How can you tell when it's time to leave the parts store?

[Cobrabill]

A friend when into a Auto Zone store:
Mike: I need an oil filter for a '59 pontiac with 389ci engine.
Clerk: We don't have those. It's not in the computer so we don't have those.
Mike: (Reaching over the counter grabbing a book) It's in here.
Clerk: It can't be, everything in there is in the computer and I don't have training for the manuals.

[Silverback51]

That's sad, but becoming all to common.

[fsstnotch]

I have these sorts of problems ALOT with my race car. I have learned not to bother asking them to look up a part. I research it myself before I go down there and just tell them the part # and brand. I also have a shelt in my garage dedicated to old part boxes that I've got from them so that it cuts the time on certain things like ball joints. I run different ball joints upper and lower than what the car is so they can never figure it out. It's so much easier to just give them the part # so they don't have to do any work.

On the other hand, My best friend from high school is an autozone store manager in Columbus OH. He had a 4 year degree and makes 75k per year. I was amazed! I never knew they made that kind of money. He loves it! he gets paid decent, gets to work with something he enjoys, and gets a NIICE discount on parts for his vehicles.

[trularin]

I buy a lot of stuff from AutoZone, they have great prices compared to the other stores.

Haven't met the type of guy you ran into.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

A friend when into a Auto Zone store:
Mike: I need an oil filter for a '59 pontiac with 389ci engine.
Clerk: We don't have those. It's not in the computer so we don't have those.
Mike: (Reaching over the counter grabbing a book) It's in here.
Clerk: It can't be, everything in there is in the computer and I don't have training for the manuals.

Same thing at our local AZ here.....but,thankfully we have an "old time" parts store that is run by 2 drag racers.They rarely use a computer, instead they use the "old time" manuals, and know the most common part #'s by heart....I guess that's why they are still in business..........if they don't have it, they can usually get it the next day.......

David

[J. T. Toad]

I will never forget... at a ***** (store),

DING, I enter said store....

I need any starter (I think that is what it was) for a 351W..

what year and make?

It won't match, it's for a kit car.

I can't get you any part with a year and make. What kind of kit is it?

A cobra.

Oh so a Mustang!

okay, if you have a starter which will fit the block, I will take it.

ok, what year?

grrr... 1967?

huh? they didn't make those then.... how about an '85.

never mind, I will wait an extra day and get it from Summit, thanks for the help.

Dong.... freakin' A

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by J. T. Toad

I will never forget... at a ***** (store),

DING, I enter said store....

I need any starter (I think that is what it was) for a 351W..

what year and make?

It won't match, it's for a kit car.

I can't get you any part with a year and make. What kind of kit is it?

A cobra.

Oh so a Mustang!

okay, if you have a starter which will fit the block, I will take it.

ok, what year?

grrr... 1967?

huh? they didn't make those then.... how about an '85.

never mind, I will wait an extra day and get it from Summit, thanks for the help.

Dong.... freakin' A

You must have gone to the same one I did (Clovis/Kings Canyon) or maybe they rotate the morons.

Not sure it has to do with the store brand...just morons moving up through the job market. They all get their training at the DMV.

Luckily...have a couple of good folks working at the local Pep Boys, and the guys at the Napa distribution center know their stuff as well.

[J. T. Toad]

Originally Posted by Jamo

You must have gone to the same one I did (Clovis/Kings Canyon) or maybe they rotate the morons.

LOL
Ashlan/Marks. Must be a rotation!

[Ronbo]

You went to AZ expecting some kid to know you need a starter from a vehicle mfg'd before he was born?

I'll help you out any Ford / Merc full size mfd. between 73 and 81 like LTD's, Tbirds, Marquis, Monterey. The 351w was the base engine for these cars, the 460 was the other option.

Best bet is to seek out the old guy at NAPA when in doubt, AZ is a good place to get parts for your Toyota...

[fsstnotch]

I find Oriellys to have the best prices... .but that could be because everyone in the store knows me by name and car and they usually give me employee discount. Too many bad experiences at autozone. I almost made a guy eat a harmonic balancer that he claimed I broke by dropping it(which I hadn't). then he proceeded to show me the mustang tatooed on his back as if to be a mustang god! Finally he warrantied the part and I went home to find the same problem as the original. It was too big for the crank. It just slid right on without any pressure. They wouldn't warranty it again so I had to get a friend at oriellys to warranty the autozone part which was the same as they carry. Only difference is that of the 3 autozones I tried, the oriellys one was the only one that mic'd out to whta it should have been. This is the result of having a balancer go out and not being able to wait for summit because you have to drive it to work the next day. It held for about 2 weeks then it went out as i was lightly accelerating from a red light about 2 blocks fromthe house.

BTW, part.... made in china. Go figure!

[wtm442]

Don't ya just love some counter people!

While on vacation in Hilton Head SC a couple of years ago, I decided to buy a new set of golf clubs. So I looked in the Yellow pages and found a superstore that does custom fitting by a PGA pro for $125.

So I called the store ...


Hello, may I help you?

Yes, can you tell me where you are located?




At the front desk .......


I was laughing so loud the poor dumb bastard hung up!

True Story.

[trularin]

fsstnotch, did you just break that?

What was it off?

The reason I ask is I have one off of a 1971 Boss 351 that is not being used.

[Wayne Maybury]

I guess that we are all running into this. I hate trying to get a part if I do not have the part number. You know the routine, you need a wheel bearing and they want to know if the car has air conditioning. Many of the younger people behind the parts counter have very little parts knowledge so they rely totally on the computer.

I also love it when this parts guy is fumbling with the computer looking for my part and the phone rings. He immediately stops serving me and answers the phone then spends 10 minutes looking up a part for some guy that almost certainly will not come in to actually purchase it. I have actually used my cell phone to call the parts counter guy that is 5 feet in front of me because I knew I would get faster service.

Wayne

[imagine2frolic]

Let's say you get the part. Now try, and make change. The part being $14.07, and you hand them a twenty, 4 ones, and seven cents. All you want is a ten back. What you get is a deer caught in the headlight look. They have no idea you just want a 10 dollar bill back. Of course this is not exclusive to parts stores!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fsstnotch]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

Let's say you get the part. Now try, and make change. The part being $14.07, and you hand them a twenty, 4 ones, and seven cents. All you want is a ten back. What you get is a deer caught in the headlight look. They have no idea you just want a 10 dollar bill back. Of course this is not exclusive to parts stores!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have done this and the guy has given me a $5 and 5 $1's! haha Like I gave him 4 so it was easier to count or somehting! haha

Tru, that was about a year, well... 2 yrs now since I've ben in isolation for a year! haha

I've got some really wicked pics from a sandstorm we had today. I thought the devil himself was going to decend upon us today!

[Bill Bess]

Ya Guys, it a sign of the times!

Back in the day..about 40 years ago every parts counter had people that were "professionals", they knew their stuff, ...books, codes, parts numbers, cross reference numbers and of course parts.
If you were a regular customer ...you got the discount, oh ya..they also most likely had a machineshop in the back room so they could turn those brake drums and fit the shoes. They also knew you by name and could actually help you find a part locally if they didn't have it, and yes, get it the same day.
In addition there was never a problem with exchanges, they would just take it back as long as you didn't use it for more than a week....Ha.. Ha!

Last but not least they (we), knew how to count back change and add in our heads...what a concept.
Yes computers are great, but they have enabled us to become weak none thinkers and a bit lazy...ain't life grand.

In Lake Havasu City ,AZ. Napa is the only real parts house we have, but Autozone and the others are always the second choices.

Happy days and best regards, Bill