I've bought my last Autozone part.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Napa didn't have it at their regional hub/store off of whatever Airport Expressway is called now?

all crap you buy comes from china and is made by a 12 year old boy who just got done working a 12 hour shift and smoking a pack of cigarettes...sorry about your luck

93gsxturbo wrote: Best thing every for hard parts is an Amazon Prime membership. Believe it or not, Amazon stocks a ton of higher end auto parts.

Holy crap, I've had Prime for years and never thought to check that. Brilliant!

E36 M3. Carquest ftmfw. NAPA is hit or miss for me. Advance might as well be vatazone. I go to the stores that carry good plugs and tons of hardware.

As always, it's a management issue. There are old dudes that work at every Carquest I've ever been to. That suggests to me that the owner, or someone with a vested interest in the business is working there.

All around me, Oreilly's, napa, autozone, advance: They're all full of these little smartass pricks with something to prove. If I had a nickel for every time I said "And your really smart, which is why you make 10 bucks an hour, right?" in one of these E36 M3 holes, I could buy enough simulated hood pins and glowing skull stickers to supply a whole mexican trailer park.

In reply to petegossett:

Maybe, but that's an hour away from where the car was. Might have saved time in the end, but a half hour sounds better than an hour at first.

peter wrote:

93gsxturbo wrote: Best thing every for hard parts is an Amazon Prime membership. Believe it or not, Amazon stocks a ton of higher end auto parts.

Holy crap, I've had Prime for years and never thought to check that. Brilliant!

It works great, i do it all the time, but it's not real helpful in situations like this, unfortunately.

I live smackdab in the middle of West Virginia, there are 3 Parts places in the county where I reside. Fisher Auto Parts, AutoValue, and Napa... I agree that alot of it has to deal with whether its a corperate or privately owned frachise, but our Napa here is AWESOME!!! Hell, I've actually had the owner open the door for me when I was in the middle of a breakdown and had to get it fixed ASAP! The people there are well versed in both foreign and domestic applications. I try the local stores before trying both Advance, and AutoZone (both which are 30 minutes away). Keep up the great work guys!

I quit going to VatoZone after they stiffed me on a "lifetime" replacement. I got the more expensive plug wires simply for the replacement value. Couple of years later I decide to do plugs and wires on my 95 Caprice.

"Uhh... we don't show you having any wires in our computer."

(Note to self: save all receipts)

"Ok I still need wires so I can get to work Tomorrow."

"Anyway those aren't our wires. They're Track Auto wires."

Oh really? That store closed down a year before I bought this thing. I must own a berkeleyin' time machine.

It wasn't that she couldn't find my info, it happens, it was the condescending, I know more about what you bought than you do, attitude that burnt my ass. That was 9 years ago and I haven't been back.

About 3 years ago it was time to redo the rear discs and pads on the RAM2500. I had experienced a couple episodes of hung calipers where the pads smoked a good bit before the caliper released so I wanted to swap out or rebuild them.

I found none of the rebuild placed around me exist anymore. The last one - I had used about 10 years ago - which was run by 2 guys in their late 60's at the time must have retired or been drained by the offshore competition.

So, I bought a pair of rebuilt calipers from Autozone. When I installed them I noticed the machined area right around the banjo bolt washer seat had been media blasted along with the rest of the exterior of the caliper and not re-machined. I tried to get the copper washers to seal on that mess but they would not. I tried returning them but they claimed they had already shipped off my cores - probably a trick to avoid them having to deal with returns of shoddy parts. The shadetree mechanic that runs the Autozone suggested I use 2 washers (I guess the theory is that if you crush the crap out of them and if you dont break off the banjo bolt first you might distort the washer enough to get a seal). He didnt have any to give or sell me so I had to come up with my own - the Dodge dealer had these. I actually tried that but even after over-torquing the banjo bolts about 50%, they were still weeping fluid between the caliper and washer. I dont have a machine shop in my little garage but I do have a Dremel. I took the fiber cutoff wheel for the Dremel tool and with its more abrasive side out, a paint plug in the bolt hole and as steady a hand as I could muster, I "machined" the surface around the bolt hole until it was about 90% smooth (where none of the remaining media blasted dimples linked to each other) andflat. That sealed. I assume the cylinder bores were not blasted as the calipers worked fine after that. Then I went on a quest for new banjo bolts since the originals were not only very rusty but had just been weakened, probably a lot. None of the auto parts stores had them, had a listing for them or in many cases even knew what a banjo bolt is. The Dodge dealers didnt have then either but with part number in hand I did find them at one Jeep dealer in the area (there must be 20 Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep dealers within 30 miles of me) with the help of the Dodge dealer's parts guy.

The take away for me from this experience was to not buy parts from Autozone, because it is obvious to me their suppliers do not have a clue what they are doing, and beware of rebuilt parts. I had heard stories that a lot of todays rebuilt parts were just cleaned up and repainted returned parts with no actual "rebuild" (e.g. replacement of wear parts, critical surfaces renewed, etc.), but I didnt think they would actually be damaged by the "rebuild-ers".

I wasnt going to bash Chinese manufacturing, but I changed my mind. Before I retired I had experience working with parts for our product made in China. The rule for us was that you had to be there to constantly inspect what was going on or things went to crap in a hurry. They didnt hire skilled craftsmen and women to build even very high tech things for us. They hired peasants and supervisors who were valued only for quantity of output. The good stuff cheap only happened when we were watching, otherwise it was just cheap - facsimiles of what we needed as corners were cut when we turned our back. This is what you get when cheap is valued above all else.

This past spring I needed to replace the front calipers and I went to NAPA. The desk guy said their rebuilt units were done right and upon inspecting them at the store and based on what I could see (I didnt disassemble them to see what the critical cylinder bore looked like) I had to agree - the washer seat had been masked prior to blasting the rust off these. They went on right and I had no issues. I still had a pair of new banjo bolts to use since I bought 4 when I found them the first time.

ebonyandivory wrote: I got a place near me that rebuilds thier own. Tests it on the bench before your eyes before cash changes hands. You get to hang out by a wood stove and pet one or two of a dozen cats while you wait. Great guys too, brothers they are and they know thier E36 M3. Too bad theyre a dying breed.

I went out of my way one time to deal with someone like. I had seen his shop in an older location and I watched him rebuilding some stuff. He had moved to a new location and I found out he just ran down to NAPA and picked up one of their units. It seems he had actually stopped rebuilding most stuff.

poopshovel wrote: As always, it's a management issue. There are old dudes that work at every Carquest I've ever been to. That suggests to me that the owner, or someone with a vested interest in the business is working there.

This is the only reason why the Autozone I used to work at was any good at all. The manager was (and still is) and old-school, no BS parts guy. If he's not there, then the place goes to hell. He was transferred to another store for a while, and they had this slob in there that had ZERO parts knowledge running the joint. I overheard him giving people some really bad advice more than a few times. The old manager would take the time and help frustrated customers trouble shoot issues instead of just throwing parts at the cars and seeing if that fixes them. He is a rare breed, indeed.

While I was working there, I used to actually buy a lot of parts up the street at an independent store. The place was owned by a guy and his son, and they had better quality stuff for LESS money than I had at the store I worked at with my 20% discount. I don't know how they did it.

I'm putting another vote in for Napa. I like advance auto, but the guys at the local napa are fantastic and will help in every way possible. Prices? I used to think Napa was higher..doesn't seem that way anymore.

And Dean points out what is wrong with our economy and corporate structure:

Sue E. Gove Nominating & Corporate Governance Chairman Sue E. Gove, 54, has been a director since 2005. She has been the President of Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. since February 2012 and Chief Operating Officer of Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. since September 2008. She was Executive Vice President from September 2008 through July 2012 and was Chief Financial Officer from March 2009 through July 2012. Ms. Gove previously had been a self-employed consultant since April 2006, serving clients in specialty retail and private equity....

A Finance private equity "consultant" from a holding company. Know anything about alternators?

Earl G. Graves, Jr. Lead Director, Compensation Committee ChairmanEarl G. Graves, Jr. Lead Director, Compensation Committee Chairman Earl G. Graves, Jr., 50, has been a director since 2002 and was elected Lead Director in January 2009. He has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Earl G. Graves Publishing Company, publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine, since January 2006, and was President and Chief Operating Officer from 1998 to 2006. Mr. Graves has been employed by the same company in various capacities since 1988....

A publisher of a magazine about black people having businesses. Know anything about alternators?

Robert R. Grusky Robert R. Grusky Robert R. Grusky, 54, has been a director since 2008. Mr. Grusky founded Hope Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm for which he serves as Managing Member, in 2000. He co-founded New Mountain Capital, LLC, a private equity firm, in 2000 and was a Principal, Managing Director and Member of New Mountain Capital from 2000 to 2005 and has been a Senior Advisor since then. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Grusky served as President of RSL Investments Corporation, the primary investment vehicle for the Ho...

Another private equity guy. Know anything about alternators?

Enderson Guimaraes Enderson Guimaraes Enderson Guimaraes, 53, was elected as a director on October 17, 2012. He is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Europe, a role he assumed in September 2012. He was President of PepsiCo Global Operations from October 2011 to September 2012. Mr. Guimaraes previously had served as Executive Vice President of Electrolux and Chief Executive Officer of its major appliances business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East from 2008 to October 2011. Prior to this, Mr. Guimaraes spent 10 years at Phi...

A CEO from an international soda pop company. Before that, he sold dishwashers to Africa. At least he was involved with a physical product, but... Know anything about alternators?

J.R. Hyde, III J.R. Hyde, III J. R. Hyde, III, 69, has been a director since 1986 and was non-executive Chairman of the Board from 2005 until June 2007. He has been the President of Pittco, Inc., an investment company, since 1989 and has been the Chairman of the Board and a director of GTx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company since 2000. Mr. Hyde, AutoZone’s founder, was AutoZone’s Chairman from 1986 to 1997 and its Chief Executive Officer from 1986 to 1996. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Malone & Hyde, Auto...

Well, this one, besides being another PE guy, at least has been there a while. Hopefully he picked up some knowledge of alternators by osmosis. Let's also hope that the biopharmaceutical company does better on their products than AZ does on alternators.

W. Andrew McKenna Audit Committee ChairmanW. Andrew McKenna Audit Committee Chairman W. Andrew McKenna, 66, has been a director since 2000 and served as Lead Director from June 2007 through January 2009. He is retired. Until his retirement in 1999, he had held various positions with The Home Depot, Inc., including Senior Vice President–Strategic Business Development from 1997 to 1999; President, Midwest Division from 1994 to 1997; and Senior Vice President–Corporate Information Systems from 1990 to 1994. He was also President of SciQuest.com, Inc. in 2000. Mr. McKenna was a ...

Ah, a guy from Homo Depot. No alternators there. Was he at HD when they hired that guy that was SO BAD that they paid him a QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS to just "go away?" Not fired, just everyone agrees he's not going to work there anymore? That one went on to destroy Chrysler. So... Know anything about alternators?

George R. Mrkonic, Jr. George R. Mrkonic, Jr. George R. Mrkonic, Jr., 60, has been a director since 2006. He has been the Non-Executive Chairman of Paperchase Products Limited, London, UK, a retailer of cards, stationery, wraps and gifts in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, since 2005, and has been a director since 1999. Previously, he was President of Borders Group, Inc. from 1994 to 1997 and Vice Chairman of Borders Group, Inc. from 1994 to 2002. He is also a director of Brinker International, Inc., Syntel, Inc. and Pacific Sunwear o...

A UK retailer in gift wraps. Know anything about alternators?

Luis P. Nieto Luis P. Nieto Luis P. Nieto, 57, has been a director since 2008. He is president of Nieto Advisory LLC which provides advisory services to small consumer food companies. He was president of the Consumer Foods Group of ConAgra Foods Inc., one of the largest packaged foods companies in North America, from 2008 until his retirement in June 2009. Previously, he was president of ConAgra Refrigerated Foods from 2006 to 2008 and ConAgra Meats from 2005 to 2006. Prior to joining ConAgra, Mr. Nieto was President a...

A consultant from consumer foods. Yeah, bacon is like alternators, right?

William C. Rhodes, III Chairman, President and Chief Executive OfficerWilliam C. Rhodes, III Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer William C. Rhodes, III, 47, was elected Chairman in June 2007. He has been President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director since 2005. Prior to his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rhodes was Executive Vice President–Store Operations and Commercial. Prior to fiscal 2005, he had been Senior Vice President–Supply Chain and Information Technology since fiscal 2002, and prior thereto had been Senior Vice President–Supply Chain since 2001. Prior to that time, he served...

This one has a couple years experience in supply chain. That's moving alternators to the store. But... Know anything about alternators (besides moving them)?

And that's what's wrong with our economy.

wclark wrote: This past spring I needed to replace the front calipers and I went to NAPA. The desk guy said their rebuilt units were done right and upon inspecting them at the store and based on what I could see (I didnt disassemble them to see what the critical cylinder bore looked like) I had to agree - the washer seat had been masked prior to blasting the rust off these. They went on right and I had no issues. I still had a pair of new banjo bolts to use since I bought 4 when I found them the first time.

they're a Cardone product. that name makes me shiver. though to be fair, their calipers seem to be okay.

One good thing about Autozone over the weekend.... they're running a decent sale on Chevron Delo 400 oil. 3 gallons for $39.

So i've got oil for the winter for the MX6.

The guy in WV, I'm in WV, and the napa when I lived in wetzel county was like that, and the napa out here in jefferson county is the same. Maybe us Wv guys are just blessed with awesome napas!

To the above about the breakdown of the corporate structure, I've never understood that... these CEOs go from one company to the next despite the fact that they fail to perform or do any of the things they were hired to do at the last company. They pay them obscene amounts of money that they could contribute back to their employees to keep them motivated, and at the same time, promoting from within is a great way to keep people motivated and trying to climb the corporate ladder. Bringing in the dip E36 M3 that drove another company into the ground and paying him 1,000 times your salesman's salary is a terrific way to absolutely kill morale.

Whenever I hear someone "in the business" say something like "sales are sales, if you can sell a toaster, you can sell a car, you can sell a washing machine," I want to punch them in the face. Yeah, a schwarmy douchebag who convinces retirees they will go bankrupt if they don't pay $14.99 for the extended warranty can MAKE a sale but that doesn't mean he knows his customers, understands their needs, or even really understands the products he is selling. That model doesn't fly in auto parts.

wow.. all these stories echo my own. Around here I have two AutoZones, Two Advance, One Pep Boys, and a Napa.

The Advances have done me well.. but their stock is shrinking as they get into "lifestyle" automotive crap.

The Autozones are within half a mile of both Advances. There is a reason nobody seems to shop there.

The Pep boys is another "Lifestyle" automotive shop... no, I do not need chrome skulls, prismatic Stickers, or a cheaply built chinese scooter.

The Napa, which is closest to me.. is run by old guys who actually remember my Father Racing his Opel at the Pleasantville Speedway back before it was closed and demolished in the late 70s.. that should say all anybody needs to know.

What is cool, they know how to make stuff work too. The door close mechanism for the back room is a couple of exploded impact sockets on a pulley and string. Pulls the door shut with a "Smack!" every time

dean1484 wrote: All I can say is that although i have had bad luck with a couple specific autozone parts I have developed a relationship with the guys at the counter at my local store and they have gone the extra mile for me a couple times. Just being able to roam around there parts racks behind the counter is worth its weight in gold.

that's the way my local O'Reily's is

i heart doctor hess.

Around me they're all hit and miss.

I miss the days of the old localish chain (for all you MA people) Lappens. My local was a bunch of older guys , and one had a serious Ford Taurus SHO fanatic so he was my go-to guy back when I owned one for tips on how to fix it on the cheap.

Autozone in my area is good, I had a Kragen (now Oreillys) an Autozone and a Napa within blocks of my house, unfortunately I moved across town where there were no really nearby autostores at all. I had to drive a bit to get to a Pepboys (meh) or a different Autozone, which was also good.

Pepboys sold me the wrong part for a friends' car, I went to return it (needed the right part and needed it now) and it was a couple minutes after they had closed and they sat there debating whether to let me in or not, manager finally decided not to. They spent more time debating it than the return probably would have taken. Went to Autozone and they got me the right part quickly and painlessly. I haven't stepped foot back in a Pepboys in 3 years now.

The local Carquest is awesome but too far and the hours don't work for me.

Thankfully an Oreilly's opened down the street a few months ago.

I like O'reilly for the fact I can buy a name brand part unlike Zone, Advance, etc.

The one I deal with here has one "old guy" who sadly doesn't know a halogen bulb from a brake spring and some 'punk kids' who do a fair job. Totally opposite of the way is usually goes.

Needed a water pump for my truck (350 Chevy) and they had a new (made in China) and a re-man. Looked at both. The new was very poorly cast and was missing some of the support ribs. The re-man was a GM casting, nicely painted and no pits or anything on the sealing surfaces. It was well worth the $2 extra.

Yes, the re-man was more expensive than the new!

Dr. Hess said: And Dean points out what is wrong with our economy and corporate structure: Sue E. Gove Nominating & Corporate Governance Chairman Sue E. Gove, 54, has been a director since 2005. She has been the President of Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. since February 2012 and Chief Operating Officer of Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. since September 2008. She was Executive Vice President from September 2008 through July 2012 and was Chief Financial Officer from March 2009 through July 2012. Ms. Gove previously had been a self-employed consultant since April 2006, serving clients in specialty retail and private equity.... A Finance private equity "consultant" from a holding company. Know anything about alternators? Earl G. Graves, Jr. Lead Director, Compensation Committee ChairmanEarl G. Graves, Jr. Lead Director, Compensation Committee Chairman Earl G. Graves, Jr., 50, has been a director since 2002 and was elected Lead Director in January 2009. He has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Earl G. Graves Publishing Company, publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine, since January 2006, and was President and Chief Operating Officer from 1998 to 2006. Mr. Graves has been employed by the same company in various capacities since 1988.... A publisher of a magazine about black people having businesses. Know anything about alternators? Robert R. Grusky Robert R. Grusky Robert R. Grusky, 54, has been a director since 2008. Mr. Grusky founded Hope Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm for which he serves as Managing Member, in 2000. He co-founded New Mountain Capital, LLC, a private equity firm, in 2000 and was a Principal, Managing Director and Member of New Mountain Capital from 2000 to 2005 and has been a Senior Advisor since then. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Grusky served as President of RSL Investments Corporation, the primary investment vehicle for the Ho... Another private equity guy. Know anything about alternators? Enderson Guimaraes Enderson Guimaraes Enderson Guimaraes, 53, was elected as a director on October 17, 2012. He is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Europe, a role he assumed in September 2012. He was President of PepsiCo Global Operations from October 2011 to September 2012. Mr. Guimaraes previously had served as Executive Vice President of Electrolux and Chief Executive Officer of its major appliances business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East from 2008 to October 2011. Prior to this, Mr. Guimaraes spent 10 years at Phi... A CEO from an international soda pop company. Before that, he sold dishwashers to Africa. At least he was involved with a physical product, but... Know anything about alternators? J.R. Hyde, III J.R. Hyde, III J. R. Hyde, III, 69, has been a director since 1986 and was non-executive Chairman of the Board from 2005 until June 2007. He has been the President of Pittco, Inc., an investment company, since 1989 and has been the Chairman of the Board and a director of GTx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company since 2000. Mr. Hyde, AutoZone’s founder, was AutoZone’s Chairman from 1986 to 1997 and its Chief Executive Officer from 1986 to 1996. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Malone & Hyde, Auto... Well, this one, besides being another PE guy, at least has been there a while. Hopefully he picked up some knowledge of alternators by osmosis. Let's also hope that the biopharmaceutical company does better on their products than AZ does on alternators. W. Andrew McKenna Audit Committee ChairmanW. Andrew McKenna Audit Committee Chairman W. Andrew McKenna, 66, has been a director since 2000 and served as Lead Director from June 2007 through January 2009. He is retired. Until his retirement in 1999, he had held various positions with The Home Depot, Inc., including Senior Vice President–Strategic Business Development from 1997 to 1999; President, Midwest Division from 1994 to 1997; and Senior Vice President–Corporate Information Systems from 1990 to 1994. He was also President of SciQuest.com, Inc. in 2000. Mr. McKenna was a ... Ah, a guy from Homo Depot. No alternators there. Was he at HD when they hired that guy that was SO BAD that they paid him a QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS to just "go away?" Not fired, just everyone agrees he's not going to work there anymore? That one went on to destroy Chrysler. So... Know anything about alternators? George R. Mrkonic, Jr. George R. Mrkonic, Jr. George R. Mrkonic, Jr., 60, has been a director since 2006. He has been the Non-Executive Chairman of Paperchase Products Limited, London, UK, a retailer of cards, stationery, wraps and gifts in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, since 2005, and has been a director since 1999. Previously, he was President of Borders Group, Inc. from 1994 to 1997 and Vice Chairman of Borders Group, Inc. from 1994 to 2002. He is also a director of Brinker International, Inc., Syntel, Inc. and Pacific Sunwear o... A UK retailer in gift wraps. Know anything about alternators? Luis P. Nieto Luis P. Nieto Luis P. Nieto, 57, has been a director since 2008. He is president of Nieto Advisory LLC which provides advisory services to small consumer food companies. He was president of the Consumer Foods Group of ConAgra Foods Inc., one of the largest packaged foods companies in North America, from 2008 until his retirement in June 2009. Previously, he was president of ConAgra Refrigerated Foods from 2006 to 2008 and ConAgra Meats from 2005 to 2006. Prior to joining ConAgra, Mr. Nieto was President a... A consultant from consumer foods. Yeah, bacon is like alternators, right? William C. Rhodes, III Chairman, President and Chief Executive OfficerWilliam C. Rhodes, III Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer William C. Rhodes, III, 47, was elected Chairman in June 2007. He has been President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director since 2005. Prior to his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rhodes was Executive Vice President–Store Operations and Commercial. Prior to fiscal 2005, he had been Senior Vice President–Supply Chain and Information Technology since fiscal 2002, and prior thereto had been Senior Vice President–Supply Chain since 2001. Prior to that time, he served... This one has a couple years experience in supply chain. That's moving alternators to the store. But... Know anything about alternators (besides moving them)? And that's what's wrong with our economy.

This.

AngryCorvair wrote: i heart doctor hess.

Dude, seriously, is that guy single?

Confession time:

I am personally responsible for killing AutoZone, and here's why:

From about 1997-2005, I was a Volvo 240 guy, buying/fixing/flipping/parting/driving dozens of Volvo 240s annually. I bought ONE set of $9.99 brake pads from AZ. Every time another car needed pads, I would pull the beat pads and take them into AZ for a "free" lifetime replacement set.

They never looked to see if the worn-out pads I brought in were AZ parts.

Finally, after about the 4th set in two months, the manager asked me how I could be going through pads that quickly. I looked him squarely in the eye and said, "I'm hard on brakes and your pads are crap."

Now that I have confessed my sins, I feel better.