State of the Auto Parts Stores 2024

[joesregalproject]

Every few years this topic comes up because every few years the situation changes. What is the state of the brick-and-mortar auto parts world?

As far as my neck of the woods, I believe last I reported, O'Reilly was king. For quality of parts, selection, service, price, they are still definitely near the top. Their prices can be higher than the other stores, but they are usually on-par and will price match advertised prices. I've noticed many of their Import Direct brand chassis parts are made by CTR, which is OEM for Hyundai/Kia and decent quality in my opinion. They still carry Wix filters, but the latest reports on Wix since the Mann-Hummel buyout have not been great, and they still want a premium for the name, so it's not as big of an advantage as it once was. The Microgard Filters are Asian-made by Premium Guard, no longer Purolator, but still very good quality.

Pepboys is out of the parts business entirely, nationwide and finally out of their misery. RIP. They still do tires and service.

Autozone fell to the bottom of the barrel and they remain there. They have a decent inventory, but their house brand parts are still the lowest quality of the chain stores, and their revolving door of employees consists of nothing but mouthbreathers. They did add a self checkout, so at least if what I'm buying is on the floor, I don't have to deal with them. They cut back their Duralast Brakes lineup, as well as dropping their "Official Brakes of Nascar" sponsorship. They now carry some U-Pol products, which is cool, but so does O'Reilly.

NAPA is another one that is bad going for worse. I know they are all independent franchises, so they are run differently, but the ones near me have banker's hours, small (and ancient) inventory, bad locations, and parts quality that definitely isn't what it used to be. Their prices aren't competitive at all. The last set of brake pads I got there were the dirtiest pads I ever used. Im not sure if they are catering exclusively to shops and they don't care at all about retail walk-ins, but there is just no reason for me to go there.

The biggest change has been at Advance. Advance got really bad for a while, to the point they were my last resort. However the Carquest buyout seems to have benefited them. They put an Advance in the former Pepboys store, which is geographically closer than any other parts store for me. I deal with the same guy every time I go, and because I've been buying a fair bit of volume from them, he's been willing to sell some higher dollar parts under their commercial accounts to heavily discount them for me. Their inventory isn't the best, but they can get 90% of stuff in from other stores or their warehouse, same-day. They do happen to have a HUGE inventory of Dorman stuff. As far as parts quality, their house brand Carquest stuff all looks pretty nice, but I haven't been able to identify who all of the manufacturers are. Carquest oil filters are no longer Wix, now Asian-made by Premium Guard (same as O'Reilly Microgard/Microgard Select). No idea who makes the chassis or electrical parts. The chassis parts I've used all look very nice out of the box, however. Well packaged, painted, good hardware. Years ago they used to be Moog, but who knows now. The Gold and Platinum brakes are also good. I have them in two cars now with no complaints.

I believe all four stores source their batteries from Clarios, formerly Johnson Controls Battery Division.

Are the chain stores elsewhere in the same boat or is this specific to me?

 

[pagrunt]

They put an Advance in the former Pepboys store, which is geographically closer than any other parts store for me.

You're talking about the McNight Rd location? That was my old store I worked at & was surprised sometime back when I saw the Advance sign there along with the repair & tire half still being Pepboys. Shame for such a fall from grace. Guess they are now like Trak, Whitlock & Western Auto.

 

[Sweet_Johnny]

The O'Reilly's near me employs teenagers or high school grads that look at my Cutlass and clamor about how cool old cars are but they don't understand the words coming out of my mouth, and I keep showing up when the same character is working. Said character continues to provide incorrect parts every time. This location used to have a few pros with sage wisdom and an answer for every question but now leaves me asking "Why do I keep trying?" every time I go there. The prices are mostly on par with other stores in the area, the selection on the floor has absolutely gotten worse, everything for our cars is VDP/ special order, and the hub store is always the best option to find something. There's a store nearby that mixes paint but yet again you're helped by a young gun who straight lies through his teeth because he just wants you to leave.

Auto Zone has a store near my home with an old guy who's an absolute riot. Aside from being a funny old coot with a dirty sense of humor he really knows his stuff, especially the cars he's been around his entire life. If he's not working I'm screwed- the others are quite literally mouth breathers who have no business dealing with customers let alone car parts. Again the selection is considerably worse than before, both behind the counter as well as on the floor, and certain employees tend to buzz around me while I think about things. This always leads to them asking questions with answers that confuse the heck out of them because they have no mechanical understanding of the world they live in. The parts I need are often only available at other locations and no one location ever has enough of them to complete the job. Need two bearings? Well they're on opposite ends of a city 30 miles from home. I agree that the quality of parts has declined across the board- it seems that Duralast simply became the old Value Craft and it's all garbage. If you're foolish enough to buy a starter or alternator there you'll be going back again soon for sure. With the quality, selection, and staff available I'm much better off shopping online- at least when I provide part numbers online it leads somewhere. There's another location with extremely friendly people and a decent selection of parts but it takes all day to get through the circus.

I've noticed fewer Poormans, Napa, and Advance Auto locations which is a pity since they were solid, and I miss the selection that Pep Boys had. Bumper To Bumper still supplies some smaller stores with good parts but the prices are ridiculous when compared to Amazon or Rock Auto. Those stores do tend to have products that nobody else has on hand though, such as certain paints, chemicals, and general supplies. They used to have the biggest books in the world but apparently they got recycled or sold because the mere utterance "book" garners confused, blank stares. The people are nice, the parts books would be better. A few stores have closed, as has the Radio Shack which is now a vape shop.

 

[69hurstolds]

Other than car batteries and some hoses, liquid chemicals and sealants, plus maybe an occasional super-weird specialty-tool rental, the automotive big box stores don't have much I'm interested in anymore. I used to love NAPA's Echlin brand and Moog steering parts if I had to use aftermarket like when I was redoing the '71. But not anymore. For the most part, many parts suppliers are just going through the motions if they even supply a part for the old dinosaur cars. I get that demand drives the majority of aftermarket parts. And it's a shame that most good, quality parts have dried up for our cars due to cutbacks, buyouts, etc. It happens. Parts for "generic" cars that haven't even been made in 36 years, and designed to last maybe 10 years at most at its newest doesn't seem like good investments in tooling for most of these struggling parts companies. It's sad, but true.

Bearings were mentioned. I don't even trust THOSE anymore and usually search 3rd party. If it says Koyo with either Japan or USA stamped on it, I'll consider it, but mostly I try to stick with USA-made National, INA or Timken, the old school type, bearings if possible. Or old school ACDelco bearings (who used old school INA and Timken a lot). I've used SKF bearings in the lawn mowers and they've held up, but I've never used them on my cars. Probably would be ok. Used to be able to order up bearings and sundry items like that from the local independent parts store that featured ACDelco parts (yep, used to be one around here that stocked ACDelco stuff on the shelves). If it wasn't on the shelf they could get it if ACDelco cataloged it. Beautiful. And they stocked performance junk too, like Hurst shifters, Hooker headers, Hayes, Stewart Warner, et al. I would always check their prices vs. the dealership and whoever gave me the best price was who I bought from. Usually the dealership, but not always. Until they got bought out and the store closed. And with the big box stores nowadays? They just list a bearing that MIGHT fit, and you have no idea who the supplier brand is. Most people don't even care.

Sorry, just tripping down memory lane...

 

[81cutlass]

Oh-really is my go to because they are 2 blocks away and take used oil. Typically I only go when I need a part fast or something small like a consumable, a brake fitting, or alternator if the car is down. I almost always bring a 5 gallon pail of used oil. They are a primarily oil dump, secondarily parts store for me.

NAPA is my second go to. They seem to have the most intelligent parts counter guys. They have a good paint mixing counter, have an awesome warranty on batteries (my wife's car was salvage purchased with a stone-dead battery in 2017, We had the battery flake out in 2020, we weren't the original owner, had no receipt, and they still gave us $80 in warranty refund on the replacement).

I haven't walked in a Vato Zone in years.

Advance is also 2 blocks away and across the street from oh-really but I only go when I need something and Oh-really doesn't have it.


There are some local chains like Kath that is independent and supply a lot of auto shops. The desk dude is GOOD, but it's far away and just not worth the drive.

Growing up in my home town of 3500 people Napa was the only national chain of the 5 parts stores in town.
Almost all the desk dudes on M-F 8 to 5 were great. The smallest one had a repair shop in the back and had like everything in stock.


Honestly, Rock Auto supplies 70% of my OEM replacement parts these days. Ebay/Amazon/summit probably 20% and the local stores the last bit.

 

[joesregalproject]

I'm glad wheel bearings/hub assemblies were brought up. I don't trust any store brand or aftermarket, including Moog and Timken. I have had several Timkens go bad on me. One on an Explorer and the one I put on my Dad's Mazda has been howling. Shockingly the Moogs I put in the Grandpa Buick LaCrosse probably 7 years ago are still fine. But anymore, I won't take a chance. OEM only on wheel bearings.

 

[69hurstolds]

That's why I said OLD SCHOOL Timkens, et al. Back when they were still good. The new stuff isn't much better between any brands anymore. At least from what I've seen.

All my wheel bearings that are in the ACDelco boxes are made in USA and were made by Timken. These I'll trust. The new stuff, especially chinesium bearings...do not want. Of course, I bought them in the 90s, so I would expect them to be ok.

 

[1983calais]

I try to avoid the parts stores as much as possible. The local Advance closes at 5 every day during the week and noon on Saturday, so I don’t ever go there. Napa has the highest prices in town. I used to buy everything from there but not anymore. The combination of highly increased prices and they usually don’t have any of the parts I need to fix my junk.

Autozone here has turned into a hangout for the import guys it seems like and I’m definitely not into any of that ridiculousness. So I rarely go there. Not to mention that, other than the manager and the retiree delivery drivers, I’m older than all the other employees there and they don’t know anything about older cars.

O’Reilly is usually where I go if I need something but once again, I’m older than all the employees there too. I’m 45 and in no way am I discriminating against there age, but let’s face it, most of these younger people are clueless about a lot of things in this world and not just auto parts. They just chose a profession of sales in the parts industry because they have seen the Fast and Furious movies and think that Skylines are the best car ever. Anyway, O’Reilly has raised their prices considerably also and they usually don’t have what I want too.

I never buy anything electric or electronic from any of these places at all. (other than light bulbs). I’ve had too many bad experiences with all the different brands of electronic parts.

My daily is a 2021 so I don’t need to many parts for that. My wife’s car is a 2015. Don’t need much for that either. The vehicles I do need parts for are a 1950, 1967, 1969, 1984, and 2 1987’s. Parts stores don’t carry much for any of these.

Summit or rock auto has what I need for these. I buy AC Delco from both of these places and Summit has the go fast stuff. Summit tells you if it’s made in the US and I always look for that.

 

[MrSony]

Oreillys is a few blocks from me, as are a napa, autzone, and advance.

Admittedly I use a business account so I get parts fairly cheap.

I only use local stores for oil, filters, and parts I need immediately. Buick specific parts like camshaft and Intakes of course are second hand or ebay or TA performance.

 

[random_farmhick]

We have an auto zone, orielys, and napa in town. I've only been in auto zone a couple of times, and haven't had good luck with service. Orielys, for the most part is a joke, but better than auto zone, and open saturday afternoon and sundays. I go to napa most of the time. They are very personable, very low turnover for employees, and it was no hassle getting a commercial account setup for my ag repair business. When I started with them with the account 10 years ago, it was owned by an individual. Then it was bought by a chain and things went downhill a little bit. Then a year or two ago it was bought by corporate, and while I don't really like that, it hasn't caused any real issue on my end of it. I will admit though, if I don't need something immediately, many times I price shop online yet though from different places.