AutoZone Sucks!

I know I've ranted about this before, but here it goes again!!!

Im fairly certain a requirement to work there is profound brain damage (No offence towards the 8 or 9 employees in the chain who do know something) I went in there last nite to get a part and they actually tried to tell me my van doesn't exist!

I wanted a part for my '96 Savanah and they couldn't find it, pissed around, then finally came out and told me that they didn't make Savanahs untill '98, and if I didn't know what year my car was they couldn't help me. I informed them that I begged to differ because I had a '96 in my driveway that was bought new. Kid told me again, No they didn't make them untill '98. I asked to talk to the Manager because this kid apparently consumed too many paint chips as a child and If I had to deal with him much longer I'd be in jail.

Well, turned out it was the manager who gave this kid his info.

To make a long tyrade short, I will NEVER return to auto zone, They've had too many chances, screwed up too many times.

From now on I'll go elsewere and overpay, but feel content that the extra money is going toward some education and training for their employees.

Unless its 100% stock stay away because the computer is always right in there minds.  I normally use my local parts store but decided to save a few bucks(like 3) and get spark plugs for my 68 amc amx.  Well the car has a 360 in it and not the original 290.  This is where the clerk continues to inform me that the engine was not a 360 but a 343, 290 or 401.  I told him I put the motor in myself and it was a 360.  To make a long story short I had to start over and tell him I needed plugs for my 1977 matador with a 360.

The problem with autozone is they sell cheap parts, and don't pay well.  The good employess leave for better jobs, and you get the morons who stay because they can't find a better job.  I had a guy at autozone looking for 20 minutes for a waterpump for a 63 corvair, he eventually said he could call a number in the morning.  He couldn't find parts for an 83 vette either...

Dude, you got way too much time on your hands though it does sound like fun.  Ya think they can find a muffler bearing for my 63 stang?  Maybe a valve cover for my flathead.  

I'm a parts guy too.  Had to check out the new competition ya know.  I'm one of the better parts guys in town.  If I can't find the part, I'll see if somebody else has it.  Usually they'll return the favor.  Any of you guys need an obscure part, I'd be more than happy to track it down.

you dont go there when young people are working wait like the 1 i live by theres a guy that works there in his 30-40s who helped restore a roadrunner so he knows what hes doing n e way hpe this helps anyone but i live in a farming community so you could go to a ffa meeting and get car answers or just at my highschool  

What does being young have anything to do with knowing how to get parts?  I get this same attitude all the time at work.  It's a bunch of sh!t.

Eventually you get to know who knows cars and who just sells parts.  I finally came to the conclusion that even if I was spending a little more at the shop that has experience and does things right, I was probably saving alot in frustration later on.

I have been in argurments with parts guys who try and tell me that 1965 GM cars didn't come with HEI distributors.  Well DuHHHHH, but they can't seem to plant themselves outside the box.  The concept of retrofit doesn't seem  to hit home with them at all.  I go to a parts store to get parts.  I know what will work, and I don't need to talk about it all day.

If I need a quart of oil, I guess I can get that any old place.  But if I want to buy parts that are right the first time,  there are only a couple of places that I know that are reliable and consistent.  Because these guys are also mechanics, they understand what I'm doing.  If they see that I might be doing something wrong, they will point it out as a matter of caution - not argurment.    That's why I give them the bulk of my business.

Bowser

I agree, im only 18 and can find parts quicker than most of the parts guys behind the counter, and i dont even work there. im not saying women shouldnt work there, but my past experiences with them at part stores isnt good. I once asked for a distributor gasket for a sbc and she came back with an EGR gasket. close, but no cigar? anyways, lots of parts store guys only know the computer or to look in the books, no common sense, thats why I order from Jegs now. why not, free shipping.

My 16 year old son works for Advance Auto Parts...he knows more than most 30 + year olds since he has been working on cars with his dad since he was 5.  

I LIKE TO LOOK MY OWN PARTS ON THEIR WEB SITE, PRINT IT OUT AND TAKE IT WITH ME SO THEY WILL BE NO PROBLEMS.

Agreed - I don't think that age has anything to do with it either.  What I may have referred to as "experience" can't be used directly in place withthe term "age".  At 16 I was rebuilding engines too with my Uncle, and I was pretty well versed at it.  I think that someone said here that those people who do know about cars tend to move to better jobs from places like Auto Zone.  Your son will probably be the first to move up or he will end up running the place.  I still stand firm on what I said about going directly to where you are going to get the best service. 

In my 30 some years of doing this, I have found that you pretty much get what you pay for.   At cut rate places I get parts that are either no good or incomplete, then run around exchanging or modifying instead of really working on the project.  Thats what I meant by avoiding frustration.  When you can depend on who you are dealing with, it just makes the job easier.

And no slam to the young people.  You guys are the ones that will end up keeping this going. 

Bowser.

You're exactly right about his kid moving up.  I went from a base pay sales guy, to a manager in a year.  I've been offered another promotion come summer time.  They're not bad companies to work for, at least for a college kid.

Auto zone does suck and not because kids work there.I have had the same problem with older sales guys .I work in the w.d. end and have seen tons of dopey guys from Checker, Auto Zone, Advance, Napa Carquest you name it . The difference is people who think they know it all .  The kid who did not know this in the first place did the right things and asked someone else. Problem was he got someone who was just dangerous enough to make you angry. I have a bigger trouble with my local auto zone never having the inventory in the computer right . I try to get my stuff at work but when you break on 6 on a Saturday well ... So now I drive to a Napa store where I know some guys personally . They are no genuises either but at least they do not think they are either.  

I work on on alot of friends cars. The one store that has great counter guys is same one that supplies many of the repair shops in the area. This one happens to be a Parts Plus store. As a mechanic, I go to these guys because I cant afford to waste time getting the wrong parts or trying to explain what I want. These guys have gotten me water pump for a 58 Caddy, Carb kits for 51 flathead and 64 caddy, distributor and Generator for 56 Ford etc. I have never waited more the next day for all this stuff. I have bought so much stuff from these guys, they now give me the mechanics discount. Cool car. So, when ya gonna paint it?