Chewievette Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I've been in the local parts stores so often asking for totally random stuff that they no longer attempt to figure out what I'm doing. Of course before I go in I at Least know the year, make, and model the part is from. My local advance is acctually pretty good. They got my carb rebuild kits the quickest and the cheapest, on a holiday weekend no less! Also they are the only ones in the area that have a 240z valve cover gasket, head gasket, and intake/exhaust gasket In Stock! Figure that one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I can't stand auto-zone, but my local advance is more then helpful, because most of the guys are old hotrodders and such, I've never had a problem with them. As for MSA, they seemed really good to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 originally posted by Okimoto: Don't you wish they would turn all of the computer terminals around the other way and have it so that we the people would enter the parts numbers in at our own free will and tell the parts guys behind the counter what to get? Here you go:http://www.partsamerica.com/VehicleSelection.aspx?destinationpage=ReplacementParts.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I am usually a tough customer.... I don't get along well with idiots... The fact is that when I wan't a part now... I do what it takes to get that part NOW... even if I have to bite my tounge and smile broadly the whole time.. even while imagining wrenching his neck to snuff out his miserable existance. I live in downtown Cary NC... there are half a dozen parts stores within a mile of my house. Napa, Carquest, Autozone, Advance, Parts+, etc... some of them have 2 stores within 5 miles...I have made the rounds on the phone and at their counters... The fact is... If I am buying important parts I use Nissan... or I check what brand and sources are THE BEST QUALITY and mail order them by part number.. any major job I am performing I pre order everything I need... I use Autozone the most... NAPA screwed up my local independent dealer.. but they were not that great to begin with. Autozone has huge stock and spread it out over several local stores... they carry a lot of odd "fixit" parts and display them for me to oogle over. They have a variety of hot rod parts displayed with prices... Autozone has crappy friction materials... but who buys clutches from brands they don't know from ANYBODY... live and learn neophytes.. When I am looking for parts I always let a counter guy know.. ""I have this antique Datsun... it has been turned into a race car and it has parts from all kinds of different vehicles on it""... ""I need to look up such and such year.. and then I need to compare it with such and such"... If I can't get it worked out in the store then I buy several different parts and head home with a variety to work with... take back the unused parts and wash up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I have to say... When I goto Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW dealerships.. I have confidence that what I buy is best quality..there is a monetary price to pay for confidence... My experience with General Motors dealerships is moronic idiocy, laced with incompetance, with a boquet of overconfidence and lack of respect for the customer. Working with GM dealerships and owning one of their trucks has been the worst of my automotive experiences... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverz Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 The last time I went to the mercedes dealer they gave me the wrong part. I even took in the vin number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 When I goto Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW dealerships.. I have confidence that what I buy is best quality..there is a monetary price to pay for confidence... Clearly you haven't been to Ferman Nissan of Tampa Bay...barely qualified to be alive, and talk about uppity! Speaking for my Saturn parts department, which usually consists only of myself (and occasionally my parts manager), we try to be as professional/helpful/accurate as possible. I know this isn't the case at some of our sister locations, and I've dealt with some brain dead zombies from all kinds of chevy dealers, but I still get a bit defensive to hear these broad generalizations being tossed around about the quality of ALL employees of *X* corporation...good parts guys aren't born overnight in a test tube, it takes experience to be good at a job like that, just like anything else. I think what people forget is that YOU may know your car inside and out, but it's just unreasonable to expect some stranger off the street will know every single thing that you've learned through years of working on it and researching it. I think if everyone does their own homework, and cuts the "underpaid morons" some slack, most of their part related stress would go away. I've seen this sign posted in many small repair shops, and my shop teacher in high school used to say it all the time as well: "A lack of planning on YOUR part does not constitute an emergency on MY part." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 They GM built my current tow vehicle... loaded 1999 Z71 half ton... it is a flying piece of crap... the parts I pay exorbitant amounts of money for are SUBSTANDARD... The original fuel pump that went out after 60,000 miles was replaced by a GM dealer where it failed a long way from home(florida)... it got me home and quit the next week... I took it into a GM dealership near my home(North Carolina) and they replaced it under warranty...grudgingly under warranty... I got 3 months out of that pump... I took it back and complained.. they tried to blame it on another system or that I did not keep the tank full all the time.... I told them to not only fix it but provide me with a loaner vehicle that time.. they grudgingly obliged.. the service manager then confessed that they had been having problems with replacement parts from Mexico(fuel pumps included).... It failed again and the dealership said they could not fix it until they had new replacement pumps(unknown possibly months)... I "accidentally" broke their doorframe on the way out... I ordered a Walbro or Holley(can't remember now) in tank replacement pump and it has worked fine for over 2 years now. Things have failed on that truck that I have never seen fail on other cars... taillight sockets corroded then melted, headlights fogged up lock actuator fell into the window mech, Windshield wipers failed ($450 to fix), antifreeze leak near intake manifold, alternator died, drivers door hinges sag, "stainless" exhaust rusted out entire front end had to be rebuilt after 70,000 miles 4x4 engaging mech froze in 4x4 mode for weeks, tranny fails to get in gear every time (adjustment) brakes are the worst I have ever driven(I checked this on another GFM truck) constant brake maintenance and rotor warpage, engine emissions have been a nightmare to keep functioning( every time I need to get it inspected the check engine light comes on and needs parts), front tires still wear like **** even after front end rebuild and numerous alignments by different shops, The list goes on.. I got nearly 300,000 miles out of my Toyota FJ80 Landcruiser.. only minor issues the entire time.. most of the car was still original after more than a quarter million miles!!!! I still got $4000 for it when I sold it. I got 250,000 out of our last Mercedes.. a few things here and there failed.. mostly interior stuff I love working on the Datsuns My last BMW was a bear to keep interior accessories working.. but the driveline was art in motion... I only sold it because my wife would not let me have 2 track cars. come to think of it.. the Chevy had problems at 40,000 miles that other cars I have owned did not need fixing until 150,000 miles... Face it... Chevy is junk.. I am just waiting for my Nissan Titan in the near future... American car companies have no bussiness in the bussiness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 inded. With my parent's 02 odyssey we have had a good time working with it. Alternator died. Transmission was having problems out of warranty but since we had all service done at the dealership they said they would look at it for cheap. They said that two hydraulic motor mounts were busted. The tranny also had bad wear in it. They said we would need a new transmission. All worked out that our service guy (that used to be a salesman and was then working in service) appealed to Honda and got a BRAND NEW transmission for free. It all cost us like $150 for some sensor in the power steering that had gone bad. It was going to cost like $4000 with all labor and parts. Honda sure proved themselves to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 I hate the Checkers, NAPA, Pep Boys etc here. Wanna stump them? Ask for an HEI module that's going in a Datsun (what's a Datsun???). The best guys here are a local franchise of Carquest Auto. When I was shopping around for fuel pump prices, I called them up and ask for parts for a 76 Nissan 280z. His response: "Mario, is that you? How's the Z running?" He has sold me many parts at or right above wholesale, great guys to deal with. Like the fuel pump, Bosch unit at the price of the cheapies. Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 for the longest time I was using Advance auto since there was this Jeep guy there that thought my car was the coolest thing and always helped me out. Even gave him a ride once...lol. They even will loan out spring compressors if you ask nicely enough and give then a $40 deposit that you will get back if you return it within a month. That is pretty cool... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Bj, I'm sorry to hear about your lemon, it sounds like your problem stems more with the general build quality of the truck than any actual problems you've had with the quality of the service you recieved from the parts department. The guy at the dealership level can hardly be held responsible for the quality of what GM gives him/her to sell, only the amount of good service he/she gives you during your purchase. I work for saturn, but I don't believe in the product. I worked for Acura in parts before that, and didn't believe in their product either (we were replacing between 3-11 transmissions PER WEEK under warranty). My wife has a saturn, and I hate it. It has less miles than my 77 280z and I would rather drive that even with no A/c, no power steering, and no windshield wipers. I personally drive an 02 nissan Altima and my 77, and there aren't many american cars that I would enjoy owning. I would love to support an american product if they had one I could count on. I'm not defending GM as a brand, just pointing out that there is a general LACK of qualified parts countermen in EVERY company, foreign or domestic or aftermarket. As for bad service advisors: I'm on my third mass airflow meter in my Altima, it's been recalled for the primary cat being designed too close to the exhaust ports (which could cause chunks of catalyst to burn out and bounce around the engine), the driver's airbag sensor twice, the headlight design, and the in tank fuel pump possibly icing up if I lived someplace cold. The first time I took my car in to Nissan for the MAF, the service advisor tried to tell me I had tampered with the part and must have caused the malfunction. I asked to work with a different advisor from then on out, and never had any other problems like that, but even at Nissan, you can't always get the treatment you want. A good friend of mine took his still under warranty G35 in to Infinity for a mysterious smoking problem, and they tried to tell him HE'D have to come out of pocket to REPLACE THE WHOLE ENGINE! He fought it, and they eventually "goodwilled" him a new engine, but he didn't want to have something like that happen out of warranty, and he traded it for an Acura RSX type-S (don't ask me, I just work here...I made that face too). Mario-why would you wast your time and the counterperson's by telling them the wrong information, and then feel like you had them stumped by pulling the big reveal after they thought they knew what you wanted? I've had that happen a few times over the years (I need an upper hose for an 82 350 camaro-I go pull the hose- HA! the engine is in a 72 Nova! *sigh* what a jerk-off...), I never understood it then, and I still don't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruez Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 I don't go to Advance auto or Autozone unless I "have" to, or its a part that they can't possibly screw up.. I went to Advance once to get fuel hose for a FI system.... they didn't have any... WTH ?? no fuel hose ??? they weren't out... they didn't even carry it.. ITS A FREAKIN AUTO PART THAT EVERY DAMN CAR HAS !!!!!!!! but they will carry all kinds of neon lights, and an entire aisle of import "ricer" crap (neon lights, spinning hubcaps, etc...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Surprisingly enough, there aren't too many cars anymore that come factory with hose clamped on fuel INJECTION line, most are molded into banjo fittings and so forth and are available only through the dealer. They do carry carburated (4-6psi rated) fuel line in various sizes, and I know for a fact that when I worked there, we had 5/16" and 3/8" injection line, as well as 5/16" transmission cooler hose by the foot. The problem is its like $1 more expensive just to go buy braided #6 line across the street at the speed shop. I'm not sure why I'm defending them, I guess all this stuff goes to show that people who ARE competent at their job don't like to get pidgeonholed with the rest of the mouth breathers who aren't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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