My 99 has been giving me a check engine light for about 3 weeks now, i already knew that it was the cam position sensor. I go in ask for a cam position sensor for a 99 Cougar get it back to Nicks house get the Ford cam position sensor off. Im trying for my life to fit this sensor into the plug, there are extra fins on the CPS that i bought. We take the sensor back to AZ the guy at the counter takes a look at the oem sensor and what they gave me and said something to the effect of that sensor is not correct. We then spend another 30 - 40 minutes looking through CPS's and i start to lose any trust i had in AZ in the first place when he starts looking at Honda 2.2 sensors, Ford Truck sensors and Olds sensors. After about 20 minutes of looking through sensors that had nothing to do with my car i said sir i will put this one back in and left for murrays. I get to murrays then have to wait about 5 minutes and the first CPS the clerk brings out is correct, needless to say 21 bucks as compared to JD trying to charge me 45 for the sensor and 20 for labor ,21 bucks sounded much better to me. A lesson learned on my part if i want actual service and parts go to Murray's if i want bodykits and underbodys go to AZ.
i hate autozone any more. unless for oil or some car care cleaners/wax. every time i got it's like 25 + mins. i HATE that
You wait in Autozone because everyone goes there. They are the largest retail auto parts supply. 99% of the time you get the right part. When you buy sensors by the hundreds of thousands or any part for that matter things can go wrong. I worked at autozone for years.. I know that sometimes people get the wrong part, but the situation can be quickly fixed. 99% of the time someone gets the wrong part they are just a ****ing idiot. Trust me I know this. Most stupid fools who stomp out the door cursing AutoZone are upset because they ordered a part for their 1989 Caravan, when clearly they just got out of a 1998 Caravan, you know this because as they curse you because its your fault they point out in the parking lot and say "thats the gal van right there.. you wana go see if this fits??" And so when you go out into the parking lot you open the door and show the ass hat that his van is a 98 he gets pissed at you for making a fool of him and leaves. People say that Napa is the best, well go buy Gaskets from them.. absolute JUNK gaskets. AutoZone? FelPro.... Just one example.
Working at AutoZone I learned two things... How to take care of a customer and everyone is an idiot.
Another thing, the two stores I worked at are some of the best in the area. I've been to a few stores in the "ghetto" and received some of the worst service ever. Stupid ****ers just stand there ****ing around on there ****ing cellphone while you have been standing in front of them for a minute. When I have received this poor level of service I promptly say to the guy or girl "drop stop 30/30?????" in a pissed off attitude. They know what it means and know if the right person above them finds out they don't follow the rules they will get fired. It stand for 30 seconds inside the store or 30 feet inside the door.. You better have already greeted that customer. In both of my stores this was followed to a Tee. I've not been to two better autozones.. You will notice a high level of turnover in these "in the ghetto" stores as they have a hard time finding people that are not a lazy no good stupid ****.
Well I personally think autozone is junk, and that napas parts are far superior. Everything I have gotten between the two stores has proven that correct for me (ignition parts for example). And a lot of times I have gotten some idiot working behind the counter. Once in a while youll get the older guy that does know his stuff.
Basically the only thing I find autozone good for is the simple things, like fluids and such things that are the same between stores.
Ive also found that murrays is the place to go for OE parts, like motorcraft or mopar, etc. Too bad the only nearby is way out on reynolds rd...
Anyway, just about anyone here coulda told you to go to napa or murrays or similar stores instead of the zoo.
Don't you have any O'Reilly stores out there? :D. I used to work for Napa and have used the Victor Reinz gaskets they used to sell and had no problems, Victor has since sold out and the Napa's around here switched to Fel-Pro. Now I work for O'Reilly and have friends that work at the Zoo, what I have learned is this the parts are pretty much the same wherever you go, there really isnt that many aftermarket suppliers for most parts, its the guy behind the counter that matters the most. I'm only 24 and when I started at Napa almost three years ago people used to walk past me to Larry, our 50 year old parts runner;), then have to come back and talk to me anyway but when I left Napa I had quite a few customers follow me to O'Reilly.
When I go to the Autohole I look up my own parts, go grab them off the shelf and compare it them to the part I brung in! Almost all sensors can be checked and Autozone has some excellent checking equipment that they are more then happy to let you borrow. But anyway, I'll agree that I do find myself making several trips on occasion but since I looked up my own parts it's my own fault.
The particular Autozone in this story is just a bad store altogether (I'm Nick from the original post.) On a few occasions I've had to look up parts myself and find them on my own. It was my bad for even suggesting that store in the first place, but I figured they wouldn't have that much trouble finding an extremely common sensor. I've had better experiences at other Autozones, but this store just can't get anything right. I give the clerk credit for at least sticking with it to find the right part, but he really had no idea what he was doing. I'm guessing he just wasn't trained well, and lacked overall knowledge on the subject. Murray's, on the other hand, got us the right part in under 5 minutes (and got a 10% discount on the part.) Also, for future reference Darren, I get a business discount at the Murray's on Monroe St.
Sorry man i was there at 9 PM there were two people me and another gentleman, the initial transaction was quite quick. Its when i went back the second time , thats when i lost all hope in AZ the customer rep that was helping me was checking every other company/ engine size combination he could including Honda. He then proceeded to tell me that they did not make Cougars in 00 or 01 (i asked him to check both). I understand what your saying SE. The fact of the matter was that incompetence was abound especially since i was able to tell the guy at Murrays what it was i wanted and he was able to produce the correct part (The first time i was there) in about 5 minutes.
[Edit]
I get what your saying about the sensors and all, i was a bit tired yestreday night had been up since 4am.
O"Reilly > all
what i do is shop online at auto zone, advance, o'reilly's and napa...... i use carquest (which i think is best) but i have an online account with them through work, so i'm not sure if "regular" people can search that way...... anyway, online, 1 of the 4 places should have a pic available for the part you're looking for.... when i see the right part, i just write down the part number and the lowest price and go to o'reilly's..... they'll maych anything (i usually print it so there's no question) and the part numbers from place to place are usually the same (or at least they can cross reference them).... i don't trust counter people anymore to know what's right, especially when there's 4 or 5 options (like rotors) to choose from...... so my advice is to try to do the leg work yourself and turn the counter person into a gopher...... also, i have a person at o'reilly's that i trust more and will gladly wait for her to become available..... somethimes that's the only way to truly be sure that you're getting what you want
^^^this is the key.^^^
parts is parts, when dealin with aftermarket OE replacement stuff, IMO.
find a competent counter person you can trust, who likes their job, and always go back to the same person no matter what store they work in.
Pep boys is the WORST!!!!!! Their service dept sucks bc they hire the $5 monkeys who don't know shiznit lol. Theres really only one guy there that knows what he's doing and you rarely see him lol.
For years after I no longer worked at autozone every time I went to autozone I was asked questions by either customers or people behind the counter that I had worked for. Hell I even answered the phone for a while when they were busy. Having a history in auto parts I never have a problem with getting parts.
Auto parts are no different than any other business. No place is going to have 100% perfect employee's. When I go to restaurants I request specific waitresses, when I go to grocery stores I ask specific people for help. Hell even at my own workplace I only trust a handful of people.
Like I said anywhere you go.. they are all idiots.
A/Z sucks. if the A/Z warehouse doesn't have it you're sol. they can't do outside purcheses with local warehouses.(at least thats what they told me.) one time i went in there for a holley rebuild kit for a #4412 carb(500 cfm 2bbl.) the dude behind the counter told me i didn't know what i was talking about holley only made 4 bbls. so we got into it. i told him to pull a #0-4412 carb off the shelf and showed him the difference between a 2 bbl and a 4 bbl. f'n moron. and around here if you speak english they treat you like a second class citizen. going to A/Z is like walking into little havana. no disrespect meant but here in florida english is a secondary language. will the last american out please take the flag? rant over.
I understand the second language in Florida. When I lived in Sarasota every sign that read two languages had Spanish ABOVE the English. Not that it mattered, every non English speaking person I came across couldn't read anyway.
Some of the worst A/Z service I received was in Florida, the next worst being in Hattisburg Mississippi. Everyone down south is lazy, took 5 minutes for the fool behind the counter at subway in Mississippi to come over and ask me what I wanted. He wasn't doing anything but jaw jacking with another employee.
That shiznit doesn't happen in OHIO. If a customer comes in and we don't have their part we called every parts store around, Napa, Carquest and Advance Auto trying to find the part our customer needed. That customer still came back to Autozone for the next part he needed because if we didn't have it we would find it. Hell I have called Jegs for people before because its only 1/2 an hour up the road to a Jegs retail store (GOD I LOVE OHIO).
If you live in the south you are SOL because most every native southerner I've met doing customer service WAS WORTHLESS. Now I've met a few down south that were helpful but that one person you find in the south that is good is the only person in a store in Ohio that is worthless.
Now thats my own experience, and I visited a lot of parts stores down south.
Ohio owns all..
OHIO FTW! w00t!
Down here in ALABAMA , we mainly use O'Reilly's or Total Performance Center. A/Z sucks down here, and Advance is even worst, i watched a man bring in a chevy starter to be tested, the kid took it and asked which ford truck it came off of. then tested it, for along long time. he told the man " THAT THE STARTER HAD TO BE HOT BEFORE TESTED RESUALTS" I then left the store, never to return...........Hell No !!!!
i quit goin to autozone when i was pricing rebuild kits for a 429 bbf and was told the engine was never made. i left went to orielly's was given like 15 different options. go figure. anyway i have never met an autozone employee that actually works on their vehicle. i aint saying they aint out there but just never met one. and just found out my guy at oriellys aint there no more so i may be lookin for another new store employee that knows fords.
your lazy unless your bitching:shakeass:
a lot of your longest posts involve bitching.
NAPA's hours suck. There's one maybe 2 miles from my apartment, and I never go there because I usually can't even get there while they're open. They close at the same time I get off work, and they're open for a whole four hours on Saturday (10-2).
AZ is only good for one thing: their frequent buyer card. I buy a lot of Mobil 1 oil/filters, and after 5 purchases of $20 I get a $20 credit on my card.
I buy fluids and brand name stuff at AZ, because you pay $100 for $120 worth of product. Everything else I get from ORiley's.
I don't have a problem with any one of them except pepboys. When you tell the person behind the counter you need a part for a Mark VII, they shouldn't ask you what a roman numeral 7 is. Their service area is decent but the parts counter sucks.
Napa is never open when you need them and there isn't one close by. The only places we have is Kunkels and Western Auto right in town about 10 minutes from my house. Yes, Western Auto is still Western Auto in my town. It hasn't turned Parts America/Advance/True Value or any of them at least in name.
The problem is that Kunkels isn't open weekends and if Western Auto carries the part I need, they want an arm and a leg for it. Not to mention that their hours are lousy too.
Like others have posted, I just cross reference everything online to ensure I'm getting the right part before I go into the store. I need to though, the nearest store is 14 miles away. Face it with the hours of operation between Advance and AutoZone, they're a blessing when I break a part at 4 in the afternoon on a Sunday.
I read through some of these and had to stop. As I got from CougarSE's post it just depends on the store or the people in.. not so much the chain as a whole. I been buying part's for 30 years and have gotten lucky to have Mark, (this thread makes me really appreciate Mark) I went to grade school with him, we helped each other with our Torino's in high school (he had 2 also.. still has his first) then after high school he went to work for his brother that owned a Dusty's auto parts. I deal with Mark and ONLY Mark. he is now the manager of CarQuest (they bought his brothers store) and gives me and mine a preffered discount. seems that EVERY time I sway from Mark some moron screws it up. Helping my daughter work on her car and she found a part a few dollars cheaper someplace else. Reluctantly I helped her anyway to find it was the wrong part. (every friggin time.. makes me crazy) she now knows get the part's from Mark or don't even bring them to my house. Mark get's to know my cars. I no longer need to tell him "I need a whatever for a 1988 5.0 Thunderbird with Lincoln 4 wheel Disk" He already knows (he got me the calipers and the new disk) I simply say "I need a whatever for the bird" and it's there. Also knows my truck and now my daughter's Kia. Never a wrong part, never a late part, sometimes a buk or two more but whats $2.00 compaired to time and trouble of having to run accost town to change a part out for the right one.
I love having a Mark ... you all should get ya one.
Stereotype or not I've never been happy with service I've received down yonder. This thread me off because when I worked at AutoZone I put everything into it. I was that Mark Jim spoke of. I did everything to help a customer out. Even if that involved changing an alternator on a customer car on my lunch break at 5pm on a Sunday. I would love to see the same level of service from every store everywhere. I guess I'm not pissed off at this thread so much as I am pissed off at the level of service people receive from a place I worked very hard at for two years.
I also believe a lot of poor service comes from the customer them selfs... Didn't 20th anny 5.0 just try and tell us that no Fox came with a 4cyl in a recent thread???? I mean c'mon how un observant do you have to be to miss the hundreds of pictures of TC's and four eye XR7's that are on this board???? If you're buying something KNOW WHAT YOU'RE BUYING!!!! Take the part off and take it in with you. AutoZone is the biggest! Therefore you're going to hear the biggest bunch of shiznit from AutoZone customers.
If you think you are smarter than the AutoZone employee's then print the part off the internet off their site you need.
I'll admit I worked with some real dip shiznits while at AutoZone, I took it upon myself to oversee everything they did and look over their shoulder with every customer.
The level of service from what I see is directly related to where you live. AutoZone in my town is great, so is the Advance across the street, so is Napa on the other side of town and so is CarQuest down the road from Napa. All great part stores.... Maybe its because I live in a humble little town where everyone greats a stranger with a handshake or a wave. Living in Florida I was more apt to get the bird than a wave.
So sit back and think for a second, you get bad service maybe you're doing the same when you ask the person across the counter if he wants fries with that.
And scott you can piss off, you have thrown around some incorrect information and tall tales yourself. Real work is getting the right information the first time, not rehashing what someone else said in the same thread. (I.E 3G thread and Headlight switch thread.)
Wow so i mess up and forget about the 2.3 turbo 4 for a few i made a mistake , i guess you did to by being employed by AZ.
NAPA
SANEL
AUTOZONE
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.
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Pep Girls
I'll take AutoZone over Pep Girls any day of the week.
Uhh the 2.3 was the base engine for about half of all foxes if not more :P
as in for a few i meant for a few minutes, after working a ten hour work day you forget some details about less important stuff than whats at hand.
wow. yall need to come to utah for an uplifting experience at an autoparts store. you'll find "mark" style service at every autoparts store here. checker, autozone, pep boys, you name it. i'll admit there are some people that you can tell have no clue what you're looking for, but if they can't find it they'll ask the local wise man. (the 40 year old guy that you can just see in his face what he's doing.) they'd rather admit to being under educated than look like a jerk.
BINGO. Of all the stores I've visited in my area, AZ has the cheapest prices on car care products, and usually really good oil change specials. Lately I switched over to Advance Auto for sensors and general underhood parts. This was very helpful with getting the '84 back to near-stock running condition this past spring. Their prices were almost dead even with AZ but the quality seemed to be a little better, at least for what I needed.
What's also nice now is that when you browse AZ's website, the photos you see of parts are the same exact photos that are listed on the store's computer. THAT is great peace of mind. It's late 2007 and about ed time that every store did that.
Pep Boys has been okay in the last 12-15 years they've been here. I've had generally good experiences with the parts, except for the alternators that kept locking up. I swear, there's like 5 different levels of alternators that they offer, and if you don't get at least the middle of the road, you're going to have problems. Actually, I have a great story about that...
I've had an on-again, off-again problem with 3G alternators on the convertible for the past 5 years. I'm on the fourth one right now. I started off with the second-to-cheapest 3G alt in 2001 (ProStart...yeah, I know...it was all I could afford at the time). It lasted a little over 3 years...about 2 months after the warranty was up though. And I lost the receipt. But I took it in to Pep Boys anyway, and while the guy at the counter was checking it out, another employee walked by, stopped, did a double take, and said with a wink, "That's not a stock pulley." I told him it was an underdrive pulley but that it didn't have anything to do with the problem. I explained that this was a summer-only car so it didn't have many miles on it, and that I always took care of my charging system. Apparently he liked what I said, as he then took over and personally took care of me, testing out the old alt, finding it was , getting another alt and testing it, and switching out the pulleys. Twenty minutes later I walked out of Pep Boys with an upgraded reman 3G alternator...with no receipt, and several months out of the original warranty. That impressed me.
Then about 5 months later, THAT alt ped out. I took it back in, found the same dude, and said, "Hey...remember me?" He said, "Yeah, underdrive pulley guy! What's wrong now?" I told him, he checked it out, again it was bad...he said, "We're not going to screw around now, you're getting upgraded." I now have a Bosch reman 3G that, so far, has been fine. But I asked the guy, "What happens if this one dies again? Am I just stuck? Will I just need to shell out $200 for a new one?" He said, "Just make sure I'm working when you bring it in and I'll take care of you."
So like a few others said, it doesn't really matter about the store. I've had 3 bad alternators in a row from Pep Boys. But when this one dies, am I going to go back for another? You bet. It's the customer service that will get you every time...good or bad.
AFAIK there is no Reiley's in Ohio, and no Checkers, so no experience there.
Ya know, I've been reading this thread for a bit now, and not wanting to jump on any one chain, cause face it, in different stores there is going to be some person somewhere that doesn't know shiznit from peanut butter.
Anywho, since Eric mentioned alternators, I've noticed that every water pump, starter and alternator that I've ever bought from O'Rielly's has failed prematurely.
In 2004, I put a water pump on the Caprice I was driving, it's had..ohhhhh...maybe 1,000 miles on it since..that's right, one thousand miles...this past summer..it too failed, not to mention one on my tractor, as well as a starter on that same tractor. I can go on and on here, but that's not my point.
My point is this, some store have assholes and kids that are just not car savvy or don't care. Regardless of the name of said store.
Some don't.
But again, I agree with Eric, if O'reilly's took care of me like his guy did for him, I'd still do business there, but there parts just suck, at least for me.
I'm not saying that the o'rielly store in dayton, ohio or bend, oregon is selling py parts..just that the store that I got MY starters, water pumps, and alternators from have repeatedly had those parts fail time and again, until I went to Carquest.
For the record, except for one time, I've been treated decently by the sales staff. My .02 cents there...
I'm still annoyed at the Pep Boys tie rods that failed in one year. At least Autozone knows what I bought and can check warranty info, Pep Girls - not so much. Well, that and the absolute zero brain-cell idjuts they have working at Pep Girls. Maybe it's just luck, but AZ has much better people at both stores I go to. NAPA is the best knowledge-wise, but the guys there have the piest attitudes anywhere (grumpy old geezer syndrome). Well, and NAPA prices seem to have no rhyme or reason - they're all over the map.
Maybe it's time for a NEW type of store . One likes jegs and summitt but only FORD parts. maybe???? with next day deliveries and all.
Well living in Ohio I'm 20 minutes away from a Jegs retail store, and its the same thing. Some guys are ass hats and others are nice. I don't need to talk to someone who knows their stuff, just someone who can read the screen. Sometimes though a greeting when you walk in the door is nice, if only more people knew how to do that.
I've got two words for you guys complaining about bad auto parts store experience: Canadian Tire. Anyone north of the US/Canada border will know what I'm talking about...
I once went to Auto Zone to get my codes read. There was no CEL, but the car was acting up. Sometimes there can be a code without a CEL...
Anyway, the code that turned up was 111-the pass code, no problems. The asshat read it as code 13. I told him there are no two number codes for my car, but he didn't believe me. He looked it up, and there was nothing listed. He still didn't believe me. He looked up a code 13 for 4.0 OHC motor for a 98 Windstar or some . I asked him what that has to do with mine. He told me my camshaft B sensor was out. I asked him how many cams there are in a 5.0. He told me one, but my camshaft B sensor was out, and it would be $65.00. I said no thank you, and walked out the door.
-there is one already. but everyone cuts us worse than CougarSE. your local FORD DEALER!!! and i'm in the south!! i can show u NUMEROUS maintenance items we sell that is CHEAPER than the Advance across the street. but thats ok, i'll just keep using them for myself........:D
I was not trying to turn this into a flame war, infact i like you.
Sunrise windows in Temperance Michigan (about a 10 minute drive at 5:30 in the morning I work 6:00 am - 4:30 pm). Sunrise is the reason i stopped coming out to Parkway Frequently if i had a shiznitty day at work i did not want to drive another 30 minutes to parkway.
SHORANGERBIRD, where are you located ???? I'm in Grand Bay. Even though i am a Technician at JAGUAR (ford bought Jaguar in 1989) The discounts and selection are not that good . I still use Jegs or Total Performance Center.
-live in Anniston, Al. work in Bremen, Ga. dealership employees get 10% over cost. still as i stated, even list price alot of our brake pads, rotors, wheel seals, etc are less that what advance charges....
LOL,,
yeah, me to. Sometimes claude is just too easy:D
Lighten up claude, i get the feeling your a one man gang and changing the world can't be a one man job.
I know i am guilty of hashing things out in detail, but thats what i like to do. If i cant get or see it documented, i bring it here and we all cypher through it,,,ie- the headlamp switch thread. No one presented examples or links so i took it on myself to lay it out and have it looked at.
As for parts stores,, no opinion. They all generally get their fair share of slam politics. I do have to agree though claude, your example of the 89 vs the 98 van was right on the money.
What i dont like lately is that i am seeing my 87's parts not being listed at advance such as front control arm bushings. Anyone here just go on line and show me the correct pn for both the front and the rear control arm bushing.
Ill check autozone on line and see what they say but advance says i only have one.
Napa calls out two but they are still not sure on the front one.
I love the Autozone parts search function - it earns them a LOT of business from me!
I needed caliper slider pins for the TC rear calipers recently and bought the Ford parts from Shonut performance assuming that they could not be obtained through a parts store (as I couldn't find them years ago when I originally put the TC rear in). Turns out Autozone has them - well, they can order them as they are not normally stocked. I can then choose to do this online if I want. I would not even know they could get this part if it wasn't for the online search.
Also, you can easily search their stores to find if a local store has the part in stock - since I have 4 Autozones within a 20 minute drive - this feature is invaluable.
Once more thing - Autozone has "targeted" pricing based on competition and affluence of the area. The difference between the prices in my town and the next town over is -10%! Needless to say, I drive the extra mile to save 10%! Try it in your area - you might be surprised!