formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Hopefully this is in the proper category, since we're talking aftermarket stuff I guess parts store parts would apply. Hah....I just found out Autozone's commercial side of their stores drop ship parts to their commercial accounts from Rockauto after marking up the price! But they still say they don't match online prices for walk-in customers because Rockauto isn't "direct" competition! Wtf? So they still screw the DIY customers!

rusty vango

auto zone is the very last place I go for parts . and I wont even consider them for electrical parts.they are ok for oils and tools and the like but when I have to be serious, I go to oreilleys. or NAPA

IROCmenace

iTrader: (1)

Stopped using them years ago when they screwed me on a headlight switch, no warranty whatsoever. Out of the box failure.

bigals87z28

If they deny your warranty, call the district manager's number on the outside of the store.

redneckjoe

a friend of mine works for them and gets 20% off employee discount, but still can't beat rock auto prices.

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

The problem extends beyond the prices....they dont offer crap for mainstream brands or AC Delco stuff.

redneckjoe

i bought an AC delco oil filter from them.

but i see what your saying.

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Oreilly goes out of the way to satisfy customers. Napa will sell you the best stuff and stand behind it.

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Damn....I stand corrected-lol

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Yeah....Napa is okay-I like the fact for the most part they retain the older parts guys AND they keep their paper catalogs up to date too. O'Reillys also does too. AZ is simply IMO the Walmart of auto parts stores-which I think is funny since when I worked for them in college, they had a director of marketing who came from Walmart.

8Mike9

I don't mind AZ...just wish they'ed stop trying to sell me the FI cleaner "that's on sale" every time I check out

rusty vango

the bottom line is,,, there hard parts are best left on the shelf. no quality whatsoever. theyre ok for oils and such. just do not ever buy anything electrical from them. unless you like to do it over and over.

bigals87z28

Who makes AC Delco stuff?

Where do you buy your electrical parts from?
Are you saying ignition stuff or alternators and starters?

graysmoke

AutoZone's Valuecraft and Duralast are the same part side by side. You're just paying more for the warranty. I did a comparison on the alternator and side by side all was identical the difference is the box.

rusty vango

I buy from oreilleys. since switching ,I haven't had the first issue with their parts. and yes I mean ALL electrical parts from A Z are junk right out of the box.

graysmoke

The part options are much better at Oreillys including AC Delco on most items. AZ is good for those parts that are only available by one manufacture or you're broke down and/or price or distance is to your advantage. One good thing I can say about AZ is if it breaks under warranty you have the option to apply the cost to an upgraded part. I purchased a battery that went bad within 4 mos, returned it and applied full amount towards a better quality battery.

jharrison5

The issue I have with ALL of the parts stores where i live is that they never have what I need. I needed to replace the rotors and pads on my '03 2500hd silverado and had to go to two different Autozones for the front rotors, O'Reillys for the front pads, Advanced for the rear pads, and had to wait a few days for the rear rotors to be shipped in. This is in a city of 250,000 people! Unless it is an emergency I order 100% of my stuff from Rockauto.

redneckjoe

IDK how true it is, but a mechanic friend told me the other day that AZ and o'reiley are owned by a rich brother and sister. some kind of friendly business competition. could be a rumor, IDK? but his shop uses rockauto too, lol. if i need something local here, i look it up first, then write the part number down and go get it. the employees in todays parts stores are generally no help. last time i went to AZ i was wanting to test an alternator. nobody there knew how to use the tester. luckily they just let me use it.

redneckjoe

oh, one other funny experience. a while back i decided to buy my son a few things to tune up his truck. i go to AZ and tell the parts idiot that i'm doing a tune up and need plugs, i even give him the ac delco part number.
"what year, model, motor, etc?"
i tell him 97 chevy truck, 350, etc.
now get this,.....
"how many do you want?"

my wife and i looked at each other, then started laughing, "are you serious?"

guess what? i open the opened box, and theres 2 different heat range plugs in there. WTF? glad i checked before i left the store.

rusty vango

they hire mc donalds runaways. truly sad.

MrPackstin

iTrader: (9)

My prob with AZ was that I purchased a few tune-up parts with rebates almost two years ago and NEVER RECEIVED A PENNY back after sending them in complete with purchased receipts. Lesson learned.

8Mike9

I know everyone has different experiences...but from Alternators to Water pumps...never had to return a thing to them.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

There seems to be an ample amount of misunderstanding and incorrect knowledge that is making it's way through this thread. I am not going to defend AutoZone as if I were a fanboy but I will stick up for it when comments like some of the above come up. I was an assistant manager there for a few college years and a little after, so five years in "management."

-- AutoZone and Orielly's are both publicly traded companies and I believe that both are on the fortune 500, they are not privately owned by a pair of siblings.

-- The average person keeps a new car for 6 years or a used car for 4 years and the warranties on the parts are non-transferable. So when they sell a lifetime warranty they are NOT expecting your alternator to last 15 years, if it lasts 5 years it is a profit for them. If they made an electronic part that could last a real lifetime it would be far more expensive.

-- Parts stores pay their counter and phone employees lousy. One of the fundamentals of capitalism is everyone going after the highest wage (do you see where I am going here?) any individual with licenses or certificates in mechanics, engineering, or sales is going to move up the corporate ladder or to a dealership or repair garage that will pay better. So realize that most people at the counter are not highly knowledgeable or skilled and then remember that there are hundreds of different cars and thousands of different engines.

-- Stores keep the most common and asked for parts for their area. AutoZone alters their parts stock many times throughout the year. An item that sits on the shelf for a year is costing them money. In central and southern Illinois the more rural stores would stock parts for older vehicles and more items (belts especially) that would be used for farm equipment and recreational vehicles while the stores in the city would be carrying the Kia brake pads and impala alternators.

-- Sometimes Valuecraft and Duralast are the same and only the warranty is different but not usually. Belts are different (look at the grooves and composition), Batteries are different, Suspension items may have greaseable fittings vs none, brake pads are different composition and may have grooves/chamfers/rubber or steel shims. etc,.

--Any business is going to charge you more than what they paid for the item.... they have to make a profit, that's just basic. Even the shop is going to pay AutoZone "X" and then turn around and charge you "X" + 5-15% more.

-- As stated earlier if you are given any trouble with returning a part you get the district manager's number off the front door or from the manager. In 5 years I have never seen an honest return refused by a district manager. I have seen a district manager refund the full purchase price on brake pads and calipers that were used for thousands of miles and returned only because the customer didn't think they stopped well enough.

-- AutoZone has testers for you to test parts for free..... Use it instead of installing it and then testing it to see if it works. You can complain all you want that your new or rebuilt part should work no questions but let me ask you this: Do you really think that Mexican or Chinamen who made that part care about quality at the wages they are being paid?

Remember these items when you are deciding what parts to purchase there and when speaking with the counter people and you will be fine.

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

I agree with everything you mentioned but the problem with stores like AZ (and others) is the complete lack of sensibility to everything. Now, having worked for them back in the day and I do still go there for waxes, brakleen, oil, etc. But here's a problem I always see. If you go into a commercial store for example, the commercial guys don't pay the DIY customer any attention whatsoever-no "let me get somebody for you....", forget them helping you at the counter....too and, the phone calls coming in are always more important than you-the actual customer! Oh, and if a customer just before you needs something done or checked on their car, be prepared to wait even longer. And then wait even longer if what you have to return requires a secondary password and the only other AZ employee is out changing the battery in that damn Mercedes and has the rear seats out! Its ridiculous! When I first started, I was helping a customer on the phone and using a second computer to help the customer right in front of me too! My previous employer was a speed shop where each terminal had flip screens so you could help 2 customers at once without skipping a beat. After I was done with both customers, the AZ DM who was in the store told me the phone customers always take priority over the actual customer standing in front of me....why you ask? Because he is already here ready to purchase something most likely-the other guy is the one you have to bring in. Wtf? Well, I told him they both have priority to me so I show them that by helping them out simultaneously. He asked me what would I suggest to make our store better....and I told him to get us some flip screen monitors.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Customers like you that typically know exactly what they need are best served by going online, paying online and choosing the pickup in store option. Or go in the store and use the computer yourself and have them pull it. Otherwise you are stuck waiting for them to change the batteries for the cheapskates or explain how to do a basic car repair to the utterly lost customer....

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Lol....ain't that the truth! I do like dealing with the actual gearhead guys and I enjoy watching them get their patience tested because I've been there!

penguinpanda0

If you get the lifetime warranty on brake pads my local autozone has been dumb enough to give me free brake pads for several years when I bring them the worn out ones

makingPAIN

hahaha I just went to auto zone yesterday to get valve cover gaskets because I was doing a valve adjustment. I put a 350 in my car so I say I need valve cover gaskets for a small block chevy 350 and the lady says, what car is it for? I said a chevy 350 cant you just look it up.? she said no so told her it was a 305 firebird and she was like wooooooowww no this is a 305 car they wont fit!!!!!!! hahaha I was like just go grab them and get the hell away from me she was arguing almost that they wouldn't fit, my girlfriend was even laughing at her... they don't know their ash from a hole in the ground....

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Now if that were me behind the counter I'd have pulled a set of center bolt valve cover gaskets for a 350 and waited for the look on your face....lol. But seriously, the parts guys are trained to look everything up on the computer. I was trained to look everything up in catalogs since there is a ton more info in them than any computer catalog. But, I'm old school like that-anymore, I order online from rockauto or I provide the parts guy with a part number so they don't have to "help" me look for what I want on their computer. But parts guys like me make up probably less than 1% of parts stores customer base-the other 99% of the customers need to be held by the hand-so In understand that, too.

Ron U.S.M.C.

I was having problems with Autozone starters going out on me until I wrapped one completely in thermal insulating cloth rated to 2000*.
I've had the same starter now for over 4 years.

I like O'Reilly's auto parts, especially there electronic/electrical parts because they offer BWD Select brand (there top tier house brand).

BWD stands for Bourg Warner Division and are actually a branch of Standard Motor Products.

Some Standard products are sold under private labels, including, NAPA, NAPA Belden, NAPA Echlin, NAPA Temp Products, and Murray. The company's own brands include Standard, BWD, Intermotor, OEM, LockSmart, TechSmart, and GP Sorensen for engine management and Four Seasons, Factory Air, everco, ACi, Imperial, compressor works, torqflow, and Hayden for temperature control.

gwarren007

iTrader: (1)

How many different versions of the 350 are there? And how does she know which one you have?

kmcn47

i'm pretty sure this is false, i mean i did work for autozone for three years and all the commercial parts we sold we're from our store or one of the other ones in the area. occasionally a part was VDP which means vendor direct, so we order it alot like rockauto orders things. from an outlying warehouse. but its pretty much against company policy to get parts from a competitor. how did you come across this information?

kmcn47

its completely false, i heard alot of rumors like that when i worked in parts. usually from the same people who insisted i sold them the wrong part, when i sold them what they asked for

kmcn47

there are alot, usually when people would get mad at me when i asked for a vehicle for that 350 and they'd say "well they're all the same" i'd either get them diesel 350 parts. olds 350 parts. or LT5 parts, which we always had to order and were always alot more expensive

kmcn47

thats not autozones fault, thats whatever company offered you that rebates fault (ac delco, bosch, ect ect)
yeah me either. i've got alot of parts on my car from thee when i worked there and so far ive got 3 years of solid use out of all those parts lol. ignition switch, headlight switch, starter, alternator, hell i even made new battery terminals and fusible links from autozone wiring, cables, heat shrinks and terminal ends. and i'll gladly keep going back to the store i used to work at to buy all my parts. plan on doing the sc140 alternator conversion soon enough so i'll probably break my old alternator and damaged return it and use that money towards the new one. i love that i can do that there

kmcn47

autozone warranties brake pads against wear. they do that so you only ever have to buy them once. who looks dumb now? ever read that warranty paper?

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

The store manager informed me of it after I heard the commercial manager complete a sale in which he stated afterwards they order a lot of parts from Rockauto from line codes they don't carry in an effort to make a sale....and they mark it up typically at 10%.

I asked them why they dont offer price matching to Rockauto to DIY customers and they said they've only recently started offering it on the commercial side. I doubt their commercial accounts are aware of it. I know how AZ works so I know what questions to ask for info. Admittedly they shouldn't freely offer company info but they know I've always been "in the know" about how they work. It doesn't matter ifbyou "think" the info is false, I've talked to the commercial managers in my area stores and they will sell from non mainstream suppliers if they can make a buck. Its called a "paid out"....they can do a paid out in store or online.

gwarren007

iTrader: (1)

It's called an "outside buy". They are buying something out of normal delivery channels.

jpearcy1

iTrader: (1)

Being I currently work as a manager at AZ while in college I understand dealing with idiots but in response to the OP's post, if they are buying rock auto parts that's up to the commercial manager as at my store we will not buy or price match any rock auto parts or any other internet parts that are not part of autozone.

For the quality of parts starters and alternators are severely different between the brands.
Valucraft brands are used parts but just the worn/broken pieces are replaced.
Duralast parts only the case is used everything internal is new.
Duralast golds are 100% brand new.

Electrical parts are closer but quality is much better with the Duralast parts.

As for the quality of employees it just depends on how you treat them and what they know. Just try not to show off to much. Haha

antoine

I have autozone app I just lookup the part i need on my phone and show them what I need, the only problem is the reward points you can only save them for 3 months

zenish

I look it up on my home computer and take the number with me.

joshc

iTrader: (1)

I sell auto parts for a living at a dealership. Autozone is usually my last choice.
Most of their parts are lower quality, and their counter people are usually poorly trained. The people behind the counter taking the commercial calls are the only ones that seem to know what they are doing.
I once went in looking for a transmission filter and gasket kit for my wifes 88 Olds Cutlass Supreme. This was a 2.8 v6 front wheel drive car. The Autozone catalog listed rear wheel drive transmission kits, I think a 200r4. The dink behind the counter actually argued with me and said maybe someone swapped the transmission in my car with a different one. Yeah, so somehow my front wheel drive car came from the factory with a rear wheel drive transmission.

willexoIX

We offer you WITTDTJR, What it takes to do the job right. Anotherwords, if you get paid to do something, do you do it? Thats why we offer additional items when you check out; because thats what we are PAID to do. And they happen to be items you may need to do that brake job, or replace that fuel filter, etc.

You want good made in USA parts? Order from the rare parts catalog if you want quality. You get what you pay for.

And as for the warranties; its your CHOICE whether or not to buy the part without a warranty. I will admit that the person behind the counter is SUPPOSED to explain the warranty to the customer, if they don't, thats them not doing their job.

Also, Warranties are AT MANAGER DISCRETION, AKA if you give a shitty attitude, that manager has the right to deny your warranty. BUT our goal is to give the right part, for the right job, all the time. So warranties are usually the quickest transactions.

I do not defend Autozone, but if you are going to paint a picture, use the right colors. Just because your Autozone sucks doesn't mean they all do(unless we are talking cheaply made outsourced parts).

Its YOUR job to find the part you need/want, so if you get a crappy part from Autozone, its YOUR fault for not buying elsewhere.

Its like I said, you get what you pay for.

willexoIX

Simple solution, bring in the part number for what you need. The employees don't have to know cars to work there.

So if you know you need a part that wasnt stock on your vehicle, either know what vehicle its stock on, or bring the part number in. I can assure you, you were the one that looked silly.

Did you tell her you swapped a 350 in? If not how is she supposed to know you swapped a 350 in? And no we cant look it up unless you have vehicle info or a part number! Thats how our computer system works!

willexoIX

I agree 100%. I am the first employee at this autozone to know ANYTHING about cars.

The sad truth is, alot of these stories I hear are user error and they just want to blame someone else.

willexoIX

WINNER! Thats how you use an auto parts store!

willexoIX

Correct.

86_Dan_Z28

iTrader: (1)

This was posted on another board:

So let me get this right...Autozones policy is to give a return back for parts with Lifetime warranty, you being a MGR; because the guys a little P O'd you're going to not refund their money? I don't think Autozone corp would like to hear MGR's just doing what they want. In case you've forgotten, being a MGR; the customer is always right. Even though they're not being personable to you that doesn't give you the right to change the company your employed by policies. If I was your district MGR you'd be looking for a new job. To go on a site which I've seen Autozone ads on here and to say this...you're not to bright.

I do not buy parts at Autozone because they're cheap and garbage, who cares if they'll replace them or give you your money back, just what I want to do take apart a distributor 3 or 4 times or a waterpump.
Disgusting...

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

The markup on the silly WITTDTJR thing is corporate money making scam that everyone seems to do now. Yeah it makes a difference to install "caliper lube", IMO not the case with battery grease tho. The AGS (american grease stick) company charges AZ for example .03 per packet and AZ at the time sold it for 1.09 per pack. Hmmmm....non wonder they push that stuff onto customers and compete from store to store on their "scoreboards". I think it got to the point where its sad they will literally push stuff onto people whether they realize how/why of even IF they need it. But, if you the customer don't know, you'll end up paying for it in the end. caveat emptor.

willexoIX

I dont buy parts from Autozone either, never said they were quality, just stated that you get what you pay for. Buy cheap parts, fix it often.

I am not a manager, but if you come into my store and treat my manager like a POS, you aren't getting your warranty exchanged because of your attitude. Treat the manager like a person and itll be swapped out with a minute of you walking in.