Locally I have many options as far as parts stores go. I've got Autozone, O'Reilly's, Advance Auto Parts, Carquest, and NAPA. Typically, I shop at Advance Auto Parts simply because if they don't have a part in stock, they can drive to the end of town and pick it up at the distribution center that has everything. In other words, my wait time has never been longer than two hours for any part... With that said, I am just curious how these businesses compare as far as parts quality goes. Is there a clear winner, or should I simply stick with what has been working for me?
Quality of Part Stores?
- Thread starter Tros
- Start date
- Status
JHZR2
Staff member
Napa and local stores carry higher quality parts IME. THe big chain stores may carry something good, but it is hit and miss by vehicle and by store. Chain stores are good for quota hires and low-knowledge staff, smaller stores and NAPAs often are more capable to think outside the box and help a bit more.
1. I tend to default to O'Reilly's or Advance. I used O'Reilly's when I lived in the Ozarks in the 1960-70's, and they were head and shoulders above competitors at that time.
The nearest NAPA is over 20 miles away from my office or where I live.
2. O'Reilly's can pull from three different warehouses, so long as I can wait overnight for the part, and I usually can. The local O'Reilly's has retained their staff the longest. AAP and AutoZone seem to have quite a bit of turnover.
3. I shop online and both O'Reilly's and Advance make that more convenient. That also means I pretty well know the quality of the part before I order it.
4. My mechanic defaults to Carquest and then uses O'Reilly's or Advance to fill in any gaps. Carquest is pretty popular in my area, too.
5. Don't know any pro's who routinely use AutoZone.
The nearest NAPA is over 20 miles away from my office or where I live.
2. O'Reilly's can pull from three different warehouses, so long as I can wait overnight for the part, and I usually can. The local O'Reilly's has retained their staff the longest. AAP and AutoZone seem to have quite a bit of turnover.
3. I shop online and both O'Reilly's and Advance make that more convenient. That also means I pretty well know the quality of the part before I order it.
4. My mechanic defaults to Carquest and then uses O'Reilly's or Advance to fill in any gaps. Carquest is pretty popular in my area, too.
5. Don't know any pro's who routinely use AutoZone.
Last edited:
From this list my experience has been best from NAPA and Carquest almost identical as far as customer service and parts quality. I do not have anything to add for Advance because I have not bought anything from one since the mid 90's. O'Reilly's/Autozone service to me has been good for lubes and oil filters and I will use Duralast batteries and Duralast brake pads have served me well. But if I am looking for a quality part I stick with NAPA or Carquest if I am going to by from a store.
I don't have an O'Reilly's nearby, but I usually go for Napa and AAP. I've tried some of the online-only stores too, and experienced some awful customer service.
Case in point: I ordered leaf springs from JC Whitney. They showed up without any packaging, and just a shipping label stuck to the outside. Without protection, the bushings were destroyed during the shipment. I returned them and made sure they knew to send the replacements with appropriate packaging.
The replacements arrived today, also without any packaging (and broken bushings). I emailed their customer service about the damaged parts (again) and explained that they had been shipped without any packaging. The response I received was maddening... the lady wanted to know if it was just the parts that were damaged or if the packaging was also damaged. Fantastic.
Case in point: I ordered leaf springs from JC Whitney. They showed up without any packaging, and just a shipping label stuck to the outside. Without protection, the bushings were destroyed during the shipment. I returned them and made sure they knew to send the replacements with appropriate packaging.
The replacements arrived today, also without any packaging (and broken bushings). I emailed their customer service about the damaged parts (again) and explained that they had been shipped without any packaging. The response I received was maddening... the lady wanted to know if it was just the parts that were damaged or if the packaging was also damaged. Fantastic.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Napa and local stores carry higher quality parts IME. THe big chain stores may carry something good, but it is hit and miss by vehicle and by store. Chain stores are good for quota hires and low-knowledge staff, smaller stores and NAPAs often are more capable to think outside the box and help a bit more.
I agree with JHZR on this. Napa is where professional go, the stores you listed are retail part stores where shadetrees would shop. Rockauto has a good selection of Quality parts IMO..
Napa and local stores carry higher quality parts IME. THe big chain stores may carry something good, but it is hit and miss by vehicle and by store. Chain stores are good for quota hires and low-knowledge staff, smaller stores and NAPAs often are more capable to think outside the box and help a bit more.
I agree with JHZR on this. Napa is where professional go, the stores you listed are retail part stores where shadetrees would shop. Rockauto has a good selection of Quality parts IMO..
IMO NAPA and Carquest are higher quality for parts. Other stuff like oil filters etc go for the best deal
Shop brands and dont get hung up on NAPAs home labels.NAPA makes nothing,its all sourced from vendors available elsewhere.
Echlin= Standard Motor Products
NAPA Brakes=Brake Parts Inc (Raybestos)
NAPA Exhaust=Walker
NAPA Filters=WIX
NAPA Batteries=East Penn
NAPA Balkamp=Largely Dorman
NAPA Fuel Pumps=Carter
NAPA Bearings=SKF
NAPA Gaskets=Fel Pro
NAPA Wipers=Trico
NAPA Chassis=Spicer
NAPA U-Joints=Precision
Echlin= Standard Motor Products
NAPA Brakes=Brake Parts Inc (Raybestos)
NAPA Exhaust=Walker
NAPA Filters=WIX
NAPA Batteries=East Penn
NAPA Balkamp=Largely Dorman
NAPA Fuel Pumps=Carter
NAPA Bearings=SKF
NAPA Gaskets=Fel Pro
NAPA Wipers=Trico
NAPA Chassis=Spicer
NAPA U-Joints=Precision
Napa used to be the best. Now they are living off their past and selling the same garbage that the other places sell.
A few weeks ago I had to put wheel bearings in my pickup. Napa could only get me Chinese ones. At least Autozone has Timkin.
Napa's suppliers may vary by area. Napa's gaskets here are made by Victor. Fuel pumps are Bosch as are the o2 sensors.
Ball joints and such are in a plain white box from China.
The Napa waterpumps are from China and are an exact copy of the Bosch ones Pep Boys sells but the Napa one costs nearly double.
A few weeks ago I had to put wheel bearings in my pickup. Napa could only get me Chinese ones. At least Autozone has Timkin.
Napa's suppliers may vary by area. Napa's gaskets here are made by Victor. Fuel pumps are Bosch as are the o2 sensors.
Ball joints and such are in a plain white box from China.
The Napa waterpumps are from China and are an exact copy of the Bosch ones Pep Boys sells but the Napa one costs nearly double.
Napa has a high end line and an economy line of parts. The staff are professionals IMO
Finding more and more of the stuff from Napa is identical to the cheap garbage sold at Autozone, etc... It isn't consistent, but I'm running into it more frequently now when it never was an issue in the past.
As was mentioned, much of the Napa lineup is also sold by a name brand at other retailers, and often shares the same or part of the same part number.
Locally, I shop O'reilly and Napa interchangeably as many of the parts are the same (the rear wiper motor I bought at O'Reilly had a large Napa sticker on it
, and I shop based on price and availability, both of which are available online. After that, I'll go to Carquest, as they have a store attached to the regional warehouse and can get things in stock that I'd have to wait for elsewhere, but you pay for it.
As was mentioned, much of the Napa lineup is also sold by a name brand at other retailers, and often shares the same or part of the same part number.
Locally, I shop O'reilly and Napa interchangeably as many of the parts are the same (the rear wiper motor I bought at O'Reilly had a large Napa sticker on it
, and I shop based on price and availability, both of which are available online. After that, I'll go to Carquest, as they have a store attached to the regional warehouse and can get things in stock that I'd have to wait for elsewhere, but you pay for it.I'm doing more and more parts shopping online. I like having a broad selection of brands available and I get that from RockAuto and Amazon. The local auto parts stores wanted $140 EACH for a front hub bearing assembly and they were Chinese made too. RockAuto had USA made Timken for $93 EACH.
I either buy it off of eBay (which quality can suck but for the most part I've had great luck) or O'Reilly / Advance.
I've never had an issue with any part I've gotten from O'Reilly and a few of the parts I bought from Advance... well aside from them looking like [censored] after 6 months, they still work and do what they were designed to do.
Napa... that's a different story. My dad went through 4 thermostats for his Lumina before getting one that worked, and I went through 2 for my blazer. The local dealership that used to source parts from Napa started sourcing them elsewhere as most of the parts they were getting were failing left and right. My dad also has had 2 replacement starters go out on his lumina as well (they were both covered under warranty but both times it happened out in the middle of nowhere, meaning extra incurred costs.)
The same guys have worked at O'Reilly in town for the 5 or so years I've been here and usually have a clue what they're talking about... I just wish they had promotions like advance!
I've never had an issue with any part I've gotten from O'Reilly and a few of the parts I bought from Advance... well aside from them looking like [censored] after 6 months, they still work and do what they were designed to do.
Napa... that's a different story. My dad went through 4 thermostats for his Lumina before getting one that worked, and I went through 2 for my blazer. The local dealership that used to source parts from Napa started sourcing them elsewhere as most of the parts they were getting were failing left and right. My dad also has had 2 replacement starters go out on his lumina as well (they were both covered under warranty but both times it happened out in the middle of nowhere, meaning extra incurred costs.)
The same guys have worked at O'Reilly in town for the 5 or so years I've been here and usually have a clue what they're talking about... I just wish they had promotions like advance!
I loathe going into an Autozone, always the worst service and least knowledgeable staff. Their parts are hit and miss, mostly misses. In the past I've shopped at both Carquest and Napa. More recently I shop at Oreilly's for their great customer service and good prices. For oil and filters I go where ever I can get it the cheapest.
Whenever I need a part "right now!" to get back on the road, places like AZ always seem to have the part, inferior as it may be. Sometimes thats what you have to get unless you can wait for the quality part to be shipped in from a different store or ordered from the manufacturer.
In our area NAPA is generally higher quality. But AAP can be used if you simply wade through the garbage to get to the good stuff.
Carquest is a bad joke around here, but it's their people, not their parts. Same for AZ, I only use them to get pricing leverage.
Carquest is a bad joke around here, but it's their people, not their parts. Same for AZ, I only use them to get pricing leverage.
Am all over with ebay (new/used), Advance, Rockauto, dealers, and local junkyards.
Dodge Dealer sent me to NAPA for parking brake cables for an 11 year old dakota. Dealer didn't feel like stocking something that old. NAPA has a warehouse attached to a store, so they're a mega-store, and have what I need.
I dropped a half-ball rocker arm pivot for a chevy cavalier 2.2 OHV somewhere in my garage. Noone had one. The dealer showed one with rocker arm for $22 and they could have it tomorrow. I'd have paid it to get it that day. Advance had it tomorrow for $3.50. Got that. Seems parts stores don't mind making you wait since their competition makes you wait too.
I got a new outside rear view mirror for a saturn s series for $26 shipped on ebay. Yards wanted $35 for a used one! Window regulator for $40 instead of $150, and a quality part. Some categories of parts they just want to screw you on. Same brand liftgate strut for $12 plus $6 shipping on rockauto is $35 at advance. These are all weird categories and the kind of thing you don't know if you should gripe on price.
Dodge Dealer sent me to NAPA for parking brake cables for an 11 year old dakota. Dealer didn't feel like stocking something that old. NAPA has a warehouse attached to a store, so they're a mega-store, and have what I need.
I dropped a half-ball rocker arm pivot for a chevy cavalier 2.2 OHV somewhere in my garage. Noone had one. The dealer showed one with rocker arm for $22 and they could have it tomorrow. I'd have paid it to get it that day. Advance had it tomorrow for $3.50. Got that. Seems parts stores don't mind making you wait since their competition makes you wait too.
I got a new outside rear view mirror for a saturn s series for $26 shipped on ebay. Yards wanted $35 for a used one! Window regulator for $40 instead of $150, and a quality part. Some categories of parts they just want to screw you on. Same brand liftgate strut for $12 plus $6 shipping on rockauto is $35 at advance. These are all weird categories and the kind of thing you don't know if you should gripe on price.
- Status
