FxsX24

Good subject.

We are having more and more issues with the quality of parts. Last week we replaced a clutch on a Neon. Next day customer was back with a miss at idle that he did not experience prior to our working on it. After compression test and checking what we had done I felt like we were going the wrong direction. Iit felt more like a vibration to me. So I had my tech pull it back apart and just for grins went ahead and installed another clutch. That took care of the problem and hopefully we salvaged a customer.

 

Prior to redoing the clutch I had called the manufacturer technical help line to see if they had ever heard of this problem with this application. I really had not run into this problem before. Of course all I got was "no" never had the first one come back. OBTW this clutch is the integeral type that the flywheel is with the unit and its all riveted together. No way to bolt in wrong...only goes one way. I guess they figure that that a balance of the unit would drive the cost up too much and really is not nessary. Well only if you want it done correctly.

 

So I called the manufacturer back to tell them they may be seeing a problem with their clutch products. I also asked them about all the "made in China" markings on there product. Asked them if they even make clutches in this country anymore. The anwser was a matter of fact ...NO..Borg Warner no longer makes clutches. They just import the clutches and put it their boxes. Not much different from the other used to be big names. No.... I did not get a sorry you had a problem or any offer of help with that labor. No all I got was.... where did you buy that unit? Couldn't wait to get me off their phone.

 

So the next time a Neon comes in for a clutch and we quote a O.E. from the dealer and the customer decines the repair and goes down the street to competitor .......at least I will have not lost my labor cost.

 

 

does your supplier not offer warranty labor reimbursement?

When did this occur?

 

 

started the change over 6-8 months ago

Without even reading the whole article I feel where you come from. When i have a customer in the store or on the phone, they want the cheapest one. They dont care about the warranty, the cost (or hassle in DIY) of replacing the part, possible tire wear, possible realignment costs (60-80 here).

It is hard to get people to spend money on good parts.

people will buy the cheapest oil and air filters they can, cheapest wipers possible.

 

 

 

 

Fed Mogul has changed (at aap atleast) the National name to MOOG. Same part (well same stampings on them), new box.

 

 

What we found found was that the right front hub bearing was about to fall off of the truck. The customer later told me that the guy who did the bearings told him they were "Moog". I told my customer that as far as our area I have not saw any "Moog" hub bearing assemblies and don't know that Moog sells them but the well known brands are BCA, National, Timken, etc.

/quote]

Not sure if anyone here uses or used the Compnine site. But it is back up

 

Compnine

 

it is great for viewing build sheets for vehicles with the RPO sheets removed or damaged. it is cheap and a great tool in the automotive world.

Great for finding fuel tank sizes,build dates (for those painted over stickers), suspension packages, assembly plant location, brake packages (lovely GMT 800 trucks).

 

only $25 a month for 300 searches, cant beat that. Beats waiting for your dealer if they are busy......

 

Here are the results for my truck

 

 

Vehicle: JIMMY 4 DR

Year: 1998

Build Date: 1997-11-13

UN0 RADIO,AM/FM,STEREO,SEEK/SCAN,COMPACT DISC,AUTO TONE,CLOCK,ETR STEREO W/CD PLAYER(UN0)

UP8 RADIO,PROVISIONS FOR STEREO INSTRUMENTATION STEREO RDO PROVISIONS(UP8)

U16 TACHOMETER,ENGINE TACH(U16)

U73 ANTENNA,FIXED FIXED ANT(U73)

U89 WIRING HARNESS,5-WIRE TRAILER 5 WIRE TRLR HARN(U89)

VXS VEHICLE - COMPLETE

V54 CARRIER,ROOF LUGGAGE(PAINTED) PAINTED RF LUGG CARR(V54)

V73 VEHICLE STATEMENT - US/CANADA US/CANADA VEHICLE STATEMENT(V73)

WDV WARRANTY WAIVER - PARTIAL DEDUCTIBLE

XBG TIRE FRONT P235/70R15 WOL R/PE ST TL ALS 102S TIRE(XBG)

YBG TIRE REAR P235/70R15 WOL R/PE ST TL ALS 102S TIRE(YBG)

YC5 DECOR PACKAGE,COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE,#5 (MID LEVEL) DECOR PKG #5(YC5)

YD3 AXLE FRONT (BASE EQUIP) FOR SCHEDULING GVW PLATE FRT AXLE(YD3)

YD5 SPRING,FRONT(BASE EQUIPMENT) FRT SPRING(YD5)

YD6 SPRING,REAR(BASE EQUIPMENT) RR SPRING(YD6)

ZBG TIRE SPARE P235/70R15 WOL R/PE ST TL ALS 102S SPARE TIRE(ZBG)

ZM8 PACKAGE,ELECTRIC TAILGATE RELEASE AND REAR DEFOGGER ELEC T/GATE REL & RR DEFG PKG(ZM8)

ZQ3 DRIVER CONVENIENCE PACKAGE II(MERCHANDISING OPTION) DRVR CONVENIENCE PKG(ZQ3)

ZQ6 DRIVER CONVENIENCE PACKAGE III DRVR CONVENIENCE PKG III(ZQ6)

ZW7 CHASSIS PACKAGE,PREMIUM SMOOTH RIDE PREMIUM SMOOTH RIDE CHAS PKG(ZW7)

ZY1 COLOR COMBINATION SOLID SOLID PAINT COMBO(ZY1)

Z88 GMC TRUCK G M C(Z88)

1SE PACKAGE OPTION 05 (1SE)

1SZ PACKAGE OPTION- (1SZ)

12H TRIM COMBINATION CLOTH, GRAPHITE (12H)

12I INTERIOR TRIM GRAPHITE (12I)

41U EXTERIOR COLOR,PRIMARY (41U)

EXTERIOR COLOR,PRIMARY,BLACK (41U)

6WH COMPONENT FRT LH COMPUTER SEL SUSP (6WH) SUSP(6WH)

7WH COMPONENT FRT RH COMPUTER SEL SUSP (7WH) SUSP(7WH)

AG1 ADJUSTER FRT ST POWER, MULTI-DIRECTIONAL, DRIVER MULTI-DIRECTIONAL PWR D/SEAT ADJR(AG1)

AJ1 GLASS,DEEP TINT(REAR SIDE WINDOWS AND REAR DOOR WINDOW) DEEP TINTED GLS(AJ1)

AP9 NET,CONVENIENCE CONVENIENCE NET(AP9)

AU0 LOCK CONTROL,REMOTE ENTRY(KEYLESS ENTRY SYSTEM) REMOTE ENTRY LK CONT(AU0)

AU3 LOCK,SIDE DOOR,ELECTRIC ELEC S/D LK(AU3)

AV5 FRONT HIGH BACK BUCKET SEAT FRT HIGH BACK BKT ST(AV5)

AXP VIN IDENT POSITION, MULTI- PURPOSE VEHICLE MULTI-PURPOSE VEHICLE VIN POSITION(AXP)

A31 WINDOW,ELECTRIC OPERATED,SIDE ELEC SI WDO(A31)

WINDOW,POWER OPERATED,ALL DOORS PWR WINDOWS(A31)

A78 ADJUSTER,FRT ST BK MAN RECLINING,PASSENGER AND DRIVER MAN RECL ST BACK ADJR(A78)

B30 CARPET,FLOOR AND WHEELHOUSE FLR CPT(B30)

B84 ORNAMENTATION,EXTERIOR,BODY SIDE MOLDING BODY SI MLDG(B84)

C25 WIPER SYSTEM,REAR WINDOW RR WDO WPR(C25)

C3T GVW RATING 5350 LBS 5350 GVWR(C3T)

C60 AIR CONDITIONER,FRONT,MANUAL CONTROLS A/C MAN CONT(C60)

DAY PLANT CODE MORAINE, OH, GM T&B MORAINE,OH PLANT CODE(DAY)

DD8 MIRROR,INSIDE,REARVIEW,TILT,AUTOMATIC,LIGHT SENSITIVE I/S RR VIEW MIR,LIGHT SENSITIVE(DD8)

DH2 MIRROR,INSIDE, ILLUMINATED,LH & RH,WITH DUAL SUNSHADE ILLUM S/S MIR(DH2)

DK2 MIRROR,OUTSIDE,RH & LH REMOTE CONTROL,ELECTRIC,LH DEFOG(PAINTED) ELEC R/CON HTD PAINTED O/S MIR(DK2)

DK6 CONSOLE,ROOF RF CNSL(DK6)

D07 CONSOLE,FRONT COMPARTMENT FLOOR(CUSTOM) CUSTOM F/CMPT FLR CNSL(D07)

EVA TEST DVT, EVAP EMISSION REQUIREMENT EVAP EMISSIONS REQUIRED(EVA)

E55 GATE,END END GATE(E55)

FF6 ARM,TORSION BAR SPRING ADJUST,LH TORS BAR ADJ ARM(FF6)

FF7 ARM,TORSION BAR SPRING ADJUST,RH TORS BAR ADJ ARM(FF7)

GU6 AXLE,REAR,3.42 RATIO 3.42R(GU6)

JC1 BRAKE VAC POWER, 4 WHL DISC, 5,500 LBS BRAKE VAC PWR(JC1)

K34 CRUISE CONTROL,AUTOMATIC,ELECTRONIC CRCONT(K34)

K60 GENERATOR,100 AMPERE 100 AMP(K60)

L35 ENGINE,4.3L(4.3W),CPI,V6,90 DEG 4.3W(L35)

M30 TRANSMISSION,AUTOMATIC 4 SPEED,4L60E,ELECTRONIC 4-SPD A/TRANS(M30)

NB7 EMISSION SYSTEM CALIFORNIA, TLEV TLEV CALIF EMIS(NB7)

NG1 EMISSION CERTIFICATION,GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED CERTIFICATION RESTRICTED EMIS CERTIFICATION(NG1)

NP1 TRANSFER CASE,ELECTRONIC SHIFT,TWO SPEED ELEK SHFT TRFER CASE(NP1)

NP5 STEERING WHEEL,LEATHER WRAPPED LEATHER WRAPPED STRG WHL(NP5)

N33 STEERING COLUMN,TILT TYPE TILT STRG COL(N33)

N40 STEERING,HYDRAULIC(NON-VARIABLE) NON-VARIABLE P/S(N40)

N90 WHEEL,15X7(CAST ALUMINUM) AL WHL(N90)

QBG TIRE ALL P235/70R15 WOL R/PE ST TL ALS 102S TIRE(QBG)

RSA RESTRAINT - FRT SEAT, 208, AUTO, PASSIVE

RYJ COVERING,CARGO AREA,RETRACTABLE RETRACTABLE CARGO CVR(RYJ)

R8W CONTROL - SALES ITEM NO. 72

R9Z CONTROL - SALES ITEM NO.100

SLL SOLD ORDERS SOLD ORDER(SLL)

TFE SALES INCENTIVE - COMMITMENT PLUS

T61 LIGHTING,DAYTIME RUNNING DAYTIME RUNNING LGT(T61)

About four times in the thirteen years I have been in this business.

are you kidding me?

 

how dumb can a person be?

 

and maybe on the MAF they thought the arrow pointed to the front of the truck.

it is sad, if I (or anyone here for that fact) offers a service and charges for it, and does not do that service, they should be closed down.

 

one thing that i noticed, the filter on that jeep should have been a N/S filter, the tech knew that and charged for the part and labor.

digging this up

 

I was wondering if anyone here has used the Wearever pads from AAP?

 

 

i have used them a few times on customer cars and my own, usually use the Gold line (oe material and style), and they hold up good. Ceramic on my truck held up good, low dust, no squeaks.

 

and yes i do work for aap, and no im not advertising.

 

while were here, what are your thoughts on wagner pads?

Do any shops go by the GM OLM feature when using the required oil?

this is the reason i decided to do all my own work.

NSFW . language.

 

 

 

i have felt like this before, just at advance not zone, FYI aap rotors have 2yr warranty

 

if the customers in the shop are half as bad as they are in the parts store. I would throw a few threw the window. You can do everything in your power to make someone happy. And they are still not happy. Or they are just plain ass hats,and cause trouble on purpose

i hate going to do a SES light and see a bundle of wires with piggy back connecters, from some quick/cheap starter install. if i were installing a starter i would use either a specific harness that is pre-spliced for the starter, or splice in and solder/heat shrink everything.

it looks better, creates a better connection. and is much safer than piggy backing wires with a cheat 3 cent plastic connecter.

 

we have a large number of starter installers here. some of them do it nice, others do it like poo. they all charge about the same for a install. i guess some are more concerned with $$$, others would rather do a great job and keep the customer happy.

Training and education is great, we all need it. Can't you make a deal, since you work for them?

 

i am gonna try to find out how that works.

 

they give us instore training, but it is crap (unless you have never turned a wrench before)

well on the other side of the coin, when i tell someone the whole job with parts is 400. it seems like alot, but it really isint. escpcally when half of that is parts.

 

even if the job took 2 hours, people dont realize even if it was "easy" to do it, it is not the labor they are paying for, but knowing how to do the job that it where the money is

Advance offers testing thru BWD and a few others also. i wanna go to them, but since i work there i would still have to pay. you would think they want us to know the good stuff.

i have customers walking in all the time NEEDING something for the ethanol. i however have never had an issue with it (98 jimmy with a 4.3, and a 94 s10 with a 67 283 with TBI).

Xrac, that is excellent for us I hear people almost daily complain that they won't work on their cars anymore since everything went computers. LOL I tell them I am glad cars went to computers. Gives me something to do.

 

 

it is great for the people who charge 50-80/hr. but really sucks for the people who get paid 8-12/hr

You are correct in saying napa and carquest are more wholesale than retail

i cannot speak for AZ, but at my store we have 2 people for commercial and three drivers. we generally do a 50/50 ratio in sales a day. we are constantly checking up on out commercial customers, and doing what we can to improve there view of us. however the aap on the other side of town is 90% retail and 10% commercial. they have no drivers and no comm person.

 

i have seen a few shops charge two rates, one if you bring the part in, and another if you drive in and say "its broken, fix it". this does help you recover your losses from the alternator you didnt sell, but they brought to you. and generally the custoimer understands this.

 

you also mentioned pushing low quality parts. i cant speak for everyone out there. but i push the better stuff as much as i can. i hate seeing a customer come in 13 months later with a broken balljoint because they bought the cheap one with a 12mo warranty. spend twice as much and get the good one with the lifetime. same with brakes, i try to sell them our gold pads, which are OE replacement.

 

the warranty issues i can totally agree with you on, out top level bearings had a 1 year warranty on them till recently. which was horrible since napa had a lifetime. we have changed that to a 3 year. which is not as good, but better than 1 year.

 

we do offer labor reinburrsement on warranty work.

i didnt see anyone mention this yet.

 

i wonder if the rise in Ethanol content has triggered this (p0420) outbreak, working in retail parts i have seen many more p0420 in the last 18 month than the first 18 i worked there.if i remember correctly Ethanol burns hotter than gas, could that be causing cat temps to be higher and possibly lowering there performance.

 

 

Joe, as we all know in NY rust thru is huge, especially in exhaust parts, i do notice that aftermarket (walker in my case) are built thinner and seem to rust quicker. the only thing i can see that would help is a coat of VHT/header paint to slow the process.

 

the ideal thing would for the OE to go stainless (would raise the cost by a grand or less) and stop the rust all together. same with brake lines.

it is wrong to do it the way he did. if i were him , i would have asked you if any of your guys were interested in some pt work after hours, and left it at that.

Auto Parts Company Crosses the Ethics Line

 

Its one thing to open a parts store and do free check engine light scans, battery testing, battery installation in the parking lot along with wiper blades. And, although I don’t agree, I can’t stop a parts company from selling $11.00 brake rotors and $17.00 O2 sensors to the general public.

 

BUT, it’s another thing for a parts rep to come into my facility and ask my lead tech if he knows of a tech that is looking for a job scanning cars and testing batteries outside the parts store. Or, approaching my service manager and asking him, if he knows of a manager that might be looking for a job at one of the parts store.

 

This crosses the line and I am furious. The way they did too is underhanded and unethical. This rep came in my HOUSE and in a “round about” way was actually trying to recruit my top people.

 

Business is Business, but this not about business. I will never buy anything from this company, not even if they are the only parts company in the world that has what I need. I refuse to patronize a company that has the morals of a worm.

 

Just to set the record straight; my number one supplier has been and will always be CARQUEST. I do deal with other local companies as my second call. The part company I am referring to in this post is not NAPA, AutoZone, O’Reilly’s, Auto Parts International or Pep Boys. Nor is it a small local company.

 

 

once your guy saw what they were gonna pay him (even PT after you shop closes) he would have laughed. the store (AAP) wants you to know everything for nothing.

 

we have a part timer that works FT at a local shop, he works 8-12 hours a week for us, it helps with gas money for him, plus he can get insurance too. i do believe that he came to us though.

Hello, lets start off by saying that i am by no means a professional. I have worked in the Parts business for almost 3 years. That has given me a large amount of knowledge of automotive systems. Before then while working in a home improvement store. i bought a 91 s10, did a few odds and ends on it. later i got a 91 sonoma, needed a motor so i took the one from the s10 , changed it all over to 4wd pan and pickup tube, and installed in in the noma.

 

soon after i got a 94 s11 with a blown up 2.2, without knowing i pulled a motor from the junkyard that was too new, everything was different in some way, so it didnt run properly. (cams were diff,rocker ratio was diff,heads were diff, on and on and on.) got the proper motor and ran that till it blew up due to a bad rod bearing.

 

when that blew i decided to go with a V8, of course this is not a drop in motor. custom mounts,headers, exhaust, cooling, wiring, and more. doing this gave me a real look at how things work, i had to rebuild the 283 (light rebuild, hone and new rings, bearings, valve seals) so that showed me how to rebuild the ol SBC.

 

some where in the middle i got a 98 jimmy and put a motor in that, which started to teach me about OBDII codes not being a definitive mechanic in a computer

 

in april of 2009 i got hired in the parts business (looking up my own parts while doing the s10 project helped with this). while working here and visiting our commercial customers for deliverys of just to say hi, i learned alot of things. many side jobs later me and a buddy (who bought a lift i thought we were never gonna use at the time) are thingking about opening up a "shop", small at first, then if we get enough customers (we have a few already) maybe go part time at out jobs and do more automotive work.

 

now we are not the idiots who rip into something blindly. we research it whenever possible. and if it is a job we dont have the equipment of know-how to do, we are not afraid to say " we cant do that", and send them to someone we trust.

 

i guess right now we are kinda parts changers, tune-ups,chassis parts, brake jobs, anything that does not require alldata (or equivalent ) or a scantool (a good one) we do, might get a good scan tool when we get serious about putting money into it.

 

i am always one for learning, so ill be reading many tech articles i can find on here.

 

well now you know what im all about, so if i go into a topic and suggest something that is a "duh" thing dont go crazy.

Oxygen Sensors: $17.99, Brake Rotors $14.99

 

Hold on there! I am not selling parts. Please read on….

 

There is a well know parts company (I will not mention their name: but it’s not AutoZone, O Reillys, Sears, NAPA or Pep Boys) opening up just around the corner from me and is sending out consumer flyers with dirt-cheap parts, most are common everyday parts: Axles, O2 sensors, brake rotors, alternators, etc. They offer free installation on batteries and even sell scan tools so the public can check out their car, buy the part and then come to US to install it.

 

That’s why I deal with CARQUEST. They have their over the counter trade, but they would never think about undercutting the repair shop business.

 

The area rep for this new parts store came to me an invited my staff and myself to their grand opening. I laughed and walked away.

 

Was I wrong not to accept his invitation? How would you react?

 

Ok, i should have found a better topic for my first post, but oh well

 

I am pretty sure you are talking about an Advance Auto Parts opening in your area, I have worked for them for 3 years.

 

 

$17.99 o2, we all know this is the 1 wire gm.

$14.99 rotor is for a mid 90s suzuki i have never heard of

 

they put that price because people are stupid and don not read where it says STARTING AT*, there for they walk in expecting a 15 dollar rotor for a car that uses $100 rotors

 

By a store selling code readers to the public it is not undercutting the shops very much. Generally the customers who walk in your shops door, do NOT walk into mine.(though i have seen many customers that should walk into your shop, changing a o2 is not going to fix a cat efficiency code, or a lean code, or a rich code)

 

if i were you i would have seen what they had to offer for me, what stocking programs do they have that carquest does not. how does there pricing work, will it be better for me. even if you didnt use them for a main supplier, when you need that part that was boxed wrong elsewhere, or out of stock, they are a phone call away. and most of the time when "Joe i use AZ most of the" time calls, we try like hell to win him over. and the parts are there in no time

 

we offer free battery install because it is a huge money maker, and it offers the customer the chance to make sure there battery is bad before buying one. (when the alternator is bad on a PITA car,i cant tell the customer to call me later and i will do it, i think of a shop in town that i would trust and has a good rate, i send them there. this could have been your shop but you laughed us off....)

 

The store that i work in, has more parts in stock than the 4 stores in town, we have a large commercial customer base

 

 

if any of this comes off as A**hole ish, then i didnt mean for it to sound that way