O'Reilly's part quality vs competition

[joesregalproject]

We finally got an O'Reilly's close to me, they just opened one up about a mile or two from my house. I took a stroll through the store for the first time today and saw that they carry Wix which is cool, no other chain store carries them except NAPA where they are sold as their in-house brand. Also O'Reilly's turns brakes and flywheels which is cool since Pepboys stopped doing that a few years ago. Now that I have O'Reilly's as an option I'm wondering what their parts quality is like compared to AutoZone or Advance? Advance is the farthest away, though their stuff has been vastly improved since they acquired Carquest but I still wouldn't put them on quite the same level as NAPA. AutoZone has the best rewards program but their Duralast parts are hit and miss on quality. Seemed to me that the Duralast stuff used to be better. For the past few years I've been buying parts from RockAuto and oil from Walmart. I'm fine with continuing to do that, but I'm genuinely curious what people think of O'Reilly's.

 

[pagrunt]

We had the Franks' Auto Supermarket changed to O'Reilly's in Indiana after they bought them. Their stuff seems to be OK. Only issue I had (& might of been cause Sears installed the part due to the timing) was with a house branded front wheel bearing for the POS '08 Silverado. It made the ABS fail & the pigtail wouldn't connect correctly. Other than that I've had so far good results with what I installed on the Santa Fe, the current Silverado, everything else on the POS. But things may be better at the store I go to cause they retained almost all the old Franks' people who inturn have been making sure the scrubs off the street have an idea on what to do.

 

[Ribbedroof]

In these parts, O'reilly is the least of the available evils.

They, like Autozone, have gone to more private label stuff, but can get the top-tier stuff (usually).

Here's a recent anecdote....I was replacing the pins and bushings in the coupe doors. They carry the Dormans in the Help! line in the store, $7.99 for a single pin and 2 bushings. When you look online, they also have Dormans in a box, 2 pins and 4 bushings for $5.99. Special order, week to get, then a surprise of $7.77 freight . WTF would you not stock those in the warehouse?

Which leads to this: this is why I buy stuff for the projects or future maintainence from Rockauto. The 2 pack od pins and bushings at Rock was $4.40. Sure, there'll be shipping, but if you buy enough stuff, it spreads the shipping cost per-part out to where it doesn't really hurt.

I will say, store staff makes a difference, the store manager of the one we use at work was recently transferred to another store, new guy isn't as good.

I miss the "old" parts stores of the past, especially the independents, but even the Big A's and bumper-to-bumper stores I grew up using.

Forgot to add, I almost never buy the house brand stuff, usually go for the major names.

 

[Tomeal]

retained almost all the old Franks' people

That's nice to know! I've not been in there since the change!

 

[79 GP 4 speed]

I use oriellys for almost all my new parts. I spend a little more and always by the better part.

 

[pagrunt]

That's nice to know! I've not been in there since the change!

They are my first choice even though I have an A&G at a walking distance from the house. Advance in Indiana was OK until a few years ago & they seem lost most of the time, the new Auto Zone seems under stock & not sure the quality of the help. Compaired to Johnstown locations of of Advance & Auto Zone I rather wait until I pass thru Indiana after work.

 

[Tomeal]

They are my first choice even though I have an A&G at a walking distance from the house. Advance in Indiana was OK until a few years ago & they seem lost most of the time, the new Auto Zone seems under stock & not sure the quality of the help. Compaired to Johnstown locations of of Advance & Auto Zone I rather wait until I pass thru Indiana after work.

If you go to Johnstown, shwartz is good. No left over wyo-techers working there, just older guys who know what their talking about!

 

[pagrunt]

Which one, Richland or Moxham location? I used to read both location meters for Penelec until the smart meters when live on both routes but never went in.

 

[Tomeal]

Moxam, they still have a full machine shop running in the back. Richland is the same store, most older parts in moxam. Richland mostly newer parts.

 

[lilbowtie]

Nice to have one around when you really need something - if my store don't have it they can get it from the warehouse within 2 hours.