Auto parts commercial accounts

And most importantly what is the percent off of what retail is at these places? I used to get 20% off at dealers back in the day.
AKA as wholesale prices.
 
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So when I first opened my O'Reilly account I randomly enrolled in some program they had -- it was either purchase X amount of brake parts or suspension parts. I don't remember because after reading the fine print I realized I'm probably too small-time to meet the spending thresholds in a given category within the time frame specified.

Anyway, I randomly received a $25 gift card, so I guess I should watch these programs more carefully!

I know $25 ain't much but I'll take it. If I paid closer attention or did a little more business this could help the bottom line.

Their letter is incredibly vague and doesn't state which program paid me (ie brakes or suspension etc). Still, I feel like a @GMBoy mini-me ;) (except he gets AutoZone rewards)
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Irrelevant story about AZ commercial...

Once I had a girlfriend. She had a local shop do a timing belt replacement on her Subaru. 500 miles later it dies. (200 miles from home on a holiday weekend, on the interstate.) Shop sent a tow truck to retrieve the car after a local Subaru dealer verified it had lost timing when the tensioner snapped.

AutoZone had supplied the parts kit to the mechanic. Their water pump had a misplaced casting feature that kept the tensioner from fully tensioning the belt as it set in. The interference was not apparent on initial assembly. I interfaced between shop and girlfriend because she didn't speak cars.

The day I visited, AZ had a regional rep there watching the parts come off. They redid the job but failed compression check. (Duh.) Pistons managed to survive but the heads had bent valves. AZ covered the rebuild and her rental car. That motor was notorious for needing head gaskets, so it was like she got the HG job for her trouble.
 
Irrelevant story about AZ commercial...

Once I had a girlfriend. She had a local shop do a timing belt replacement on her Subaru. 500 miles later it dies. (200 miles from home on a holiday weekend, on the interstate.) Shop sent a tow truck to retrieve the car after a local Subaru dealer verified it had lost timing when the tensioner snapped.

AutoZone had supplied the parts kit to the mechanic. Their water pump had a misplaced casting feature that kept the tensioner from fully tensioning the belt as it set in. The interference was not apparent on initial assembly. I interfaced between shop and girlfriend because she didn't speak cars.

The day I visited, AZ had a regional rep there watching the parts come off. They redid the job but failed compression check. (Duh.) Pistons managed to survive but the heads had bent valves. AZ covered the rebuild and her rental car. That motor was notorious for needing head gaskets, so it was like she got the HG job for her trouble.
Yep that is the ProVantage plan and I am a part of that with my AZ commercial account. 2yr/24k mile nationwide parts and labor warranty and they back it up! I also get a lot of money back in rebates each month - cash!
 
I work for Advance and at my store the majority of our sales are commercial. Things our commercial customers say we do better on than our competitors are delivery times, willingness to source difficult-to-find parts, and ability to match and beat competitor prices. A lot of these things are gonna vary store-to-store. The discount is based on how much volume you buy, and it can be very substantial.

Our commercial clients seem to prefer our Carquest brakes and suspension parts over any of the other store's house brands for those items. Our alternators and starters are not great, nor are our belts, hoses, tensioners, and water pumps.

We warranty/defect parts no questions asked for most commercial clients however I don't know how labor is warranted, I'm not high enough in the chain of command to deal with that type of stuff, lol.
 
And most importantly what is the percent off of what retail is at these places? I used to get 20% off at dealers back in the day.
AKA as wholesale prices.
The parts people might have told you that's "wholesale" pricing but I'm skeptical that 20% discount qualifies.
At Advance, it is based entirely off of how much volume you buy, it's not a flat percentage and it varies customer-to-customer. And it can also depending on the type of part, or brand of part. For the same client, brakes might get a 40% discount while a starter might get a 20% discount. And a Carquest O2 sensor might get a 40% discount, but a Denso O2 sensor only gets 15%.

I don't know how they calculate those numbers, but I know I can price out the same part for five different commercial shops and come up with five different prices.
 
I work for Advance and at my store the majority of our sales are commercial. Things our commercial customers say we do better on than our competitors are delivery times, willingness to source difficult-to-find parts, and ability to match and beat competitor prices. A lot of these things are gonna vary store-to-store. The discount is based on how much volume you buy, and it can be very substantial.

Our commercial clients seem to prefer our Carquest brakes and suspension parts over any of the other store's house brands for those items. Our alternators and starters are not great, nor are our belts, hoses, tensioners, and water pumps.

We warranty/defect parts no questions asked for most commercial clients however I don't know how labor is warranted, I'm not high enough in the chain of command to deal with that type of stuff, lol.

The Autozone I use is fantastic....The store & area rep, They pay labor no questions asked....But I don't abuse it either.
 
I filed my first labor claim with O'Reilly. I know these are arguably a waste of time but I had a rebuilt caliper immediately pour fluid from a piston and I found it annoying.

On some level I feel like they just shouldn't be allowed to get away with such poor QC, but I do understand I'm screaming into the wind.

I didn't really know what they wanted to see but I submitted for $66 to replace the caliper again and bleed the front circuit.

About five weeks later now I got a check for $40. I didn't really dig into how they calculated that because I'm not going to argue it, and I'm honestly surprised anything came of it.

Anyway, I suppose each reader can take away from this what they will. My impression is that O'Reilly is slow to handle claims and you may not get "fair" value.

Again, I'm not crying about this -- life isn't fair -- but just recounting my experience.
 
I filed my first labor claim with O'Reilly. I know these are arguably a waste of time but I had a rebuilt caliper immediately pour fluid from a piston and I found it annoying.
We tried a couple times years ago and just went round and round. Their commercial rep guy went from annoying to non-existent real quick while that all went down. What's fun with Ford's warranty is they will pay a max of 2 hours at $60/hr for labor on a OTC SPW (Over The Counter Service Part Warranty) claim unless it is powertrain. I once had a complete hack mobile mechanic tell me I had to pay him cash out of my pocket for the HPFP that he (probably) installed wrong on a 6.4L didn't work. He also refused to buy any of the other parts (substantial) needed to get to it on a 6.4L Powerstroke because "they should come with it."
 
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We tried a couple times years ago and just went round and round. Their commercial rep guy went from annoying to non-existent real quick while that all went down. What's fun with Ford's warranty is they will pay a max of 2 hours at $60/hr for labor on a OTC SPW (Over The Counter Service Part Warranty) claim unless it is powertrain. I once had a complete hack mobile mechanic tell me I had to pay him cash out of my pocket for the HPFP that he (probably) installed wrong on a 6.4L didn't work. He also refused to buy any of the other parts (substantial) needed to get to it on a 6.4L Powerstroke because "they should come with it."
Yeah I briefly glanced at some of the paperwork and it said they use Mitchell times and max at $50/hr.

$50 per hour?? Welcome to 2001......
 
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