There used to be local auto parts store a few miles down the road. The small Asian guy that owned it sat behind a mile long counter with catalogs and binders piled up across the whole thing. My brother and I would go there looking for a part for whatever we were working on and he’d flip through a couple of binders, and find the part number. If he didn’t have that exact part, he’d flip back and forth between several catalogs and binders, disappear to the back and come back with a part for a completely different car brand and say something along the lines of “Part for Nissan work for Chevrolet” or “Ford engine, Toyota part.” At first we’d doubt the guy but still try the part out. It would always fit and would always work. By the third, fourth, and fifth time it happened we thought he was a car parts wizard. *And he did this before computers.* When he died the kids sold the property and, sure as shit, they put up an Autozone there.
@@NativeTexMexicanKids like that suck?? Not everyone wants to follow in their parents' footsteps, nor do they always want to do the same thing for a living. That's just life.
I was in a local Autozone and saw a young lady checking out their batteries. I mentioned a local salvage yard that sold used batteries, tested, and warrantied for $35 bucks. The look on her face was priceless and she thanked me for saving her a lot of money.
@@Clooger- still dumb to buy a crappy cheap battery. I always get the best and they can run multiple aftermarket accessories, run on just the battery for hours, start easily in the cold, and last for 10+ years.
@@JordanBlue1 i agree with you on this stuff. some parts just NEED to be replaced anyways. even though it may appear good, the actual part will break down over time (like your tires and oil, and battery acid)
@@JordanBlue1have a bad alternator, some terminals or run over a nail and all that money goes down the train. Think smarter not harder. You can find used parts for less money with even better quality. Cost of living is always different for everyone but no one with actual money or a common sense isn’t going to waste their money on a new product if they can get the same quality for less
Cause we are. No training bad management and we are told to up sell without even asking if they want. Auto zone cares about profits not employees or customers
@@lewishutcherson2034fr work at 1 rn the whole witdtjr thing is JUST to get that extra smidge of money to the corp. and the pay is ass 14.10 where I’m at
that's all the auto parts employees i chat with. the closest zone store to me, their employees seem to openly hate white people, except the managers that constantly change. it usually an empty store every time i went in there. i quit oreillys because of blatant safety reg violations with fleet vans, trucks, overloaded disc rotor shelves bending under the weight, waiting to crush someone with some already broke free of the shelf mounts!; and inside stupidity at a failing hub store. HALF the chain stores were surly and wouldn't lift a finger to check me in in ten minutes time max allowed, for 10-60 parts! that schedule never was adjusted! and car wrecks destroyed any time schedule for 8-10 scheduled stops! 2.5 years was enough with the covid farce to top it off. and $11an hour when i walked out the door and tossed the keys at them. 300 mile days in 8 hours on most routes! if i had the great routes outside of the city limits. one or two local stores had really bad labor issues. you can't be fired, just prosecuted later for stealing. investigations went on for 6-9 months. yep! good times! one route driver just retired from there. HOW!? this is YOUR future people! and TRUMP is going to FIX this same kind of B.S. in government too. UHUHH! sure! got some gold stock to sell ya! We'll hold onto it for safe keeping. you can make an appointment once a year to look, no touchy!
I work at an Advance Auto in a small town, and I feel bad selling half of our products. Auto Zone might be the worst, but selling a battery for minimum 190 makes me feel like a swindler. Price gouging is insane rn, even for 1 year warranty products
@waitwhat1320 yup, even though im an agm i feel the same exact way, from what my team has told me, our store here in raleigh ran miles better when it was carquest and not advance. quality for sure has gone down substantially too.
Same situation here, half the parts that people come into my Advance Auto for are either out of stock, over-priced, or both. Its hard to meet quota when we have to order something that the customer can order for themselves, and for cheaper too.
When I started at AutoZone in January of 2021 a standard Duralast with 2 year warranty was $120 before tax and core. As of the last time I visited about a month ago it is now $180 before tax and core (the core charge has also gone up as well from $18 to $22)
I used to work at Advance in a small town like you, honestly wasn't worth it. I've moved onto a dealership working parts and while it's more upkeep I definitely learn more about specific vehicles. And it helps I can buy a ls core for cheap when they do engine swaps. The other problem is everything oem is even worse in some cases compared to aftermarket.
I had a similar situation happen with an alternator from Rock Auto. It had a one year warranty and the first one died within a few months so they replaced it. The second one died about a month before the warranty ended but instead of replacing it they actually refunded the original purchase price so I went and bought an OEM alternator. Despite the faulty part, that experience definitely made me want to come back and buy from them again.
I love rockauto. They shipped me someone else's parts (packing slip said it was supposed to go to Germany). I reported it to rockauto, they sent me a replacement part for the part I didn't get, and didn't even want the other part back. No questions asked. Super easy.
For fords it has always been the PS and alternators from ford last 30 years, once you took it off, it was going to be replaced every 2 years tops.... You find a PS pump in the junkyard and use the remainder of its 30 years up and be better off.
@@paulwubben7506 yep I can attest, they sent me a 2nd Gen GS300 tie rod instead of a 1st Gen and they just sent me the correct one and let me keep the 2nd Gen rod. Nice for when I eventually buy a 2nd Gen GS.
Rock Auto is always the way to go if you can wait a few days, or if the expedited shipping is comparable to buying from AZ or AA. Their warranties, guarantees and customer service are superior to any other retailer. They even let me return an order past the return period, only caveat was I lost my original shipping; plenty fair for the situation.
I bought a starter for my 88 f150 from auto zone for 150 bucks. Brand new. 1 week later it went out. Lifetime warranty so I went and got another one. Same shit. Went through 4 of them in just about 4-5 weeks.
I worked there for a few months between military training orders. I never upsold anyone and would frequently give customers the part number for items that we were price gouging. I saved one lady 200+ dollars on her O2 sensor and I remember the look on her face when I told her to buy it elsewhere. She was so thankful.
I love employees like you. An autozone employee told me to buy batteries from Costco and I was thankful because costco batteries seem to be high quality and way cheaper. I've also had some call around other stores to see if they have the part in stock which saved me time and effort.
@@Sulfenyou really don’t shop around do you? Costco sells interstate batteries, for automotive starting batteries I’d say 3 years is what you’ll get out of most batteries before you get starting issues. Want a quality battery? Buy by weight for whatever size you need, the more it weighs the more lead is in the plates.
I worked for Both O'Reilly's and a brief 7 weeks for Azone.. Warranty is much easier at Os,, your phone number etc,, We have Locally a Interstate factory, 80 bucks on average, used for 40, I would send folks there all the time, I can't upsell, I refuse to, I respect folks trying to fix their cars, it about community,,
When I was a kid in the navy working on a friend's brakes an Advance employee like you sent me home to order the parts online because of all the discounts they offer there and saved a bunch. From then on I routinely get at least 15 -20% off the top immediately just by ordering online, then an hour later walk into the store. I am kind of pissed they rip off so many folks who walk in for parts and don't know the system or don't sign up for rewards. With the rewards system and online discount they are on par with a lot of places and that's pretty sad!
That's what I been doing since age 20 I got tired of paying $100+ Everytime I wanted a part. I been buying from eBay since age 20 😂 never had any issues with quality either
@@TheCommissarIsDead eBay been pretty good and they have a excellent return policy and warranties, I'm 32 now and eBay has been my only source for car parts and I've owned legit over 25 cars lol
A second story, happened a couple of years ago. I had an alternator that suddenly went bad on me. As I was driving home at night, my lights started to dim. I realized that I was losing power and I was still about ten miles from home at about 11 PM. I managed to limp home by shutting everything down, including the headlights. The next day I went to AZ to get a replacement. The reman was about $200 with an additional core charge. A new was about $350. The clerk told me to take to a guy a half mile away that rebuilds alternators and starters. Said it might only cost $30. It ended up costing me $45. So I got an original factory part remanned for 1/4 the price thanks to that clerk.
I work at autozone, and I hate what I have to do on so many occasions. I'm surrounded by superiors that genuinely believe that the company is the best thing since sliced bread and tell me about how I performed so well I got a 40 cent raise instead of a 12 cent raise. If it wasn't for the fact that there isn't a single mom and pop shop left, let alone one that would hire I'd have been long gone from any form of extortion auto.
One big note about Napa from a long tenured Napa employee. Napa stores outside of major city/county limits are privately owned and the owners usually care about the community.
We call Napa No Auto Parts Available. Back in the day, they had parts for virtually everything when Checker, Champion, Big A, AutoZone and Carquest/Advance did not Now..they have almost nothing, even in the warehouse..
@@donreinke5863 Finally gave up after the 3rd time they left me in a lurch. Part was promised for 1 hour delivery, guy showed up 4 hours later with the wrong part. Then the store said it was never in stock to begin with. 😂 You can't make this stuff up!
I called AutoZone 3 times in Camden, NJ to inquire about an order, and each time they put me on hold and never came back to the phone. So I called their "Regional Office," and nobody answered there either. I left a message, and someone from their regional office called back the next day and said the regional office couldn't answer the phone because they were in meetings for 2 days. Then they said a district manager would call me to address the situation, which nobody ever did. AutoZone has the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER.
@@IncognitoSprax Ha! Well the Camden store is less than a mile away from me and it's sandwiched between a Napa and Advance, how bad could it be since there's a ton of competition out there. Turns out - no, they still don't care.
Store was probably busy, I work at one in the ghetto for a year and there was 8-10 of us on shift and I was impossible to answer all the phone lines when we had to deliver parts to mechanic shops because their #1 prior according to autozone. The we would have lines through the store and outside which was crazy.
Yeah, every time i call AZ, I get out on hold. However, every time I go in the store the moment I get to the front of the line, they take a call before helping me.
To be fair, RockAuto has their downsides as well. For example, several times I've received the wrong part in the correct box. I'm not sure how that happens, but it's annoying. Then I have to prove to RA that I'm not trying to scam them. I've also received parts that were returned by other customers, then resold. I know, because the return slip from the previous customer was still in the box! I get the impression RA is playing it fast & loose with their inventory system. But all the returns must be costing them money. And then there's the "warehouse shuffle" game you get to play at checkout. It's kind of annoying when the website shows the parts at the same warehouse, but when you put them in the cart, they get split into 2 or 3 different warehouses. Then you get to play a game of whack-a-mole, to find which parts will ship from the same warehouse, so you don't get hosed on shipping.
Something you can do to get stuff from the same warehouse is up quantities of "problem" items (items that they supposedly have at one warehouse but wants to ship from a different one) until everything comes from one warehouse, then immediately edit quantities to what you actually want after placing the order.
Any third party seller on Amazon is selling open box or returned. Just hoping someone buys it, and you'll never see them again.... Amazon only covers for Amazon sold products, not the 3rd party suppliers, that are selling products on the site.
I bought parts for a brake job from RockAuto one time and I didn't notice that some of the brake pad retaining springs were missing until I had everything about installed. RockAuto and the manufacturer couldn't just send me the missing piece. They wanted me to take everything off, mail it all back, and get a whole new everything in the mail next week. Always check your stuff before you start!
Republicans "simp" for corporations. They simp for big money, thinking it trickles down. It doesn't. The only thing that happens is hoarding. It never gets circulated back into the economy. It gets held up in bank accounts. That's it. Stops there. Or gets invested in new factories overseas.
Technically, there aren’t very many independent mom and pop stores in general. Every store is just a franchise of a large brand name of something else, whether it’s an Ace hardware, or Carquest, or Napa, or O’Rielly’s, so while I understand the frustration of wanting to support individuals in a community, and as long as I can afford to I will support my local Napa store or O’Rielly’s as I usually get good customer service and it keeps people in my community working. I usually only go through Rock Auto for more obscure parts such as a valve body for my VW Golf.
@@cavemanjoe79They're siphoning the wealth out of your community. When you give AutoZone $100 half of it goes through a tax haven then out to a foreign bank account.
9:00 lol the only “expert advice” I ever got at AutoZone was then telling me to go to the NAPA down the street if I had any questions about the part I needed. I went down there and the dude at NAPA was a mobile mechanic as a side hustle, knew his shit and even offers to install the part with his side mechanic business.
NAPA is hands down the best but I have still found you can get the napa quality parts from rock auto for half the cost. but at least napa doesn't sell garbage
Usually my experience is okay at Autozone. However, about two months ago, my daughter took her car into Hyundai for a recall. While there, they gave her a list of $2000 worth of “recommended” services (oil flush, transmission flush, radiator flush, air filter, spark plugs, etc). I told her the flushes were BS and the other “recommendations” could be done for a fraction of the price. For example, changing the spark plugs was $200. I ordered four new plugs from RockAuto, but she had one that was bad, so I went to AZ to buy one to replace the bad one until the RA order arrived. They brought me a plug and as I was preparing to pay, I opened the box to examine it. The plug had oil and carbon on it. I asked the clerk, “are these new”? He said clearly it wasn’t, so he went back and brought another one. I opened it, IT was dirty. He went and got the entire box. The third was bad. The fourth one was pulled from the back of the box and it looked brand new so I bought it. Frankly, if I wasn’t using it for a temporary replacement, I would have walked out.
@@TayG-y9q Yeah if you were wrecking your transmission to begin with. Got a flush ~200k miles on my ford and it was fine. Few years later had a transmission issue, they said it was surprisingly clean in there. treat your car right and it won't fall apart!
@@TayG-y9q Almost never happens, and when it does, it's because the tranny has never been flushed before. Not changing your transmission fluid will definitely lead to failure.
My older boss would always buy parts from the local Oriellys where he was getting screwed on part prices. I showed him that the exact same shocks he bought for his truck were only $120 on rockauto for both vs $250 he paid at the parts store. Had him order the rockauto shocks and returned them to the parts store to save him the $130 difference
If I need the same day, I order on rock auto, and but at autozone/napa, or orielly. I fix with the local parts, then when the rock auto parts show up I put them in the local box and return it.
If it's brand new and the same part, nothing was lost aside from the AZ warranty. No one actually lost anything except a giant corporations' exorbitant markup.
Rear shock mounts? On the bed side or the axle side? I didn’t know those were a thing people replaced. I’ve owned two 1988 1500s both 2wd and 4wd. I think if I had to replace a shock mount and it wasn’t welded I would just go to a junk yard and find a pair on a relatively rust free truck.
I went through this with napa last month. All parts stores are doing this now. Power steering pump. Store: $157.63 Online: $72.79 Power steering hose. Store: $120.00 Online: $19.83 The rack is where I stopped giving them money for my truck. Store: close to $400 Online: $210.79 I had a job for a customers car and they wanted it done the same day if possible. Needed a belt and idler pulley. Pulley was $39.99 Belt was 79.99 Online was $14.33 and the belt was $22.99 Outrageous upcharges through the store now. I could understand a few bucks, but they want double or over now. I'm going through Online or junkyards now. BTW you're not getting special parts from the stores. Those days are long gone. Use to be able to get US or Canadian made parts from napa. Now it's just the same Mexico remanufactured or Taiwan new. Junk in other words.
@@Soundsofthewood A guy at napa told me not to get the cheap tie rods because the internals are plastic and not metal. When I went to install the "napa gold" ones I could clearly see the plastic bushing through where it's tapped for a grease fitting. and they look exactly like the cheap ones.
Yeah the quality has gotten alot worse with time on most parts you buy now and if you want quality or perceived quality you have to go with something that cost to much from a dealership or name brand products.
In the 70’s I was getting screwed over by the local auto parts supplier with junk parts and no warranty. When auto zone came to town it was a breath of fresh air. The parts were good and on the rare occasion that I got a bad one it was replaced with no questions asked except to help with advice. Now AutoZone is my last resort. Rock auto is my first choice when possible. When AutoZone won’t take a part back, bring it back a different day or to a different store. Keep going back until somebody exchanges it. Don’t make a big fuss and cuss the Idiot out or he will remember you and tell everyone else. Chances are he won’t remember and be in another mood 2 days later. Always remember you are dealing with Idiots and auto zone is screwing them over too.
More so the customer are idiots, they always out themselves out. Just go in and simply ask for an exchange instead they keep talking and out themselves out. Example one dude tried to exchange a battery and had the number then started talking about how he just bought the car with a battery with 2yrs on it, right there my manager heard that he denied it because he's wasn't the buyer of it. Another one this lady started yelling and wanted her money back on some brake pads which was fine I always assume it's defective just to help people out then she mention that her mechanic sawed off parts of the pad and shims now I can't return them as she mentioned her mechanic was the one that destroyed them.
So true. The average consumer is a moron. As Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute and two to take 'em". I gave up fixing cars professionally or for friends. I'd get stuck with bad parts and wound up married to their junkers, loosing money all the way for doing a favor.
Walked in to my local AutoZone. While staring at the rack of batteries, the manager asked if she could help me. I played along and said I was looking for a battery for a '66 Mustang. She walked back to the magic box and asked "Who makes the Mustang?" Yeah...
Man I remember applying to autozone a few years ago. Got an interview all that stuff. Answered all their questions flawlessly. (Pretty simple questions) Showed I know more than most of the workers there. Didn't hear back from them for 5 months. By that time I was already working another job and didn't want to leave cause the pay was better. My buddy went in and applied, he knows jack shit about cars. He got a call later that day telling him he was hired. Don't get it.
I live in a small town,one mile end to end,2 traffic lights.Advanced auto and auto zone moved in over the last year.Theres a Napa thats has been there for years.Napa is keeping their loyal customers,never see cars in auto zone
Old timer trick that was taught to me: With taller filters, like the ones that are 1qt+, put the filter back in the box, the corners of the box help keep you from knocking the filter over while you fill it. It also helps keep the filter from falling over while you are trying to keep it upright while sliding it under the car.
Don't fill oil filters before install. Cat diesel says not to do it too. Everything is already coated in oil on startup. You are introducing unfiltered oil into lubrication system by filling filter before install.
That happened to me with Autozone years ago I bought a starter and I asked them to test it first. The guy said no it should work the machine is down. I installed the starter and it was no good and when I went to go return it, he said I have to charge you $45 for the core, I said well this is the core I’m exchanging one for one. He’s like no I’m giving you a new starter. I said first of all, you’re not giving me shit I paid for a working starter and you gave me a broken one and then some more choice words and I literally almost jumped over the counter and hit him with the starter
The fact that AutoZone ran an Ad on this video about how much they suck, shows how out of touch and shameless they are. This guy is right, stay away from AutoZone, and ANY other chain store that does the same crap. Large corporations have ruined America
Pro move for avoiding the “full tank” at AutoZone: walk in, clap the 5 massive jugs of oil on one of the many empty register counters, THEN and ONLY then do you say “hey do you guys take oil?” and if someone goes “tank’s full” without looking, you say “oh ok, no problem” and just leave without picking back up your oil jugs. Nothing will happen I guarantee it
The problem is very few mom and pop stores are left. Most have either been driven out of business or absorbed by the big box stores. I'm glad I started out in a mom and pop store years ago and have always worked in a store that deals with professional installers--It's makes a difference!
I work at AutoZone and the amount of money it takes to run a store and run it well is actually ridiculous. People want convenience so it's usually about who can get the part the quickest. You need mountains of inventory to be able to compete, plus we have a huge network of stores and hub stores. If you were to start your own place, you'd likely get buried because the amount of money Napa and AutoZone pump into their stores. Even the worst ran AutoZone can do millions of dollars a year in sales if it's got good inventory and in a populated area. Some of our worst stores are the busiest locations.
Story... I got son 4 shock assembly for his 1998 avalon ..at autozone ..they were 147.00 each. So I got the part number..manufacturers. name..upc number..went to Rockauto and got the identical part for 63.00 dollars each...so he was very happy..then I went to Walmart for his tires..we got Goodyear Vivas..times 4...75.00 each..the tire shop wanted 145.00 each...for the same tire..and that was last year...everything is 👍 👌 👍 .
An important thing to remember is *MOST* NAPA Auto Parts are franchised. They do have some corporate stores, but the vast majority are locally owned. They will always get my money because of that. Also Carlyle tools are FANTASTIC, especially if you’re a DIYer. I bought a Camshaft Position Sensor that went out, I walked in with my receipt and sensor and left with a new one in under five minutes.
My local NAPA is old, gritty, and smells like motor oil. The counter is staffed by a grizzly, but nice and knowledgeable old dude. NAPA has quality parts at reasonable prices. Compared to AutoZone or Advanced which seems to have nothing but chrome plastic cosmetic garbage to 3M tape to your car on the sales floor.
@@dmacarthur5356 lol nappa carries the sane crap as those stores.. and theyre overpriced too. Nappa is way more expensive than those two.. oil... tape... everything basic and up is 2x markup in nappa... there is zsro justification for that. Countless times ive skipped nappa due to the prices and drove to autozone
Never seen you before. Within the first two minutes hearing your foul language, the cardboard undercar slide, and honestly the mustache, you got my sub.
Bro, you got it all wrong. Honda charges $5 each for the rubber replacements. All you gotta do is swap it out from the metal blade but it's not a big deal. People should never let mechanics swap out their OEM wiper arms and make people rely on aftermarket wiper blades because they got tricked into letting places like Jiffy Lube throw out their OEM wiper arm.
Another thing with lifetime warranties that most customers fail to factor in is how it only covers THAT specific part and part number. Several years back, I bought a pair of Gabriels for my truck with a lifetime warranty from AutoZone. When those eventually wore out, I tried to ask about exchanging them only to learn that that part had been discontinued. So I got stuck having to buy another pair of replacements.
Auto zone has some of the worst customer service of all stores period. I went in for some manifold studs for my truck and the ones their computer was saying to get were the wrong ones. I tell the old guy at the register and he answers "so what do you want to do?" I only use them to drop off my dirty oil. A nice online experience beats same day shitty costumer service. Great vid Netgear. More please.
I hated that shit when working with the system. Tbh I didn't even use the system and digged into Google instead. Also when looking for barely specific items it wouldn't pop up in it.
@@DANNYBOIIUU Jesus ain't that the truth. I will admit Znet has gotten a little better since I started a couple years ago, but it still sucks in a lot of aspects.
@rokko9195 Some autozones are great, most of the time they only last a year or two like that until all the employees realize they're gonna get paid less for doing more work. If you do too good a job, they don't promote you, they keep you in the position until you quit and then try to rehire you. Horrible business practices.
BROTHER ! WHERE WE SEPARATED AT BIRTH ! just stumbled onto to this post and as it played my Wife overheard and started laughing, said we sound identical. I couldn't agree more about autozone. Thank you Sir for sharing the truth 👍
@@nordicpride9708depending on the make, buying OE parts isn’t a good thing. A lot of OE parts fail quickly because of faulty designs and replacing them with aftermarket is way better. This seems to be true with a lot of braking and suspension parts, you are much better off buying a quality aftermarket product.
I’m almost 30. Found your guy’s account recently. And I love it. I’ve been heavy on having multiple cars to drive and ordering parts from rockauto. Currently have 4 running and driving Hondas. No of which are a “project car” or even a “soon” car. I have em all to drive in case of emergencies. One of which is a MINT 2011 element with 45k miles on it.
I stopped shopping at AutoZone years ago when I applied there. Some of the things he asked me if i could do were understandable. Then he started to explain how upper management is about upselling. He said that if they sell spark plugs and dont sell dielectric grease or anti-seize management wants to know why. Thats probably why some of the CS guys scan it and sell it to you without saying anything.
Meh, I just tell them I have a whole bottle of Permatex anti seize (which I actually do) They only tried the scan and sell ONCE on me, and i told them take it off NOW or you wont be making ANY sale...they did. I take no crap from them.
I worked at a auto parts store about 40 years ago, and the majority of what we called counter person we were gear heads. There were no computers, you had a double tier catalog rack and you had to know who made the part before you could look it up.
Yes, yes i remember those days also, and if I could get Mr Peabody to fire up the Wayback machine, we would all be back there again! E commerce SUCKS!!
I worked at most the major part stores, and I can tell you that at O'Reilly's, we still had full sets of paper catalogs and trained everyone to use them. Plus, their computer system was actually useful. Autozone's was so bad that I literally would just open an internet browser and look up things on our competitors websites.
@@sathanas420 it's always going to vary by store. I made sure all of our RSS's were certified parts pros (it helped that our DM gave everyone at least a 50 cent raise for it). It's way quicker to find the right u joints via catalog than the computer.
I work at autozone and almost EVERYTHING you said today was true, we sell garbage parts that are overpriced, batteries suck, wipers are way to much and i try and say something but it shutdown. i love cars and i always tell someone if they need something soon support the mom and pop shop 15 mins away called st paul park auto. i don’t believe in anything my work does and give customers real advice on where to go and what to do and not oversell them.
Yes I was closing manager at O'Reilly and I complained about the quality of the bottom shelf items and said I had trouble selling the trash to poor people, they glared at me and told me to check my culture because I many men would love to have my job and believe in the product, and that means I don't take pride in my job or company, lol he was a retired sheriff and a low intelligence bully, exactly who you would expect to be reginal manager.
i worked at autozone for 3 years. honestly should have quit sooner but hindsight is 20/20. needless to say i watched the store turn over staff 5 times and quit after the newest store manager became a power freak. the only people who ever moved up were old people and ass kissers to corporate and the ones who gave 10-20+ years to the company sadly almost always got fucked over. hate the company to death now and will go out of my way never to touch foot on their grounds. i also stole well over 5000$ worth of shit for my project cars and vehicle flips and made a good bit of money off them. fuck em p.s. love the discord
@@ruskibruskiI don’t believe he’s capping cause either 1. Their database and inventory are shit, or 2. The managers had their heads up their ass, which is most likely the case.
@ruskibruski same way I could steal prolly over 4k worth of stupid high end food from my cook job in a short time. Half the time co.panies don't have EXACT numbers and on top of that lazy management makes it super easy. Especially over a long period of time.
When i was at autozone my store singlehandedly had the highest turnover rate because my store manager (who wasnt even able to work at all due to medical leave) gave the older customers so much just leeway on shit theyd get, discounts and the such theyd verbally berate us and threaten to tell my manager (we didnt care) if we didnt follow their every whim
I don't really understand who goes to these stores. You have to be frugal enough to fix it yourself, but not frugal enough to take the 5 seconds to search and compare prices.
I can give you hundreds of them and unreal what you see, hear there. Towards the end of my shift a guy walked in and got transmission fluid for a scion XB. He was telling me how he need to top it over because it was low and slipping.I clocked out walked toward my car and saw him pouring it in his radiator, I told him that was not were the transmission fluid goes and he should probably drain, flush his radiator. Another one had a dad come with his daughter to "do" a oil change and told because it was leaking oil. I went and checked his the car which was a scion TC. Yeah the oil was leaking everywhere I checked the dipstick and it was half way up the line, I told him if he ever drain the oil during the oil changes. He then told me you need to drain the oil, and that he normally just puts fresh oil every time. I then told him yeah it's over filled. Another guy had a hole in his radiator and bought a couple of coolent. He was pouring it and all you see is it all going into the concrete. He then drove off knowing too. A bystand I guess called the fire department and was out on the street trying to clean off all the coolent on road.
Anybody that buys Autozone or other big box parts where literally every part is made from Chinesium have to have that lifetime warranty... because they are goin gto spend a lifetime replacing those parts. Use OEM whenever you can, pay more replace less.
My local autozone has one guy who works there who is actually an extremely nice guy who is completely honest and helps out as much as possible. People go in there and call and ask for him by name and only him. I have overheard the other employees being rather mad about it. He seems like the type of guy who would be a great mom and pop shop owner. I have had mostly bad experiences at other autozones within my area, from managers talking down to me when I try to return parts that they sold me that don't fit, to employees seeing something broken on one of my project cars and making fun of me for it.
I worked at Advance Auto for a few years and their limited lifetime is truly one replacement. I sold an axle to a gentleman and I had already rang it up when he mentioned comparing the new with the old, but when I pulled the new one out of the box it was floppy and the bearings were rattling around in the boot, so I returned/traded it out for the guy obviosly. Fast forward a couple months and the axle went bad and I returned it, I got wrote up and almost fired over it. That's when the manager informed me of that one replacement bull shit. I won't give them a dime.
matt - I saw tears in the rubber of an engine mount. I got the AZ one. The old one was totally solid but looked bad. The new AZ one looked great but I could wiggle it with my fingers !! Old one went back in. Get OEM.
As an ex autozone employee. I agree with everything. I felt bad at times having to sell things WAY over priced. Would usually just tell people to go elsewhere and they were so appreciative of it.
man you are so right! 2 rotors at autozone is the price of 4 rotors and pads from detroit axel. im so tired of these awful autoparts stores that sell terrible products as well.
My rotors are over $100 each at a parts store... 4 raybestos standard r line uncoated rotors from rock auto are maybe slightly more than just one single parts store rotor... And the duralast/brake best/whatever that are $100+ each are likely whiteboxed from one of the "economy" brands on rock auto and those are closer to $70-80 for the full set Just put a cart together with everything I did on my brakes within the last few months (pads, rotors, parking brake shoes)... For duralast (basic level pads) with tax... $512.61 and that's with their current "brake job" promo Rock auto using the parts I put in (raybestos everything... Eht pads, r-line rotors, whatever parking brake shoes they had) $286.13 with tax and shipping and that's without the 5% off code
@@andeinvamir9834 What are you driving where one rotor cost more at the store than online? I tried that with mine and the cost at the store was within $100 of the price of Rockauto after shipping.
To be fair, the oil tank is full almost 50% of the time. The problem is, people bringing in 5 gal buckets of used oil and people bringing in 4-10 of them at a time (usually diy people who fix other people's cars on the side). The other problem is, people bringing in oil that's mixed with other stuff that contaminates the tank. We then have to have another company come and drain it (usually takes an extra week). Which happens probably 3-5 times a year.
I was up at my folks' place and noticed my mom's wipers were tearing off. Normally I'd just order the right wipers from the hardware store, but I didn't have time. So I drove my truck down to the Advance Auto Parts. Walk up to the door, on is taped a sign that says "Out to Lunch. Will be back." No time. I chuckle and head back to my truck and drive half a mile down the road to the AutoZone. Walk in and ask where their wipers are. Guy behind the counter looks at me like I'm stupid. Then the other guy behind the counter points out they're behind me. Thank him and turn around, grab the right wipers, and head to the counter. I should scene set here. Empty store. I am the only customer. I am probably the only customer they've had all day. The wipers are about $5 more than you'd pay going through a decent store. As I step up to pay the third guy standing behind the counter(!) engages me about the truck (a snow white Taco with black accent pieces including brush guard, headache rack, and JDM rain guards). I'm fine to answer a couple questions about it. He's got a couple. The guy ringing me out finishes and I say thank you, and then he decides it's time to hop into the conversation and asks me why I would own such a "gay truck." In their defense, the other two employees give him a double-take. I just look at him and say "My man, I make 200k a year working with computers. That truck gets used for light forestry and yard work. I do most of the wrenching myself because it's a Toyota and they make it easy as long as you don't lose your 10mm. Do yourself a favor before you get too far along: go talk to the Air Force recruiter (next town over). You should be able to get a mechanic score high enough to work as a maintainer at worst. Definitely will be presented options that don't involve taking pride in your 1987 Dodge Ram work truck despite it being a piece of shit. Good luck." I need to be clear: these were all men. In their 20s or 30s. None of them had any business acting like a kid.
The irony is I just saw an Auto Zone ad on this video. I let it run so they paid this guy to talk sh*t about their company. 🤣 Only went to a WalMart once in my life (never again😂) and I drive past 2 AutoZone stores to go to my locally owned NAPA store. They are not cheaper than AutoZone but they keep the money in the community and they actually pay their employees. You can tell because you see the same guys (and gals) every time you go in and they are truly knowledgeable when you speak to them.
I just ordered a part from Advance Auto. They left the shipping invoice attached to the box. They charged me $417 for the part. The shipping invoice showed that they paid $205 for the part. I almost took it back. I will never shop at parts stores again.
And for some reason you are surprised with a 100% markup on resold parts? I do not care what business we are talking about, from furniture stores to consumer electronics. A retailer with brick and mortar overhead, utilities, personnel, insurance, taxes, etc....ALL have to markup any/every item they resell. If they lose money on everything they sell due to all those business expenses, they can't make up for it on volume and WILL go out of business.
I had an AutoZone manager get mad at me once because she didn't understand why I wanted dialectic grease with my coil packs. She insisted I didn't need it (which I probably don't), but I still wanted it. Helps just that much more, and it is water resistant. She got offended and said "Well I went to school to learn about how cars work and you don't need that." then abruptly walked off.
The people at my local advance auto routinely screwed up my orders. One time I was ordering a fuel filter for my old 1994 Honda Civic. This isn't a universal filter, it has both the ports on one side. I carefully explained this to them over the phone to make sure they got me the right one. And lo and behold, they sent me a universal which won't fit. I decided to just buy it off Rockauto and wait the 3 days for shipping instead.
That one seems false. Autozone employees have to follow a sales practice called W.I.T.T.D.T.J.R in which there are certain things they have to sell along with another item. Otherwise, they get reprimanded. Dielectric grease is one of those items you are supposed to sell with coil packs. You can actually get fired for missing things like not selling battery grease with batteries, Dielectric grease with coil packs, oil filters with oil. If she told you that than she deserves to be fired.
@@DANNYBOIIUUif she's a narcissist then she prob thinks she knows better than the company big wigs and is willing to break rules to feel better than everyone.
O'Reilly's is the same way. I was one of the greats. I did it all, deliver parts, replace ballasts for the light fixtures, opened a book to find rare parts. Know how much I got a raise for? After proving myself and being reliable? .35 cents. Immediately acted my wage forward on and got a job paying double in 4 months.
I totally agree with the price gouging of the stores. I’m not sure if you’ve worked at a Oreilly’s but it’s definitely the place to work at. You get commission on top of hourly pay and the discount there is the best amount all corporate parts stores. I pay wholesale plus shipping and that’s it. I’ve had a 90% discount compared to retail before. It goes to show how much the companies rob the customers but I think the worst part is that Autozone double dips. They rob the customers and employees, because a 20% discount is still a 60% mark up.
This is true. I worked at Autozone and was excited about the discount. Then I eventually realized that the 20% discount made my part the same cost as one from online
Yeah, I had to be real selective with the parts I got with the discount, often waiting for special sales and clearances to really get the savings combo. I was comparing Harbor Freight and Rock Auto and even junkyard pulls...sometimes it's cheaper to tear something down and just replace the seals and remanufacture it yourself, you know? Other times the discount was enough to get internet pricing, only with the convenience of instant availability. It was a neat balancing act, and in the end I'm satisfied with the results of the rebuild. I turned a $550 beater into a reliable daily work truck that no longer leaks (anywhere). Everyone assumed I just didn't have a vehicle because I built an e-bike and rode that to work while I was loading up the parts cannon. Actually, I put about 2k miles on that e-bike for the year and 17 days my vehicle was parked and non-running (I even used the cargo storage area to haul engine parts). 6 months of that year was just strategically pricing out and purchasing parts (you know, because of the terrible pay and bi-weekly at that).
SuperTech oil has been tested against other major brands by a few different channels. Turns out their full synthetic oil is actually REALLY good oil. It's just one of those cases where Walmart is able to use their buying power to offer really good oil at a really cheap price
@@mcsqueegee81 People can spend their money how they want but when it comes to a daily driver, SuperTech is above and beyond what anyone will ever need to keep an engine going until the rest of the car falls apart around it
WallyWorld Super Tech oil is made by the Warren Oil Co and meets the current American Petroleum Institute (API) standards. NAPA store brand oil is actually Valvoline.
@@donreinke5863 Name alone doesn't mean anything. Even Valvoline has several different grades of their synthetic oil and SuperTech outperformed the comparable ones in independent testing I looked at a few years ago.
I worked there for two months, I tried to give good customer service and find people a good deal, but I literally got in trouble for it. A girl and her mom came in for a battery and were looking at going to Walmart for a battery instead but I tried to price match it and the store manager told me I couldn’t because they weren’t the same, but they had the same warranty.
@@dyer2cycle oh trust me… I know. She said the same thing about craftsman tools vs duralast tools, they literally have the same castings stamps with just different lettering
Aside from Napa, all of those chain stores have incorrect entries for my car. I had to dive deep into parts catalogues from the aftermarket makers to find the actual part numbers, then go in tell them what i needed ordered (this was like 20+ years ago). The motor mounts were wrong, steering rack was wrong, half shafts, alternators...you name it. I will only go for absolute emergencies, like a lightbulb or something. That's it.
I bought some spray paint I didn't need at Autozone and since they asked me for my phone number while I was checking out, I figured, great, I'm in the system, there is no need to save my receipt. 2 days later I went back to the same store with the unused paint to return it. We'll, they wouldn't except my return without receipr!! What kind of bs is that! This was the Manteca, CA Autozone, BTW. I will now avoid them.
Fuck that one. I tried to return tools I bought an hour before, no receipt but phone number. I had them look through purchase history in store to return it.
I used to work at AutoZone as a parts driver (over 10 years ago now) and they had these "checkout challenges" where we're forced to try to sell you something extra at the cash register that I found EXTREMELY UNMORAL. We had these meetings and the district managers straight up told us to lie to customers about fuel injection cleaners "fixing" peoples check engine lights, even if it's a code for a evap leak. Also they had policies where "the red shits" weren't allowed to work on the corporate side. (There was only so high you could go and most of corporate is just college-educated stock market people.) Also, that ASE certificate that many employees brag about having is meaningless. I wouldn't trust those people to work on a shopping cart let alone give car advice.
I think you absolutely nailed it about the customer service part. I don't have a problem paying a premium for parts if I feel the store I'm buying from is providing me with a service that's worth that premium. If I feel like I consistently know more about cars, car parts, parts brands, and diagnosing problems than the counter salesperson does I have no incentive to shop there.
You saved me some money on oil with that last video. Thank you! I also found that around here Tractor Supply had the second best price on Pennzoil full synthetic, just behind Walmart.
The problem i have with any of the chain auto parts stores and even walmart is they all sell the same brands of parts just in a different box... for wildly varying ranges of prices. Batteries for example. Only 2 suppliers for all the flooded-cell batteries available on the shelf, EastPenn and JohnsonControls. But they all have different prices for no reason other than their branding. Same battery (for the most part) but $45 more for the one that has "x" branded on it.
I feel like the one thing that should still be stressed is that most of the time ANY big name auto parys store is a bad option, I once went to O'Reilly's for a pair of wipers and ended up paying like $60 for their cheapest pair of wipers before realizing I could half gotten them for atleast half that at walmart
sam - On the other hand, someone came in last week and bought new wipers because their WalMart wipers did NOT last. HERE'S THE LESSON: Save the old wipers for summer, when sun, UV, heat destroy wipers !!! In the fall, put on the good ones. Takes 4 minutes. (It's important to SEE where you are going at 65 MPH !!!)
The NAPA's in Canada are usually pretty solid. The parts they have stocked almost always surprises me. I drive all old 90's Dodges, some cars haven't been made for 30 years, and rarely I have to wait a day for a part. It's almost either they actually have the part, or the location just the other side of town has it, and they can get it here in an hour if you don't want to drive and get it. The service is honestly insanely good.
You’re so right! People forget that many businesses work for them, including the government! It’s hard to reward them with my business for bad customer service. Keep up the good work. Love to have a beer with you sometime!
O'Reilly's always fucks me somehow. Overpriced shit, bad service, slow moving orders and no communication about orders. Absolutely never deal with them for anticipated maintenance and if the car can wait, its RA for me.
This channel is a nice find. A refreshing take on the automotive side of TH-cam. As a former mechanic, that saw a small chain of locally owned auto parts stores bought up by AutoZone and worked at Advanced Auto parts, these are some great takes.
The last time I looked it up the CEO of AZ was making $8M annually with perks and stocks, what a f**king joke! My town is 7 miles long and we have 3 AutoZones!!!
100% agree have you seen what they charge for batteries!? Knowing most people cant just go somewhere else or wait. only things those rip off stores are good for is liberating stuff. Although I will go to Napa for some things, they've always seemed a little higher quality and sell better tools than the rest. Although they still pedal most of the same shit parts and I have gotten new defective part from them. It's honestly best to go oem for most parts if you want them to last or rockauto cuz if your gonna buy shit parts might as well pay less or pay more for the reputable brands that rock auto has. As for windshield blades I go with rainx. I live in phx, and the desert is hell on blades, most including Bosch only last a year and rainx has lasted 2 going on 3 years. As for oil, most of them are made by the same manufacturers and sell it to the different brands we buy. Companies just put their label on it. They will put their additives in but they all are the same just in slightly different levels of it. Anyways fuck autozone, O'Reilly, advanced, Napa and all the big box autoparts stores they're theives and probably the reason most aftermarket parts are shit these days. They have to keep increasing profit somehow and best believe quality is not sacred.
I will always pay extra for higher quality parts, and Rockauto has a lot more quality ones than the big box stores. Like for the 2 Hondas I own, I can buy Aisin, Denso, and other OEM equivalent brands easily. For my Ford Explorer, I can buy Motorcraft easily.
mike - AZ red shirt here, retirement job. My AZ has PROBLEMS for sure. At 11 month, I have the longest tenure in the store !!! In CAL, I recommend saving the old wipers as 'summer wipers' when the heat, UV, sun will destroy them, then pop on the Rain-X when winter starts. Takes 4 minutes.
Fun fact, Idemitsu tried to make it into the auto parts stores. But regular people don’t know the brand at all. Saw 5qt jugs marked down to clearance for $10 in my rural TN town a couple years ago. Then saw them marked down to $5 a couple weeks later. Bought out all 6 jugs they had left lol. Still have one jug left in the garage.
Never, ever buy from 1A Auto either. Garbage parts and worse return policy and customer service. I'm still waiting for the replacement part 2 months later.
@@KyChristellWith how many get produced every year, yeah, that's exactly how much they "should" cost. Companies don't need to be making 1-5000% profit margins on something that costs almost 0 overhead to restock. Stop being a corporate cuckold.
I was about 80 miles from home and got caught in a downpour. One of my wiper blades decided to shred right then and there. I got to an O'Reilly's. New blades cost me almost $75 and they didn't have any cheaper ones. I don't think AutoZone is alone in the ripoff department.
So, I started on this video, as it was recommended by YT. 30 seconds in, I went and found the other AZ video, watched that, then came back and watched this. I will not be giving AutoZone, or any other corporate auto parts stores another penny of my money, if I can at all help it. Thank you for highlighting this issue so thoroughly.
There used to be local auto parts store a few miles down the road. The small Asian guy that owned it sat behind a mile long counter with catalogs and binders piled up across the whole thing.
My brother and I would go there looking for a part for whatever we were working on and he’d flip through a couple of binders, and find the part number. If he didn’t have that exact part, he’d flip back and forth between several catalogs and binders, disappear to the back and come back with a part for a completely different car brand and say something along the lines of “Part for Nissan work for Chevrolet” or “Ford engine, Toyota part.”
At first we’d doubt the guy but still try the part out. It would always fit and would always work. By the third, fourth, and fifth time it happened we thought he was a car parts wizard.
*And he did this before computers.*
When he died the kids sold the property and, sure as shit, they put up an Autozone there.
I used to go there he was excellent
@@NativeTexMexicanKids like that suck?? Not everyone wants to follow in their parents' footsteps, nor do they always want to do the same thing for a living. That's just life.
@SalsaPie well then I'll leave my business to my nephew or someone who does have that passion
@@SalsaPie Read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Solomon says everything people are saying now.
😂
I was in a local Autozone and saw a young lady checking out their batteries. I mentioned a local salvage yard that sold used batteries, tested, and warrantied for $35 bucks. The look on her face was priceless and she thanked me for saving her a lot of money.
Who buys used batteries though? Batteries, tires, and oil are things you shouldn’t cheap out on.
@JordanBlue1 "Tested and warrantied" Reading comprehension claims its next victim.
@@Clooger- still dumb to buy a crappy cheap battery. I always get the best and they can run multiple aftermarket accessories, run on just the battery for hours, start easily in the cold, and last for 10+ years.
@@JordanBlue1 i agree with you on this stuff. some parts just NEED to be replaced anyways. even though it may appear good, the actual part will break down over time (like your tires and oil, and battery acid)
@@JordanBlue1have a bad alternator, some terminals or run over a nail and all that money goes down the train. Think smarter not harder. You can find used parts for less money with even better quality. Cost of living is always different for everyone but no one with actual money or a common sense isn’t going to waste their money on a new product if they can get the same quality for less
Autozone employees at my two local stores always look miserable.
Why do you think that is?
@@Synthwave89that 11 dollar an hour expectation to make yourself legally liable to fuck with someone’s car
Cause we are. No training bad management and we are told to up sell without even asking if they want. Auto zone cares about profits not employees or customers
@@lewishutcherson2034fr work at 1 rn the whole witdtjr thing is JUST to get that extra smidge of money to the corp. and the pay is ass 14.10 where I’m at
that's all the auto parts employees i chat with. the closest zone store to me, their employees seem to openly hate white people, except the managers that constantly change. it usually an empty store every time i went in there. i quit oreillys because of blatant safety reg violations with fleet vans, trucks, overloaded disc rotor shelves bending under the weight, waiting to crush someone with some already broke free of the shelf mounts!; and inside stupidity at a failing hub store. HALF the chain stores were surly and wouldn't lift a finger to check me in in ten minutes time max allowed, for 10-60 parts! that schedule never was adjusted! and car wrecks destroyed any time schedule for 8-10 scheduled stops!
2.5 years was enough with the covid farce to top it off. and $11an hour when i walked out the door and tossed the keys at them. 300 mile days in 8 hours on most routes! if i had the great routes outside of the city limits. one or two local stores had really bad labor issues. you can't be fired, just prosecuted later for stealing. investigations went on for 6-9 months. yep! good times! one route driver just retired from there. HOW!? this is YOUR future people! and TRUMP is going to FIX this same kind of B.S. in government too. UHUHH! sure! got some gold stock to sell ya! We'll hold onto it for safe keeping. you can make an appointment once a year to look, no touchy!
I work at an Advance Auto in a small town, and I feel bad selling half of our products. Auto Zone might be the worst, but selling a battery for minimum 190 makes me feel like a swindler. Price gouging is insane rn, even for 1 year warranty products
@waitwhat1320I've had more defective parts from rock auto in the last 3 months than the last 10 years
@waitwhat1320 yup, even though im an agm i feel the same exact way, from what my team has told me, our store here in raleigh ran miles better when it was carquest and not advance. quality for sure has gone down substantially too.
Same situation here, half the parts that people come into my Advance Auto for are either out of stock, over-priced, or both. Its hard to meet quota when we have to order something that the customer can order for themselves, and for cheaper too.
When I started at AutoZone in January of 2021 a standard Duralast with 2 year warranty was $120 before tax and core. As of the last time I visited about a month ago it is now $180 before tax and core (the core charge has also gone up as well from $18 to $22)
I used to work at Advance in a small town like you, honestly wasn't worth it. I've moved onto a dealership working parts and while it's more upkeep I definitely learn more about specific vehicles. And it helps I can buy a ls core for cheap when they do engine swaps. The other problem is everything oem is even worse in some cases compared to aftermarket.
I had a similar situation happen with an alternator from Rock Auto. It had a one year warranty and the first one died within a few months so they replaced it. The second one died about a month before the warranty ended but instead of replacing it they actually refunded the original purchase price so I went and bought an OEM alternator. Despite the faulty part, that experience definitely made me want to come back and buy from them again.
I love rockauto. They shipped me someone else's parts (packing slip said it was supposed to go to Germany). I reported it to rockauto, they sent me a replacement part for the part I didn't get, and didn't even want the other part back. No questions asked. Super easy.
For fords it has always been the PS and alternators from ford last 30 years, once you took it off, it was going to be replaced every 2 years tops....
You find a PS pump in the junkyard and use the remainder of its 30 years up and be better off.
@@paulwubben7506 yep I can attest, they sent me a 2nd Gen GS300 tie rod instead of a 1st Gen and they just sent me the correct one and let me keep the 2nd Gen rod. Nice for when I eventually buy a 2nd Gen GS.
In rock auto we trust
Rock Auto is always the way to go if you can wait a few days, or if the expedited shipping is comparable to buying from AZ or AA. Their warranties, guarantees and customer service are superior to any other retailer. They even let me return an order past the return period, only caveat was I lost my original shipping; plenty fair for the situation.
I bought a starter for my 88 f150 from auto zone for 150 bucks. Brand new. 1 week later it went out. Lifetime warranty so I went and got another one. Same shit. Went through 4 of them in just about 4-5 weeks.
I worked there for a few months between military training orders. I never upsold anyone and would frequently give customers the part number for items that we were price gouging. I saved one lady 200+ dollars on her O2 sensor and I remember the look on her face when I told her to buy it elsewhere. She was so thankful.
I love employees like you. An autozone employee told me to buy batteries from Costco and I was thankful because costco batteries seem to be high quality and way cheaper. I've also had some call around other stores to see if they have the part in stock which saved me time and effort.
@@Sulfenyou really don’t shop around do you? Costco sells interstate batteries, for automotive starting batteries I’d say 3 years is what you’ll get out of most batteries before you get starting issues. Want a quality battery? Buy by weight for whatever size you need, the more it weighs the more lead is in the plates.
I worked for Both O'Reilly's and a brief 7 weeks for Azone.. Warranty is much easier at Os,, your phone number etc,,
We have Locally a Interstate factory, 80 bucks on average, used for 40, I would send folks there all the time, I can't upsell, I refuse to, I respect folks trying to fix their cars, it about community,,
You're wrong. I bought an Interstate battery in 2017. It still is working just fine. I've had bigger batteries that didn't last 2 years
When I was a kid in the navy working on a friend's brakes an Advance employee like you sent me home to order the parts online because of all the discounts they offer there and saved a bunch. From then on I routinely get at least 15 -20% off the top immediately just by ordering online, then an hour later walk into the store. I am kind of pissed they rip off so many folks who walk in for parts and don't know the system or don't sign up for rewards. With the rewards system and online discount they are on par with a lot of places and that's pretty sad!
I learned years ago if I had to settle for junk Chinese parts I might as well order them online rather than pay 2/3s more on average at a parts store.
Agree
That's what I been doing since age 20 I got tired of paying $100+ Everytime I wanted a part. I been buying from eBay since age 20 😂 never had any issues with quality either
@@HemiLyfestyleso that eBay motor stuff is legit? Always thought it was kinda iffy,like temu for auto parts 😂
@@TheCommissarIsDead eBay been pretty good and they have a excellent return policy and warranties, I'm 32 now and eBay has been my only source for car parts and I've owned legit over 25 cars lol
I worked there and even with my employee discount it was cheaper to just order online
A second story, happened a couple of years ago. I had an alternator that suddenly went bad on me. As I was driving home at night, my lights started to dim. I realized that I was losing power and I was still about ten miles from home at about 11 PM. I managed to limp home by shutting everything down, including the headlights.
The next day I went to AZ to get a replacement. The reman was about $200 with an additional core charge. A new was about $350. The clerk told me to take to a guy a half mile away that rebuilds alternators and starters. Said it might only cost $30. It ended up costing me $45. So I got an original factory part remanned for 1/4 the price thanks to that clerk.
I've had 3 occasions of alternators being bad fresh out of the box from AutoZone. Avoid Duralast.
I work at autozone, and I hate what I have to do on so many occasions. I'm surrounded by superiors that genuinely believe that the company is the best thing since sliced bread and tell me about how I performed so well I got a 40 cent raise instead of a 12 cent raise. If it wasn't for the fact that there isn't a single mom and pop shop left, let alone one that would hire I'd have been long gone from any form of extortion auto.
same here man, i got a 30 cent raise a few months ago and was so close to just walking out the damn store.
I was a CSM. I got 48 cents. I left. Cult of a company.@@brodybreaksbmws
@@brodybreaksbmwsay it could be worse I got a 4 cent raise
Same here man
Y’all stupid for that
One big note about Napa from a long tenured Napa employee. Napa stores outside of major city/county limits are privately owned and the owners usually care about the community.
Absolutely agree.....
Our local NAPA must be franchised or whatever, it's just as bad as Advance or AZ
You hit the nail on the head. NAPAs in big cities are as bad as Advanced/AZ/O'Reilly.
We call Napa No Auto Parts Available.
Back in the day, they had parts for virtually everything when Checker, Champion, Big A, AutoZone and Carquest/Advance did not
Now..they have almost nothing, even in the warehouse..
@@donreinke5863 Finally gave up after the 3rd time they left me in a lurch. Part was promised for 1 hour delivery, guy showed up 4 hours later with the wrong part. Then the store said it was never in stock to begin with. 😂 You can't make this stuff up!
Dad's manager gives me Dad's employee discount everytime I see him. That does mean a lot..... Since he passed away in 2015.
Wholesome. Sorry for your loss.
I love you netgear57
Well, i love him more... so you know what you should do to yourself.
@@obiwankenobi2749KYS
Stickers available now!
Too bad net gear is in a relationship with an anime character
What are you a fed?
Netgear is a based individual
I called AutoZone 3 times in Camden, NJ to inquire about an order, and each time they put me on hold and never came back to the phone. So I called their "Regional Office," and nobody answered there either. I left a message, and someone from their regional office called back the next day and said the regional office couldn't answer the phone because they were in meetings for 2 days. Then they said a district manager would call me to address the situation, which nobody ever did. AutoZone has the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER.
I mean why would you call any store in Camden and expect a response? Or even order at a Camden location? Cherry Hill is only a few miles away
@@IncognitoSprax Ha! Well the Camden store is less than a mile away from me and it's sandwiched between a Napa and Advance, how bad could it be since there's a ton of competition out there. Turns out - no, they still don't care.
Store was probably busy, I work at one in the ghetto for a year and there was 8-10 of us on shift and I was impossible to answer all the phone lines when we had to deliver parts to mechanic shops because their #1 prior according to autozone. The we would have lines through the store and outside which was crazy.
Yeah, every time i call AZ, I get out on hold. However, every time I go in the store the moment I get to the front of the line, they take a call before helping me.
chargeback. the hell with em at that point
Autozone became dead to me when they dropped the lifetime warranty on most of their parts.
To be fair, RockAuto has their downsides as well. For example, several times I've received the wrong part in the correct box. I'm not sure how that happens, but it's annoying. Then I have to prove to RA that I'm not trying to scam them. I've also received parts that were returned by other customers, then resold. I know, because the return slip from the previous customer was still in the box! I get the impression RA is playing it fast & loose with their inventory system. But all the returns must be costing them money.
And then there's the "warehouse shuffle" game you get to play at checkout. It's kind of annoying when the website shows the parts at the same warehouse, but when you put them in the cart, they get split into 2 or 3 different warehouses. Then you get to play a game of whack-a-mole, to find which parts will ship from the same warehouse, so you don't get hosed on shipping.
Thats why I dont use (C)Rock auto.I get stuff from Amazon, free shipping and returns with Prime for the same price or less than (C)Rock auto.
Something you can do to get stuff from the same warehouse is up quantities of "problem" items (items that they supposedly have at one warehouse but wants to ship from a different one) until everything comes from one warehouse, then immediately edit quantities to what you actually want after placing the order.
Any third party seller on Amazon is selling open box or returned. Just hoping someone buys it, and you'll never see them again.... Amazon only covers for Amazon sold products, not the 3rd party suppliers, that are selling products on the site.
I bought parts for a brake job from RockAuto one time and I didn't notice that some of the brake pad retaining springs were missing until I had everything about installed. RockAuto and the manufacturer couldn't just send me the missing piece. They wanted me to take everything off, mail it all back, and get a whole new everything in the mail next week. Always check your stuff before you start!
You used to be able to talk to people at RockAuto to now everything is texting
Sounds like Camping World. Never go there unless last resort for part or service.
😢😢😢😢
It's sad how terrible it's become.
AutoZone, where they cannot tell the difference between a steering rack and a throttle body gasket.
It's crazy that people actually feel bad for corporations in this country!!!
American corporate GREED
Republicans "simp" for corporations. They simp for big money, thinking it trickles down. It doesn't. The only thing that happens is hoarding. It never gets circulated back into the economy. It gets held up in bank accounts. That's it. Stops there. Or gets invested in new factories overseas.
Technically, there aren’t very many independent mom and pop stores in general. Every store is just a franchise of a large brand name of something else, whether it’s an Ace hardware, or Carquest, or Napa, or O’Rielly’s, so while I understand the frustration of wanting to support individuals in a community, and as long as I can afford to I will support my local Napa store or O’Rielly’s as I usually get good customer service and it keeps people in my community working. I usually only go through Rock Auto for more obscure parts such as a valve body for my VW Golf.
@@cavemanjoe79They're siphoning the wealth out of your community. When you give AutoZone $100 half of it goes through a tax haven then out to a foreign bank account.
9:00 lol the only “expert advice” I ever got at AutoZone was then telling me to go to the NAPA down the street if I had any questions about the part I needed. I went down there and the dude at NAPA was a mobile mechanic as a side hustle, knew his shit and even offers to install the part with his side mechanic business.
NAPA is the best. All of 'em have the local dudes that know their shit.
NAPA is hands down the best but I have still found you can get the napa quality parts from rock auto for half the cost. but at least napa doesn't sell garbage
For mw in my town everything at NAPA is double what autozone is selling stuff for :(
The guy at my NAPA didn't know the difference between GL4 and GL5 oils...
@@NotTheRealRustyShackleford good. because those are gear lubes. Not oils.
Usually my experience is okay at Autozone. However, about two months ago, my daughter took her car into Hyundai for a recall. While there, they gave her a list of $2000 worth of “recommended” services (oil flush, transmission flush, radiator flush, air filter, spark plugs, etc). I told her the flushes were BS and the other “recommendations” could be done for a fraction of the price. For example, changing the spark plugs was $200. I ordered four new plugs from RockAuto, but she had one that was bad, so I went to AZ to buy one to replace the bad one until the RA order arrived. They brought me a plug and as I was preparing to pay, I opened the box to examine it. The plug had oil and carbon on it. I asked the clerk, “are these new”? He said clearly it wasn’t, so he went back and brought another one. I opened it, IT was dirty. He went and got the entire box. The third was bad. The fourth one was pulled from the back of the box and it looked brand new so I bought it. Frankly, if I wasn’t using it for a temporary replacement, I would have walked out.
But you should get a transmission flush every 4-5 years.
@@MakoMoriTransmission flushes on high mileage can lead to failure.
@@TayG-y9q Yeah if you were wrecking your transmission to begin with. Got a flush ~200k miles on my ford and it was fine. Few years later had a transmission issue, they said it was surprisingly clean in there. treat your car right and it won't fall apart!
@@TayG-y9q Almost never happens, and when it does, it's because the tranny has never been flushed before. Not changing your transmission fluid will definitely lead to failure.
My older boss would always buy parts from the local Oriellys where he was getting screwed on part prices. I showed him that the exact same shocks he bought for his truck were only $120 on rockauto for both vs $250 he paid at the parts store. Had him order the rockauto shocks and returned them to the parts store to save him the $130 difference
Getting payed the difference is a fantastic idea. I'm definitely going to try that.
Only a scumbag does that.
If I need the same day, I order on rock auto, and but at autozone/napa, or orielly. I fix with the local parts, then when the rock auto parts show up I put them in the local box and return it.
If it's brand new and the same part, nothing was lost aside from the AZ warranty. No one actually lost anything except a giant corporations' exorbitant markup.
The only issue with ordering online is that your repairs have to be planned. If you need something Immediately the local auto parts take my money.
Lol I paid 300 bucks for rear shock mounts at AutoZone on an 88 Chevy 1500 then found the same parts for like 150 online. Screw AutoZone
Did you install before you found this out?
Rear shock mounts? On the bed side or the axle side? I didn’t know those were a thing people replaced. I’ve owned two 1988 1500s both 2wd and 4wd. I think if I had to replace a shock mount and it wasn’t welded I would just go to a junk yard and find a pair on a relatively rust free truck.
I get parts at cost and the price differences I see make me shit myself on the daily
I went through this with napa last month.
All parts stores are doing this now.
Power steering pump.
Store: $157.63
Online: $72.79
Power steering hose.
Store: $120.00
Online: $19.83
The rack is where I stopped giving them money for my truck.
Store: close to $400
Online: $210.79
I had a job for a customers car and they wanted it done the same day if possible.
Needed a belt and idler pulley.
Pulley was $39.99
Belt was 79.99
Online was $14.33 and the belt was $22.99
Outrageous upcharges through the store now.
I could understand a few bucks, but they want double or over now.
I'm going through Online or junkyards now.
BTW you're not getting special parts from the stores. Those days are long gone. Use to be able to get US or Canadian made parts from napa. Now it's just the same Mexico remanufactured or Taiwan new. Junk in other words.
@@Soundsofthewood A guy at napa told me not to get the cheap tie rods because the internals are plastic and not metal. When I went to install the "napa gold" ones I could clearly see the plastic bushing through where it's tapped for a grease fitting. and they look exactly like the cheap ones.
If you buy parts with a Lifetime Warranty, you will be changing them for the rest of your Lifetime. I use OEM ONLY, especially, Brake Pads.
We definitely need more of these videos. As a guy that’s just getting into cars, I’ve learned a lot from these little talks.
Yeah the quality has gotten alot worse with time on most parts you buy now and if you want quality or perceived quality you have to go with something that cost to much from a dealership or name brand products.
In the 70’s I was getting screwed over by the local auto parts supplier with junk parts and no warranty. When auto zone came to town it was a breath of fresh air. The parts were good and on the rare occasion that I got a bad one it was replaced with no questions asked except to help with advice. Now AutoZone is my last resort. Rock auto is my first choice when possible. When AutoZone won’t take a part back, bring it back a different day or to a different store. Keep going back until somebody exchanges it. Don’t make a big fuss and cuss the Idiot out or he will remember you and tell everyone else. Chances are he won’t remember and be in another mood 2 days later. Always remember you are dealing with Idiots and auto zone is screwing them over too.
More so the customer are idiots, they always out themselves out. Just go in and simply ask for an exchange instead they keep talking and out themselves out. Example one dude tried to exchange a battery and had the number then started talking about how he just bought the car with a battery with 2yrs on it, right there my manager heard that he denied it because he's wasn't the buyer of it. Another one this lady started yelling and wanted her money back on some brake pads which was fine I always assume it's defective just to help people out then she mention that her mechanic sawed off parts of the pad and shims now I can't return them as she mentioned her mechanic was the one that destroyed them.
So true. The average consumer is a moron. As Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute and two to take 'em". I gave up fixing cars professionally or for friends. I'd get stuck with bad parts and wound up married to their junkers, loosing money all the way for doing a favor.
Walked in to my local AutoZone. While staring at the rack of batteries, the manager asked if she could help me. I played along and said I was looking for a battery for a '66 Mustang.
She walked back to the magic box and asked "Who makes the Mustang?"
Yeah...
Man I remember applying to autozone a few years ago. Got an interview all that stuff. Answered all their questions flawlessly. (Pretty simple questions) Showed I know more than most of the workers there. Didn't hear back from them for 5 months. By that time I was already working another job and didn't want to leave cause the pay was better. My buddy went in and applied, he knows jack shit about cars. He got a call later that day telling him he was hired. Don't get it.
They couldn't pay you what you are worth
@@firstlast--- I wasn’t asking for anything more than standard pay. Tbh just needed a job and I don’t have any certificates. I’m mostly self taught.
Sounds like valvoline oil change place applied got an interview and got told I knew too much to work there???
@@frizzlefry1921 sounds about right.
People who are clueless are easier to get to drink the kool-aid
“Full Synthetic Japanese Folded 1000 Times Oil” 💀 Keep it up boys I think Netgear is the ticket out the hood 👍
I live in a small town,one mile end to end,2 traffic lights.Advanced auto and auto zone moved in over the last year.Theres a Napa thats has been there for years.Napa is keeping their loyal customers,never see cars in auto zone
Napa is better in my small town too.
So glad I found this channel a while back; it's such a breath of fresh air from other car/automotive TH-cam channels. I love the videos.
Keep these talk vids coming! Normal CCF stuff is great, but this is another level 😊
Got some more live content coming, we’re actually out of normal content until we stream Friday
@@CollectorCarFeedIts what Donut Media wishes they can produce
Old timer trick that was taught to me: With taller filters, like the ones that are 1qt+, put the filter back in the box, the corners of the box help keep you from knocking the filter over while you fill it. It also helps keep the filter from falling over while you are trying to keep it upright while sliding it under the car.
Don't fill oil filters before install. Cat diesel says not to do it too. Everything is already coated in oil on startup. You are introducing unfiltered oil into lubrication system by filling filter before install.
I wonder what happens to an oil inside a filter? Maybe it gets filtered?
That happened to me with Autozone years ago I bought a starter and I asked them to test it first. The guy said no it should work the machine is down. I installed the starter and it was no good and when I went to go return it, he said I have to charge you $45 for the core, I said well this is the core I’m exchanging one for one. He’s like no I’m giving you a new starter. I said first of all, you’re not giving me shit I paid for a working starter and you gave me a broken one and then some more choice words and I literally almost jumped over the counter and hit him with the starter
lol - thanks for making my day :)
The fact that AutoZone ran an Ad on this video about how much they suck, shows how out of touch and shameless they are. This guy is right, stay away from AutoZone, and ANY other chain store that does the same crap. Large corporations have ruined America
Pro move for avoiding the “full tank” at AutoZone: walk in, clap the 5 massive jugs of oil on one of the many empty register counters, THEN and ONLY then do you say “hey do you guys take oil?” and if someone goes “tank’s full” without looking, you say “oh ok, no problem” and just leave without picking back up your oil jugs. Nothing will happen I guarantee it
Can confirm, next shift will go "Oh, jugs, neat"
@@thomas6591 If I have a container I don't want back ( WHICH I TRY TO DO ) I just leave it outside near the door, F'K EM.
@@NoWr2Run If it's the backdoor then it might sit forever if you don't put it directly in front of the door lol
@@thomas6591 Actually do both & YES, One time it sat there for over 2 weeks ?
@@NoWr2Run you gotta make it an inconvenience on truck day lmao
The problem is very few mom and pop stores are left. Most have either been driven out of business or absorbed by the big box stores. I'm glad I started out in a mom and pop store years ago and have always worked in a store that deals with professional installers--It's makes a difference!
I work at AutoZone and the amount of money it takes to run a store and run it well is actually ridiculous. People want convenience so it's usually about who can get the part the quickest. You need mountains of inventory to be able to compete, plus we have a huge network of stores and hub stores. If you were to start your own place, you'd likely get buried because the amount of money Napa and AutoZone pump into their stores. Even the worst ran AutoZone can do millions of dollars a year in sales if it's got good inventory and in a populated area. Some of our worst stores are the busiest locations.
For oil, Walmart should be on everyone's number 1 choice. You'll save $5-$10 compared to other stores.
I knew a guy who was ASE certified parts salesman. They wouldn't hire him because they would have to pay him more.
I always have at least one batch of consumables at the ready per vehicle. Planning versus impulse pays its own dividends.
I do that too, but some people can't afford that and that's what these parts stores bank on. "What are you gonna do, not drive to work? lol"
Story... I got son 4 shock assembly for his 1998 avalon ..at autozone ..they were 147.00 each.
So I got the part number..manufacturers. name..upc number..went to Rockauto and got the identical part for 63.00 dollars each...so he was very happy..then I went to Walmart for his tires..we got Goodyear Vivas..times 4...75.00 each..the tire shop wanted 145.00 each...for the same tire..and that was last year...everything is 👍 👌 👍
.
An important thing to remember is *MOST* NAPA Auto Parts are franchised. They do have some corporate stores, but the vast majority are locally owned.
They will always get my money because of that.
Also Carlyle tools are FANTASTIC, especially if you’re a DIYer.
I bought a Camshaft Position Sensor that went out, I walked in with my receipt and sensor and left with a new one in under five minutes.
Good info, thanks. and the few times i went to NAPA, you are right, I seldom wait more than a few minutes.
nappa is 2x more expensive than autozone lol... have fun tossing your money. There oils and parts are even more a rip off than autozone
My local NAPA is old, gritty, and smells like motor oil. The counter is staffed by a grizzly, but nice and knowledgeable old dude. NAPA has quality parts at reasonable prices. Compared to AutoZone or Advanced which seems to have nothing but chrome plastic cosmetic garbage to 3M tape to your car on the sales floor.
@@dmacarthur5356 lol nappa carries the sane crap as those stores.. and theyre overpriced too. Nappa is way more expensive than those two.. oil... tape... everything basic and up is 2x markup in nappa... there is zsro justification for that.
Countless times ive skipped nappa due to the prices and drove to autozone
That must explain why the local Napa bear me closed down about 15 or 16 years ago.
Never seen you before. Within the first two minutes hearing your foul language, the cardboard undercar slide, and honestly the mustache, you got my sub.
Bro, you got it all wrong. Honda charges $5 each for the rubber replacements. All you gotta do is swap it out from the metal blade but it's not a big deal. People should never let mechanics swap out their OEM wiper arms and make people rely on aftermarket wiper blades because they got tricked into letting places like Jiffy Lube throw out their OEM wiper arm.
This is what people need to know and it's easy and cheap to swap the rubber oem inserts yourself.
Another thing with lifetime warranties that most customers fail to factor in is how it only covers THAT specific part and part number. Several years back, I bought a pair of Gabriels for my truck with a lifetime warranty from AutoZone. When those eventually wore out, I tried to ask about exchanging them only to learn that that part had been discontinued. So I got stuck having to buy another pair of replacements.
They should have taken care of you. Call corporate.
Why would warranty cover a part that wore out? The warranty is supposed to cover defects in material and workmanship.
@@mikemcmikemcyeahok4977 Under normal use they offer replacement if they wear out. Now if you hit something and bend it, that's another story.
@@mikemcmikemcyeahok4977 The guy I spoke with was willing to let me exchange them had it not been that they were no longer selling that part.
@@mikemcmikemcyeahok4977 The manager I spoke with seemed more than willing to issue replacements but of course, they no longer had them in stock.
Auto zone has some of the worst customer service of all stores period. I went in for some manifold studs for my truck and the ones their computer was saying to get were the wrong ones. I tell the old guy at the register and he answers "so what do you want to do?" I only use them to drop off my dirty oil. A nice online experience beats same day shitty costumer service. Great vid Netgear. More please.
I hated that shit when working with the system. Tbh I didn't even use the system and digged into Google instead. Also when looking for barely specific items it wouldn't pop up in it.
Don't blame the old guy! Blame the jackasses who can't figure out anything about cars who update Z-NET!
@@DANNYBOIIUU Jesus ain't that the truth. I will admit Znet has gotten a little better since I started a couple years ago, but it still sucks in a lot of aspects.
My local AutoZone has really good customer service. They're quite helpful. If only prices weren't so high.
@rokko9195 Some autozones are great, most of the time they only last a year or two like that until all the employees realize they're gonna get paid less for doing more work. If you do too good a job, they don't promote you, they keep you in the position until you quit and then try to rehire you. Horrible business practices.
Curious - when was the last time anyone saw a "mom and pop" auto parts store? I can't recall seeing one since the early 80's.
I've never seen a mom and pop auto parts store in my life.
BROTHER ! WHERE WE SEPARATED AT BIRTH ! just stumbled onto to this post and as it played my Wife overheard and started laughing, said we sound identical. I couldn't agree more about autozone.
Thank you Sir for sharing the truth 👍
the problem with rock auto is that the shipping is usually expensive and if you need to return an item its harder than returning something to amazon.
YEP, SHIPPING IS A KILLER MOST OF THE TIME.
Still less vs local auto parts stores and you have the option of OE grade parts. Not always the case at the local auto parts store.
@@nordicpride9708depending on the make, buying OE parts isn’t a good thing. A lot of OE parts fail quickly because of faulty designs and replacing them with aftermarket is way better. This seems to be true with a lot of braking and suspension parts, you are much better off buying a quality aftermarket product.
Returns for rock auto work fine. Also they keep your history for warranty purposes. Win win.
I discontinued Rock Auto where is the savings????? Some ones mistakes cost passed down to the CUSTOMER
I’m almost 30.
Found your guy’s account recently. And I love it.
I’ve been heavy on having multiple cars to drive and ordering parts from rockauto.
Currently have 4 running and driving Hondas. No of which are a “project car” or even a “soon” car.
I have em all to drive in case of emergencies.
One of which is a MINT 2011 element with 45k miles on it.
Can you put a fridge in it though?
I love all these hard truth videos, it's a nice break from all the tik tok and social media car people and it feels just more real
I stopped shopping at AutoZone years ago when I applied there. Some of the things he asked me if i could do were understandable. Then he started to explain how upper management is about upselling. He said that if they sell spark plugs and dont sell dielectric grease or anti-seize management wants to know why. Thats probably why some of the CS guys scan it and sell it to you without saying anything.
They tried that same bullshit with me didn’t ask and I had them take it back I got dielectric grease in my tool box
Teh - Yup !
Meh, I just tell them I have a whole bottle of Permatex anti seize (which I actually do)
They only tried the scan and sell ONCE on me, and i told them take it off NOW or you wont be making ANY sale...they did. I take no crap from them.
If you can use a computer you can work at any major parts store. No automotive experience or mechanical aptitude required.
I worked at a auto parts store about 40 years ago, and the majority of what we called counter person we were gear heads. There were no computers, you had a double tier catalog rack and you had to know who made the part before you could look it up.
I remember those days well.
Yes, yes i remember those days also, and if I could get Mr Peabody to fire up the Wayback machine, we would all be back there again!
E commerce SUCKS!!
I worked at most the major part stores, and I can tell you that at O'Reilly's, we still had full sets of paper catalogs and trained everyone to use them.
Plus, their computer system was actually useful. Autozone's was so bad that I literally would just open an internet browser and look up things on our competitors websites.
@@ThugShakers4ChristI work at oreillys and haven’t been trained to look at any catalog lmao
@@sathanas420 it's always going to vary by store. I made sure all of our RSS's were certified parts pros (it helped that our DM gave everyone at least a 50 cent raise for it). It's way quicker to find the right u joints via catalog than the computer.
I work at autozone and almost EVERYTHING you said today was true, we sell garbage parts that are overpriced, batteries suck, wipers are way to much and i try and say something but it shutdown. i love cars and i always tell someone if they need something soon support the mom and pop shop 15 mins away called st paul park auto. i don’t believe in anything my work does and give customers real advice on where to go and what to do and not oversell them.
Autozone, O'Reilly, Advance, and Walmart all get their batteries from the same big battery manufacturer
The wttdjr bs, got my hours cut because i dont try to upsell people for their hard earned money in this current economy
Then why do you work there? 😂
Yes I was closing manager at O'Reilly and I complained about the quality of the bottom shelf items and said I had trouble selling the trash to poor people, they glared at me and told me to check my culture because I many men would love to have my job and believe in the product, and that means I don't take pride in my job or company, lol he was a retired sheriff and a low intelligence bully, exactly who you would expect to be reginal manager.
@@fa11694 i don’t really have the option i need the money but also love cars
AZ v. WM. WM wins every time sometimes even with free shipping right to your front door step. I'll never go back to AZ for anything ever again.
I like ordering online. You just enter the part number, find the part, order it. No idiot to deal with
i worked at autozone for 3 years. honestly should have quit sooner but hindsight is 20/20. needless to say i watched the store turn over staff 5 times and quit after the newest store manager became a power freak. the only people who ever moved up were old people and ass kissers to corporate and the ones who gave 10-20+ years to the company sadly almost always got fucked over. hate the company to death now and will go out of my way never to touch foot on their grounds. i also stole well over 5000$ worth of shit for my project cars and vehicle flips and made a good bit of money off them. fuck em
p.s. love the discord
5000$? How did they not notice the missing inventory? I call huge cap
@@ruskibruskiI don’t believe he’s capping cause either 1. Their database and inventory are shit, or 2. The managers had their heads up their ass, which is most likely the case.
@ruskibruski same way I could steal prolly over 4k worth of stupid high end food from my cook job in a short time. Half the time co.panies don't have EXACT numbers and on top of that lazy management makes it super easy. Especially over a long period of time.
@@MicahOnTheScene❤
When i was at autozone my store singlehandedly had the highest turnover rate because my store manager (who wasnt even able to work at all due to medical leave) gave the older customers so much just leeway on shit theyd get, discounts and the such theyd verbally berate us and threaten to tell my manager (we didnt care) if we didnt follow their every whim
I don't really understand who goes to these stores. You have to be frugal enough to fix it yourself, but not frugal enough to take the 5 seconds to search and compare prices.
Netgear looks pretty young for a guy born in 1957
It’s actually 1857. NetGear did something unspeakable to maintain his youth at the cost of his height.
I would love a series of parts store stories. Some of the shit that happens on a daily basis at any parts store can boggle the mind.
I can give you hundreds of them and unreal what you see, hear there. Towards the end of my shift a guy walked in and got transmission fluid for a scion XB. He was telling me how he need to top it over because it was low and slipping.I clocked out walked toward my car and saw him pouring it in his radiator, I told him that was not were the transmission fluid goes and he should probably drain, flush his radiator. Another one had a dad come with his daughter to "do" a oil change and told because it was leaking oil. I went and checked his the car which was a scion TC. Yeah the oil was leaking everywhere I checked the dipstick and it was half way up the line, I told him if he ever drain the oil during the oil changes. He then told me you need to drain the oil, and that he normally just puts fresh oil every time. I then told him yeah it's over filled. Another guy had a hole in his radiator and bought a couple of coolent. He was pouring it and all you see is it all going into the concrete. He then drove off knowing too. A bystand I guess called the fire department and was out on the street trying to clean off all the coolent on road.
Anybody that buys Autozone or other big box parts where literally every part is made from Chinesium have to have that lifetime warranty... because they are goin gto spend a lifetime replacing those parts. Use OEM whenever you can, pay more replace less.
My local autozone has one guy who works there who is actually an extremely nice guy who is completely honest and helps out as much as possible. People go in there and call and ask for him by name and only him. I have overheard the other employees being rather mad about it. He seems like the type of guy who would be a great mom and pop shop owner. I have had mostly bad experiences at other autozones within my area, from managers talking down to me when I try to return parts that they sold me that don't fit, to employees seeing something broken on one of my project cars and making fun of me for it.
I worked at Advance Auto for a few years and their limited lifetime is truly one replacement. I sold an axle to a gentleman and I had already rang it up when he mentioned comparing the new with the old, but when I pulled the new one out of the box it was floppy and the bearings were rattling around in the boot, so I returned/traded it out for the guy obviosly. Fast forward a couple months and the axle went bad and I returned it, I got wrote up and almost fired over it. That's when the manager informed me of that one replacement bull shit. I won't give them a dime.
matt - I saw tears in the rubber of an engine mount. I got the AZ one. The old one was totally solid but looked bad. The new AZ one looked great but I could wiggle it with my fingers !! Old one went back in. Get OEM.
As an ex autozone employee. I agree with everything. I felt bad at times having to sell things WAY over priced. Would usually just tell people to go elsewhere and they were so appreciative of it.
man you are so right! 2 rotors at autozone is the price of 4 rotors and pads from detroit axel. im so tired of these awful autoparts stores that sell terrible products as well.
My rotors are over $100 each at a parts store... 4 raybestos standard r line uncoated rotors from rock auto are maybe slightly more than just one single parts store rotor... And the duralast/brake best/whatever that are $100+ each are likely whiteboxed from one of the "economy" brands on rock auto and those are closer to $70-80 for the full set
Just put a cart together with everything I did on my brakes within the last few months (pads, rotors, parking brake shoes)...
For duralast (basic level pads) with tax... $512.61 and that's with their current "brake job" promo
Rock auto using the parts I put in (raybestos everything... Eht pads, r-line rotors, whatever parking brake shoes they had) $286.13 with tax and shipping and that's without the 5% off code
I got quoted more for one rotor at Autozone, than an entire set of pads and rotors from rockauto
@@andeinvamir9834 What are you driving where one rotor cost more at the store than online? I tried that with mine and the cost at the store was within $100 of the price of Rockauto after shipping.
I get most of my part from Detroit axel too. You right though.
This is just retail in general right now, i enjoy the irl content recently. Netgear some eye candy. Love the feed!
Why tf he get an Edgar haircut for this video tho
To be fair, the oil tank is full almost 50% of the time. The problem is, people bringing in 5 gal buckets of used oil and people bringing in 4-10 of them at a time (usually diy people who fix other people's cars on the side). The other problem is, people bringing in oil that's mixed with other stuff that contaminates the tank. We then have to have another company come and drain it (usually takes an extra week). Which happens probably 3-5 times a year.
Other than that, everything he's saying is 100% correct
I was up at my folks' place and noticed my mom's wipers were tearing off. Normally I'd just order the right wipers from the hardware store, but I didn't have time. So I drove my truck down to the Advance Auto Parts. Walk up to the door, on is taped a sign that says "Out to Lunch. Will be back." No time. I chuckle and head back to my truck and drive half a mile down the road to the AutoZone. Walk in and ask where their wipers are. Guy behind the counter looks at me like I'm stupid. Then the other guy behind the counter points out they're behind me. Thank him and turn around, grab the right wipers, and head to the counter. I should scene set here. Empty store. I am the only customer. I am probably the only customer they've had all day. The wipers are about $5 more than you'd pay going through a decent store. As I step up to pay the third guy standing behind the counter(!) engages me about the truck (a snow white Taco with black accent pieces including brush guard, headache rack, and JDM rain guards). I'm fine to answer a couple questions about it. He's got a couple. The guy ringing me out finishes and I say thank you, and then he decides it's time to hop into the conversation and asks me why I would own such a "gay truck." In their defense, the other two employees give him a double-take. I just look at him and say "My man, I make 200k a year working with computers. That truck gets used for light forestry and yard work. I do most of the wrenching myself because it's a Toyota and they make it easy as long as you don't lose your 10mm. Do yourself a favor before you get too far along: go talk to the Air Force recruiter (next town over). You should be able to get a mechanic score high enough to work as a maintainer at worst. Definitely will be presented options that don't involve taking pride in your 1987 Dodge Ram work truck despite it being a piece of shit. Good luck."
I need to be clear: these were all men. In their 20s or 30s. None of them had any business acting like a kid.
i would have returned the wipers on the spot, good on your for being cool headed though for sure
And then everyone clapped
@@firstlast--- LMFAO.
Damn, that story is so full of shit! 😂😂😂😂. Another tough guy who lies about how much he makes.
i love these. i used your costco tip for a new battery, saved an ass ton on an H8 and got a good brand battery. keep it up net!
awesome! glad you saved some money!
Costco interstates are the best battery deal around.
For me its a 50+ minute drive to costco but it still beats the local autozone's $240 battery.
The irony is I just saw an Auto Zone ad on this video. I let it run so they paid this guy to talk sh*t about their company. 🤣 Only went to a WalMart once in my life (never again😂) and I drive past 2 AutoZone stores to go to my locally owned NAPA store. They are not cheaper than AutoZone but they keep the money in the community and they actually pay their employees. You can tell because you see the same guys (and gals) every time you go in and they are truly knowledgeable when you speak to them.
I just ordered a part from Advance Auto. They left the shipping invoice attached to the box. They charged me $417 for the part. The shipping invoice showed that they paid $205 for the part. I almost took it back. I will never shop at parts stores again.
And for some reason you are surprised with a 100% markup on resold parts? I do not care what business we are talking about, from furniture stores to consumer electronics. A retailer with brick and mortar overhead, utilities, personnel, insurance, taxes, etc....ALL have to markup any/every item they resell. If they lose money on everything they sell due to all those business expenses, they can't make up for it on volume and WILL go out of business.
I had an AutoZone manager get mad at me once because she didn't understand why I wanted dialectic grease with my coil packs. She insisted I didn't need it (which I probably don't), but I still wanted it. Helps just that much more, and it is water resistant. She got offended and said "Well I went to school to learn about how cars work and you don't need that." then abruptly walked off.
It’s always the I went to school chumps 😂😂
The people at my local advance auto routinely screwed up my orders. One time I was ordering a fuel filter for my old 1994 Honda Civic. This isn't a universal filter, it has both the ports on one side. I carefully explained this to them over the phone to make sure they got me the right one. And lo and behold, they sent me a universal which won't fit. I decided to just buy it off Rockauto and wait the 3 days for shipping instead.
@@mrpoob8497 I don't know about them, but I went to Chris Fix Community College.
That one seems false. Autozone employees have to follow a sales practice called W.I.T.T.D.T.J.R in which there are certain things they have to sell along with another item. Otherwise, they get reprimanded. Dielectric grease is one of those items you are supposed to sell with coil packs. You can actually get fired for missing things like not selling battery grease with batteries, Dielectric grease with coil packs, oil filters with oil. If she told you that than she deserves to be fired.
@@DANNYBOIIUUif she's a narcissist then she prob thinks she knows better than the company big wigs and is willing to break rules to feel better than everyone.
O'Reilly's is the same way. I was one of the greats. I did it all, deliver parts, replace ballasts for the light fixtures, opened a book to find rare parts.
Know how much I got a raise for? After proving myself and being reliable? .35 cents.
Immediately acted my wage forward on and got a job paying double in 4 months.
I totally agree with the price gouging of the stores. I’m not sure if you’ve worked at a Oreilly’s but it’s definitely the place to work at. You get commission on top of hourly pay and the discount there is the best amount all corporate parts stores. I pay wholesale plus shipping and that’s it. I’ve had a 90% discount compared to retail before. It goes to show how much the companies rob the customers but I think the worst part is that Autozone double dips. They rob the customers and employees, because a 20% discount is still a 60% mark up.
This is true. I worked at Autozone and was excited about the discount. Then I eventually realized that the 20% discount made my part the same cost as one from online
Yeah, I had to be real selective with the parts I got with the discount, often waiting for special sales and clearances to really get the savings combo.
I was comparing Harbor Freight and Rock Auto and even junkyard pulls...sometimes it's cheaper to tear something down and just replace the seals and remanufacture it yourself, you know?
Other times the discount was enough to get internet pricing, only with the convenience of instant availability. It was a neat balancing act, and in the end I'm satisfied with the results of the rebuild.
I turned a $550 beater into a reliable daily work truck that no longer leaks (anywhere). Everyone assumed I just didn't have a vehicle because I built an e-bike and rode that to work while I was loading up the parts cannon.
Actually, I put about 2k miles on that e-bike for the year and 17 days my vehicle was parked and non-running (I even used the cargo storage area to haul engine parts). 6 months of that year was just strategically pricing out and purchasing parts (you know, because of the terrible pay and bi-weekly at that).
Definitely depends on the individual stores...our O'Reilly's is by FAR the worst in town..not that Autozone and the others aren't bad...
SuperTech oil has been tested against other major brands by a few different channels. Turns out their full synthetic oil is actually REALLY good oil. It's just one of those cases where Walmart is able to use their buying power to offer really good oil at a really cheap price
Its decent oil, doesn't have the add pack like a valvoline or penzoil ultra platinum is so good, probably worth paying little more for
@@mcsqueegee81 People can spend their money how they want but when it comes to a daily driver, SuperTech is above and beyond what anyone will ever need to keep an engine going until the rest of the car falls apart around it
Yep!
@@ACEGAMER120
WallyWorld Super Tech oil is made by the Warren Oil Co and meets the current American Petroleum Institute (API) standards.
NAPA store brand oil is actually Valvoline.
@@donreinke5863 Name alone doesn't mean anything. Even Valvoline has several different grades of their synthetic oil and SuperTech outperformed the comparable ones in independent testing I looked at a few years ago.
Collector car feed is what we need as “the people “
I worked there for two months, I tried to give good customer service and find people a good deal, but I literally got in trouble for it. A girl and her mom came in for a battery and were looking at going to Walmart for a battery instead but I tried to price match it and the store manager told me I couldn’t because they weren’t the same, but they had the same warranty.
Autozone and Walmart batteries ARE the same...
@@dyer2cycle oh trust me… I know. She said the same thing about craftsman tools vs duralast tools, they literally have the same castings stamps with just different lettering
Aside from Napa, all of those chain stores have incorrect entries for my car. I had to dive deep into parts catalogues from the aftermarket makers to find the actual part numbers, then go in tell them what i needed ordered (this was like 20+ years ago). The motor mounts were wrong, steering rack was wrong, half shafts, alternators...you name it. I will only go for absolute emergencies, like a lightbulb or something. That's it.
As far as the lifetime warranty on alternators - i went through 4 once from Pepboys. They were straight up dead on the shelf.
I bought some spray paint I didn't need at Autozone and since they asked me for my phone number while I was checking out, I figured, great, I'm in the system, there is no need to save my receipt. 2 days later I went back to the same store with the unused paint to return it. We'll, they wouldn't except my return without receipr!! What kind of bs is that! This was the Manteca, CA Autozone, BTW. I will now avoid them.
Fuck that one. I tried to return tools I bought an hour before, no receipt but phone number. I had them look through purchase history in store to return it.
@@eviljesus6111 Did they except the return?
The phone number only is used for the rewards program it does not save purchase info.
@@tjohny Interesting, so why not. Oreilly's saves the purchase info.
This happened to me but the guy typod my number, on a warrantied battery
Bro an Auto zone played a commercial right in the middle of this video 😂
I used to work at AutoZone as a parts driver (over 10 years ago now) and they had these "checkout challenges" where we're forced to try to sell you something extra at the cash register that I found EXTREMELY UNMORAL. We had these meetings and the district managers straight up told us to lie to customers about fuel injection cleaners "fixing" peoples check engine lights, even if it's a code for a evap leak. Also they had policies where "the red shits" weren't allowed to work on the corporate side. (There was only so high you could go and most of corporate is just college-educated stock market people.) Also, that ASE certificate that many employees brag about having is meaningless. I wouldn't trust those people to work on a shopping cart let alone give car advice.
I think you absolutely nailed it about the customer service part. I don't have a problem paying a premium for parts if I feel the store I'm buying from is providing me with a service that's worth that premium. If I feel like I consistently know more about cars, car parts, parts brands, and diagnosing problems than the counter salesperson does I have no incentive to shop there.
You saved me some money on oil with that last video. Thank you!
I also found that around here Tractor Supply had the second best price on Pennzoil full synthetic, just behind Walmart.
The problem i have with any of the chain auto parts stores and even walmart is they all sell the same brands of parts just in a different box... for wildly varying ranges of prices. Batteries for example. Only 2 suppliers for all the flooded-cell batteries available on the shelf, EastPenn and JohnsonControls. But they all have different prices for no reason other than their branding. Same battery (for the most part) but $45 more for the one that has "x" branded on it.
EXACT same problem in the legal weed game
Only thing Autozone’s good for is dumping my used oil 😂
I feel like the one thing that should still be stressed is that most of the time ANY big name auto parys store is a bad option, I once went to O'Reilly's for a pair of wipers and ended up paying like $60 for their cheapest pair of wipers before realizing I could half gotten them for atleast half that at walmart
sam - On the other hand, someone came in last week and bought new wipers because their WalMart wipers did NOT last.
HERE'S THE LESSON: Save the old wipers for summer, when sun, UV, heat destroy wipers !!! In the fall, put on the good ones. Takes 4 minutes.
(It's important to SEE where you are going at 65 MPH !!!)
The NAPA's in Canada are usually pretty solid. The parts they have stocked almost always surprises me. I drive all old 90's Dodges, some cars haven't been made for 30 years, and rarely I have to wait a day for a part. It's almost either they actually have the part, or the location just the other side of town has it, and they can get it here in an hour if you don't want to drive and get it. The service is honestly insanely good.
wow can't wait to see netgear comment on AutoZone's garbage business practices on my favorite youtube channel Collector Car Feed!
You’re so right! People forget that many businesses work for them, including the government! It’s hard to reward them with my business for bad customer service. Keep up the good work. Love to have a beer with you sometime!
for sure, let me know if you're ever in albuquerque!
O'Reilly's always fucks me somehow. Overpriced shit, bad service, slow moving orders and no communication about orders.
Absolutely never deal with them for anticipated maintenance and if the car can wait, its RA for me.
take a screenshot and dont let this man loan out tools 🤣
This channel is a nice find. A refreshing take on the automotive side of TH-cam.
As a former mechanic, that saw a small chain of locally owned auto parts stores bought up by AutoZone and worked at Advanced Auto parts, these are some great takes.
The last time I looked it up the CEO of AZ was making $8M annually with perks and stocks, what a f**king joke! My town is 7 miles long and we have 3 AutoZones!!!
100% agree have you seen what they charge for batteries!? Knowing most people cant just go somewhere else or wait. only things those rip off stores are good for is liberating stuff. Although I will go to Napa for some things, they've always seemed a little higher quality and sell better tools than the rest. Although they still pedal most of the same shit parts and I have gotten new defective part from them. It's honestly best to go oem for most parts if you want them to last or rockauto cuz if your gonna buy shit parts might as well pay less or pay more for the reputable brands that rock auto has. As for windshield blades I go with rainx. I live in phx, and the desert is hell on blades, most including Bosch only last a year and rainx has lasted 2 going on 3 years. As for oil, most of them are made by the same manufacturers and sell it to the different brands we buy. Companies just put their label on it. They will put their additives in but they all are the same just in slightly different levels of it. Anyways fuck autozone, O'Reilly, advanced, Napa and all the big box autoparts stores they're theives and probably the reason most aftermarket parts are shit these days. They have to keep increasing profit somehow and best believe quality is not sacred.
I will always pay extra for higher quality parts, and Rockauto has a lot more quality ones than the big box stores. Like for the 2 Hondas I own, I can buy Aisin, Denso, and other OEM equivalent brands easily. For my Ford Explorer, I can buy Motorcraft easily.
mike - AZ red shirt here, retirement job. My AZ has PROBLEMS for sure.
At 11 month, I have the longest tenure in the store !!!
In CAL, I recommend saving the old wipers as 'summer wipers' when the heat, UV, sun will destroy them, then pop on the Rain-X when winter starts.
Takes 4 minutes.
Fun fact, Idemitsu tried to make it into the auto parts stores. But regular people don’t know the brand at all. Saw 5qt jugs marked down to clearance for $10 in my rural TN town a couple years ago. Then saw them marked down to $5 a couple weeks later. Bought out all 6 jugs they had left lol. Still have one jug left in the garage.
I noticed their transmission fluid on the shelves. They didn’t advertise at all from what I remember.
Never, ever buy from 1A Auto either. Garbage parts and worse return policy and customer service. I'm still waiting for the replacement part 2 months later.
Car batteries should NEVER cost more than 50 bucks!
MAYBE USED, EVEN COSTCO DOESNT SELL THEM THAT CHEAP
Psh OK
@@KyChristellWith how many get produced every year, yeah, that's exactly how much they "should" cost. Companies don't need to be making 1-5000% profit margins on something that costs almost 0 overhead to restock. Stop being a corporate cuckold.
yeah if you live in iraq
@@Jay-ch8vz 😆
I was about 80 miles from home and got caught in a downpour. One of my wiper blades decided to shred right then and there. I got to an O'Reilly's. New blades cost me almost $75 and they didn't have any cheaper ones. I don't think AutoZone is alone in the ripoff department.
So, I started on this video, as it was recommended by YT. 30 seconds in, I went and found the other AZ video, watched that, then came back and watched this.
I will not be giving AutoZone, or any other corporate auto parts stores another penny of my money, if I can at all help it.
Thank you for highlighting this issue so thoroughly.