ADVANCE AUTO PARTS - REALLY ANNOYED WITH YOU AT THE MOMENT

Bit of a rant here by me but here we go.

Putting together an order for the water pump replacement on my Sierra Denali and was going to use Advanced Auto Parts because they are less than a mile from my house and I try to support the local business and generally the people in the store are very good (I use the commercial desk).

Anyway the water pump gaskets THAT DON'T COME WITH THE NEW WATER PUMP are listed in there on line store as follows

$12.99 each (2 required) in stock - Felpro

$4.99 for a pair out of stock - Felpro

Yes same parts I looked it up. 

I hate the BS.  So I am going to have to spend $25.98 + tax to purchase two individual gaskets where as I can pay $4.99 for a pair of them but it will take who knows how long to get them because they are none in stock in any of the other local stores meaning it will have to be shipped in from there regional warehouse.

I wanted to get this project done this weekend and I was willing to spend the extria $60 or so to get the parts today versus Rock Auto but this is probably the tipping point that will result in me just going to Rock Auto.  To me that just screams we are screwing you.  I hate this.  There is no better way to get me to not shop some place than to make me feel like I am getting screwed.  I don't mind paying a little bit more to support the local economy but that is just smiling in my face and steeling from me.    

  /Rant

But the Chinese water pump that will last about 2 years will be so cheap it makes up for it.

Advance is on my b list now also,  counter  monkey rudeness

Dude, advance auto parts is not a place you should consider as a local business.

Gives local people jobs. 

It's entirely possible that I, an employee of a different auto parts chain, usually get my parts from rock auto or amazon if I'm not in a hurry to get whatever job I need that part for done that day. Unless it's a 30% employee discount weekend, then I might grab some stuff I know I'll need later. Of course that's partially because half the time I go in there needing stuff when I'm not working I get customers recognizing me and asking me dumb questions. 

Are you sure the cheaper gaskets aren't 'paper' and the more expensive ones metal-backed? They sell them both ways for LS motors. If they were truly the same i doubt there would be two separate listings and prices. I've never seen that before..

In reply to Vigo :

Looks like the website doesn't list material but the picture certainly shows what looks like 2 metal/rubber gaskets. 

EDIT: Got curious and it looks like this isn't just an Advance problem. Autozone has them priced exactly the same and Napa is within a few cents. Looks like Napa might stock the pair in store at least though. 

No one's suggested just using gasket sealer... should I not suggest it as well?

Probably someone took the gaskets out of the box to replace damaged ones from another box, then forgot to send the pump back.

Don't buy gaskets, take the pump back as missing parts.

I stopped going to Advance when I purchased my Miata. It had a jacked up rear caliper that wouldn't retract and the e-brake gear was jammed inside. Went down to Advance and tried to order a caliper and first the old guy behind the counter sits there and insists that there are none available, and that nobody makes a rear caliper for a Miata anymore. I call BS and then he manages to find a remanufactured caliper for $140. Okay, not ideal, but sure. Wait a week for it to arrive, go pick it up and they ordered one for the wrong side. Go back, get them to order another, wait another 2 weeks and try to install it and the caliper is all full of rust and steel shot from the rebuild and is absolute junk. Take it back to Advance and show the guy that the caliper is full of rust and jammed, and the guy goes "Well, can't you clean it out?" No I can't just clean it out, and even if I could, for $140 I shouldn't have to. So then had to wait another 2 weeks for a third one to arrive and that's finally the winner. 5 weeks for a caliper? Yeah, screw you, I'm using Rock.

I still like them for brake cleaner bogo sales and occasional i need it now parts, but I generally can order online OEM parts of the genuine gm, delco, or mopar variety for the same or less than store brand crap.  Last cardone caliper i got was broken internally and almost cost me being able to make the $2016 challenge.  

It’s pretty cool when you go in and the counter guy asks if you’ve done any more badass LS swaps since last time though.  Apparently i’ve got a reputation around here.  

Ive found Advance to be annoying as well but lets not all jump on the Rock Auto bandwagon cause before long that's all were gonna have left and they'll start jacking us around too. I tired supporting my local NAPA store and those guys are higher than giraffes Bob Costas.

I have been in this exact situation with Advance Auto Parts.

A few months ago, I had a to buy another $100 water pump on a Sunday afternoon just so I could use the gaskets and get my truck back together before Monday morning.

Anybody need a brand new water pump* for their Toyota Tacoma?

*gaskets not included

As soon as I hear “we don’t have it but we can order it” I usually say “No thanks, I’ll order it”, hop on the internets (usually Amazon or eBay for me in Alaska) and order the part. If I’m gonna wait a couple weeks anyway, I’m saving the money and having it shipped to my house. 

Ive actually had good luck with my local subaru dealership for parts for my outback, both in terms of pricing and availability. 

I have found that Amazon has been a really good place to get parts. I have prime So the two day shipping is usually good. 

My problem with RockAuto is there shipping can be all over the map in terms of price and time. I also had a bad experience with them with pricing. Loging  in to my account got me one price while going to my wife’s computer up stairs netted  me a lower price (i was not logged on).  This was not a computer cash problem. I proved it was repeatable. I raised the issue here in a thread with photos and brought the matter to RockAutos attention and never got an answer that I considered real. Instead I got condescending answers that never addressed the matter. This tells me that I caught them dipping in to my wallet and as stated above there is nothing that will get me to shop elsewhere faster than a company trying to rip me off. 

My advice with rock auto is make sure cookies are turned off and shop while not logged in and clear your cash. Take screen shots of your final parts list and then and only then log in and order checking you prices. Maybe they have fixed it now as this was a couple years ago but I don’t think I have purchased from them since and that is sad since I use to use them for everything. 

I used to do 90% of my parts purchasing at the local Advance. Now, I rarely go in there and if I do I have to have already looked up the part # online so I can tell them what to get. The help behind the counter is nearly useless. I have learned that I can just order stuff online and get it delivered to my door, which is great if I plan ahead. I've also started ordering more of my car parts from Summit. They are amazingly reliable and have almost everything I'm looking for. There is an Autozone across the parking lot from Advance. They are more helpful than Advance has been lately, so they see more of my money now. And yeah, I don't consider any of these places a "local" business. Profits are shuffled out of town into corporate headquarters, so not exactly helping the local economy outside of employing a few people that know nothing about cars.

ncjay said:

I used to do 90% of my parts purchasing at the local Advance. Now, I rarely go in there and if I do I have to have already looked up the part # online so I can tell them what to get. The help behind the counter is nearly useless. I have learned that I can just order stuff online and get it delivered to my door, which is great if I plan ahead. I've also started ordering more of my car parts from Summit. They are amazingly reliable and have almost everything I'm looking for. There is an Autozone across the parking lot from Advance. They are more helpful than Advance has been lately, so they see more of my money now. And yeah, I don't consider any of these places a "local" business. Profits are shuffled out of town into corporate headquarters, so not exactly helping the local economy outside of employing a few people that know nothing about cars.

Summit has become awesome for daily driver parts too.  And the entire gm performance parts catalog.  And they are my local speed shop, I’ve been going there since they were a warehouse with a garage sized showroom.  Plus if i order by 11pm and don’t have time to go, stuff comes by noon the next day.  I ordered challenge parts at 11pm on Friday and they were at my house at 10am Saturday 

We were lucky enough to get an oreilly in town.

I'm not sure if they ship employees around or what, but even the old timers at my local napa aren't as knowledgeable and helpful as the counter staff there. 

Still, if I can afford to wait, I'll order online, but being able to take a part in and say "this is what I have, this is what I need to do, help" is really really convenient. 

Pepboys is getting annoyed with me but that's their own fault. If parts and stuff are maGically 20% cheaper if I order online and pickup in store, you better believe I use my phone and order online AFTER I find everything I need in store. At least now Im nice enough to bring it to the register instead of watching them go find it. 

I have a plus for Advance but it may be just the local store.

I purchased a K&N oil filter for my Fiesta.   Luckily,when I got home, I happened to notice different numbers on the box and the filter, so I compared it with an old one from the trash bin.   Definitely different.

So back to Advance.   The clerk did some checking and found the K&N's were boxed wrong.   They gave me a refund and a discount on a Mobil 1 filter.   As I left they were pulling the K&N's off the shelf.

K&N Filters get moved around in the box’s by less than honest people. Hell I have found standard filters that people swap out and put the K&N in the Fram box leaving the fram in the K&N box. Needles to say I was really pissed off at 2:00 am as I was finishing up the race car to leave at 4:00 am. Not the stores fault and the manager tried to make good but there was nothing he could do short of getting another filter delivered to the track. 

Any auto parts chain will have some stores with great people behind the counter and other stores with idiots.  You can't condemn the whole company based just on the performance of your local store.

I was a GM at AAP for 11 years and I bought most of my stuff from rockauto or Amazon. That should tell you all you need to know. 

I will say that not all AAP/Carquest are created equal, at least from the nearest stores to me are concerned.   Not  many local auto parts places near me anymore and most Napas have all but dried up or turned into Carquests.  I occasionally use a local Carquest (formerly Napa) for need it now parts, and although they can be a bit pricier they do tend to have good stock of parts or can get most parts that same afternoon.   This place tends to be one of the go-to's for most shops in the area as well.  I tend to avoid AZ altogether other then for specials on consumables(oil/filters, brakecleen, etc).

Otherwise for the most part, I use RA exclusively because you can't beat their prices even with OEM replacement stuff.