Frustrating trip to NAPA yesterday

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67Dart273

67Dart273

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"We are stuck" with a too small NAPA here in town, the one in Post Falls is actually larger, but it's about a 20 mile round trip. The one in Hayden is on stop and go surface roads THAT is no fun

I went in there and there's THREE guys in there I've never seen before, I need a cover gasket for a Dana 60 (the White Whale III) a 5.2 pan gasket and VC gaskets for the Dakota project

COVER GASKET, Dana 60..........Bla bla bla, "Chris do we have cover kjasjdkfjoqwe?"

Chris (I can see his screen from the corner) quotes him a part no I can SEE them pictured

He bla bla bla then says "we don't have any".

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG A DANA 60 HAS BEEN IN USE?"

"Yes" he lies

"And you don't have ANY COVER GASKETS FOR THEM?"

"You said 'cover' "

"NO I DID NOT!!"

Next valve cover gaskets. He looks it up, spins the monitor around and shows me a whole page of various listings, "which one do you want?"

"I want at least OEM quality"

"Well you HAVE TO PICK THE PRICE YOU WANT"

(In other words, I the parts guy know NOTHING at all about these, except the price)

AND THEY DID NOT HAVE THEM IN STOCK!!!!!

I DID finally manage to crowbar a (I hope) pan set and Dana 60 gasket out of him.
 
They only know what the computer tells them - right or wrong. Our NAPA is now the same way except they do have a lots of the old books left. Guess it was too much trouble to throw them out lol!
 
There is one knowledgeable guy left in the one by me. Problem is he is usually handling commercial accounts via phone so I usually end up waiting when I'm looking for something obscure. The clerk in the paint dept knows little more about the product then what the can says. That, and they really pissed me off when they charged me shipping from their wharehouse to the store for an oil pickup for my 360. I can pay shipping to my door and save 2 trips.
 
Regardless which auto parts store you go to, you could get someone pretty green. Unless you want to educate that green person and spend more time in the store, always go in with the brand and part number you want and a backup brand and part number for the part. Less time wasted. To waste even less time, call in advance to see if they have it in stock. The parts chain I frequent, if they don't have the part on the shelf, will order it to their store and call me when it comes in (usually a couple hours later).
 
You must be talking about Lordco. I once half jokingly asked a guy if he had O rings for my /6 drool tubes. He disappeared into the back and came out with a box of them. I almost fell over. Great service, great company I think.
 
Yup, Lordco. They were better in the past. Now that they have driven out most of their competitors, they now carry fewer product lines and their prices have gone up.
 
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67Dart273 I feel your pain.
It was 1974. I had bought my first car, a 1964 Dodge Polara 500. I was a total rookie as far as auto mechanics. My next door neighbor was a master mechanic for the Los Angeles bus system who agreed to teach me how to work on my car. His help was like "Go to Quality Auto Parts and see Charlie. Tell him that you are replacing the front wheel bearings for your car. He'll get you what you need." I went to Quality Auto Parts. On one side of the building there were three bays with various cars three or four deep being worked on. Inside there were shelves with used parts and used engines scattered around the floor. The service desk had grease stained parts books all over the place. There was a dog sitting next to the door and he greeted everyone. Charlie had half a cigar on the side of his mouth, greased stained hands holding a greasy red shop rag, and a look like he just ate something that didn't agree with him.
Charlie: "Whattyawant?"
Me: "John W. told me to see you. I need to replace the wheel bearings on a 1964 Dodge Polara 500."
Charlie: "Disk brakes?"
Me: "Um. I don't know."
Charlie: "You see that brake drum right there to your right? Does your car have those?"
Me: "Uh, yeah."
Charlie: "What size engine?"
Me: "361".
Charlie to a guy behind the counter: "Pete get a set of.......and a can of grease."
Charlie to me: "Kid, have you done this before?"
Me: "No sir."
Charlie: "Kid, you make sure that you get the old grease off of the spindles. ALL OF IT. Put a slab of this grease on one hand, grab the bearing like this, and work the grease into the spaces until you see it squeeze out the other end. Take your time and do it right. John will show you how to replace the races and put everything back together. If he's not around, come back and I will show you. I don't want you coming back here because you messed up! "
Me: "Thank you, sir."
 
It's going to change a LOT in the next few years.

How do you think the chains will handle Amazon's goal of SAME DAY shipping? YOU find the part you want. YOU get it soon enough. YOU stay home and drink beer.
 
jos51700 said:
It's going to change a LOT in the next few years.

How do you think the chains will handle Amazon's goal of SAME DAY shipping? YOU find the part you want. YOU get it soon enough. YOU stay home and drink beer.
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Oh the poor UPS guys lugging rotors around all day.
 
I have had auto parts store guys argue with me.

The minute i walk through the door, they assume I am a damsel in distress who needs "help" and knows nothing about cars.

I ordered a distributor for my 68 dart with a slant and had a hassle explaining to the guy what I wanted because i needed one with electronic ignition but they can not compute anything without a make and model so i had to make up a car that would have had electronic. I already knew they had to order it which really isn't that hard. They told me I will be "sorry" because no way an electronic distributor will fit an older car.



This is why it's easier to order online with no human contact
 
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This is why it's easier to order online with no human contact[/QUOTE]
Rani, you hit the nail on the head, personnel contact. It seems since the cell phone is a permanent fixture in a persons hand, it seems the give and take between people has been blown out the window. look at our own political thread, things being said that would never been said face to face. Go into the parts store, if it is not a quart of oil, good luck discussing what you actually need, seems any conflict and the buck gets passed the the computer doesn't show it routine. A person will comment all day on line,but willing to spend time to actually get something accomplished at work, good grief. Rant over
 
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.
 
I needed brakes on my daily driver, the white chevy in avatar. Well, there are two different rotors for front end. Counter dude knew that part, and knew to look on door jamb to get the correct part number. So, even with the right part number he still gave me the wrong ones. Ended up going to a shop to have them done, needed to replace a caliper cause it rubbed so hard on it. And I only drove around the block. Took them back and store took them back even tho they were junk. Store really had no choice. This store is right around the corner, I will drive farther to get what I need now.
 
As a parts professional, I do feel your pain. I was a store manager at Kragen, before O'Riely bought them out. I had a LARGE commercial account, and mostly, they only wanted to talk to me. I mean by large, LOTS of commercial accounts. BUT I taught my guys what was what. O' Riley is dying to get me back....RRR I think works at O'Riely's. That guy must be dying seeing the counter peoples expertise.
 
I sold parts in a Jap bike shop for many years. They're going to corporate ownership, same as HD Dealers. They're feeling the pinch, too. I just take the paper book from them and look it up myself. Faster and more efficient. Thank God for online parts fiche like RIVA
 
I needed one more brass freeze plug for my small block. One of the major chain stores looked it up and found the part number for this single item. The listed price (on the computer) was twenty dollars and change. I asked the girl clerk if it was made of brass or made of gold? After arguing with her and the manager about how that price was way off base, they insisted that was what I would have to pay. Left angry and went down the street and purchased the same item for a couple of dollars. I don't know when I have ever won an argument when a computer is not on my side.
 
Ah, the good ole days!!!!!! I worked in a garage/filling station when I was 16 that was a lot like you described. Including a dog!

I worked for a short time at Advance Auto before taking my current job. It's really challenging to get quality help at the salary the chains are willing to pay.

One day a half drunk mechanic came in and a newer 20 year old employee helped him. He started in on the poor kid saying "there ain't no way you can help me...I need a clutch, pressure plate and throw-out bearing for a _____" I walked over and said, you need a pilot bearing for it also?? I went back and pulled everything and threw it down on the counter. He never went to anyone else as long as was working there!! I loved it but wasn't getting promoted quick enough.



DFX 340 Duster said:
67Dart273 I feel your pain.
It was 1974. I had bought my first car, a 1964 Dodge Polara 500. I was a total rookie as far as auto mechanics. My next door neighbor was a master mechanic for the Los Angeles bus system who agreed to teach me how to work on my car. His help was like "Go to Quality Auto Parts and see Charlie. Tell him that you are replacing the front wheel bearings for your car. He'll get you what you need." I went to Quality Auto Parts. On one side of the building there were three bays with various cars three or four deep being worked on. Inside there were shelves with used parts and used engines scattered around the floor. The service desk had grease stained parts books all over the place. There was a dog sitting next to the door and he greeted everyone. Charlie had half a cigar on the side of his mouth, greased stained hands holding a greasy red shop rag, and a look like he just ate something that didn't agree with him.
Charlie: "Whattyawant?"
Me: "John W. told me to see you. I need to replace the wheel bearings on a 1964 Dodge Polara 500."
Charlie: "Disk brakes?"
Me: "Um. I don't know."
Charlie: "You see that brake drum right there to your right? Does your car have those?"
Me: "Uh, yeah."
Charlie: "What size engine?"
Me: "361".
Charlie to a guy behind the counter: "Pete get a set of.......and a can of grease."
Charlie to me: "Kid, have you done this before?"
Me: "No sir."
Charlie: "Kid, you make sure that you get the old grease off of the spindles. ALL OF IT. Put a slab of this grease on one hand, grab the bearing like this, and work the grease into the spaces until you see it squeeze out the other end. Take your time and do it right. John will show you how to replace the races and put everything back together. If he's not around, come back and I will show you. I don't want you coming back here because you messed up! "
Me: "Thank you, sir."
Click to expand...
 
Let me ask you guys this: You have a Felpro/ other number for the OEM quality VC gaskets for a 5.2? That is what I need and want in the next few days.
 
67Dart273 said:
Let me ask you guys this: You have a Felpro/ other number for the OEM quality VC gaskets for a 5.2? That is what I need and want in the next few days.
Click to expand...

VS13395

These are the ones I got for my 340. They are the blue stripped cork rubber. Haven't used em yet. But apparently they are an OEM or better quality replacement.
 
^^Uh, thanks but those seem to be LA. I need the factory OEM type for the 5.2/ 5.9

By the way we do not seem to have a Dodge Dealer (parts) here in town anymore
 
I worked in and managed a independent store back on the late 70's. I wouldn't hire a counterman unless hr was a motorhead. Nowdays the HR department will hire you if you have computer experience. I'll bet the ad says "experience not required". I look all mine up b/4 going in.
 
I must be lucky! I go to the locally owned parts house and they have it probably 95% of the time or if I need it then they will call around to the chains which are competitors and locate it or have it for me in the morning. When I was building the 67 GT "decoy" and replacing everything I decided to replace steering sector while everything was out of the way. I went in to see if they could order one for me. Wilbur asked if it was 6 or v8 which it came with 273 but I was running 225 at the time but was planning to build the sb so I said V8 but what is the difference. He said ratio and we have both in stock and same price so whichever one I wanted. It may cost me a little more than the chains but service is worth the difference to me and keep money local and everyone in there knows me and puts it on my account without having to ask
 
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