Advance, Autozone, O'Reilly, NAPA - Your Favorite

Advance.

But it’s for oil, shop supplies and miscellaneous things like RTV or anti seize. I’ve been very disappointed with any of the parts I’ve bought at big box auto parts stores.

So, I buy parts at the dealer (who give me a discount, so...) or at on line stores like IPD, FCPEuro, and. MBOEMparts.
 
NAPA then Advance. NAPA is generally higher quality parts and always better service, but if you're shopping on price then often Advance wins out. I live near a NAPA distribution center so they're more likely to have more or less everything in stock compared to other places. For sundries sometimes NAPA's sales are good, for example, motor oil, and mine in particular has good clearance items often. Advance I've made sorta friends with employees in the past I could shoot the **** with, and generally the employees are relatively knowledgeable but I've had a few stupid stories.

The only place to me that I consistently don't like and now avoid is Autozone, I think for pricing they can be cheap but the employees have the lowest morale and least care there, imo.

I never went to O'Reilly's yet, strangely. They only opened a few years ago here, and I just never tried them out.
 
NAPA, better quality parts, on average.

Autozone, better warranty and pricing, on average.

Advance Auto, used to have better pricing till their coupons dried up, I'll go there for select items but usually not.

O'Reillys, their extremely short loaner tool period offends me, won't do business with them, but then I don't have to with the others nearer me anyhow plus Amazon, Rock Auto, etc online.

Ultimately except for rare cases, I only shop online except oil from walmart, a random piece of hose/etc from Autozone, or warranty replacement from autozone. I used to shop autozone much more a dozen + years ago. I did get an alternator from Autozone recently because nearby and vehicle was out of commission until installed. Cheaper than a tow, anyway.
 
I use any of 5 parts stores within 2 miles away, and have accounts at 4 stores and they can deliver right to my house if needed. I bounce from one to the other depending on what I'm looking for. What's interesting is Autozone just opened up a new store in a new building that looks almost identical to the Advance store 16 feet away, right next to it, that was originally built as a Western Auto store. I have not been impressed with the AZ store at all, and end up next door every time. NAPA and Advance have same day delivery on a lot of stuff. I recently needed to buy Walker Dynomax turbo mufflers which I was able to get from the local Blain's farm/fleet store ordered at 9am, and delivered to the store by 2pm which impressed me, along with the price.
 
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Advance for basic shop supplies, oil etc on clearance and the CQ Wearever Ceramic brakes. Nothing else.

NAPA for more important parts.
 
The guys at my O'Reillys are the most knowledgeable. I do like a lot of AutoZone brand though, Duralast batteries, brakes and STP filters.. AutoZone seems to have best store prices. A lot of stuff is less expensive if you plan ahead on-line mainly Amazon, Rock's less expensive but Shipping negates any saving..............
 
I use AutoZone mostly. Their walk in prices are usually the cheapest and I get that $20 gift when I spend $100 . Their employees are the worst and it's best to look up the part you want before you go there.

Napa is way overpriced and the old grumpy guys that knew parts have retired. Now they have girls with green hair and face tattoos working the parts counter and they are not very versed in parts .


Orileys is somewhere in the middle. Their oil and filter prices are through the roof. Their counter girls can at least spell the part you asked for.

We just got an advanced so I can't comment on them yet but walking the store I see very high priced and a terrible store layout. The store is dark like a cave.

Whoever designed that store put the isles facing the wrong direction so the light gets blocked .
 
I try to avoid big chains like AZ or AAP and stick with what the garages use in my area which is SANEL or Robbins

I find NAPA top be the most pro of the big chains. Any place i can get custom hyd hose made up is good in my book and I used their alkyd dist caps and rotors when there were fake DELCO parts everywhere.

Wow that was long ago thinking about it - in the nineteen-nineties, last century in the previous millennium :)
 
Let's not turn this into a bashing thread. Just asking if given a choice which of the Big 4 do you normally shop?
When I need/want an auto parts store, I shop at O'Reilly's. The primary reason is that there is a store about 6/10 mile from my front door, I can order online and the item will be ready for pickup within about an hour or so, there's ample parking in the lot right in front of the store, and the staff has always been friendly and helpful. Their prices have been good as well. In the past, they had a great price on spark plugs, M1 ESP, washer fluid, and light bulbs.
 
For oil and filters I pick Walmart because it's easy to steal from there. For rental tools Autozone is usually everywhere locally. It's a shame the big 4 sell reboxed Chinese junk now.
 
For parts only four places. Local parts dealer, Monument Auto Parts, national dealer, RockAuto and NAPA with all counter people in their later years and know parts, and then Sparks Surplus on eBay for OEM and NOS parts. For routine stuff like oil, filters, and coolant it would be WalMart.
 
Out of those 4, NAPA then O’Reilly. In my experience, and I know this can vary store to store, they generally have more knowledgeable employees.
 
I'll pick Autozone or Advance about equally, and it all depends which one has the item I need in stock at a given moment. The advent of checking online beforehand has to be about the best invention ever.

I used to shop at Murray's but they got bought out out by O'Reilly's who promptly replaced all the friendly and knowledgeable staff at my local Murray's with a group that looked like they were a street gang that somehow got trapped in a parts store, or were perhaps operating their gang out of the store, at least judging by the crowd hanging out there at closing time every night. It was probably no coincidence I'd see a squad car there every other time I drove by.
 
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