Which bricks and mortar auto parts house do you like best? Poll

Which is your favorite parts house?

  • Advance Auto

    Votes: 6 12.8%
  • Auto Zone

    Votes: 6 12.8%
  • O'Reilly

    Votes: 15 31.9%
  • NAPA (Walker Auto Parts in my neck of The Containment Area)

    Votes: 20 42.6%

  • Total voters
    47

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I have several pretty close to me. If there's another major chain I don't have in the poll I can add it.

Which do you like best, and why?
 
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I tend to use Oreillys and NAPA exclusively for brick and mortar stores because we get shop discounts there. I have been ordering quite a bit from Rock Auto over the past year or 2.
 
Autozone first (consumables, parts) as they are close then NAPA. Next would be to check Rock Auto (parts). If the $ difference is little, Autozone -> NAPA.

I don't mind paying a little bit more. $100, not so much...

-R
 
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I updated my poll to bricks and mortar auto parts. I order a lot on-line also, but I figure the poll would be two pages for all the brand specific on-line dealers if I included them.
 
NAPA without a doubt. Their counter people seem to know a little more than the rest that I've experienced. With that said, I don't wrench on horseless carriages like I used to, I leave that to the Certified Professionals. The only thing I'm "qualified" to do on a modern vehicle is change the air cleaner and that's a 6 pack job for me. 2 to get the old one out, 2 to get the new one put in and then 2 for sitting back telling myself how good I am.....
 
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auto zone as its the closest and they have what I need.
 
I live in south Charlotte but go to the Oriely in Ft Mill. All of the others, AZ ,AA, NAPA, in my area are clueless. Plus 3 of the guys who work there are at least 65 and don't have to ask fourty eleven questions when I had them a fan belt and say, I need one of these. YMMV
 
I get a discount at all but O'Reilly's, I deal with all the others pretty often, usually find my own part numbers before I call, cuts down dramatically on the wrong parts, and it's fun to tell them it's part number xxxx when they tell me they don't have a listing.

The AZ by my old place has a counter guy that's helpful and good natured, also a warehouse store so almost always a one stop shop, I went there 90% of the time. Now I usually use Rock Auto for planned work and web check for best price warranty at the brick and mortars for unexpected work and consumables.

Napa generally has the least impressive sales. Without discount highest prices on the same junk in a different box. Professionally Napa is great for what they can get and deliver same day, if they'd bother training their people on the Traction HD line I'd rarely use anyone else.

Advance/CARQUEST I go to when they have something I need on sale.

O'Reilly's was nice back when they stocked more aftermarket stuff than chrome tips and universal CAI kits.
 
Napa because my mechanic recommends them and their people seem competent and have mastered the English language.
 
Always Napa ! They have the most knowledgeable staff and the best logistics. We just now have one that has opened here. I was way too tired of returning failed parts to Autozone and Advance. I always dealt with Napa in Greensboro and never had to wait more than two days for a weird out of stock parts request.
 
I've also had good luck with Napa branded items. I'll usually order online to save money, but if it's something I need right then I head to our locally owned napa. If he's closed, and it's late in the evening or a weekend I go to the next town to Advanced Auto just because it's closest. If they don't have it I'll hit O'Reily or Carquest.
The order of closest to furthest. I have no exact favorite, if it's a costly part I need that day I'll also call around for the best price.
BTY you left out Carquest ;)
 
Always Napa ! They have the most knowledgeable staff and the best logistics. We just now have one that has opened here. I was way too tired of returning failed parts to Autozone and Advance. I always dealt with Napa in Greensboro and never had to wait more than two days for a weird out of stock parts request.

Agreed. I used to have an advanced auto near me that was staffed with a couple of great folks but no longer.

While I still run into a computer loving button pusher on occasion at Napa, usually they can help me figure out a part or an issue unlike the other stores. If you don't know exactly what you need it's a crap shoot at most places.
 
Oreilly's, but only because it is more convenient. For work that I'm planning on doing (brake jobs, plugs, etc) I order online. I have had good luck with AutoZone's sales on oil in the past though. I don't count on the knowledge from anyone working at any of them. Just need them to ring up the sale and let me go in peace. Only thing I hate about Oreilly's is the 12 mile long train of questions you have to go through to get something.
 
I work part-time for Advance, and my dad hs worked for Advance and O'Reilly in the past. He now delivers parts for Auto Supply Company. IMO, they're all the same. We have a couple employees that know what they're talking about and the rest just go by the computer. I find myself using Google daily to find parts, then crossing them over. For the most part, every chain is the same. The primary difference is branding and vendor relationships.
 
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Rock Auto is always my first choice if it's planned. They have saved me alot of $$. O'Reilly if I need something now. None of my local stores have impressed me. My local petboys used to have a speed shop but they took it out....
 
Advance purely based on locations in my proximity.
 
have autozone and advance within a mile of the house which is great. no great winner there but they are convenient and if I plan ahead they ship to the store for free.

Loaner tools have been useful as well.

I've made many trips to the autozone on capitol blvd which is their big warehouse that's open til midnight (thought it used to be 24hr?)...when you think you have everything and it will only take an hour...
 
I generally go to Advance Auto first, only because when I lived in Roanoke I was about ten minutes away from their PDQ warehouse and could get just about anything without delay. But these days I don't do much more than oil changes on my cars, and I do price shop so I'll go to AutoZone or O'Reilly's to save a couple of bucks.
 
Advance Auto for me! Love them. Sucks you have to buy online sometimes to get the discounts..But oh well. Dunno why they can't match their own prices/discounts. I had a clerk tell me it's cause corporate thinks when you buy online no one has to help them. But like I pointed out...Most people either call or come in to make sure part XYZ is the correct part. I stand right there in front of them and order on my phone..Wait the 5 mins for the order to come through and leave happy saving money!

DS

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NAPA gives me a city employee discount so I get their oil and filters for my jeep. The prices can't be beat with my discount. I pay less than $3 for a filter and $2.99 a quart for their synthetic blend oil that's made by valvoline.
 
Advance Auto for me. I usually do my purchase online using a coupon and then do a store pickup. The other auto parts stores don't offer discounts that way AFAIK. Auto Zone rarely has what I'm looking for. I've walked out of there empty handed too many times. NAPA for specialty items. O'Reilly for hydraulic hoses. They make them there while you wait.
 
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I frequent O'Reilly most often. I like Auto Supply Company for OEM branded (Motorcraft or AC Delco) maintainence items. I will also use the part counter at the local Ford dealer depending on what I'm looking for. I prefer to use OEM parts when I can.
 
Advance Auto for me. I usually do my purchase online using a coupon and then do a store pickup. The other auto parts stores don't offer discounts that way AFAIK. Auto Zone rarely has what I'm looking for. I've walked out of there empty handed too many times. NAPA for specialty items. O'Reilly for hydraulic hoses. They make them there while you wait.

This right here. If you sign up for Speed Perks and the AutoZone one, you get a 20% online order discount, and $5.00 off $20 purchases . You are doing yourself a disservice not signing up. it takes 10 mins online before you leave the house and they usually have it pulled for you, all you do is sign and leave. I had $120.00 worth of parts for a brake job and it was under $80 with the discounts.
 
NAPA for hard parts and because their distribution center is close by. The next closest is Autozone and I go there for lubrication related stuff. Oil, filters, etc.... because the NAPA distribution center normally has a long wait. Don't want to wait for oil or filters.
 
"They have the most knowledgeable staff......"

Why is this important?

I would post it here but it's pretty long and has a little NSFW language.

Go here-

http://jalopnik.com/5191437/autozon...s-into-his-own-hands-after-45-minutes-on-hold

A teaser.....

"I tell him, "I need axle seals for a 31 spline ford 9" rear end."
"What's it out of?"
"Hell...i don't know? Almost any 70s ford truck I'm sure."
"Well I need to know what it's out of."
"I do not know..."
"Well what's it in now?"
"That's not gonna help you."
"Sure it is"
"No...it won't. There's no way to search for the rear end?"
"No...so what's it in?"
"A 2001 CHEVY SILVERADO ok?? Does THAT help???"
"No."
"See?"

.
 
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Used small shops known as Motor Bearings & Parts until they sold out to Car Quest, who then sold out to Advance.
The very large warehouse for CQ aka Advance is off Milbrook Rd here in Raleigh. Always find what I need fast,
otherwise I'll use Rock Auto or Amazon for heavy stuff like struts with Prime shipping.
 
O'reilys simply because they deliver to me faster than anyone else and they usually have what I need. The advance and autozone near me are staffed by how is a nice way to put this..... Idiots. I do prefer advances house brand brake cleaner but that is the only time I call them. They send sales reps by every week wanting to know why we do not do more buisness with them and every time we time we give them another chance they screw it up or take 3 hours to deliver something O'reilys next door to them gets in 20 minutes.
 
O'Reillys...but have been ordering more lately on-line. I do a lot of ATV work and have completely stopped purchasing from dealers and all orders for the last couple of years have been on-line.
 
Glad y'all mentioned Rock Auto. I had not used them before and found a part I want for the SVT, and it's already shipped. I chose "ground shipping" and it's supposed to be here tomorrow by Fed Ex.

:)Excellent.
 
I haven't been able to verify it but I thought Auto Zone, Advance and CarQuest were all owned by the same parent company Monroe Shocks. Does anybody know if this info is accurate? I think NAPA and O'Reilly's are under different parent companies.
 
I've been in the automotive parts business all my adult life, primarily the aftermarket. Got started at NAPA before it was NAPA.

Went to work at the Genuine Parts Company's distribution center on Wilkinson Blvd in 1974. Back then in Charlotte you had GPC with 6 stores and everything else was mom & pop stores which all closed at 1:00pm on Saturday, including the GPC stores. But the main warehouse ( distribution center ) was open until 4:30pm on Saturday. So on Saturday's between 1:00 and 4:30 that place was a madhouse, only place in Charlotte that was open. But it's where I got a solid foundation in the business. The best guys I ever worked with were on this job. #1 was Wayne Holder, had more knowledge stored away in his head than any computer. #2 was Bruce something or other. Great attitude and really knew his stuff. I learned from him how to handle the problem customers, regardless of the issue or who was right or wrong.

1975-76 we went to a meeting in downtown Charlotte where they rolled out the NAPA program with the gold & blue hats. Somewhere in 1976 I left NAPA and started selling race car parts, been doing it ever since. Never thought I'd still be doing this long.

So as most of you know it's almost impossible to walk into a auto parts store at random and have them find something for you without asking for the make & model of the car, engine size, 2 door, 4 door, bucket seats. color, etc. I come from an era where if a guy wanted brake shoes for his Impala most of us just went to the shelf and brought back what he wanted, didn't have to look anything up. Some of those part numbers are still stuck in my head.

I know cars are vastly different and the whole damn world has changed. I'm just a nostalgia kind of guy I guess. Recently we had a discussion at work about this very subject. The question was asked, "Could an independent auto parts store with a couple of really good, experienced employees make it today?". We decided they could not regardless of the level of customer service they could offer because they would not have the buying power of the big chain stores.

I shop at Auto Zone more often that anywhere else simply because they're less than 2 miles away. I use their app to look up what I need before I get there. And if it's something behind the counter they still ask me for the make and model of the car, as I'm standing there holding my phone showing them what I want. Hell, I've been doing this since before most of the Auto Zone employees were born. But they gotta ask, I guess.

.
 
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I go to Autozone if I like replacing worn out parts with out-of-spec parts. I go to Napa or Advance if I want to do it right the first time.

Back story: I bought a new pressure plate for my old TJ at Autozone. It was mis-cast/mis-machined and burned up itself and the new clutch disc that I got from Advance (AZ didn't have one). Advance found out what damaged their clutch, so, without my asking, they took the AZ pressure plate, gave me a new one, and a new disc. I wasn't out an extra penny, just the time it took to reinstall the new parts. Hard to beat that.

That's only one example. Several things I've bought at Autozone were essentially junk, didn't fit, or consumable parts. I've never had that problem with Napa or Advance.
 
Mostly NAPA-because they give us a shop discount, but any of them will do since they support racing: straight and go roundy round
 
Advance is my first choice, NAPA second. NAPA is usually more expensive but sometimes has parts in stock that Advance doesn't.

Auto Zone fired an employee a few years ago for using a gun to stop an armed robbery of their store.
 
Advance Auto for me! Love them. Sucks you have to buy online sometimes to get the discounts..But oh well. Dunno why they can't match their own prices/discounts. I had a clerk tell me it's cause corporate thinks when you buy online no one has to help them. But like I pointed out...Most people either call or come in to make sure part XYZ is the correct part. I stand right there in front of them and order on my phone..Wait the 5 mins for the order to come through and leave happy saving money!

DS

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
I have advised several customers to do this exact thing. They have changed how much we (in the store) can discount some items. Hell, I've bought stuff under commercial accounts because it's cheaper than my 20% employee discount. My gf works at Fastenal, and employee pricing is 15% over cost, not a set % off.
 
The worst part of working on a car is the moment you realize you're going to have to deal with a local parts store. They never fail to disappoint.

My first choice is Rock Auto for price and selection. I almost always use OEM and for that RA is significantly less expensive than the dealership.
 
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