O'Reilly's Auto Parts

[Roadmarks]

I didn't want to start a "rip O'Reilly's a new one" scene here, only relate a positive experience in getting parts for my '71 C10. As with most things, it is all about the people. I'll take a flaps where I know all "the guys" any day, but here there is only ONE left, and they are a 20 mile round trip for me. Now, the loonies in Congress are debating whether to make it illegal for anyone but "Certified Mechanic" to work on a vehicle! What next?

Les

[Ed 72 Sierra Grande]

So far pretty good exp's at Oreilly's with wider range of products and availability.

Great to be able to look up parts before hand. Or always bring your part for reference

and hope a young kid can find the part in the system. Any auto parts store has the

helpful newbie and the cranky tired tenured guy at the helm. Crapshoot any day of the

week.

[kcfirstbuild]

I work at a Parts City store which is the independent side of O' Reilly. Same price just owned by some one not the company.

[newbraunie]

Good overall experience with O'Reilly if you know what you are looking for. The staff at my local store work hard help me find the parts I am after and the prices and brands are decent. I like it that they do not push a cheap house brand. If they do not have it in stock they can order it and have it there next day. I go to Napa for hard to find parts and almost never to AutoZone as I have had horrible experiences with their house brand garbage Duralast parts.

[Musclerodz]

wiper motors work, but have you tried the washer pumps? They are a joke, had Oreillys order 10 of them and none worked correctly, part is made wrong. compalint is not against oreilly's. they simply sell what they stock.

My local store knows me by name, and when I walk in the door, only certain people will help me and I trained them that way. When a newbie "attempts" tp help me I try to smile until my patients wears thin, and that is usually when one of the other guys that knows me steps in to care of my needs. I don't have any problem with guys learnign their job, I take issue with idiots I have to argue with behind the counter, or have to tell them where to find their own parts behind the counter. It is a large source of where I buy consumables and I am pretty loyal to that store because of the employees that do take care of me.

[treveiger]

First time i went in to them i had problems when i went to go get a timing cover seal the, guy wouldnt admit he didnt know what he was talking about and just kept repeating there wasnt one so i left and went to advanced but then later on advanced messed me up on the water pump(gave me the wrong one and told them before i bought it it looked wrong but they kept saying it was) so i went back to oreillys and got the stuff i needed and it turned out great. Its mainly whos there at the time it seems like .

[nickp51chevy]

Originally Posted by 68anniversary

I work for Oreilly's and I can sympathize with you. We do have a few kids that are new, but we are happy to give a kid a job. You have to understand nobody is going to get rich working for a Parts store so new people and turnover are a way of life.

I just want to say I go out of my way to help customers find parts for their classic and antique cars. We have a lot of old cars running around our area and I like to think we do our best to keep them from the crusher.

So maybe next time be patient with that kid behind the counter, Im sure he is trying to do the best job he can. BTW I work with several women also, one of which does mechanic work on the weekends.

I understand that people have to start somewhere. I have no problem with that. I just prefer to go to someone who knows what they are doing, and actually likes working on cars and trucks. It kinda hurts the ol' wallet when you buy something that can't be returned if it is opened, and it's the wrong part. I also like going to a locally owned parts store. Plus the guys I go see are also 67-72 enthusiasts.

[LilD]

OReilleys is the only place I go around my area. Usualy cheaper than others here and they usualy have the parts stocked. You get the typical kids behind the counter that dont know what youre looking for but theres also one or two older car guys that do. Ive never had an issue with them.

[sleepingbag]

More then any industry I know of in auto parts "people buy parts from people, not companies". An old dog 15 year counterman at NAPA is going to bring home close to 20 dollars an hour, and we all know a counterman who could very well be a manager or asst. mgr at any other store, but still rides the stool and flips the catalogs. Those guys are few and far between, and thank goodness they still look for our parts, cause I know they make my life a damn bit easier. NAPAs business model accomodates that guy, the others do not..

[shrike]

Originally Posted by AusTx68

I hit my local O'Reilly's over any other place in the area. They keep a lot early parts in stock that I can't find anywhere else (locally) and I don't always want to wait for shipping.

But as was mentioned above, you have to get the right person behind the counter when looking for parts. Some folks don't know anything beyond what's on the computer and have no experience with vehicles older then 1990! One other thing, just because the box is labeled 19xx Chevy Truck doesn't mean it's the correct part. I was given the correct brake calipers as labled but the part inside was for a later model truck. This has happened at least 3 separate times. One was ball joints and the other control arm bushings.

Yup. Just had this happen with a wiper motor. Box had the part number for a 3 terminal but it was a 4 terminal in the box.

[raider65]

pretty lucky where I'm at....Alot of old timers that have been in the business for awhile..and some that are into the race scene....at least at the ones on my side of town. Even the couple of ladies at the local autozone are pretty good at getting the right stuff

[big mike71]

Originally Posted by kcsa75

O'Reilly's is very popular in this area. In fact, they're all over the place. I agree the prices are great. The only downside is they have a lot of Dumbasses working in the stores. If you know what you need, you're usually OK. Otherwise, you're taking a chance.

I have a Car Quest just down the road from the house. I find the prices are comparable and being they are litterally attached to a regional distribution center, it's very rare something is out of stock, even on Sunday!

Do you live in Independence? All of the O'Reilly's around are terrible.

[breezy]

Originally Posted by sleepingbag

More then any industry I know of in auto parts "people buy parts from people, not companies". An old dog 15 year counterman at NAPA is going to bring home close to 20 dollars an hour, and we all know a counterman who could very well be a manager or asst. mgr at any other store, but still rides the stool and flips the catalogs. Those guys are few and far between, and thank goodness they still look for our parts, cause I know they make my life a damn bit easier. NAPAs business model accomodates that guy, the others do not..

I still flip those ole catalogs. And I work for the O. If you seem to have a counterman that won't look in a book tell them to check the manufactures website. O has access to several. I find more odd parts there then in a book. We hardly get catalogs anymore.If the computers are down most guys just lock-up. I have a pad and pen and just keep chugging

[coloradosean2009]

Originally Posted by man-a-fre

Lately i've had a few problems with them not holding up there part of the deal on lifetime warranty parts.Alternator bearings were squeaking horribly loud but still charged so they wouldnt warranty it till it went out.I'm no longer a oreilly customer here locally due to them trying to get out of there lifetime warranty stuff.

A pile of metal shavings dumped into the windings while turning would have "cured" the problem with it still charging.

[60ratrod]

i gotta agree with the majority of the people talking about "talk to the right guy". i'm kinda picky about where i get my parts. occasionally i go to the big napa that's across the bridge in burlington about 5 miles from my house and they occasionally have good prices and knowledgeable people. the last time that i was in their store was this last weekend seeing what they had in electric fuel pumps for my tpi conversion. well they didn't have any but the guy that i talked to looked up a couple different makers like professional products, holly and edelbrock and even printed me off a price quote. but i usually go to the oreilly's and talk to 3 people. and i even love to bs with them. it just helps when you're trying to get things and we even brain storm on things that i can use when something is hard to find or how to make it work. and the best part about these guys that i talk to let me open the boxes to look at the part that i am about to get just to make sure that its the right part. and one of them is retired navy and the other has a son in the army so they tend to understand where i come from most of the time with the tight budget so they find the best part for the best price. otherwise when i was living in oak harbor on base i would always go to the then shucks now oreilly's and they usually let me behind the counter cause i was in there so often. at one point i told them that i may as well be considered a client rather than a customer and we had a good chuckle at that. i still go to that one when i need something when i have to go to oak harbor. but again its all about who you talk to. and it always isn't the salty looking guy. sometimes its the kid who looks so new you can still see the fresh out of the package creases in his shirt

[68anniversary]

Originally Posted by big mike71

Do you live in Independence? All of the O'Reilly's around are terrible.

So Big Mike, I assume you have been to all of the Oreilly's and they all suck? Pretty strong words without giving reasons. I work there and we do not "suck" as you say. I am sorry you have had bad experiences when you went to an Oreilly's but you would be amazed what it's like behind the counter. People do not know what year their car is, sometimes not even the model. They come in wanting us to be mind readers. We have people call on the phone asking if we can fix their car or tell them what's wrong? I will tell you I have spent more than one lunch hour or even after work helping people that are working on their cars in out parking lot. One time I helped a stranded woman that just bought an old Ford truck when her starter went out in the lot. I stayed over an hour after my shift and helped her install it and sent her on her way. and no I didn't ask for money. We have put in light bulbs and wipers all the time. We aren't perfect everyone has a bad day but we do the best we can for our customers
Sorry to ramble on but when you make a blanket statement to hundreds of people on here slamming a business without offering an explanation I feel the need to defend the company that signs my checks.

[muckyp]

I don't often chime in on such postings, but I feel I must give my local O'reilly's a thumbs up. You guys are right that it absolutely depends on the person behind the counter. The manager at the store in Mesquite, TX is the hands down best parts counter person I have ever dealt with. She, yes "she", goes above and beyond to help me find parts to my mismatched vehicles. I have built offroad vehicles and trucks that you can't just plug year models and makes into a computer and pop out a part number. She knows an unbelievable amount of info about parts and how to research them. The other people working in the store have good intentions but just don't have the knowledge and desire to find that obscure part.

[Dano69c10]

I recommend buying online and picking up in the store.
I went online one day because I needed motor mounts for my '70. I checked the availability and the local o'reillys had 'em. I didn't get a part number and I didn't buy them online because I didn't want to use the computer at work to make a purchase. I stopped by on the way home home from work and the lady behind the counter asked me the required questions, got on the computer, and then said that they do not carry the motor mounts. She asked me to wait while she checked a book, but the book she looked in only went back to '75. She said "sorry" and told me to try CarQuest. So I stopped by car quest and told the guy I had a 70 c10 with a 350/350 combo and while I was yackin', he had gone to the stock shelfs and came back with the right mounts (didn't use a computer or catalog).
I like o'reillys, but will only use the online buy and store pickup. I like the counter service at Car Quest, but they are not open as late and it is farther from my home.

[timjt]

I think I know which woman in mesquite your talking about! She knows her stuff, another female manager up here in Mckinnney off of 5 is one of the best workers I've delt with there.

[id_unavailable]

I hate to say this but for me in todays economy I look at price vs quality vs service only. The person with the best price may out rule the total quality or service. I look at porter built and the quality is excellent but can I afford it with what I have on my plate?...no I cant. ( I hope he keeps going with the same philosophy although I cant be his customer). I like my O'reiley store but they were beat out by a coupon offered online by advance for the exact same part. I used to buy parts from Lopers. I loved the place. If they came back today I know I would still look at price and that is why we have summit racing today. Did I do this? Did we do this? Did corporate America do this?

Dang I apologize for the stupid rant. Where did that come from?

[Shyguy]

Originally Posted by id_unavailable

I hate to say this but for me in todays economy I look at price vs quality vs service only. The person with the best price may out rule the total quality or service. I look at porter built and the quality is excellent but can I afford it with what I have on my plate?...no I cant. ( I hope he keeps going with the same philosophy although I cant be his customer). I like my O'reiley store but they were beat out by a coupon offered online by advance for the exact same part. I used to buy parts from Lopers. I loved the place. If they came back today I know I would still look at price and that is why we have summit racing today. Did I do this? Did we do this? Did corporate America do this?

Dang I apologize for the stupid rant. Where did that come from?

Sounds good to me.

[rusty baker]

I bought an alternator at O'reillys that didn't work. They used a homemade tester, a motor on a board, to test it. Refused to replace it. Went to Autozone to buy another, when I told the clerk what happned at O'Reillys, he tested it on a machine and said it wasn't any good. He then said since they carried the same brand that he would warranty it for me. The new one cost me nothing.