So berkeleying done with parts stores

I have great luck with my local parts stores. Both of them just ignore me and let me go behind the counter and / or back into the shelves to get what I need. I get excellent service this way.

wbjones wrote:

wlkelley3 wrote: That's why I stopped buying anything except standard maintenance items, like oil, filters, batteries and such from chain stores. And I don't go into Advance/Auto Zone anymore. I get most of the bigger stuff from specialty sites or RockAuto now.

and Rock Auto isn't immune to the "bad" part number either … they had a clearance sale a while back (Honda stuff) and were practically giving away the "Exact Fit" windshield wipers ordered a couple of sets … not only don't they fit length wise, but the don't attach to the OEM wiper arm

Yeah, I know. Even had that issue once with them. Rear Anti-sway bar links for Miata is listed backwards on their website. Order a left and you'll get a right. Order a right to get left. Learned that the hard way when I just needed one side. Even told their customer service about it. Still not right.

I ditched that business many years ago when it became painfully clear that the chance of supporting a family had gone out the window. And I was damn good at it. I lay that right at Advance Auto's feet; they showed that they gave less than a berkeley about what their people made, they were considered disposable.

The guys like me either changed industries entirely, went to dealerships or some few went to NAPA, which is somehow still holding on to how things used to be (at least for the most part). Around here if you walk into a NAPA they are typically much older than the PepVanceZone flatbillers, and at some point they will be gone. There won't be another generation coming up behind them, either.

While I'm on this rant, I see the same thing happening with technicians. It's getting harder and harder to make a living at it and the old guard now are encouraging their kids to do ANYTHING else for a living, there's already a shortage of qualified techs and you think it's bad now? In 10 years it's gonna be MUCH worse.

Curmudgeon wrote: I ditched that business many years ago when it became painfully clear that the chance of supporting a family had gone out the window. And I was damn good at it. I lay that right at Advance Auto's feet; they showed that they gave less than a berkeley about what their people made, they were considered disposable. The guys like me either changed industries entirely, went to dealerships or some few went to NAPA, which is somehow still holding on to how things used to be (at least for the most part). Around here if you walk into a NAPA they are typically much older than the PepVanceZone flatbillers, and at some point they will be gone. There won't be another generation coming up behind them, either. While I'm on this rant, I see the same thing happening with technicians. It's getting harder and harder to make a living at it and the old guard now are encouraging their kids to do ANYTHING else for a living, there's already a shortage of qualified techs and you think it's bad now? In 10 years it's gonna be MUCH worse.

I am in construction and see the same kind of issue. Now coming into a boom and there is a sever lack of anyone, let alone anyone qualified. The prices that you can get for just showing up (I pay guys $30/hr to swap out ceiling tile) are hurting all of the way around on the client end. It is a great time to be a skilled guy as you can call you shots and command your premium. I can see that time coming around again for service techs, eventually people will have to pony up to have their cars fixed.

As far as parts guys go, I could see a new position in busy garages of a guy who does nothing but order online parts. Amazon will have a parts delivery service that will bring them by drone within the hour and all will be good again.

former520 wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: I ditched that business many years ago when it became painfully clear that the chance of supporting a family had gone out the window. And I was damn good at it. I lay that right at Advance Auto's feet; they showed that they gave less than a berkeley about what their people made, they were considered disposable. The guys like me either changed industries entirely, went to dealerships or some few went to NAPA, which is somehow still holding on to how things used to be (at least for the most part). Around here if you walk into a NAPA they are typically much older than the PepVanceZone flatbillers, and at some point they will be gone. There won't be another generation coming up behind them, either. While I'm on this rant, I see the same thing happening with technicians. It's getting harder and harder to make a living at it and the old guard now are encouraging their kids to do ANYTHING else for a living, there's already a shortage of qualified techs and you think it's bad now? In 10 years it's gonna be MUCH worse.

I am in construction and see the same kind of issue. Now coming into a boom and there is a sever lack of anyone, let alone anyone qualified. The prices that you can get for just showing up (I pay guys $30/hr to swap out ceiling tile) are hurting all of the way around on the client end. It is a great time to be a skilled guy as you can call you shots and command your premium. I can see that time coming around again for service techs, eventually people will have to pony up to have their cars fixed. As far as parts guys go, I could see a new position in busy garages of a guy who does nothing but order online parts. Amazon will have a parts delivery service that will bring them by drone within the hour and all will be good again.

Can i have a job?

Also, i'm really starting to notice that nobody actually stocks parts anymore. Almost everything i try to buy locally is special order or has to come from a warehouse. Took me almost 40 minutes this morning to track down a pair of diff seals for a Miata anywhere within a reasonable driving distance.

In reply to Swank Force One:

As an enthusiast (I am a poor excuse for a mechanic, but my son is doing mechanic work full time and seems to be enjoying it a lot) I definitely prefer Napa as their counter people do tend to be knowledgable.

That said - this week, my NC Miata needed replacement spark plugs. 2006 - same engine in all of them, should be straightforward, no?

Ha. Haha. Hahahahahahahahahaha ha ha ha... now I feel like the Joker!

No, NO, not at all.

The OEM plugs are iridium (though you can use platinum... I want the right part) and are about $14 each. I try multiple parts stores and nobody has them in stock, but "can order" - even my go-to big branch of Napa. Argh!

I call the stealership, and sure, they're in stock, for the low low fee of $36 EACH. Enough of that! There's such a thing as 'reasonable profit; but this is like paying hospital prices of $5 per asprin. You have to recognize I'm not a captive market for this part. Or not... I guess there are enough customers who just pay up that they can sell at this 250% over retail inflated price.

So I called my son and he ordered them for me to come in to the shop. Sometimes it would be easier just to stay in bed :)

As a former dealership employee, I understand the need to make a profit. All 'bout that. I also understand when I'm getting gouged. Case in point: when I bought my Xterra, I purposely picked a year without the PATS key (chip key to the uninitiated) because I know how stupid expensive they can get. The Dodge dealer Ii worked for would cut a non-PATS key for around $15 by the VIN; you did need to provide proof of ownership.

So I waltz into the local Nissan place with my ID and registration. A key from the VIN, please. Sure. That'll be $52.00 + tax. (Blank is $10.)

Oh hell no it won't, either.

I love how everyone forgets who sets the dealer's prices. Here's a hint: Not the dealer. Typical dealer profit is in the 40-80% range, about HALF of what the chain parts stores make. They're forced to buy all their replacement parts from the manufacturer, at whatever price the manufacturer decides and then can only sell at what the manufactuerer says.

It's a E36 M3 sammich covered in piss for the guys actually selling the parts.

Bobzilla wrote: I love how everyone forgets who sets the dealer's prices. Here's a hint: Not the dealer.

2 of the 3 dealers I wrenched at in central Ohio charged list plus 20%. We would chase work off because of parts prices.

I ended my time as a tech at an independent shop that only did Hondas. We exclusively used OEM parts. You could walk in off the street and buy parts over the counter from us for cheaper than the dealer a few miles away that we ordered them from.

Now that I am on the OEM side I regularly see dealers charging 100% over list on any part under 20 or 25 bucks and up to 50% over list on parts above that.

The smart dealers I see have thriving wholesale and Internet parts sales under list.

That's all over the place on the Mazda side, too. Prices between different dealers varies wildly for the same part. Local dealer cuts me almost a 20% discount now, didn't used to.

Oh, I'm not saying that there aren't E36 M3ty dealers out there. THat's a given. The E36 M3ty ones won't have the sales they want because of the prices. The honest ones sell at retail prices because they know better.

I always loved the "Well I can buy this for $X at dealer down the street" comments. Um... no you can't. The dealer down the street can't buy that E36 M3 from Honda for that price and they sure as E36 M3 ain't going to sell it for 10% under their actual cost. I can tell you that a 25% discount on Acura parts left an average of about 12-18% in profit for the dealer on 90% of the stuff we sold. I did most of the wholesale and all of the internet and my monthly profit percentage was about 16% for the month.

Bobzilla wrote: I love how everyone forgets who sets the dealer's prices. Here's a hint: Not the dealer. Typical dealer profit is in the 40-80% range, about HALF of what the chain parts stores make.

I would kill for a 40% GP! Our typical is 20-35%, and that's retail. Commercial is closer to 15...

I returned the switch. While I was there I gave them the factory switch number, the Airtex number, the dorman number and one other part number and none of them would interchange.

About then a gal walked in with a CEL in a Ford Escape. I knew it was going to be either O2 sensor, cats, or transmission ratio incorrect because she mentioned the tranny had been rebuilt. Turns out it was the downstream O2. The guy was telling her about all the damage she could do; locking up her engine, damaging her newly-rebuilt transmission... I was waiting for him to say abnormal tire wear.

I couldn't take it anymore. She had no idea what an O2 sensor was and this guy was trying to sell her one for $130. I chimed in: "when is the inspection due?" She said "December." I told her to drive it and put a piece of tape over the light until she wanted to fix it. Now she was all about listening to me. I explained how O2 sensors work, and how the upstream sensor tells the engine how much fuel to inject, but the downstream just checks that the catalytic converter is working. So she asked if it could be the cats. I just grabbed their code reader (since I noticed it had freeze frame data) and walked out to her car. I showed her that the downstream sensor was stuck on 100% lean which meant either the sensor was bad or there was a broken/loose wire and it was very unlikely the cat.

We went back inside to continue the conversation and the manager offered me a job. I just shook my head and left with my refunded cash.

In reply to Bobzilla:

I've always shopped around for OEM parts. Is this specific to certain manufacturers? I've found that if I just walk into a local dealer, I could pay double or more for most parts than at the dealers that I usually buy from. This is from many makes throughout many states. When I ordered the parts to rebuild my Subaru engine, I even got a job quote that lowered the prices on everything.

Think the biggest issue with the chain stores is very few of the employees actually know anything about cars. They are just retail clerks. I don't really mind going to a parts store that has someone that knows what they are talking about.