NAPA vs Other parts stores.

Rodger · Post by **Rodger** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:09 pm

Ho-Ho-Ho To All

I hope that all who read trhis have been OK and that
if they are having "issues" in their Dodge Truck or
their life, all gets better before Spring.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I seem to lean towards NAPA since they have a history
of having "Just Like Factory Quality Parts". I would
rather buy the part one time and forget about it vs
buy it and worry if I did the smart thing.

When they have said, " ... we can have it shipped
here" , I say, " ... and there goes any discount I
did have".

This is all parts. For oils, battery's and other like
items, I do shop else where due to lower prices.

Bad Service or Good Service is the crew, not the
items. Both are items that pull and keep the
customer there.

Rodger & Gabby
COS

Yellow71 · Post by **Yellow71** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:11 pm

I still shop at NAPA...especially for certain items. I like the fellas who work at the local store.

Your NAPA Gold Fuel Filter is the best I know of...correct style, and fair price...

NAPA has a correct Oil Filler Cap in stock every time I ask for one.

You sell really nice mirror heads that are very close to our originals...and fair price too.

Just to name a few things I prefer NAPA for.

First, I will say this...it used to be, that, when I really wanted a quality part...I would go to NAPA...

But the quality at NAPA is no longer always superior. Much of the time they offer the same part and supplier as AutoZone.

One example...I needed a new rear trans mount for my 82 D150...

I went to NAPA first...opened the box with the counter person...

we were both shocked at the quality of that mount...the steel was such a thin gauge...

AutoZone had the same part in the same box...

so I went to Car Quest and got a mount that was the same gauge as the original Part.

SECONDLY...I really like Ronn Capps...but I so dislike Michael Waltrip...

If you didn't know who he is...you would think he is an ignorant and uneducated hillbilly...

The sound of Michael Waltrip's voice reminds me of Ernest T. Bass!

and watching him drive his NAPA Toy stock car...

shows that NAPA Corporate has taken the same approach as NASCAR...

In other words...they do not care about the US Auto Maker any longer...

As far as I am concerned... He hurts NAPA's image.

I have never been one to buy or not buy items based on advertising...

But this is a spokesman that I just do not want to support.

OBVIOSULY...as a local branch owner/manager...

you have no control over either of these issues...

and so I wish you good luck in your business.

WAWII · Post by **WAWII** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:49 pm

I prefer NAPA and O'Reilly. Both have given me great service over the years. I have and still do shop at some of the other brands as well mostly for convince and price.

When I lived and worked in South East Michigan, NAPA, was great in many ways, locations, and staff, with some stores better then others, but with my travels, I had the opportunity to kit the better ones.

Now that I'm in Central Illinois, and the only NAPA is way across town, and I drive past 6 other brands on my way, I only shop there for special items, or when headed that way.

NAPA's discount structure aggravates me, while I was in MO and MI I got great discounts, now I'm just a run of the mill cash customer, this drives me more to other stores.

712edf · Post by **712edf** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:02 pm

NAPA apparently has multiple prices for different levels of "customer loyalty/volume". Kelly-Moore Paint Co had a similar set-up for contractors and their various levels of purchases. Seven different people would walk in the door and each would pay a different price for the same bucket of paint. Confusing as H#LL for your average idiot employee like me.

I'd just assume a one-price-fits-all approach in my purchases. Just look at what a wonderful job tiered prices have done to our beloved federal income tax.

Bucky

demulsion · Post by **demulsion** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:05 pm

I am a no nonsense kind of guy. Provide me good quality parts, have knowledgeable counter staff, and I will be a loyal customer. I'll even be more than happy to pay a higher price. A few years ago, that was my locally owned Parts Plus chain. When I lived in central Oregon, I ended up using Shucks or rockauto.com (not my first choice; the counter guys at NAPA were a joke, and Parts Plus had limited hours). Now, I've pretty much rebuilt my Dart out of the NAPA a mile or so up the road. Good or bad, I'm on a first name basis with some of the counter guys, they give me frequent flier miles (or whatever discount is handy), and they are starting to let me browse the back of the store unattended. When parts fail, they stand behind them, no questions asked. Simple things like that keep me happy, and keep me coming back. Sure, the parts may be a little more expensive, but the headaches of shopping elsewhere aren't cheap either. I understand I drive a 40 year old rig, so I don't expect everything to be in stock. (My old Parts Plus did, so I enjoyed it while it lasted)

I agree with Mopardwh, Autozones are like WalMarts. I try to avoid both for similar reasons.

wally426ci For WIX filters, I've been meaning to check this out: http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... 918#181918

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:45 am

runcharger wrote:I like to patronize little parts stores. If there is an independant store and the Parts guys are decent I will go there. If I go to a chain it will depend entirely on the Partsman if I come back. If the Partsman isn't knowledgeable but does listen to what I have to say and has a good attitude I will likely come back. I don't expect to ask for parts for a 40 year old truck and have the 20 year old behind the counter know exactly where to find it, but I like a decent attitude.

Sheldon

Just a side note, most NAPA stores (about 90%) are independantly/locally owned... like us

. In fact, our legal business name is Missouri River Auto Parts, but we do business as NAPA Auto Parts.

All Oreilly's, Autozone, Advance, and CSK stores are corporately owned.

"I don't expect to ask for parts for a 40 year old truck and have the 20 year old behind the counter know exactly where to find it." I'm 26

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:06 am

wally426ci wrote: However, my local NAPA is horrible at calling me when i order something. I ordered a drag link for my 68, 6 weeks ago, I call every week and its still not here. The excuse is that its a valid part # but hasn't been located. Kooky. I try another NAPA and instead of $85 its $115 - which brings me to my next tangent: How can prices very so much

Anyway, I do like NAPA, but I will for sure go to Advance and get a Purolator Oil Filter and 5 qts of oil for $14.99 before I spend $15 on a WIX filter.

I basically pick and choose what I buy from each store, Im going to own this truck for a LOOOOOONG time so I buy all of my parts at NAPA when I can and fluids and bulbs, etc elsewhere.

I hope that was an OK rant.

Hey, I'm not denying that bad service can exist anywhere, and that is a very valid reason to not shop somewhere

.

As far as the price thing goes, I'm wont deny that either. We as owners have full control over our pricing, and unfortunately some owners jack the pricing up for one reason or another. Though most, as we do, keep price competitive with the other parts stores in town. (you can also see this price variance with the other brands as well, though maybe not as dramatic.)

I will say that if we catch our counter people giving discounts to folks because they are buddies, then we have serious issues with that. It's just not good business

.

NAPA Filter and 5qts of oil $16.75 (By the way, NAPA oil is Valvoline oil in case any of you were wondering. It's made and packaged at the very same plants)

Also, ask for AVB bulbs at your NAPA store. These are seriously cheaper bulbs that we just got as a new supplier.

And was a great rant

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:13 am

digdoug wrote: I went in a couple months ago to get some wix(or napa gold) air filters for my 67 dodge trucks with 318s( I have a D300 and two W200s that all use the same filter) .I was sold a 2020 air filter. Can you tell me where NAPA went wrong?

Doug

Hmmmm... this is what it calls for as a stock replacement

. What was the problem? Too small?

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:35 am

EGroscup wrote: ...Why is the oil so stinkin expensive? Why is wix opening a plant in China? Is your price going to drop for those? Sorry but I spend a lot of money at my local Carquest... Sorry to be so bitter, but you asked. Erik

I really am just trying to keep this light and friendly here guys, no need to be so bitter. I understand that bad service can happen anywhere from any store. I'm not trying to beat up on good service, because that is specifically what we want to be the best at.

As for the oil, Our oil is in almost every aspect Valvoline oil, just in a different bottle. If you buy the store brand at other places, who know what you are getting. It seems that almost everyone has their own hose brand oil these days. The majority of house brand oil is parfin based, like Penzoil or Quaker. Parfin oil has a tendency to leave deposits on engine components. Heck even Penzoils commercials advertise this fact, saying it "creates a layer of protection.

" NAPA oil, as well as many major brands such as Valvoline, Havoline, Castrol, are made from shale(might be spelled wrong) based oil. Which is just better cleaner oil hence the price difference.

You may or may not see a price decrease with WIX moving to China (by they way, who inst moving to china???) however, what you will more realistically see is no price increase over the years.

Carquest sells WIX filters too.

Thanks again for the input. I actually like Carquest, they are very similar to NAPA in fact. The one here shut down after we bought the stores though

(sorry, but I have to brag a little bit. We like being the best store in town

)

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:37 am

Was just thinking.... I read somewhere that you will get 11 complaints for every 1 praise. I wish I could find that study to post

Thanks again for all the input.

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:52 am

nfury8 wrote:My experience has been that the NAPA prices are usually MUCH higher. For example, a re manufactured
mini starter from NAPA for a 94 Ram and a Lifetime warranty is $20 higher and has a $15 higher
core. To be fair, this is a lot closer than the last time I checked. The NAPA has come down considerably,
and the Advance/O'Reilly prices have gone up about $10.

I called in our pricing on this after an earlier post! Glad to see it did some good

. Thanks for all the input. Really good stuff in your post. I like the extra terminal idea a lot

.

True, NAPA stores cater more towards wholesale business, in fact shops are about 75% of our business. Because of that , NAPA stores are generally located closer to where the auto shops are (for delivery purposes) rather than in a "Retail" area.

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:13 am

Hobcobble wrote:Ryan,
From what I know, there are a few different "tiers" of pricing.
Around here, NAPA's "Preferred Cash Customer" pricing is
prohibitive. Can you suggest a way for all those interested
to get to a "Preferred Racing Custom" price structure or
something comparable?

I dig my NAPA. A hometown pal of mine started working at
NAPA while he was in high school. Thirty years later, he's
still there.
John

Price breaks are almost always given to shops. We have many "tiers" of pricing though we generally only use 4. Walk In price (regular price), Preferred Cash (which is about the same as the AAA Discount, about 7-10%), Low Volume Shop, and High Volume Shop.

All names and pricing will change with each ownership, as well as "qualifications" for getting that pricing. We basically go off of a rough percentage of their potential business they give to us. For example; if a large 10 bay shop and a small 2 bay shop both gave us approximately 90% of their business. They would both get the same basic discount. In order to keep customers happy, we try and give a bit more of a break on the things they buy the most of. For example a Muffler shop would most likely get a better break on exhaust stuff.

The best analogy to give for parts would be to think of it like food. If you go to the grocery store and buy a steak, you pay a certain price. If you go to a restaurant and buy a steak, you pay more for the steak, because there was a service involved. And without a doubt, that restaurant payed less for that steak than you would have at the store. Just like an auto shop and a parts store.

The best way to get a discount would be to shop there frequently, then either ask if they have a any kind of preferred customer discount since you shop there so often, or ask to open a cash account where your name will be in the computer and then ask for a bit of a break. The key is just to ask, and don't expect it if you shop there once a month.

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:15 am

EGroscup wrote:I forgot something in my earlier rant, bring back the parts pups! Erik

HA!!!!!

We all want that!!!!

Post by **Hobcobble** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:25 am

rjmeuer wrote:Was just thinking.... I read somewhere that you will get 11 complaints for every 1 praise. I wish I could find that study to post

Thanks again for all the input.

There is a saying... "One aw-dammit cancels out ten atta-boys"
John

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:25 am

712edf wrote:
Cageman wrote: They waste their sponsorship money on that retard mikey too. That there is the best reason not to go there.
LMAO

Of course using that logic I shouldn't go to Lowe's/Home Depot....I don't like JJ or smoke, nor any of the others of NASCAR's "chosen", the chevy posterboys. Nascar has been pro GM since FOMOCO & Chryco shot them the finger in 71.

I notice nobody has mentioned going to the dealership for anything. Since Chrysler sells out or reinvents itself every 5 yrs, I don't either.
Bucky

Believe me, we all think that Waltrip is a LOOSER! I'm just glad he isn't racing for us next year (Truex Jr.). Best sponsorship we have right now is in NHRA with Ron Capps

.

Hey, just so you all know, many of of the dealerships buyout parts and resell them as "factory parts." So don't waste you money. Plus, if your factory part didn't go bad in the first place, would you be needing another one?

Post by **Hobcobble** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:35 am

rjmeuer wrote: The best way to get a discount would be to shop there frequently, then either ask if they have a any kind of preferred customer discount since you shop there so often, or ask to open a cash account where your name will be in the computer and then ask for a bit of a break. The key is just to ask, and don't expect it if you shop there once a month.

Yeah..... therein lies the "Catch 22".... kind of like the Job & Experience" scenario: You are out looking for
a job and the prospective employers tell you that you require experience.... but how do you get experience
without working the job?

For an average guy off the street.... it might not be feasible to make a bunch of purchases at an inflated
price in order to "qualify" for a discount in the future. Many will likely become disheartened [and poor

]
and move towards the O'Rielly's and Autozones in their community. Food for thought anyhow.....
John

digdoug · Post by **digdoug** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:24 pm

rjmeuer wrote:
digdoug wrote: I went in a couple months ago to get some wix(or napa gold) air filters for my 67 dodge trucks with 318s( I have a D300 and two W200s that all use the same filter) .I was sold a 2020 air filter. Can you tell me where NAPA went wrong?

Doug
Hmmmm... this is what it calls for as a stock replacement . What was the problem? Too small?

Yes.That is exactly the problem. Napa also shows the correct 2041filter,but it is the second choice.Which would be better,to be sold a filter that is too short,and never know until the engine is wore out(or until you see dirt inside the houseing) or sell one that fits correctly? I see this as a HUGE PROBLEM, for us Sweptline owners with318s, that needs corrected.I know for a fact that the 2041 is correct for the 1967 ,1968 trucks.I think that the 2020 is for later years or cars.

Thanks for asking,
Doug

PatS · Post by **PatS** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:15 pm

rjmeuer wrote:I will say that if we catch our counter people giving discounts to folks because they are buddies, then we have serious issues with that. It's just not good business .

The Ma and Pa store I deal with regularly actually ENCOURAGES the counter staff to give out discounts...to friends or anyone else. Car guys usually have car guys as friends and friends like to buy where friends work and car guys friends are very likely to do their own work and buy parts. The store still makes money and the customer will stay even after the parts guy may be gone BECAUSE he gets a discount and feels special.
I get a discount and have for 30 some years, but I don't spend big bucks there.
I WILL drive across town to shop there though.

rjmeuer · Post by **rjmeuer** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:43 pm

PatS wrote:The Ma and Pa store I deal with regularly actually ENCOURAGES the counter staff to give out discounts...to friends or anyone else. Car guys usually have car guys as friends and friends like to buy where friends work and car guys friends are very likely to do their own work and buy parts. The store still makes money and the customer will stay even after the parts guy may be gone BECAUSE he gets a discount and feels special.
I get a discount and have for 30 some years, but I don't spend big bucks there.
I WILL drive across town to shop there though.

When you say Ma and Pa store, what is it that you mean exactly?
You don't spend big bucks there, but you have been going there for 30 years? It sounds to me like you have spent plenty of bucks, hence the discount for being a loyal customer I'm guessing. If everyone gets a "discount" then does it remain special?

TedWitt · Post by **TedWitt** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:20 pm

I have AZ, Oriley and Napa programed in my phone. They are all within two miles of my house. I call around usually napa first then oriley then
AZ. Usually Napa has my parts, usually they are higher quality parts than the others guys. I don't mind at all paying a little more for better parts. Usually the only thing I get at AZ is parts cleaner, spray paint, junk like that. Now the toss up is between you other guys. I have seen many times when Napa does have my parts when the Oriley dosen't. I just wish I could get a new NAPA hat.......lol

Me personally I think you guys are great.

Sweptline.ORG

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