Well, It's not politics or religion, just a bit whiny.

[Yardpilot]

Geez. They did it again. I think the only solution for me is to just quit shopping at Oreilly's, except possibly for particular brand name items. Just about every time I shop there something comes out wrong. Some times I have people pick up orders for me that I have called in. When I pick stuff up myself I check it VERY carefully. This time they sent me the wrong upper radiator hose. I gave them the exact measurements for both ends and the length. All three are WRONG. Naturally I found that out after I took the old one off. In pieces, of course. The problem is I live way out in the boonies, and I have two vehicles down for repairs. I have no choice but to keep the truck running, at least till I get the others back up. I was able to cut a liner out of an old hose to fit inside the radiator end of the hose. The other end is just a bit loose, and it clamped down enough that it doesn't leak. That should get me to town. I'm thinking NAPA this time.

[Monk]

The local O'Reilly's here has a complete turn over in personnel
just about every month.

They don't pay squat for help.......they get what they pay for and
the customer suffers.

[Barry Donovan]

I have never heard of o'reillys.

a friend in grade school was an o'reilly, that is all I know of o'reillys.


I finally narrowed down to napa, carquest, the paint shop built in using nason stuff, and rockauto.

if on ebay, it must be a store front that don't need ebay, but using it because they can (summit, rockauto both go there).

I think I even got bad struts (that is life and death in a rally wagon) ..went real stores ever since.

the little ones are going to get swallowed up. scary as a wal mart.

[SpiderGearsMan]

year and make of truck ?

[Deaf Bob]

O'Reileys, formerly Shucks...as in aw shucks...
Or as we here call it. "Schmunks".
USUALLY they muck up... But lately a good guy works there and I try to wait for him...
Manager is the king schmunk!
NAPA in this town is pretty damn spendy!

[BOOOGHAR]

the O'Reiley in my town has been there ever since I moved here in 84, Ive never had a issue getting parts there, on the other hand ive hand nothing but bad luck with the local Vato Zone, I bought a new tensioner pulley for one of my cars from there, had to replace it less than 3 months later and the bearing went out, I went to O'Reileys, they had it in stock where the other store had to order it and I havent had a issue with it yet

[BBR]

My local Oreilly's is the best. Autozone, not so much.

[Manifestospeed]

Basically . . .

Most of the chain auto parts stores stink.

O'Reilly's -- About the only good thing about 'em is they sponsor a lot of motorsports . . . some of what I need is "at the warehouse" . . . They won't warranty a battery unless you've got a receipt . . . unless you've got your old part with you, the clueless counter mope will probably sell you the wrong thing . . . .

NAPA-- Nearly All Prices Astronomical. Can't stand the MWR Toyota sponsorship or the horrible TV ads . . . although I've rewritten the jingle "NAPA BLOWS NOW . . ."

Pep Boys -- What J.C. Whitney would look like if they had stores and a service department . . . But at least the kids that flunk auto shop have a place to wrench . . . . Not very convenient if you don't live in a large city. Come to think of it, not very convenient if you DO live in a large city. . . . House brand tires (Cornell) used to be rock hard.

AutoZone -- Pep Boys "lite" . . . Most countermen are "in the Zone" . . . the TWILIGHT ZONE!

Advance -- At least they build stores "in the hood" Can't say I've ever shopped there because they're not very close by . . . but in the parts of the country where Advance rebranded Western Auto . . . They were sort of like O'Reilly's only without the warehouse . . . .

Carquest -- Quality depends on the local jobber. Some good. Some . . . well . . . the dropouts have to work somewhere after getting canned at Pep Boys and Autozone . . . .

SuperShops [RIP] -- I miss the days of being able to walk into a store and look at row of drag slicks or a peg-board wall of speed parts . . . On the other hand, they couldn't compete on price with mail order.

Summit -- Sure, they killed the local speed shops, and they're fairly cheap on some stuff, but unless you're building something super-common (SBC, SBF . . . ) they can't really help. Not sure about the telephone sales dudes, either.

JEG'S -- Summit without all the Ford stuff . . . .

[JOES66FURY]

I turned a lot of my guys on to a place here in Tucson called Merles...The prices are a bit higher (maybe 10%), but they use these odd things called books, along with computers to make sure you get the right part. The customer service is the best hands down and they even know what they are talking about...The guys there have never once asked me if my half ton 4wd dodge ram is a diesel or gas, unlike o'riley or autozone...go figure.

[squirrel]

I guess they all suck, eh Speedy?

Like anything else, you need to know what exactly it is you want before you go shopping...the salesmen are there to make sales.

[squirrel]

I turned a lot of my guys on to a place here in Tucson called Merles...

Merle's is a PartsPlus jobber, pretty much like CarQuest. In other words, it's a "real" parts store. My favorite type.

[JOES66FURY]

YOu know exactly what I am talking about....I go to the CarQuest on 22nd often enough that the know me by name and what I am driving...Tim there is very knowledgable and has always got me the right part the first time...Merles has never done me wrong either....

[PatricksDad]

I have two CarQuest w/in 20 minutes, and I've never had to wait more than 48 hours for anything, for maybe 5% more than the TrakAuto clones in the area.

Good advice from knowledgeable counter help is just a bonus.

[Thumpin455]

There is only one NAPA I go to, its in York Nebraska. I use CarQuest here, and sometimes the VatoZone if they happen to have a speed part I need, like fuel system stuff. Never had any luck with O Rilley, and my sister in law works at one.

Not all the guys who spin wrenches at Pep Boys are idiots, but quite a few of them are. I part timed at the one in Charleston ten years ago, ok place to work when it was busy. I could do three, and sometimes four alignments in an hour so I made good money there.

[Deaf Bob]

I guess they all suck, eh Speedy?

Like anything else, you need to know what exactly it is you want before you go shopping...the salesmen are there to make sales.

That is 3/4 the battle... Knowing what you want..

The local NAPA has a lady counter person, Aimee.. She is the BEST! Never wrong!
She was "teaching" the boss's daughter how to sell parts... Convo went like this:
Me: brake pads for 77 chev one ton, the larger set (bought them before and I got the large pads)
Aimee: here is the pads.. These are the ones...all the while pointing out how to read the book...
Trainee: How do you know those are the ones?
Aimee: cause they are what he asked for....
Me: snicker, snicker...(i couldn't help it! )