This afternoon, I went by NAPA Auto Parts to see if they carried a rag joint steering coupler for my '77 F350, and both clerks behind the counter had absolutely no idea what I was even talking about. One of the clerks, a woman who was trying her best to understand English, pulled out a picture book of various automotive mechanical systems of newer cars, and wanted me to point to what I was wanting. "A ball joint?" No. "A steering rack and pinion?" No. She was completely inadequate for the job. I finally gave up with her and asked a clerk that has worked there for many years, but, just like her, he was completely clueless as to what I was asking for. A rag joint. A steering coupler. A steering input shaft coupler. They had no idea. I walked out shaking my head. Very discouraging. From now on, I'm just going to shop online.
edit: maybe in the morning I will try O'Reilly's.


David

 

I have a bad habit of going to them all, which makes a pain when something breaks you know should have a warranty on. Our Advanced here sucks but the next town over I'd go on Sunday when the mom and pop was closed. Autozone is on right side of road. Oreilys on left so it depends which direction I'm traveling. Love our NAPA,on first name basis they know my truck year and engine when I walk in. Bought 80℅ of my 460 swap off summit online, occasionally some eBay parts too.
Recently with the 460 at autozone I caught hell buying it!!walk in and tell them I'm ready to order it. Explain them its not original engine to truck and I have no clue what year,model or miles on my core. They still demanded my VIN and milage and info.I head home, find a insurance card and come back. They took my Vin added zeros behind it until it fit their 17digit system. Then changed the engine code to a 460 in a 78 f100( don't even think that was possible) went to pay, and my card would not go thru.(debt is $1000, credit is $2500 daily) Money was in bank, but over my card purchase limit. They ordered it anyway, said it'd be there Fri.
Thurs night I come home from the road. Called and my engine was there. Brought my core, went in. Guy needed my truck info and VIN again. Told him I didn't have it, he made up one from scratch. Ran it credit and paid for it. . . well I forgot my $150 off coupon I had. Gave it to him, he returned to engine and rung it up again. Went to pay and money was in outer space not returned onto my card yet or was over that limit.card declined. Had to go home empty handed and come back Fri morning for it. After I walked in the bank and came back with the 2200 cash..... Stupid elec debt card bull crap.


The opposite at NAPA. Went by the other day and the power was out. . needed like a qt of p/s fluid or something. .Fred tells me to give him like $5 and it'll be close enough, or if I needed change just to write it down and bring it by later.

 

Yep, bottom line is do your own research, find the part number and bring it in or call. Otherwise order it online and have it shipped to your local store.

 

I use our local advanced auto parts, know 6 of them by name, they know me and also know I'm working on a ford.. I hardly ever have trouble with getting my parts and usually find myself behind the counter picking out what I need. Plus its a big help that all their parts have detailed pictures in the computer system.

Our Oreillys cant sell the right spark plug lube the first time..

 

Sorry to hear all the trouble you guys have had at orilleys. In Ames, Iowa this is the only one of the big 3 that even stock parts for my 77 f250 4x4 400 truck. So far i have gotten all the right parts the first time. If i stop before 11am and the part is not in stock, its almost always there by noon the same day. Dont get me wrong, there is still a couple of dudes there that dont have a clue beyond the computer, and you still have to go in there knowing what you need.

 

I get parts for my 77 camper special from all the stores. I usually do the online search and bring in the part number, no muss no fuss. O'Reilly has been easiest to get parts without ordering, had parts on the shelf lots of times. They even had heater core for my 60 F350 on the shelf, $25!! Autozone has a warehouse 40min from my house. I've driven there in a pich cause I wanted it now..

 

The O'Reilly in town always lists 1 option and 1 only as far as parts go when I walk in. I found this out when I had a ground problem that fried multiple things. I first went down to get a solenoid online catalog showed 3, the counter man told me he only had the bwd brand in stock.
I have encountered this at the local Auto zone too. No matter what the catalog says amazingly the only 1 in the store according to the workers is the most expensive.

The O'Reilly store in the next town got me into the habit of opening the boxes and inspecting everything before I paid. One worker thought it was funny to switch the carb gaskets into different boxes. They wouldn't honor returns on those.

The local Carquest is terrific. They are polite look up parts correctly. They take orders by phone without requiring money until the part is picked up.

The Napa seems good so far, I have just moved to this town.

 

I went to O'Reilly today, and got what I needed, a very simple basic part. Good experience, they will continue to have my business.
I will never bother with my area NAPA store again. Bunch of idiots.

David

 

I use O'Reilly for most parts at work . Been doing business with the parts specialist for 20 years . He came from a local place that was bought out . I also use Carquest , as the owner just reopened a parts store , known him longer ... But when on calls across the state .... Good Luck ! Each area , all stores , service and knowledge varies . Not the Name on the building , The People manning the counter make the difference .

 

Concur with the above... research and walk in with their PNs written down... do not rely on memory. Plus whipping out a piece of paper decreases their skepticism.

Also, I try to avoid having to explain why my '70 has parts from a 75,and 78. Autozone (Stock ticker: AZO) has all my vehicles, actual and virtual, stored in my profile... I just tell them what parts I need for each vehicle. For example, a line I would say is I need rear brake shoes for a '70 F100, a master cylinder for a '75 F150, and a kingpin kit for a '78 F100.

Lately I've been relying on Summit for mundane replacement parts. It's about the same amount of time getting it shipped to my home as ordering the part(s) from a local store when they are out of stock and need to transfer it from a different store.