You only have 1 chance to choose the Auto Part store that will have your 1 part in stock: Autozone, O'Reilly's, Advanced Auto. Which do you choose?
Posted by JuneRunes@reddit | projectcar | View on Reddit | 48 comments
milly_moonstoned@reddit
i know i’m a whole year late, but i have these three and NAPA all close to me.. i’ve heard opinions but i have no idea where to shop at and not get haggled out of money (i refuse to shop at Advanced because this happened). when i don’t know the exact thing i need, ill just say “i need a ___ for make and model of my car” and i spent almost $400 for spark plugs and something else that shouldn’t add up to $400..
i have a basic car and just need to get replacement parts til i can get a new car. out of the 4: Advanced, AutoZone, O’Reillys and NAPA, which should i shop at?
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
NAPA Every time. Only chance you have at not getting a teenager to help you out. They will know a lot more every time and want to help you out. Good luck!
milly_moonstoned@reddit
thank you!! yea i got a teen at Advanced and that’s when i got jipped for $400 for what should’ve been basic replacement parts.
i really appreciate it :)
David_milksoap@reddit
Rock auto is really the only clear choice though
Also honorable mention to lmc truck
Specialist_Pie_8801@reddit
Happy Cake Day! 🎈
sneezle-duck@reddit
Anyone heard of fisher or federated auto parts? Not heated torwards the consumer market. Mainly dealer/ independent garages but do sell to the public. I’ve worked for them for five years and the parts guys seem pretty knowledgeable in my area at least. I don’t hear much about them though.
Every_Salt_2725@reddit
I saw one shop near my area when searching for denso spark plugs. will check it out to get some for my jeep
SeitanSoGood@reddit
None of the above. Give me Rock Auto
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
It's just a game if you read the comments but sure buddy..
SeitanSoGood@reddit
What comments? The ones of u bitching at people who told u their opinion? 😭
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
The whole point is that they're all shitty. Do you really think the post is asking which of these 3 shit-shows is the ultimate parts store? Jesus Christ man learn how to read or comprehend or both.
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
...? when did I bitch I just said this was a joke post. Literally the first comments reply.... What're you talking about exactly?
whudaboutit@reddit
I'll walk before I give another thin dime to AutoZone. I went through 5 "rebuilt" starters from Duralast. \ O'Reilly's and Advance know their shit. \ AutoZones know they're shit.
mpython1701@reddit
A-fucking-men!
stavromuli@reddit
after ordering my second clutch form AutoZone, they told me three days in a row (when i called ahead of time to make sure it was there) that my part would be there the next day. That was 15 years ago and I've never been back.
Comprehensive-Cry636@reddit
CarQuest. Do other places have this?
juwyro@reddit
After they got bought by Advanced they all went away except for some privately owned stores where I am.
Comprehensive-Cry636@reddit
Really? They are all around where I am, honestly more frequently than Oreileys or Napa. Never knew they were bought out
Drogdar@reddit
I live in the sticks and we have a car quest close by...
basedbeefy@reddit
I live in canada and we don't have auto parts stores, BUT, we used to have a privately owned one that was absolutely amazing until it changed hands and now it sucks (r.i.p. spike's auto parts, died August 2023.)
jonny24eh@reddit
WTF?
PartSource, NAPA, CarQuest, and you could even include Canadian Tire.
basedbeefy@reddit
Partsource I forgot about, though they generally suck. I have zero of the other ones in my area, Canadian tire doesn't even have auto parts here.
jonny24eh@reddit
Lol so how's Nunavut this time of year then?
PartSource is a CT subsidiary, so it makes sense that in a small or remote location they wouldn't have both.
83VWcaddy@reddit
If those are my choices I’m screwed.
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
That's partially the point! It's not so much "which store should I shop at" but more like "which do you personally think you might get the least screwed at"
Status-Watch-685@reddit
Autozone one has the best return policy in the biz, hands down. I used to be a store manager and I have exchanged shocks that the person bought 12 years prior. His info was in the computer so a no hassle exchange went his way. With Autozone lifetime means lifetime. Napa and advance is a roll of the dice. Or Willy’s is the only one I don’t use at all. Not for any particular reason. And I am not pro Autozone because I had worked for them. They’re actually not very pro employee . My exit Email was sent company wide with upper management scrambling to retain other managers
CorbanzoBean69@reddit
O’Reilly’s if these are my only options, but Speedway Motors is the go to!
ddwood87@reddit
O'Reilly, but I get to turn the monitor around and find the part myself.
washapoo@reddit
We use ORLY for our shop because we can call or use their wholesale web portal and get the parts delivered, normally same day, sometimes next day, but always within 3 days at most. They are very good at what they do and the 2 or 3 people we deal with all the time there are spot on for us.
duckfeelings@reddit
Car Quest, owned by advanced but just always seems to have what I need or will have it in by lunch
jomyke@reddit
man O'Reilly has good hours (looking at you with the bankers hours, napa); but I have got so many SHIT parts from them. it almost doesn't matter if they have it in stock if the fucking cv axle machine tolerances on the shut they box and sell are soooooo shit that it won't fit in my spindle anyway. grumble grumble.
rudbri93@reddit
NAPA BITCHES!
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
While I agree, I feel NAPA is a step above these lol. It's supposed to be a fun game of "choose the least shitty option"
oyqc@reddit
NAPA and OReilys are the only two stores I use. Either its in stock in store for pick up or if I am patient enough its online and I can get it delivered. Atleast in my medium sized city in the Midwest.
houseofnim@reddit
The last time I went to auto zone the (literal) child who “helped” me was so young his voice hadn’t even dropped yet. I wish I was exaggerating. I spent about 45 minutes in there only to find out they didn’t have 3/4 of the parts I needed. So. I went to O’ Reilly and was in and out, with everything I needed, in less than 15 minutes.
So-Durty@reddit
Rockauto or type part number into Amazon and see if legit brands are available. If I need it now then Napa. Then junkyard.
Funderstruck@reddit
O’Reilly’s if I need it that day, mostly because it’s 2 blocks away.
Summit if I’m good with ordering online and spending $100+ for free shipping.
aroundincircles@reddit
I picked O'reilly, because their parts are usually better quality (not always). But often "none of the above" is the case. I have to order that part from ebay/amazon/rockauto/etc. Unless it's something generic like spark plugs. It's even getting harder for my american brand vehicles, because they are getting older. (newest vehicle I own is a saab at 15 years, oldest is a suzuki motorcycle at 40 years old)
jackapplecore@reddit
I had to vote for O’Reilly, because no one else, read not even the manufacturer of my truck, could sell me the wiring connector I needed. The manufacturers parts department did me a solid of providing an engineering number, which I then brought to O’Reilly and they sourced the part at their warehouse a half state away and had it to me in the same day.
The only other two parts supply places that I trust are Napa auto parts and Rockauto online. But Napa was closed that day and Rockauto was going to take me a week plus shipping to get it. And I needed it yesterday. A simple ignition connector fit the receptacle for my damaged MAF sensor lead. Otherwise, I’d have had to source a good engine harness for $$$. A half hour splicing & rewrapping, & my truck ran like new. O’Reilly FTW.
BoostinDubs@reddit
You call all of them a double check it’s in stock before making the trip. It’s the only way.
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
We all pretend for the sake of the post
ZaMelonZonFire@reddit
RockAuto
jlenko@reddit
Damn straight.. I’ll wait for the right part
31337potato@reddit
This is surprising to me. It’s like basically inverted from my preference.
JuneRunes@reddit (OP)
I put them in a random order to ignore my bias ;)
ROGUEPIX3L@reddit
Ricambio absolutely fantastic it WILL have the part you need for your Italian shitbox no matter how obscure and perhaps they are a little pricey but i'll pay it for ease and piece of mind.
DaveCootchie@reddit
I live near an Advance distribution center with a store front. So it takes a while but they almost always have my stuff. That being said the part is conditional. Like do they have a TPMS for a Chevy 3.8? Probably. Do they have a headlight for a Citreon DS? Probably not.
b5-avant@reddit
NAPA