Parts store drones

[trukman1]

I agree with others that it's the person not whether it'a a man or woman. My local Advance store has a young lady that KNOWS what she's doing while the older guy right beside her will tell you he doesn't know about cars, just sells parts.
At Autozone, I went in for a water pump, got an older lady didn't know diddly. Told her what numbers to look up and went from the $86 and $120 pump that they couldn't get to a $24 unit that was an alternate and on the shelf.
For most serious parts I go to NAPA and wait for one of two guys and won't trust anyone else. Five minutes wait beats extra trips anytime!

[hobby67stepside]

In the little town I do business in there's a Car Quest and those guys will bend over backward to help me out. I suppose it helps that I know them personally. The owner and the main counter man are roundy-round racers but they respect my restoration and street rod-type interests. When I say little I mean little. The pop. of the town is about 700 and I live out in the boonies (I love it). They can almost always have any part I need overnight.

[nroden]

I think it depends on the person and the individual store. Not whether they're male or female or the chain that they're a part of.
In Lexington there is NAPA. There is a woman that works there but have never dealed with her. Young guy is kind of a jerk and don't know much(had never seen fuses like ours before.. LOL) and an older guy that worked at Hoflander Ford who knows some. There is a real tall, former cop, with a 71 who knows tons. They commonly dont have what you need though.
In Higginsville is an O' Reilly and never any problems there. They have a good computer system though that tells them everything... not all of them know cars that well but they dont need to with the computer.
In Richmond there is an O' Reilly and they are average.
In Odessa there is O' Reilly along I-70. They are real good. My favorite is CarQuest in Odessa though. Smaller place but the best and they know their stuff.
Then in Blue Springs I have been to Advanced and they stink. Dont know ANYTHING.

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Nick Rodenberg
Wellington, MO
http://nickrod.port5.com
You can click on "My 72 Chevy Truck"
I have a 72 Cheyenne 10 with a V8 350 and a TH-350 auto-tranny.
White/Ochre/White
Runs well... working on body.
Hoping to have completed in March when I turn 16

[Jefe]

Well hate to break it to you...but you guys are pretty much right. I worked at Autozone (might be going back for extra cash) for two years and usually the other counter guys would call me over for anything older than a 1980. And I would bust it out for the customer in no time flat and the customer would then only come to me from then on...(and I am only 21 but certified) On the other hand we had a lady working with us (still do) she was 68 years old and new more than I ever hoped to know about cars...diagnose a problem in no time flat, new and old. She worked for Autozone for 14 years and Checker (shucks kragen) for like 12 years. Nobody would come to her so when I asked for her help everyone flipped out. hehe.

[Jefe]

btw Autozone carries SOOOO many parts for our trucks you wouldnt believe it. Just have to have the right person to deal with it and take the time to look it up for you...sometimes not even dealing with the computer..have to go to the good old fashioned books...before damned computers hehe.

[nosurf]

Sometimes it's a good idea to take a look in the employee parking area before choosing a parts store. In Manhattan KS I saw a sweeeeet 68 Camaro and a slammed 69 C-10 Longbed that you could eat off of parked at the Carquest. That's where I would go to get my parts!