Advance Auto Parts to close 700+ stores.

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Roger that. As long as I have a place to dump my oil, AAP can go away and I'll say good riddance. The only reason I ever buy stuff there is as a courtesy for letting me dump my oil. The employees don't know their elbows from their

Right, I will not miss them at all. The employees in there are always on the cell phones and act like they are doing me a favor to move as slow as molases and then struggle to find the simplest parts in their computers. It got to the point I will only go to them as a last resort.

 

[bullwinkle]

I ordered two big bottles of Techron delivered to a local store. The teen clerk didn’t know how to ring up that kind of sale so he said, “just take it and leave”.

That means you'll get a CC credit because "you never picked it up"... It's happened to me before. Sad thing is, I'd seen it done so many times on their computer, I knew how to do it myself!

 

[bullwinkle]

AAP sold Worldpac/Auto Parts Inc., this past summer. New owners took over a few weeks ago. I'm a part time delivery driver.

Who did they sell Worldpac to? They seemed like a nice option, if one could "get in" with them somehow, in the pre-AAP days.

 

[Kira]

This morning's assortment of startup page click-bait "stories" included AAP closing 536 stores.
As store closures create whatever retail flux in a given region, I'd bet the number is changeable.

All the stories of fouled up online ordering do not surprise me. Just because a company is big, doesn't mean they buy absolutely perfected computer systems nor train their ever changing work staff how to use it.

I needed a battery, and AAP had a 20% savings if ordered online offer.
I went to an AAP which had been a Mecca of a speed shop in No. NJ (same employees) and asked them what I was supposed to do and how reliable the process was.
They explained it to me...bin checked and marked my battery...I went home and ordered it...returned with the core...and all went well.
They completely understood.

Avoiding confusion was worth an extra round trip to Hackensack.

FYI: Should anyone care, that shop expanded into an old Pep-Boys...STILL WITH SOME OF THE OLD COAST AUTOMOTIVE EMPLOYEES.

Oddly, the service bays still bear the stupid Pep-Boys name.
Before Pep-Boys folded, there was talk of them renaming or selling the service arm of the business.

 

[D60]

When you need that part ASAP they sure come in handy.
Warranty-ing online parts is almost non-existent for online retailers.
I tried to warranty some dorman parts I bought from Amazon, they have a special number for you to call for amazon purchases, hoops to jump through, waited on a return email that never came, no record of me ever contacting them.....typical run around so you"ll give up, which I did.

This is simply not true for RA. I've warrantied multiple CV axles, a water pump, and most recently a CV boot. The latter was a Beck Arnley that lasted ~6 months and I warrantied on principle.

However, yes, it's far less convenient. You typically need to order a new part and then send the old one back. You CAN send the old one and then they'll send a replacement once received, but this takes a lot more time. RA pays 1/2 of the return shipping cost.

Their website is surprisingly easy to use for the warranty process.

I'm not saying the whole process is ideal, but Team Reality says we know from results you CAN warranty parts with certain online sources.

 

[D60]

I warrantied a transfer case motor controller for my truck through RA...I would have long ago lost that receipt from a local place but the purchase & date was in my RA profile. It was a bit of a PITA in the sense that I had to buy a new one, then send the old one back...if I didn't want the truck down for days...but they did refund me for the new one on the same day I shipped the old one back.

On the other hand, I ordered 8 Denso IT24 plugs from them and received 4 (one box) of obviously used ones. They also made that right but there is no excuse for that type of stuff.

It's beautiful because if you've ordered by application you can just search all orders for, say, 1996 Suburban 1500.

If you have a lot of orders for that vehicle, bonus if you know you replaced the offending parts 2017 to 2018 because you can set a date range for your search.

However you can also drill down the search by PART TYPE such as TRANSFER CASE MOTOR. Honestly, trying to find something in your purchase history with the counter monkey at Autozone is far more painful -- and not always successful

 

[jjfw]

Who did they sell Worldpac to? They seemed like a nice option, if one could "get in" with them somehow, in the pre-AAP days.

Investment group called Carlyle. We, our warehouse does only commercial business sales,no general public sales.

 

[HemiBenny]

There's a girl who works the commercial counter at our local AAP and her go-to answer for many parts is, "Factory direct." I called about some tie rod ends for a 2011 Toyota Tacoma and this is the answer I got. I told her that she wasn't looking hard enough. She insisted, "Factory direct."
I said, "OK, I have to ask Gary about something he and I discussed earlier, may I speak to him?" She transferred me to him and he said, "She's on crack." They had them on hand and delivered them to me in about 20 minutes.

 

[researcher]

Investment group called Carlyle. We, our warehouse does only commercial business sales,no general public sales.

Looked it up and Advance Auto sold it to the private equity group, Carlyle in August 2024.. sold it for $1.5 Billion. And maybe now Adv Auto could lower their prices on batteries?! lol

here's the link
https://www.carlyle.com/media-room/...ts-announces-sale-worldpac-carlyle-15-billion

 

[mrsilv04]

It should have been clear that Advance was in financial trouble.... all of their delivery vehicles are now Nissans.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

The AAP stores around me never have the part that I need in stock (and I'm not exactly working on exotic cars here) so I've been wondering how they even exist anymore. Everything that they  do carry, like fluids, car care products, and other basic items like that, are very overpriced.

 

[PF52]

The AAP stores around me never have the part that I need in stock (and I'm not exactly working on exotic cars here) so I've been wondering how they even exist anymore. Everything that they  do carry, like fluids, car care products, and other basic items like that, are very overpriced.

I keep finding situations such as (for example) if I want to replace all four brake calipers, I have to go to four different stores to get them all. Or if I need two of something, I have to get one at a different store because each store has only one of them. I may be generalizing here but only by a little.

 

[mclasser]

Nowadays, I only end up at B&M parts stores when I have an "Oh crap!" moment while in the middle of some repair. AAP is usually where I run to in those situations, despite AZ being almost equally close by. Shame their battery prices rose astronomically since the DieHard acquisition. I was a fan of their old Autocraft batteries that could be gotten for a sensible price with promos.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

I keep finding situations such as (for example) if I want to replace all four brake calipers, I have to go to four different stores to get them all. Or if I need two of something, I have to get one at a different store because each store has only one of them. I may be generalizing here but only by a little.

For me, they typically don't even have the part that I need in-stock at any location in my whole area. So I get offered, "we can order it for you and have it by such and such day". Well no, in that case I'll just order it on RockAuto if I need to wait for shipping anyway. I've struggled to even get generic parts like clamps at my local autoparts stores.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I suspect that the physical parts stores that remain will survive because they cater to local repair shops and will sell to the general public at inflated prices. They know that you can and will buy it cheaper online but if you've got to have it right now then you're going to pay the price.

 

[dogememe]

It should have been clear that Advance was in financial trouble.... all of their delivery vehicles are now Nissans.

Hey now, O'Reilly has been using mostly Nissans for like a decade or more and their stocks/company seem to be doing just fine

 

[John105]

Oil is another catastrophe. $10-15/5qt for the exact same oil as Walmart. Think what you want, but why would you waste money. Walmart oil is perfectly fine.
I find that to be true also but when they have a bundle deal, I get a filter for free and then a SpeedPerks coupon for $5.00 on the next purchase. Plus they take my used oil with no hassle what so ever. When all is said and done it's the same price or better as Walmart.

A couple of years ago, my wife and daughter went to the Taylor Swift concert at MetLife Stadium here in NJ on a Sunday night. About 6 pm, they call me and tell me the battery went dead and nothing works and the windows are down. Being a good husband and father, no choice but to try to get a battery, shoot over to the stadium and change it out so I can go home and sleep in peace without worrying. So, I gather some tools, my son, some cash in case I have to try to bribe my way into the stadium parking lot and off we go to Advance, thankfully still open at 7 pm on a Sunday, to buy a battery. When I gave him the car info and tell him my tale of woe, he tells me there are two different size batteries for that car, do I know which one is in there. Nope, not a clue. This guy offers to sell me one of the batteries but let me take both so I know one will fit. He was literally going to let me walk out with a $200.00 battery without paying. I told him that was very generous of him but I need to pay for both and I'll bring the un-needed one back for a refund. I don't know if he was being foolish, or kind of old school, but I thought the offer was pretty neat. Got to the stadium, Troopers let me right in, empty spot right next to my wife's car, 10 minutes to swap out the battery and just as soon as I closed the hood, Taylor was taking the stage, the roar of the crowd was deafening! My son and I hung around for the next 20 minutes or so listening to the concert and then, off we went heroically, with the help of Advance Auto Parts, into the night.

I would say the kid was poorly trained and well intentioned. Reminds me of the kid at a recent retail place, he uses my bogo coupon and hands it back. Just lacks critical thinking and the impact of his decisions.

My first Grateful Dead show was there many years ago, almost 40. Those were the good ol’ days.

My ‘98 Maxima could also take a group 24F or 35 depending if it had cold weather. I’ll say it again learned the importance of replacing the sleeve around the battery. I didn’t and the front fender rusted out.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

I just looked at the prize of penzoil platinum. Walmart has it for almost HALF the price. There is paying for convenience and there is pretending that nobody has access to the internet.

 

[Hootbro]

I just looked at the prize of penzoil platinum. Walmart has it for almost HALF the price. There is paying for convenience and there is pretending that nobody has access to the internet.

I did the math, Pennzoil Platinum at Advance Auto is 58% higher than Walmart. I get Walmart is like in its own level of wholesale buying power, but I doubt it is that much different.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

37.99 vs 23.78 Is a rather significant difference.