Seriously Questioning Napa's Quality

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SwampSurvivor

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I was always under the impression that napa was a "premium" quality. Especially, when I buy their higher end products.

Is not expecting failure asking too much?

In July, I bought a starter .. It didn't work out of the box.

This weekend, I was looking at the front of my Jeep. Something was off - I then noticed that my left front wheel had some negative camber. The front axle looks like this |----\

I jacked it up and took a look. Sure enough, the napa wheel bearing was lose again. The cheapy advance wheel bearing on the right was fine.

The wheel bearing has 3,700 miles on it. Completely unacceptable.

Needless to say, I am 100% DONE with napa.
 
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I went through two NAPA alternators before I came to the exact same conclusion. Sure, they warranty the part and give you a new one for free but it's a hassle changing things repeatedly due to poor quality.

I mail-order OEM now. It's more expensive but my time is worth something.
 
Chinese wheel bearings are literally the worst thing you can buy from China. NEVER get a wheel bearing unless it's a top brand name like SKF, Timken, National, etc. I put NAPA white box wheel bearings on a friends' Sunfire and a year later they were so bad you could not even hear while driving in the car they were so loud. Put on some National's and the problem was gone forever.

If the starter was a re-man, its also common, they don't always get the same place to refurb stuff, so quality is quite a wide spectrum. I returned a re-man starter to them once and got another which was much better quality (and still working great to this day)

Beware.

Napa is a good store overall.
 
Times are changing. I have noticed over the past few years that both NAPA and Car Quest parts are coming from China more and more. Maybe they have no choice.

People here are complaining that quality companies like MOOG are going down hill.

When we support internet sales instead of brick and mortar establishments, we are determining our own fate to some extent.

There definitely seems to be a downward spiral regarding good aftermarket auto parts.
 
Well its not just Napa. I recently bought a alternator from Advance auto parts and had the same problem. 2 days after installing it, all my dash gauges were going crazy. Swinging from low to max readings with all the lights blinking on and off. The first thing I did was put a meter on the battery and it was reading 16.9 volts. back to the store for another one. This one has been fine for 3 months. I don't know where it was made originally, but the rebuild was done in Mexico. I find it funny how something can test out fine after they work on it, but once it's put into service, it falls apart like a cheap suit.,,
 
I've had an account with the local NAPA dealer since the mid 70's. I'm starting to have problems with NAPA parts quality in recent history as they are sourcing many of their parts from who knows where. When I pay a premium price for a part, I expect a top quality part, not off shore junk that I can buy cheaper somewhere else. I don't like to use mail order for parts, but I believe that will be happening more often in the future.
 
I'm beginning to think we may see the rebirth of the local starter/alternator rebuild shop. I have had the same problems with cheapo reman alternators and starters; however, I have had much better service from ones that I had rebuilt by a local shop.
 
It's just frustrating. I don't have a lot of money, and I buy "premium" stuff so I'm not replacing junk every other week.

As much as I'd like to find a Timken (can't find one for my Cherokee ...), I'm most likely going to go to the pick and pull and pull a good wheel bearing for $15.

If I have to change it every few months, that's fine as I have to pull the shaft to grease my front U Joints anyway.
 
FWIW, I bought National brand hubs/wheel bearing assemblies for my truck. They were made in Korea, not China. They have been on my truck for 2 years now, doing great, no noise or any other problems at all. I got them at AAP, used 2 discount codes, did 2 separate transactions and saved $80.00 on the pair.
 
Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
I'm beginning to think we may see the rebirth of the local starter/alternator rebuild shop. I have had the same problems with cheapo reman alternators and starters; however, I have had much better service from ones that I had rebuilt by a local shop.

This many times over.

I found out the local state park lets you rent john boats and they allow any electric motor to be attached and my dad has an old one form the 70s/80s hanging in the shed I might bring by for a freshen up or upgrade. Then all I gotta do is source a battery. I'm all for supporting local shops!
 
If I need an alternator in the Cherokee any time soon, I'm getting a higher output, compatible one, from the junkyard and having it rebuilt.
 
I've come to the retaliation that OEM parts are the same price or cheaper and last longer than anything else I can buy at an autoparts store. This of course, all depends on how much your dealer is trying to mark up on you. Since I have a small town Ford dealer and we have a work account with them, I get parts for cost or a tad about cost.
 
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I've found buying OEM allows you to avoid these pitfalls. My time is valuable and I don't enjoy doing the same job twice. In my experience, if the OEM part was originally defective (IE, the CPS on my BMW) the part has been revised so that the replacement part no longer has this defect. I've found the same with my Ford stuff.
 
NAPA has about the same amount of turd rate as the rest of the chains. The only thing that shines for them most times is that they will usually have the more odd ball stuff in stock where the other places will have to order it.
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
NAPA has about the same amount of turd rate as the rest of the chains. The only thing that shines for them most times is that they will usually have the more odd ball stuff in stock where the other places will have to order it.


Hmmmm.....that hasn't been my experience lately.
Just to let you know, I know the full names of all the employees at my nearest NAPA and they know me. We get along great and I have no problem with the people behind the counter. But a couple of months ago, I needed a complete overhaul kit for a Cockshutt 30 tractor with a Buda engine, made in 1948. NAPA couldn't get any parts for it. O'Reillys had everything I needed in two days.
I just did a complete rear brake job on my brother's 1971 Ford F600 truck. The rear shoes from NAPA were over $120 higher than what O'Reillys wanted, even though we did go with NAPA. O'Reillys got rear wheel cylinder kits for the truck overnight. NAPA took about a week and I had to pay for the UPS shipping at NAPA also. Currently the tool section at NAPA doesn't exist because they are doing their big "changeover" to another supplier. About a month ago, I stopped in the 2nd nearest NAPA to me and wanted some stainless steel safety wire to secure some main bearing bolts. The kid behind the counter had no clue as to what I wanted even after I explained it to him what it was and how it worked. He sure could text on his phone though.
My post is not a plug for O'Reillys. It's just that lately they've really come through for me when trying to find oddball or parts for older vehicles, which to me is sad as I've been a NAPA user for many years.
 
Originally Posted By: FowVay
I went through two NAPA alternators before I came to the exact same conclusion. Sure, they warranty the part and give you a new one for free but it's a hassle changing things repeatedly due to poor quality.

I mail-order OEM now. It's more expensive but my time is worth something.


Geesh, at least you got your warranty. The store I went to insured me that the dist. rotor and cap were lifetime. That is why it was twice as much as others at the chain stores. It was brass. Okay...Well sure enough the tower on the cap broke off. Went back and tried to exchange it out. They told me it had changed and now had a limited mileage warranty.

That was enough for me. Kragen had one with a lifetime warranty slightly cheaper by $4 and got it in writing.

The short business hours, lack of inventory, and not opening at my convenience like on Sundays. I don't feel is worth the premium prices or my time. Sticking to mail-order and chain store sales.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
NAPA has about the same amount of turd rate as the rest of the chains. The only thing that shines for them most times is that they will usually have the more odd ball stuff in stock where the other places will have to order it.


Hmmmm.....that hasn't been my experience lately.
Just to let you know, I know the full names of all the employees at my nearest NAPA and they know me. We get along great and I have no problem with the people behind the counter. But a couple of months ago, I needed a complete overhaul kit for a Cockshutt 30 tractor with a Buda engine, made in 1948. NAPA couldn't get any parts for it. O'Reillys had everything I needed in two days.
I just did a complete rear brake job on my brother's 1971 Ford F600 truck. The rear shoes from NAPA were over $120 higher than what O'Reillys wanted, even though we did go with NAPA. O'Reillys got rear wheel cylinder kits for the truck overnight. NAPA took about a week and I had to pay for the UPS shipping at NAPA also. Currently the tool section at NAPA doesn't exist because they are doing their big "changeover" to another supplier. About a month ago, I stopped in the 2nd nearest NAPA to me and wanted some stainless steel safety wire to secure some main bearing bolts. The kid behind the counter had no clue as to what I wanted even after I explained it to him what it was and how it worked. He sure could text on his phone though.
My post is not a plug for O'Reillys. It's just that lately they've really come through for me when trying to find oddball or parts for older vehicles, which to me is sad as I've been a NAPA user for many years.


What does no availability of tractor parts and higher prices at NAPA compared have anything to do with what I said?
 
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