buying parts/NAPA

[MountainMoparRobin]

I got the part numbers for the tune up parts needed for the 1954 Willys F-4 134 engine on Thursday and talked to a NAPA man to find they had everything in stock, so Friday after work I go to NAPA and see a different man. I tell him I need the cap, rotor, points and etc. for the F-4 engine. he looks for the parts and only finds the condensor, so I whip out my parts numbers, all NAPA numbers (keep in mind this man is almost the same age as me) and he plugs them in the computor, and in fact he has everything in stock, then on the Distributor cap, it doesn't match the Rotor so of coarse he can't find one in his computor, so I'm telling him a part number AL70 that I have listed right by the rotor part number of AL69, and he's telling me "I can't find any listing for the cap" I tell him how about the AL70 that you looked up to be a distributor cap, he keeps saying "I don't have a listing" , by now I'm fustrated with his inability to get me the part that we already knew what it was, so I tell him "are you refusing to give me a part?" "just get the AL70cap!" so he goes and gets it off the shelf, and we check it to see that in fact its the right one for the rotor listed as AL69. You could tell by his body language he wasn't too happy.

The point that I have made and this re-inforces my original point is that the PARTS stores have parts that they don't even know they have, because their systems don't have them listed. Same with Sweptline parts they are out their, but we would have to supply the part number for they can't find them on their system

[Oldguy]

That's the very reason I go to NAPA here in Reno. The closest one to me has mostly older guys and they actually look stuff up in their old books rather than depend on the computer. Also, it's seldom that they don't have the part in stock and then only take a day or two to get a part from their warehouse. Wherever that is! LOL Have never asked. Will have to do that! It is really frustrating when you find someone that doesn't want to do their job. Oh well, guess we need something to *#%^$ about! LOL Mike

[1965D100]

What I like about NAPA, as stated, is they look in the books as well as the computer. Most of the guys there are into what they do and know a lot about the classics. There are a few of the guys that I don't like dealing with because they are there just for the paycheck... Same scenario with the large classic yard in the NW valley. I hate dealing with them because everyone who works there are young guys who are there for the paycheck...

[712edf]

Maybe I should do my parts shopping during a power failure (no computer), but then again they couldn't ring me up...Sometimes I have a part # and sometimes I even have the actual part in my hand, and the dumbasses still can't give me what I need.

[motomatt383]

Guys, were beating a dead horse here!!! customer service as a whole is gone. very few people working in those positions are there by choice. its really sad. it doesn't matter if its a NAPA, or a Sherwin Williams paint store or Lowes. i just don't understand how some people can get up everyday & go to work with such a piss-poor attitude. you don't need to fart flowers, but if its that bad....just stay the H*%@ home.

sorry to vent, but lack of customer service is a pet peeve of mine.
matt

[712edf]

Guys, were beating a dead horse here!!! customer service as a whole is gone. very few people working in those positions are there by choice. its really sad. it doesn't matter if its a NAPA, or a Sherwin Williams paint store or Lowes. i just don't understand how some people can get up everyday & go to work with such a piss-poor attitude. you don't need to fart flowers, but if its that bad....just stay the H*%@ home.

sorry to vent, but lack of customer service is a pet peeve of mine.
matt

I think a big part of the problem is what's going on "upstairs" in these companies...Overpaid corporate jackasses who make 50 times what joe the counterboy makes, and yet they don't do nothing that involves actually getting a part into the customers hand. This country is going down the crapper partly due to all the "TOP HEAVY" corporations who keep starving the slaves to keep the bosses fat. Its hard to give a rats *ss when those over you make way more than you do off of "your" back. If the guy who's name is on the company isn't the guy actually doing the work, that leads to some amount of ineffiency which is passed on to the customer.

[73_Adventurer_Sport]

One of the worst things about moving is having to go through the search for a competent auto parts store. We don't have a NAPA, and our O'Reily and Autozone are typically incompetent, but one of the locals told me about a Bumper to Bumper store that's hidden off the main street. He said they seem to have everything, and that it was impossible to stump the older woman who works the counter. When I went there looking for a radiator hose for my '64 Valiant, I was prepared to be disappointed, but she asked if it was a V8 or a slant-six...not a three-point-whatever engine. It took her about 30 seconds to look it up and they had it in stock. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the future.

[nfury8]

NAPA is no different than the other guys around here.

When I know there is something that is going to be tricky, I know to look for
a couple salesmen I already know. Several are younger, but either know their
stuff, or know to get out of my way and let me find it myself. There have been
a couple times I have had to show guys where the books were, and other times
I just turned around and left because the guys I needed weren't there. Sometimes
I even call and ask who is working before I leave the house, to decide which store
I should go to. The Asst Manager at one Advance store even showed me how to use
their computer system! Most of the guys there let me cruise the back and explore
on my own. But they did just get some new guys, I need to train them.

[steven]

I've had the best luck with O'Reillys. They can get parts in fast, and dont mind taking stuff back. The guys there are ok. I cant stand Napa. I called there once to see if they had a 2" rotor cap for my brakes. The guy couldnt find it on the computer. He was like, "we have some universal ones out on the shelf" So I asked him to go and check to see if they had 2" ones. He wouldnt. Can you friggin believe that? He's about 40 some years old and wouldnt go check. He told me to stop in sometime. I called O'Reillys, the guy gladly checked, and said that they had some on the shelf. Unreal.

[62dodgedog]

When I need parts for either my '62 longbed or my '66 Galaxie I always go to NAPA. Heck, the other shop's computers do not even go back that far.On the subject of the corporate world, I am a mailman delivering the nation's mail, our ratio is about 6-1 on craft employees to managers. These mangers do absoloutly nothing to move the mail yet they make all of the decesions on what is the best way to do the job. They have totally killed morale and customer service. Here is your question of the day. Why is it that those that earn the most money do the least amount of work?

[712edf]

Why is it that those that earn the most money do the least amount of work?

[bBECAUSE THEY CAN AFFORD TO!][/b] I'm sorry for being a smart*ss, I agree totally with your statement. Must be human nature or something. I tend to be most disgruntled with two types of people: those who make/have more than me, and those who do less than me.....But this is MY problem. I'm learning to tend to my own knitting. Its like kenny rogers said " The secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away & knowing what to keep. Every hands a winner & every hands a loser. The best you can hope for is to die in your sleep"..

[cudaboy]

OK, Gonna sling in my two cents worth. Man, I really miss the old days of parts houses. Remember when you went to a parts house and it wasn't all flashy and "point of purchase" advertising ? You'd walk into this building that was probably a white painted block building with small windows, went through the front door into a very small room with the counter only a few feet away from the door because you didn't have to hunt for your own stuff....you actually went to the PARTS MAN and told him what you needed...or maybe you told him what you were doing and he'd tell YOU what you needed. He could do that because he knew his s%@#$@T ! He didn't know what a computer was, he had a book and half the time he didn't even have to open it. He knew common parts numbers in his head.
When I was first starting to work, an old man told me to watch and I'd notice that the harder you work, the less money you make. The more money you make, the less you'll physically work. It's true 99% of the time.
I once read that work or life inside a large corp or any organization is like a tree full of monkeys....The monkeys in the top of the tree look down on all of the lower monkeys, and all they see are smiling faces looking back up at them. The monkeys on the bottom look up and all they see are a bunch of azzholes !

[cudaboy]

[Hobcobble]

Why is it that those that earn the most money do the least amount of work?

I guess they're doing something right. I work for a small privately owned sales driven company.
I have 20 years in, which is 8 more than our owner. He slides in at 10am..... bounces back and forth
between our 3 locations.... takes lunch and leaves for home between 3:30-4:00. He has one sales account
that is normally active for 4 to 5 months out of the year. By all accounts you'd think I'd be envious or
perhaps even jealous of this. I know only a small bit [and that's all I want to know...] of what must go
on "behind the curtain" to keep even a small company afloat and I have an appreciation of what he
deals with. Although we don't see him our entire day.... I am sure that his "work day" is continual.
Our company's problems and challenges are with him ALWAYS. I've watched him "age".... I see the
angst, worry and exasperation on his face. The other salesman & myself make our boss a good deal
of money.... we see a small but reasonable portion of it. He provides me with a job and the necessary
tools to perform my tasks. He does not "owe me a living". If I'm dissatisfied, I'll go on my own.
John

[demulsion]

One of the worst things about moving is having to go through the search for a competent auto parts store.

No kidding. Back home at my folks, our local owned parts store had just gotten bought out by NAPA. Parts and service went down the drain, but was still miles ahead of Shucks or Auto Zone... There were still a few of the old store counter people who could still get you what you needed, too.

So first part I needed once I moved, I hit up NAPA. The counter guy told me he could order MOOG (but I was twisting his arm), but he couldn't find the part # I wanted. So I went home and did more research, to double check my #. Went in a few days later, and the new counter guy told me they couldn't even order MOOG. No can do. So I next time I went home to my folks', I had my old NAPA order up my parts. Fast forward 4 or 5 months. The NAPA here called me and send my MOOG parts are in! In the mean time I think I've found a locally owned parts store, so I'm hopeful...

[cudaboy]

Hobbcobble, That's the right attitude !

[OregonDodgeboy]

Hobbcobble, That's the right attitude !

I second that!


As for me, since I moved I've only been to the parts houses here wile working on my niece's Saturn. The local Car Quest guy was very helpful, and whenever I can I try to save a few bucks by avoiding NAPA. But when it's a harder to find part, that's where I go. Back in Oregon, the NAPA stores I went to were not affraid to let you look through the books. The first couple of times I went in, I let them look it up and discover they needed to look it up in the books. Then I offered to do that so they could help the next guy. I'd come back with a part number, and often they'd have it, even to their own surprise at times. After a couple of times like that, whenever I came in they knew to just let me go look it up for them. I guess they figured out I knew my stuff and that I didn't work on your typical rigs.

But the things I like the most about NAPA are:

1. There's not alot of stuff they don't have or can't get in a couple of days. And I've been surprised at times what hey can get. (Who knew that one store stocked a bunch of parts for the old flathead Dodge motors used in the ex-military trucks? Including generators, 6 volt batteries, carbs and rebuild kits, etc. )

2. They keep their books around, make them easily accessible and keep them updated. Too many places these days rely on the computer.

3. They cover commercial and ag vehicle parts and supplies.

SO,... what's not to like?!

[xCOYOTEx]

It amazes me that no one can do anything without the computer. A friend of mine a a '53 Chevy that for some reason somebody stuck a 318 in it. Funny as hell when you ask for plug wires for a 318, and they say "whats it in??" and for some weird reason, they dont have a listing for a 318 in a Chevy . Cant stand going to Vato Zone, but I found out that our O'Rileys will price match, and even drop prices to beat the Zone. I have a small parts store that has all kinds of weird things, I was working on a AMC Hornet, and this place had everything I needed IN STOCK!!!!!!!! So I love them for sure!!! Around here NAPA stands for Never Any Parts Available.......