NAPA vs. Autozone vs. O'Reilly... price and quality?

wrote: "their back yard.Two of those vehicles, the Chevrolet and the Jeep have
been sitting there for about a year, or more.Sooner or later, the city
is going to haul those vehicles off to the impound yard.I think the"


And just WHERE is this - some communist country??
Vehicles sitting in their BACK yard might be towed off
by the city?

On 1/6/2016 7:41 PM, wrote:
> wrote: "their back yard.Two of those vehicles, the Chevrolet and the Jeep have
> been sitting there for about a year, or more.Sooner or later, the city
> is going to haul those vehicles off to the impound yard.I think the"
>
>
> And just WHERE is this - some communist country??
> Vehicles sitting in their BACK yard might be towed off
> by the city?
>

Yes, USA is now a communist country.

My employee's father has an RV in my parking lot (with
current tags) after he was threatened with a tow from his
own driveway as 'abandoned vehicle'.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

In article >,
> wrote:
>I just ant to say that it is very important. Would you buy cheap parts on ebay?

The problem is that really none of them tend to have consistently good
quality. I try and work with locally-owned shops whenever possible.

I will say that the top tier parts from NAPA tend to be better than the
top tier products from the other chains... but the lower tier ones are just
as bad as the lower tier ones from the other chains.

And yes, I'd buy parts on ebay. Sometimes that's the only way to find some
things for older cars.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 01/07/2016 05:46 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> On 1/6/2016 7:41 PM, wrote:
>> wrote: "their back yard.Two of those vehicles, the Chevrolet and the Jeep have
>> been sitting there for about a year, or more.Sooner or later, the city
>> is going to haul those vehicles off to the impound yard.I think the"
>>
>> And just WHERE is this - some communist country??
>> Vehicles sitting in their BACK yard might be towed off
>> by the city?
>
> Yes, USA is now a communist country.
>
> My employee's father has an RV in my parking lot (with
> current tags) after he was threatened with a tow from his
> own driveway as 'abandoned vehicle'.

The City gave us static about "too many vehicles" -- all of which were
either currently registered or in official non-op status. That's why we
sold the 55 Chevy for $500 and the 58 Chevy pickup for $100.

Before that I had vaguely thought that zoning regs were OK. Not any
more. If it's intrusive or none, I pick none.

--
Cheers, Bev

On 01/07/2016 07:02 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> In article >,
> > wrote:
>>I just ant to say that it is very important. Would you buy cheap parts on ebay?
>
> The problem is that really none of them tend to have consistently good
> quality. I try and work with locally-owned shops whenever possible.
>
> I will say that the top tier parts from NAPA tend to be better than the
> top tier products from the other chains... but the lower tier ones are just
> as bad as the lower tier ones from the other chains.
>
> And yes, I'd buy parts on ebay. Sometimes that's the only way to find some
> things for older cars.

I've used Pep Boys for decades. Their 'lifetime' parts really are --
when I took a water pump (or something) from the used car we just bought
to make sure I got the right replacement they said "That's one of ours"
and gave me a new one. Even brake pads were lifetime.

I've never bought car parts from ebay, but I've never had any problems
with any of the electronics I've bought. Some trivial things have
disappeared in the mail or been bad at birth, and the companies made
good on those. I'd worry about buying expensive stuff, but so far so good.

--
Cheers, Bev

On Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 2:44:37 PM UTC-6, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 01/07/2016 07:02 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> > In article >,
> > > wrote:
> >>I just ant to say that it is very important. Would you buy cheap parts on ebay?
> >
> > The problem is that really none of them tend to have consistently good
> > quality. I try and work with locally-owned shops whenever possible.
> >
> > I will say that the top tier parts from NAPA tend to be better than the
> > top tier products from the other chains... but the lower tier ones are just
> > as bad as the lower tier ones from the other chains.
> >
> > And yes, I'd buy parts on ebay. Sometimes that's the only way to find some
> > things for older cars.
>
> I've used Pep Boys for decades. Their 'lifetime' parts really are --
> when I took a water pump (or something) from the used car we just bought
> to make sure I got the right replacement they said "That's one of ours"
> and gave me a new one. Even brake pads were lifetime.
>
> I've never bought car parts from ebay, but I've never had any problems
> with any of the electronics I've bought. Some trivial things have
> disappeared in the mail or been bad at birth, and the companies made
> good on those. I'd worry about buying expensive stuff, but so far so good.
>
> --
> Cheers, Bev

What is in my back yard now? I am Glad you asked. My old trailer that I enclosed a few years ago with pressure treated two by fours and pressure treated plywood and no nails, I hand twisted every one of those screws in there, my 1914 Ford Model T is inside my trailer. Near my trailer sits my 1948 Willys Jeep. Maybe I ought to build a shed around my Jeep.Other stuff in my back yard, my old metal trailer steps I use when I wash the top of my van in my driveway and my two wheels yard cart. And my sweet 13 years old Australian Blue Heeler Cattle Dog that died of cancer last September, I buried herself in my back yard. Rest in Peace, Blueberry doggy.

As a owner of two German autos,I use Ebay,or Ebay.de solely. They don't have the high prices mark up as chain stores.I use TRW and Moog parts,as they are good,some German parts are high,and they also now outsource.My experince with Communist China parts is they last 30 days.

This may be a little off-topic, but I went through something vaguely similar when buying parts for a front brake job on a Mazda 2.

One afternoon I went to three local shops: Pep Boys, Advance Auto, and O'Reilly, in roughly that order.

Only two had the front rotors, and wanted about $50 each.

All three had pads, which varied from $50 to $60 a set (unless I misunderstood, and that was for only *one* wheel).

None of those had as much markup as the mechanic: he wanted to use "premium" rotors at $88 each (ouch!) and a brake pad set priced at $83. I know mechanics have overhead costs, but the labor cost is already sky-high, so this markup seems just silly. I don't think you have to pay "premium" prices to get a decent set of rotors, do you? Further incentive to learn how to do the brakes myself.

Meanwhile, I found a front brake rotor & pads kit (including ceramic pads), at least claming to be original equipment quality rotors, on Rockauto.com for $88 and change.

It doesn't have quite the convenience of going into a retail store, but if you plan ahead, you can save a whole lot of money.

On Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 12:39:21 PM UTC-8, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 01/07/2016 05:46 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> > On 1/6/2016 7:41 PM, wrote:
> >> wrote: "their back yard.Two of those vehicles, the Chevrolet and the Jeep have
> >> been sitting there for about a year, or more.Sooner or later, the city
> >> is going to haul those vehicles off to the impound yard.I think the"
> >>
> >> And just WHERE is this - some communist country??
> >> Vehicles sitting in their BACK yard might be towed off
> >> by the city?
> >
> > Yes, USA is now a communist country.
> >
> > My employee's father has an RV in my parking lot (with
> > current tags) after he was threatened with a tow from his
> > own driveway as 'abandoned vehicle'.
>
> The City gave us static about "too many vehicles" -- all of which were
> either currently registered or in official non-op status. That's why we
> sold the 55 Chevy for $500 and the 58 Chevy pickup for $100.
>
> Before that I had vaguely thought that zoning regs were OK. Not any
> more. If it's intrusive or none, I pick none.
>
> --
> Cheers, Bev

You guys got that right. Zoning is all about the rich folks sensitive nature. They might be offended by seeing an older vehicle. Such a thing might affect the impression they are trying to make with their visitors. BS crap! Not many freedoms left in this country. Even a starving person would be arrested for poaching the "kings" fish or deer. We are easily just as bad now in this country as it was in europe when people were fleeing to come to america when this country was first discovered. Think about it. You don't even own your own home if they can tax you on it. Fall on hard times and they take it away from you.

On Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 11:22:50 AM UTC-6, wrote:
> On Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 12:39:21 PM UTC-8, The Real Bev wrote:
> > On 01/07/2016 05:46 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> > > On 1/6/2016 7:41 PM, wrote:
> > >> wrote: "their back yard.Two of those vehicles, the Chevrolet and the Jeep have
> > >> been sitting there for about a year, or more.Sooner or later, the city
> > >> is going to haul those vehicles off to the impound yard.I think the"
> > >>
> > >> And just WHERE is this - some communist country??
> > >> Vehicles sitting in their BACK yard might be towed off
> > >> by the city?
> > >
> > > Yes, USA is now a communist country.
> > >
> > > My employee's father has an RV in my parking lot (with
> > > current tags) after he was threatened with a tow from his
> > > own driveway as 'abandoned vehicle'.
> >
> > The City gave us static about "too many vehicles" -- all of which were
> > either currently registered or in official non-op status. That's why we
> > sold the 55 Chevy for $500 and the 58 Chevy pickup for $100.
> >
> > Before that I had vaguely thought that zoning regs were OK. Not any
> > more. If it's intrusive or none, I pick none.
> >
> > --
> > Cheers, Bev
>
> You guys got that right. Zoning is all about the rich folks sensitive nature. They might be offended by seeing an older vehicle. Such a thing might affect the impression they are trying to make with their visitors. BS crap! Not many freedoms left in this country. Even a starving person would be arrested for poaching the "kings" fish or deer. We are easily just as bad now in this country as it was in europe when people were fleeing to come to america when this country was first discovered. Think about it. You don't even own your own home if they can tax you on it. Fall on hard times and they take it away from you.

NAPA store people wouldn't let me use their restroom to take a leak. I never go to NAPA anymore.