of me, the 98/99 still had a real steering gearbox while 00+ went to a rack n pinion. Rumor has it 98/99 are a Dana unit, the 00+ is a in house Chrysler built unit, model C205. But there are different C205s before and after that date in 2000
mine is an 01 but a very early model 01 built in 08-00. so I need the "middle" one.

but the point of the post is horse **** customer service.
the thing is I used to go to this location before LKQ was ever imagined and they used to be a great place to do business. I spent many summer days in that exact yard when they were a u pull in the 80s.....
 
I've never had an issue with LKQ. Gotten a few things from them personally and as outside purchases when I worked for O'Reilly. The girl that works internet orders at the Locust Grove, Georgia location is a hottie.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I've never had an issue with LKQ. Gotten a few things from them personally and as outside purchases when I worked for O'Reilly. The girl that works internet orders at the Locust Grove, Georgia location is a hottie.
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I hear mine is too via my delivery driver. She sure is good at her job.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I've never had an issue with LKQ. Gotten a few things from them personally and as outside purchases when I worked for O'Reilly. The girl that works internet orders at the Locust Grove, Georgia location is a hottie.
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send her to blue Island IL..... maybe it can make all the hassle somehow worth dealing with....
Something funny, on Google review about 1/2 the replies are great, BUT most of those say you gotta deal with this one particular guy. the rest of the Google reviews deal with rudeness, long hold times on the phone, (if they ever get back to you), etc.
 
volaredon said:
send her to blue Island IL..... maybe it can make all the hassle somehow worth dealing with....
Something funny, on Google review about 1/2 the replies are great, BUT most of those say you gotta deal with this one particular guy. the rest of the Google reviews deal with rudeness, long hold times on the phone, (if they ever get back to you), etc.
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Yeah I admit they do have "their way" of doing business. That's for sure.
 
Pick-your-part out here...Yards are a mess, parts everywhere, stinks of urine. Cant walk between cars without stepping over whole front ends or worse. Cant find 4 matching rims to save your life (I lucked out and found 4 with 1 lug on each of them..? Turns out 1 had a frozen lug that would not come off with a lug wrench alone so they probably put the other 3 back on. I used a 8 foot piece of cheater exhaust pipe on my T bar wrench and cracked that last lug off and bought them) They charge more for a janky used liftgate cylinder than 2 new ones costs on Amazon. They have 2 of 6 windows open on weekends and the line is 30 minutes long to purchase. Core charges are steep, 3 weeks to return cores or you lose. Cant part out a carburetor, door or transmission anymore, charge you full door price for a regulator! Oh...and when you get an email saying they have a certain model that "just came in" BS! It has been there at least a week and is usually just a gutted out shell when you get there. Ive scored a few parts there, but the time and hassle of pulling the part. etc. you may want to consider used and mailed from another source. Not what is used to be when they (pick-a-part?) were not corporate and had whole motors pulled and on dollys for $149 in a corral!

>> PS if its raining when you pay the enterance fee, it supposed to be 25% off. <<
 
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MOPARMAGA said:
LKQ, man where does this LGBT stuff stop ? Lol
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Lol. LKQ started out a an insurance acronym for Like, Kind and quality. So basically inmrans used original equipment manufacture. I can't count how many times I have received "LKQ" parts but they were aftermarket. Nope, cant use that. Credit me that and send another one
That ones on the dismantle
Just look man, says made in Taiwan right on it.
 
well all i know is that picking from LKQ is most times more expensive than finding the parts you need off of craigslist or the like. I went in for plastic dash pieces for my Sonoma and two vents and one radio bezel thing later, it was almost 60$. Holy ****! And both of the radio bezel vents were stuck!
criminals.

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

like come on...
 
We got one in town about 15, 20 years ago
They bought our our local u-pick and cherry picked all the good parts for their warehouse
 
Bodyperson said:
Lol. LKQ started out a an insurance acronym for Like, Kind and quality. So basically inmrans used original equipment manufacture. I can't count how many times I have received "LKQ" parts but they were aftermarket. Nope, cant use that. Credit me that and send another one
That ones on the dismantle
Just look man, says made in Taiwan right on it.
Click to expand...
Got it, yes I am one of those guys who likes to say dumb jokes
 
Well took off at noon, I really shouldn't have had to for this, been sitting here waiting for a couple hours, they can't find my order.
I guess I was supposed to have gotten an email with an order number, I never did.
 
How much more of this before it would have been cheaper to get a brandy new one?
 
not possible to get a new front diff assembly for a 2001 Durango these days.
I could have bought a kit to rebuild for about the same money which I plan to do anyway, later//(diff housing has to come out for clearance to remove carrier and ring gear, cant be done within the chassis) and at this point I want to pull one, swap in a good used one and drive on. Less downtime. Even among Ebay there were other sellers wanting 3 to 5 times more money for what I am after, than I paid. Which I do not have. It is a good deal, and with a 6 mo warranty to boot.
The one counter guy was busier than a 1 legged man in a kicking contest/ between the counter and the phone. I heard him tell someone there was a calloff today.
and some of the walk ins were clueless about what they really needed..... I had looked at the Google reviews, and this guy is the guy whose name comes up for the best service.... I can see why that is.... and people say that if someone else does answer the phone, hold out for him.... I tried calling 9X and wound up at voice mail, more times that I hung up before the VM prompt kicked in, never got thru.
There were 3 different numbers in teh Ebay ad pertaining to what I went there for..... none were this "workorder" number or "order" number.... He needed one or the other to tell me when I can get what I went for.... I got an Email with a work order number a 1/2 hour after I left (again) empty handed.... I have an Email from Ebay saying "PAID" but nothing in their Ebay ad tells of their process..... this would save much grief and aggravation.

I did contact them via Ebay, I sent that in over the weekend, and they replied at 9:30 this morning and asked if I still wanted it or if I wanted to cancel... Im guessing that put my order "on the side" / "on hold" (just my guess) while they waited for me to get back to them which I wasn't able to do til around 1, had to come home and do it off my home computer because my phone started getting stupid on me..... I wish they described their "process" more clearly in their ads.... I thought (assumed?) that they had the part in any given ad, off and ready to slide across the counter at whatever location across the country they have listed in their ad..... nothing is mentioned in their ad. In the emails I have gotten from them since (cant physically talk to anyone there) it was more clearly described, and in general terms they say "item listed, may not currently be present at current time".
 
I ran a bodyshop for quite awhile. Now im on the insurance side. I can tell you when i write estimates for our insureds i avoid lkq and a few others if possible. If the car is it a shop i actually ask them who they prefer and i try to use them first.
 
Did you ever get your part?
 
nope. I just got the "work order" number 1/2 hour after I left there today. That is some kind of internal code for them, to pull (I was asssuming from the shelf/ may be from truck) says I need that and an "order number" that starts with "129......" which I do not have yet. I had 3 different numbers from the Ebay sale, that the guy couldn't cross reference so i gotta wait for another Email with that "129..... " number, at that point it will be there and ready to pick up.
Drove up there Friday, 6 hours after I bought my front diff, found out they changed hours from what website claimed.
Took off work 3 hours early today (Monday) drove up there, only employee on desk sales, valiantly tried to find my order and my front diff, came away empty handed again Got one of the 2 internal LKQ reference numbers I need fror him to find it 1/2 hour after I left, right at their closing time. so I couldnt have been able to go back today even with that, during their "real" hours.
but a complete front diff for an 01 Durango for $85 with tax ready to drop in? Won't be able to duplicate that, unless someone like us has one sitting on their garage floor collecting dust. The online price at their U pull a mile down the road was even $35 more, not even considering the core, which isnt even a consideration thru Ebay.
and then besides paying more I gotta lay on my back and pull it. and teh warranty is better, without having to pay extra for it.
I wanna pick it up, put my Durango on my 2 post lift and swap it out, while standing up/
 
and "Lenky" I see youre in Illinois? Me too (unfortunately) This is the the LKQ location in Blue Island I am trying to deal with. (used to be a yard called "A-Reliable" before LKQ bought em out) ain't reliable no more/ in the 80s and 90s I spent lotsa time in this yard and lots of money....
Listening to the guy behind the counter ask questions to get the right part for callers, I cannot believe all the questions they gotta ask to get the right version of a part that people need these days..... I miss the days when parts for any car you were working on, could come from a 10 year window, and off of more than 1 model of a brand, and often from either of 2-3 nameplates..... Hell, for this front diff, there is a before/after build date, that applies/ specifically to the 01s..... mine is an early build, "before" 9/11/00
 
Yeah im in Illinois. Im down south by st louis. Its a different world down here but unfortunately its still the same government.
 
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