Just a friendly discussion of your favorite place(s) to buy parts.
For a time, I really like O'Reillys but now I prefer Napa, at least around here.
While doing some brake line work (replacing the proportioning valve that had one different sized connection), I went out looking for inverted flare nuts. A guy working at one of the local O'Reillys tried to claim that there is *one* size of inverted flare nut on brakes lines which I knew was [censored]. I showed him the old PV and he shruged and said that's all they have and I'd gave to go online and special order something like that.
I to Napa and the guy there walked me over to the rotating rack of brake lines with all different sizes if inverted flare nuts already on the lines. He also pulled out a plastic sorting box of loose ones. They seem to know more about auto parts than some of the guys at O'Reillys. Maybe Napa doesn't have such a high turn over of workers as O'Reillys or something. I think Napa is a franchise kind of setup which might be why. The local franchise owner may hire more knowledgeable people than a corporately owned store.
Bumper to Bumper can be good too and may also be a franchise setup. The local BTB was the only store in town that had the right sized, thin wall socket in stock for the big axle nuts on the Dana 60. I checked O'Reillys, Advance, Auto Zone, Napa and a locally owned big truck & trailer shop (catering to semis and the like).
O'Reillys has better prices on parts and accessories most of the time but you may be at the mercy of people who know less than you do. I still shop there but I often check Napa first now.
I did have a good experience with Advance once. I was needing a voltage regular for my 93 Escort's alerntaor. O'Reily was going to have to order it and the price seemed high. I went down the road to Advance (I was needing to get one that day) and they had one in stock at a lower price.
At the other Advance Auto, I had a poor experience and won't shop there now (and Advance as a whole is my least favorite as a result). I bought a snap ring clamp tool like for CV axle boots (about $10) and I found it didn't work for the task worth a flip. So I took it back and asked for a refund. He stated that since the package was dirty/greasy, they couldn't put it back on the shelf to resell it so no refund. I asked why they would try to resell something I said didn't work and he didn't really answer that. Finally he said the most they could do was exchange for another.
I decided to be a smart [censored] and said fine, exchange it. After he was done with the exchange, I turned and took two steps toward the door, turned back around, walked back to the counter, set the new, perfectly clean one on the counter and asked for a refund on it. I'm surprised his eyes didn't roll right out of his head and across the floor when I did that. *LOL*
He said he just explained he couldn't do that. I said "oh, now you can't refund me on a new one that isn't dirty either?". He finally caved and gave me a refund just to get me out of the otherwise completely store.
The other (better) one, I bought a new oil cap for the van (the one on the valve cover) which didn't quite fit right. It fit the hole but wouldn't snap tight like the old one does. When I went to return it, they were scratching their heads on how/why the other guy who sold it to me when it wasn't in their system and at first acted like they didn't want to give a refund on it, being opened and wasn't pulling up in their system as fitting the vehicle I bought it for.
I cleaned off the bit of oil that got on it when I tried to install it, though so it wasn't dirty, just opened. They did finally do a refund after about 5-8 minutes of them trying to figure out why the other guy sold me that one to fit the van... trying to pull it up in the system. I suspect he knew more about engines and figured it would fit (almost did) without so much as looking it up. I recall he just walked over and pulled one off the shelf when I sold him what I needed after he did an initial computer parts search. So.. the old original oil cap is back on. Doesn't seem to be leaking (or isn't enough to be a problem) so it's fine and dandy.
For a time, I really like O'Reillys but now I prefer Napa, at least around here.
While doing some brake line work (replacing the proportioning valve that had one different sized connection), I went out looking for inverted flare nuts. A guy working at one of the local O'Reillys tried to claim that there is *one* size of inverted flare nut on brakes lines which I knew was [censored]. I showed him the old PV and he shruged and said that's all they have and I'd gave to go online and special order something like that.
I to Napa and the guy there walked me over to the rotating rack of brake lines with all different sizes if inverted flare nuts already on the lines. He also pulled out a plastic sorting box of loose ones. They seem to know more about auto parts than some of the guys at O'Reillys. Maybe Napa doesn't have such a high turn over of workers as O'Reillys or something. I think Napa is a franchise kind of setup which might be why. The local franchise owner may hire more knowledgeable people than a corporately owned store.
Bumper to Bumper can be good too and may also be a franchise setup. The local BTB was the only store in town that had the right sized, thin wall socket in stock for the big axle nuts on the Dana 60. I checked O'Reillys, Advance, Auto Zone, Napa and a locally owned big truck & trailer shop (catering to semis and the like).
O'Reillys has better prices on parts and accessories most of the time but you may be at the mercy of people who know less than you do. I still shop there but I often check Napa first now.
I did have a good experience with Advance once. I was needing a voltage regular for my 93 Escort's alerntaor. O'Reily was going to have to order it and the price seemed high. I went down the road to Advance (I was needing to get one that day) and they had one in stock at a lower price.
At the other Advance Auto, I had a poor experience and won't shop there now (and Advance as a whole is my least favorite as a result). I bought a snap ring clamp tool like for CV axle boots (about $10) and I found it didn't work for the task worth a flip. So I took it back and asked for a refund. He stated that since the package was dirty/greasy, they couldn't put it back on the shelf to resell it so no refund. I asked why they would try to resell something I said didn't work and he didn't really answer that. Finally he said the most they could do was exchange for another.
I decided to be a smart [censored] and said fine, exchange it. After he was done with the exchange, I turned and took two steps toward the door, turned back around, walked back to the counter, set the new, perfectly clean one on the counter and asked for a refund on it. I'm surprised his eyes didn't roll right out of his head and across the floor when I did that. *LOL*
He said he just explained he couldn't do that. I said "oh, now you can't refund me on a new one that isn't dirty either?". He finally caved and gave me a refund just to get me out of the otherwise completely store.
The other (better) one, I bought a new oil cap for the van (the one on the valve cover) which didn't quite fit right. It fit the hole but wouldn't snap tight like the old one does. When I went to return it, they were scratching their heads on how/why the other guy who sold it to me when it wasn't in their system and at first acted like they didn't want to give a refund on it, being opened and wasn't pulling up in their system as fitting the vehicle I bought it for.
I cleaned off the bit of oil that got on it when I tried to install it, though so it wasn't dirty, just opened. They did finally do a refund after about 5-8 minutes of them trying to figure out why the other guy sold me that one to fit the van... trying to pull it up in the system. I suspect he knew more about engines and figured it would fit (almost did) without so much as looking it up. I recall he just walked over and pulled one off the shelf when I sold him what I needed after he did an initial computer parts search. So.. the old original oil cap is back on. Doesn't seem to be leaking (or isn't enough to be a problem) so it's fine and dandy.
