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What’s Your Best/Worst Story from the Parts Store?
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It is only a matter of time before anyone who owns a vehicle outside of the factory warranty must visit a parts store to keep their vehicle in fighting form. Knowing our readership, it’s a safe bet that the vast majority of us have made a visit (or twenty?) to a car parts store. So we are asking you, dear reader of Hagerty Media, about your best and/or worst story from a parts store.
Or give us two stories, one being the best and the other the worst—the best thing about internet comment sections is that you don’t run out of space. I will start things off with two examples from my years working on cars.
My Best Story: No, not a GMC Sierra!
My best story was arriving at my local O’Reilly Auto at close to 10 p.m. with a fan clutch for my U.K.-spec 1983 Ford Sierra Ghia. I already knew it’d be impossible to locate in their system, and I’d also need to explain that I do not have a GMC Sierra!
In hopes of selecting the path of least resistance, I plunked down the fan clutch, told the guy it came from a European Ford, and I would like to see the Hayden catalog for fan clutches. That worked, as the guy at the counter summoned his manager.
The manager took one look at my fan clutch and whipped out the Hayden catalog. As he thumbed through the book, he asked me, “What on earth is a Ford Sierra?” and why I imported one. Before I could finish my belabored story, he found a match! Now my Sierra has a BMW E30 fan clutch, and it would have been smooth sailing had it not been for buying a bespoke tool to install the BMW clutch on the Ford fan assembly.
My Worst Story: The Tragic Downfall of Wiper Refills
I’ve already spilled a lot of digital ink on my frustrations with the availability of wiper refills (here, here). And the moment an Autozone employee forced me into the “replacement wiper blade ecosystem” on one rainy afternoon is the same moment I spent decades wasting money by throwing away perfectly good parts. It wasn’t until I started restoring cars with parts sourced from eBay that I realized wiper blade refills still exist, but they must be ordered from a parts store.
Perhaps one day we will be able to buy refills (just the rubber bit!) from a shelf at a local parts store, but for now, we must plan in advance for wiper blade maintenance. Waiting until the moment a thunderstorm rolls in all but ensures we will get hosed at the parts store.
But those are just two of my stories. Now it’s your turn to share with everyone:
I used to test a local parts store staff when they started. I would ask for a lower Corvair radiator hose. If they started looking I knew they knew nothing.
Because I worked at a local show they never ripped us off but they would do things like ‘Do you want the heavy duty u joint?” If you said yes they would charge you more and put a heavy duty sticker on the box.
Another parts shop I would go to had everything. I even got aircraft landing lights for my high beams in AC Delco boxes. $15. But they had a Coke machine in their wholesale building. It was the old pull out bottle style. I used to always get a drink there as it was still 5 cents.
Today I’m on the retail side of things. I see what customers do or try to do. We have been blamed from Killing a dog. A guys carb bleed over and caught fire burning the shop down with the car and dog. To many other things. It is amazing the creative things people either do or make up trying to get a part replaced.
Generally if they are just honest we will take care of it or at worst give them a discount on a new part to help. Honesty is the best policy.
I worked in a parts store in high school and college and I hated people who came in to test the new guy like that, I think that’s a pretty jerk move. We all started knowing nothing, and it’s a job that first and foremost requires the ability to look things up, the rest comes with time. I think the bigger test is whether or not they ask for help.
Yes customers would test us. I used to work for Forest City Auto parts. They were a chain in the north eastern part if the U.S. from Chicago to new York . I was VERY VERY good at finding odd ball parts , and the new guys would do everything they could not to ask for my help as they wanted to show me they could find them on their own. So one day a new guy was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Looking into catalogs (no computers this was the early 90″s) I could see he was trying hard and couldn’t find what the customer wanted . I offered my help but he refused saying he could do it on his own. I kept seeing him pick up the phone and tell the customer he would be back with him in a second. Finally I said WHAT ARE YoU LOOKING FOR??? He looked at me and said the guy on the phone wanted a Pressure Power steering hose for a 1988 Fiero. I looked at him and said OH YEAH we have them in stock $19.95. His eyes opened wide like asking if I was sure, I said yeah, pick up the phone tell him we have one in stock come on down and ask for you . So he picked up the phone and said Yes sir I have that hose in stock its 1995 will you be coming down for it ? I was listening in ,the guy on the other end was silent for a second then said Yeah, um yeah , I’ll be down. after we hung up the phone he looked at me and was like do we have it? . I then had to inform him that fires didnt have power steering BUT . We turned the tables on him as it sounded Like the guy was now wondering if MAYBE Fieros did have power steering
Well, I think we can all relate to a lot of that. I ran my own business for many years after mustering out of the Marine Corps, and some of the stories about parts guys definitely will make you laugh or make you cry.
I used to also test the new guy, or girl, at my local parts supplier. I would call, and if the new person answered, I would ask for a set of chrome sky-hooks for a 1979 blazer.
Same deal, if I heard catalog pages turning or if they said “hang on” at the other end, I knew the wheels were returning, but they didn’t want to look dumb in front of their coworkers, or sound dumb over the phone.
As I would wait patiently on the phone, I could finally hear that person ask somebody quietly, “where are the chrome skyhooks and which catalog are they in?”
The laughter that ensued over the phone made it completely worth it. I only got chewed out one time by a new parts guy(which was actually hilarious and I apologized while laughing) but most of them took it in stride and went on to be excellent counter men, and women.
Calling up and asking for a quart of Flicker Fluid for turn signals, was also a good one. Same results.
That would be BLINKER FLUID, You need to ask for a water temp thermostat for VW Bug
Yes ,But i have Subaru 2.2 in my bug
I need that stuff for my BMW.
I can’t stop laughing…..
Oh man, the Sky Hook! I remember my dad asking me to look for a Sky Hook, a Left Handed Screw Driver, and a Wire extender. I legit tried to look for a Sky Hook and had no idea what I was looking for. The Left Handed Screw Driver didn’t make any sense so I didn’t bother and the wire extender just didn’t make sense either…. but that damn Sky Hook!
Osuwari – how about Allen’s keys?
Decades ago I lived in NYC and rode the wheels off my analog bike. At that point in my life I learned to wrench everything on that bike and only visited the nearby bike shop for parts. Then I stopped riding a little over a year ago I bought an e-bike and have put 3,000 miles on it. It’s waaaaaay more technologically advanced than any bike I had before. The local bike shop has been a godsend to me. If they had taken a snooty attitude to me today when I was asking for details about hydraulic brake systems I’d have politely told them to eff off.
Oh we had a local store near home. Everett an older cranky guy owned the place. He had a ton of stuff in area that had few parts stores. He would get mad if the phone would ring and he would take it off the hook. We were working on a stock car and the local police officer would stop by. We often would send him to the store to hang up the phone or pick up a part for us he would drop off on his next break. Good Times back then.
I had no idea wipers with replaceable blades exist, I am intrigued.
Never mind, replaceable wiper blades only apply to the OEM one, I threw that away when the car was new, it was already wiping streaks.
So many stories from both the best and worst viewpoints – but I only have a few minutes before I have to leave the house…so –
Will a story from a battery store work? Some years ago, the battery on a big twin motorcycle I was on decided to give up its life just as I was riding by a battery wholesaler place that has a small retail facing on the building. I pushed the dead bike over – only to find that they didn’t carry what it needed. I could call my wife to come get me, but I’d have to go home, get a trailer, then come back to rescue the motorcycle. And the shop would close before I could do all of that. This was in a place where I didn’t feel good about leaving it outside with nobody around. The manager happened to be a rider and offered to let me store the bike inside the shop overnight while I procured the correct battery. I did just that. And I have been back to that store TWICE to buy batteries for a couple of my vehicles – in fact, I will NEVER buy a battery anywhere else (unless they don’t carry the one I need, of course).
Yeah, you’re right – pretty lame… 😁
Having been in the business professionally since 1977, I’ve been acquainted with many a mechanics anecdotes or colloquialism over the decades. Not all of them repeatable.
One of my all-time favorites (not mine. My business was cruel to young-in’s) when speaking of a bad mechanic was:
“He couldn’t fix a car in the parts store parking lot with a pocket full of twenties.”
Entering my 21st year in the parts business I remember vividly the night a kid came in with his girlfriend looking for “pure Dexron”. I tried to explain to him but it was beyond his comprehension. He insisted his friend “Knows about cars” and he wouldn’t settle for anything but Pure Dexron. I hope he finds it someday. I hope his girlfriend realized what a jackass he was and moved on.
And while we’re on the subject of O’Reilly’s I needed to pick up a part from them and still had my Advance uniform on. The guy behind the counter refused to sell it to me, saying he could get fired. Okaaay… To be clear this isn’t the fault of the overwhelming number of helpful and professional employees at O-R.
On the subject of windshield wiper replacement and those antediluvians who prefer the refills – You are not in the position of the parts store employee who is tasked with replacing blades. 98.625% of all customers come into parts stores for new blades when it’s raining. Or freezing rain. Or at 8:55pm. Or when it’s dark, cold, raining, and blowing gale force winds. And they want the store employee to replace the blades. For free. In addition refills come in a multitude of lengths and at least 3 widths. It’s far quicker and easier to just snap in a whole new blade.
Yes, but I suspect people still asked for blade refills back in the 1990s. I couldn’t have been the only person who made the switch because the refills weren’t on the shelves.
But, back in the 90s, this whole concept of the parts store installing your wiper blades (or battery or light bulb) really wasn’t a thing. Heck, most parts stores were Mom n Pop type establishments.
That’s fair, but that didn’t happen where I lived. The big name retailers ran the small places off in the 1990s.
I bought wiper refills in the late 80s but some time in the early to mid 90s I quit doing it. I think I stopped because the refills were still leaving streaks. FWIW I got a lot of mileage out of a two pack of refills because I drove a VW Scirocco with a single wiper
I know I was one. I needed to replace blades on my 1990 RX7 and wanted to keep the OEM units. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any refills and was forced to replace the entire blade. The aftermarket wipers weren’t very aerodynamic compared to the OEM units.
I feel seen right now!
I worked commercial sales at Advance. If we couldn’t get a part for an important customer, we’d regularly second-source it from ORLY, Zone, or NAPA. They would do the same.
“I’d get fired” is complete nonsense.
My local O’Reallys wont sell to us (Napa) either.
Customers that Can’t do it themselves shouldn’t be at a parts store but instead be at a repair shop, for the same reason parts employees shouldn’t be doing installations, which is why many repair shops don’t patronize those big 3 franchise parts business’s. For the same reason we made a deal at a local bank, they won’t fix cars and we won’t give credit loans. I prefer wiper refills for the same reason I don’t buy tires with new wheel when I only need new tires if my rims are good. 🙂
I spent 38 years in the Auto parts business. I installed many of wiper blades on cars in the parking lot. Yes they seem to only come in the rain. When I getting long in the tooth I would tell them I can phone my wife to see if she would install them for you. Preying on the customers manhood was always a big belly laugh.
That’s an awesome line. A friend working at Chief (awhile back!) went out to install a wiper blade for a customer, slipped and cut his hand open. They then prohibited parts counter help from pretending to be mechanics.
I had a guy break a windshield on a Jaguar when the arm snapped out of his hand.
He had to carry out a yellow bone sponge to place on the windshield and got to install all wipers for a month after that.
As an old ORLY manager I too would refuse sale to the AZ guys down the street. That was usually just to the commercial manager during the day as I knew he was re selling it because the shop called me too.
The regular counter guys in the evening didn’t get this treatment for their own projects.
Believe it or not this was a “rule” we lived by
I needed an upper rad hose for a car with an engine swap AND an aftermarket radiator. So asking “year, make, and model” didn’t do much good in finding the right one on the computer. The local O’Reilly guy let me take my old hose into the back room where all their hoses are racked so I could compare side-by-side until I found the right one. He was trusting enough that he went back up front and left me there for 10-15 minutes until I located the one I needed.
I’ve picked parts from behind the counter more than once at the local parts stores. It’s good to have a good relationship with these folks
So true – a good attitude, a little chatting at the counter each time you go in, asking the person a few questions about their OWN vehicles/interests, letting them know you can be trusted and that you kinda know what you’re talking about – all of these things can be worth the time investment.
OR, you can totally waste your time trying all the above on a knucklehead who doesn’t know the difference between a torque wrench and a muffler bearing and doesn’t care one whit about helping, they’re just there for the paycheck…(and those people DO exist)!
This goes back a long way but you are correct. A friend who was working on his classic exotic went into a parts store and the following conversation ensued:
“I need a 2-ft length of 5/8″ heater hose.”
“What’s it off of?”
“A 1963 Ferrari 250 GTE”
“We don’t have that hose.”
“It’s standard 5/8″ heater hose!”
“I said we don’t carry that for that car and I’m not looking in the back.”
So he went across the street to another parts store.
“I need a 2-ft length of 5/8″ heater hose.”
“What’s it off of?”
“A car”
“OK. Here you go.”
There’s more than one lesson in that story.
Dave, what you said I’m sure has happened to many of us. When I first had my Lotus Super 7 very quickly I learned to tell “them” it was for a small car, no matter what I needed.
That’s why the next time you’re back there that person isn’t, that’s my experience at my local Advance auto parts and managers change every few months.
When I retired as a CPA and car lover I got bored and worked at a local Advance store. Horribly run company, just look at their financial situation they are on a death spriral. The GM I worked for was good at what he did. Since he left they are on a third manager. If you have your serviced at a shop and they source their parts from the big 3 find a different shop. Parts quality is marginal at best, mostly remanufactured parts. If they say the part is NOS be aware that the term should renamed to new old shit.
Did that many times
I’ve had plenty of good experiences but nothing particularly noteworthy
Probably my worst experience was buying CV axles for my 30 year old Porsche when one of them started clicking. I went thru 3 replacements – 2 on one side and one on the other because the CV joints kept separating… all for free but still. In frustration I asked for my 30 year old originals back but they were long gone. I ended up having to fill my trans mount full of this liquid rubber compound (suggested by the internet) to limit the side to side motion of the transaxle.
I recall I lost a radiator hose at a mall in North Canton Ohio. Brand new car and Saturday night.
Guess what was not anyplace in that shopping area a parts store. I had gas stations with hot dogs and lottery tickets but no parts.
I then remembered a Sears service center on the far side of the mall. I did have a screw driver and removed the hose. I walked yo the center and they ssid they did not have a hose.
I asked can I look at your hoses? He said sure. I went and found a hose in the right shape. I asked the rep for scissors. I cut the hose and told him you do have a hose. .
Sometimes you just have to nuke your part.
One day at work a helicopter landed beside our retail store. A man came in with a NOS2 bottle. He was racing about an hour and a half away by car but 30 min by chopper. We filled it and advised not to kind there again.
More than once we have had people buy transmissions then try to replace them in the parking lot. Not good either.
Theft. All the time. Once had a guy in a wheel chair unbolt a radio from a display and hide it in the chair. He claimed he did not know how it got there.
Went to my local auto parts store “Biltema” (Car-theme if directly translated from Norwegian), not for car-parts but lawn mower-parts. Biltema started off (in Sweden) selling car parts, but grew over the years to offer all sorts of crap… I mean stuff, including, you guessed it, lawn mowers. I needed a new battery (yes.. EV-lawn mower…).
Online invetory suggested they had one left in stock. So, I went to the customer service desk and asked the guy behind the counter: “Do you have this battery in stock”?
The guy: “I don’t know”
Me: “Can you check?”
The Guy: “It’s not in stock”
Me: “Will you restock?”
The Guy: “I don’t know”
Me: “Can you order one for me, then?”
The Guy: “I don’t know”
I just said “thanks” and left… Thanks for nothing, I guess. 😛
My car needed a front wheel bearing. At the dealer I was quoted a price of $36.79, which was absolutely out- ragous at that time. So I went to a bearing store. That’s all they sold. They did not cater to the automotive repair trade for the most part. At the bearing store I parked the car in their parking lot, jacked it up, removed the loose bearing, and went inside. The guy behind the counter measured it with a vernier gauge, and then a micrometer. He told me the bearing was worn at which I told him that was why I was there. He then went into the back and fetched a bearing that cost $3.26. I borrowed a hammer, installed it, and it lasted until I crashed the car. And I saved over $30.00!
I’ve gotten the bearing numbers off of the races and ordered ‘automotive’ bearings from McMaster Carr and similar more than once
I’ve done the same at Dixie Bearings in Tennessee. They just look up the size in the Timken catalog.
Similar experience helping a buddy that had a bad fork seal on his old 750 Honda m/c back in the late 70’s and two Honda dealers didn’t have any to sell and couldn’t say when they could get them, so I went to a hydraulic ram repair bear & seal shop that existed in those days with the old seal and all they needed was the O.D & I.D and the height or thickness of the seal and asked how many do we need. They were pennies on the dollar for what Honda wanted for the same if they did have.
Trying to get an inherited “One-of-A-Kind” car made from many “common” parts back to roadworthy after it sat for almost 30 years I have a few stories. Nearly every one of them I am holding some greasy old part that was fairly common when the car was built in the early 60’s, but now the kid behind the desk wants to know the year, make, model, number of doors, 2wd or 4wd drive, power windows or not, . . . .
It’s exhausting as I don’t know if the 327 SBC came from a 63 corvette or a 63 pickup, but I can tell you what foundry the block was poured in. The car itself is a mashup of parts, some chevy, some ford, some like the gas tank were modified.
Usually when I find a failed part, I have to research the part number and or measurements of that part, and then find something that may need to be modified to fit. All in part of the fun I guess, but will be well worth the work when it is driveable again.
I decided that my 1970 Austin Mini 1000 engine needed a rebuild, so I took the engine out and took it apart, deciding to order new pistons. In those times there was a BMC dealer in town so I ordered new pistons which arrived a while later. When I opened the boxes I knew right away I had the wrong parts, these pistons had raised dome tops for higher compression. Good mistake for me so I went ahead and rebuilt the engine, adding a MG Midget cylinder head which had bigger valves. Everything well until I started the engine. There was a distinct knock in my new engine. A teardown revealed no problems and no damage, but a careful reassembly still resulted in a knock. I gave up and put in a spare stock engine, but discovered months later by reading “Modifying Your Mini” that using the Midget head with high compression pistons produced such close tolerance that it produced a knock but did not actually touch. Switching back to a stock Mini head with better valve springs that motor went another 50,000 miles.
Ah… Minis. i had just left the house i my 1986 Mini with a 1275 high compression engine sorting a SU HS4 carb. I got about a mile and something let go on the carb linkage (I forget what, exactly). The carb immediately went wide open throttle. Fortunately I was passing a small strip mall that had a Radio Shack store. I shut down the engine and coasted into a parking spot. When diagnosing the problem, I found I could reconnect the throttle return spring if I had a short piece of stiff wire. In R-S- i discovered they did not sell stiff wire. but they did have resistors with adequately strong leads. So I bought a 2-pack and fitted one to the carb and drove home. I still have them…. somewhere.
9
Driving up I-5 through Redding, California in a 1964 Valiant “UTE” I had just imported from Australia two days before, the classic 225 slant six developed a miss so I exited in Redding wlhen I say the AutoZone sign. I walk up to the counter and ask the kid for a set of points for a Slant Six Chrysler. He looked at me in a bewildered fashion and asked “What ‘er points and what’s a slant six Chrysler?”