Dear Napa,

[Hydro-idi]

Everytime I need something at kragen or one of those fake auto shops, I bring in the part number because they always give me the wrong parts. And if I need something that the McDonald auto stores don't have, I go to a small shop in Lodi owned by a couple of older guys who know their stuff. They can get me any part I need and stock lots of oddball stuff which is nice.

 

[dgr]

congratulations.
this is the result when automation replaces learned knowledge and experience. you, yes you the consumer had a heavy involvement in obsoleting the experienced counterman and replacing him/her with a mouth-breathing, drooling, buttonpusher. The ever constant pressure to find the cheapest deal results in the demise of the human, the most expensive part of the supply chain. but don't worry, your job may be next for the computer to replace.

Could be, could be. I spent plenty of time on the other side of the counter and prided myself on being able to use the books when the computer failed me. The pay was crap. I didn't care and it was a good job until I took a couple promotions.

Maybe we all need to quit recommending Russ and Mel for return line kits If we all spend more than double the money at Napa, maybe they'll get it right the next time Take that, capitalism!

part of your trouble is that is only a 600w heater, the one that you want is 1000w. KAT30403. they can look it up by app, you just got an idiot apparently.

Point taken. But someone should tell Kat's http://www.fivestarmanufacturing.com/getdoc/2c8a6911-c214-4190-9059-d6aaa10fe527/DC12.aspx
I don't want a 1000W heater. I want mine to stop leaking No sense in spending twice the money on a heater that might be used once a year.
Besides, I told him to look at a 1992 which Kat's lists the part number you gave as the proper replacement. I could have told him I wanted a 10k watt heater and he still wouldn't have been able to "look up a vehicle that old...." and he couldn't find a freeze plug heater at all for the 1992.

 

[Thefarmboy21]

Napa has let me down alot in the past year. They can't get any fuel pumps other than Airtex anymore and they can't get caliper rebuild kits for our trucks anymore. Of all places Autozone got me rebuild kits for $3.99 a piece. And I think their parts quality that everyone used to spend the extra $$$ on is going way down hill. Me personally I do all my business with Autozone (cause I used to work there and they treat me right) and O'reilly is my new favorite place just because they carry so many performance parts for small block Chevy's in house and ours has the nicest staff of any parts store I've been in. If Jegs had lower shipping I'd buy all I could from them. I love Jegs, never had any trouble with them. I've gotten ba parts but theyve always made it right and I've gotten my orders in 14 hrs before.

 

[warhog]

Not all parts people are useless! I had a pretty hot parts girl that i met at a different chain store whom was very knowledgeable and willing to assist in another parts category, and i'm working on another ;p

 

[idi_econoline]

Feelin' your pain, dgr. Have gone to the exact same NAPA warehouse for years, and I could suggest only -3- of their many counter people who know much. I still go there, but ALWAYS look up the part online first.

Recently, while in search of Victor Reinz gaskets and GreenStripe belts, I did try out a nearby-to-me CarQuest hub store, but found them less-than-knowledgeable about our rigs. A counterman older than me not only didn't know what FleetCharge coolant is (never mind they had a case on their floor a couple weeks earlier, and obviously, they sold it!), but he didn't know about SCAs either.

IMHO, we customers need to do our homework before going into the store. We can no longer expect the kind of expertise we older fellas remember from years ago.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I will stick in my two-cents worth.

Several years ago, any old mom-and-pop auto-parts store would have IN STOCK just about anything one needed for his Ford, Chevy, or Dodge.

These seemingly knowledgable people could remember part-numbers and walk straight to the shelf/bin and get exactly the part needed and 99% of the time it would be right.

That was back in the good old days when cars/trucks had only been in production for fifty years or so.

Today, a tobacco warehouse could not hold 1/10 of the parts necessary for even a small town parts-store.

Besides the 1968 Chevys and 1972 Fords, they also have to cater to Kias, Hundais, Toyotas, and the occasional Studebaker.

Then, there are "Sport", "GT", "touring", and etc. versions of each make, all with different engines, drivetrains, and brakes.

It is a miracle that one can get the right part at all, let alone have it the next day.

Sad to say, but those old knowledgable parts-counter guys get bewildered these days just about as much as the blank-eyed punks that stand behind most counters.

The old guy might know exactly what you are talking about, but the punk can work the computer.




Sadly, the same trend has overtaken the tire business.

We have the largest tire shop in several counties; and, twenty years ago, it was highly unusual for us to not have something on hand to take care of anything that came through the door, be it a hand-dolly or a Gleaner combine, and anything in between.

Now, it is more often than not that we have to special-order the tires a customer needs.

The vast amount of new sizes is overwhelming.

Just naming standard wheel sizes, there are 13", 14, 14.5, 15, 390mm, 16, 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18, 19, 19.5, 20, 21, 22, 22.5, 23, 24, and 24.5" and on and on, with a bejillion varying widths and heights for every wheel dimension.

It is very common for a particular tire size to be specific to only one make/model of vehicle; thus, considering high volume sales are unlikely, nobody anywhere will stock a set in their warehouse.

It is not at all uncommon to have a tourist travelling through to have to stay in a motel for a week or more, while some oddball tire is found and shipped in.

It is also not at all uncommon to get a set of four tires with each of the four tires coming from the four points of the compass.


Greed has created this mess that has backfired on the very tire manufacturers who came up with the scheme in the first place.

 

[DragRag]

1. IQ's are dropping
2. Greed seems the priority
3. Old smart guys are dying
4. Who wants to sell parts for $8?
5. Big 3 are now big 20

 

[RLDSL]

I wont cut Napa any slack . They pretty much abandoned their commercial customers to chase the DIY market to try and steal autozones customers. THey dropped all their quality lines in favour of shoddy cheap lines that are familiar brands to the DIY customers, although they didnt drop their prices a whole heck of a lot to *compete* with the DIY stores Most of their better parts folks around here I noticed found jobs at dealers, the better ones got scooped up by the big truck dealerships and there was a transition period where there was a REAL high turnover.
Now Carquest has the commercial market where they are available ( unfortunately we lost ours due to an unfortunate location issue, I REALLY miss them, they ALWAYS either had what I needed on hand or would have it in my hot little hands within 24 hours for anything 'merican) and Ive always delt with a worldpac suoplier out of the dallas area for my European stuff and that always gets to me next day

We used to have this one old farmgal at this one napa who looked like she was the most popular girl in town. she always had a line of fellas stacked up out the door waiting on her who would refuse to talk to anyone else ( myself included) she was sharp as a tack and could find a part to rig in even when there wasnt one to fit no matter what, and she was about 70 years old. WE all missed teh heck out of her when she retired finally.
Parts folks who can look at something and stir the gray matter and come up with something that will work are a dieing breed..... unlike the braintrust last night at a mcparts to whom I asked to retrieve a dozen M12x1.75 nuts and I get back home only to find that I have been sold 2 m12x1.75 and 10 , m12x1.50 nuts after testing for fit at which point I had to go make a mad dash 40 minute drive in the middle of a project to locate the correct fastners all of which could have been avoided if he had simply READ THE PACKAGES BEFORE OPENING THEM
It's been well over 3 decades since I've worked on the other side of a parts counter, but when I did, IfI had pulled bonehead manuver like that , my boss would have done something that would have included large amounts of public humiliation and manual labour to see to it that I didnt do it again.
I think thats part of the reason these guys dont ever learn these days , they simply dont have the proper kinds of incentives to learn correctly that we used to.

 

[heff]

You all just need to shop the advance where I work. Ill get your parts.
As for the reason we don't keep 32 9/16 lug nuts is demand and inventory control. We don't keep stuff around that doesn't move. We are maxi'd at two actually. That's corporate decisions not the stores. There just aren't that many people buying 32 of those everyday. But an m12x1.5? Way more common today.
At the store I work we pride ourselves on being different than the others in the area and I train our kids to not be strangers to the books or crossing parts, and to know that you don't need an application to get the right part.
Just remember some people still speak car and care about the person on the other side of the counter.

 

[smolkin]

I no longer expect help from counter people anywhere, these days. I arm myself with as much info as I can get from the web (esp. OB ) like cross-referenced parts #'s and what other models used them, etc. before I try to find anything. And lately I don't mind going right to the International dealer and spending a little more just to cut out the BS and get quality parts. Sadly, though, I am seeing this trend even with them, they are beginning to forget that there were light-duty engines before the 444ET



Recent anecdote: when trying to match up the right bullet connectors for glow plugs, I went to Advance and asked for an Autolite from the back just so I could test the fit there in the store...and spent 10 minutes convincing the asst manager that yes, glow plugs were an actual part that some engines actually use, and yes, you have them in your $%*&# store. At least she learned something new that day!

 

[itsacrazyasian]

You all just need to shop the advance where I work. Ill get your parts.
As for the reason we don't keep 32 9/16 lug nuts is demand and inventory control. We don't keep stuff around that doesn't move. We are maxi'd at two actually. That's corporate decisions not the stores. There just aren't that many people buying 32 of those everyday. But an m12x1.5? Way more common today.
At the store I work we pride ourselves on being different than the others in the area and I train our kids to not be strangers to the books or crossing parts, and to know that you don't need an application to get the right part.
Just remember some people still speak car and care about the person on the other side of the counter.

Advance is even worse! I know all the people at my local store and i used to work there too. I ordered a heater control valve for my 06 F250 6.0. My commercial price was 54 dollars and change. I called the dealer. 20 bucks. Called another parts store that sells motorcraft. 16 dollars. I needed a door check for the left front, advance again was more than 3 times the price of the dealer. Advance still doesn't carry G05, G12 or any of the coolants needed for the cars we have around here. They carry dexcool and a universal green which turns brown when you try and add it to a VW/AUDI product.

So lately i've been doing alot of business with the Ford dealer. The problem is my business end of this crap. Customers can buy parts online for less than my cost. So i tell them go ahead and bring me the parts (i'd rather make a bit of money on labor than nothing at all). But i clearly state no warranty if the part fails.

 

[lilredtdi]

Same problem around here. Have an 89 jetta diesel. Notorious for trashing accessory belts. Wanted one one size shorter as they stretch. Pep boys had no idea how to measure a belt. They let me behind counter in belt aisle. What do I find? A belt measuring tool. Had to instruct them what it was.

Idiots.

 

[Rot Box]

You get the same thing everywhere My biggest complaint with NAPA lately is the fact you can find CHINA stamped on their premium line. If you want to sell CHINA made parts fine--everyone does it and that's not going to change. Keep that s%$t out of the Premium line that people pay a premium price for and expect premium results from

 

[itsacrazyasian]

You get the same thing everywhere My biggest complaint with NAPA lately is the fact you can find CHINA stamped on their premium line. If you want to sell CHINA made parts fine--everyone does it and that's not going to change. Keep that s%$t out of the Premium line that people pay a premium price for and expect premium results from

Can blame the consumer for that. People want cheap. Cheap means China or India. Keep making parts here that are more expensive and you'll get put out of business... I used to pay a premium for good quality parts but many of my customers couldn't comprehend the concept of different quality parts. I lost alot of business like that.

For example, i had a customer with a 2005 F250 gasser excab long bed come to me needing brakes. The front rotors were slightly warped but still serviceable. I charge 135 dollars in labor to replace front pads, cut rotors, repack wheel bearings and flush brake system with new fluid (i check moisture before i do it, if it doesn't need it i drop the price), plus the cost of brake pads. I quoted for motorcraft's brake pads. He was shocked that with it was over 200 dollars for front brakes. He asked me how i could charge that when a local chain tire store down the street has a special for 99 dollars installed... I know for a fact that they're white box indian built (yes cheap pads are built in india now) brake pads... Will they flush the brakes? Probably not, will they actually repack the wheel bearings? Probably not. Customers don't care, they care about the price point. Funny thing is, the more expensive the car. The cheaper they are. granted this isn't always the case, i have a few that still say use what I would and never ask me about price. But this is a rare case now.

You know how many people think i'm lying when i said theres different grades of brake pads or belts or even filters? They think as long as it fits and can be sold that its good....

 

[jhnlennon]

Working in the automotive industry in general is alot different than it was 20 years ago. Gone are the days of carbs and adjustable timing. Now automotive systems require intense understanding of sophistaicated operating systems. There is a tremendous amount of technical knowledge involved now-a-days and a you pretty much need education and experiance to get any where. Just the ability to properly use modern scan tools and be able to do diagnostics takes hours and hours of training and hands on experiance. Working in a parts store requires you to be familar with more than just v-belts and carb kits these days.

The real problem lies within the fact that nobody with a crediable skill set is going to work in the retail sector for 8-10$ hour. The local Oriellys here starts at 8.50 hour, you might get 10-11 with experiance. With that pay, you may as well work at McDonalds.

Everyone is also forgeting that these IDI's are dinasours, the knowledge base just isnt worth anything anymore. Its impossible to be an expert in every single area, especially at 10 bucks an hour, so you pick what you need to know. Honestly, the only reason we are able to get parts so easily for these relics is because of technology. Remember the days before internet when rare parts required days of research just to locate? Things really arent that bad...