Advance Auto Closing 100's of stores

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'm pretty sure the same things were said when carbs went to efi. As people learned the new systems there was innovations and upgrades made to older vehicles. If I had the space and time (and money) I'd be all over retrofitting EV into my old cars.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm pretty sure the same things were said when carbs went to efi. As people learned the new systems there was innovations and upgrades made to older vehicles. If I had the space and time (and money) I'd be all over retrofitting EV into my old cars.

Uh uh

I am sure lots of people want to blow their weekend removing the front fascia of a vehicle to replace a headlamp bulb.

Even the easy stuff like brakes, I think we are losing people that get any sort of enjoyment out of doing it themselves. Some vehicles have like 5 different options for brakes (most call themselves a GM product) which is infuriating to deal with.

And pricing is horrible, with my discount a Motorcraft spark plug for my 1987 302 was like $9 a pop at Carquest and I had to wait a day. They are $2.23ea on Amazon right now with free shipping.

To be fair... working on our newer stuff does nothing for me. I really do not care for it, everything is a PITA that fights every step of the way.

 

[Brain75]

ahmen brother... I enjoy working on my '48, and '90... my "daily driver" GM has been nothing but a nightmare under the hood anytime it has an issue.
For example, GM recalled the power steering pump on ALL 2006, some 2005, and some 2007 of my model every single last one of em made between feb of 05 and april of 07.

I took it to dealer (I own a 2006) and they plugged the VIN in and said "not affected" and refused to replace the pump. Took it to another dealer, same story. You could not even get them to read the recall and process build dates it was entirely 100% the computer says this VIN is a no, so it is a no.

Well of course the power steering pump let loose 1k mi. later. To get to that means taking the serpentine COMPLETELY off, not just slipping it over the pulley - to do that means prop-ing the engine up and removing the entire passenger engine mount. Like an idiot I only fixed the pump and did not pro-actively do the belt too, guess what I did 3 months later... full day each time removing 2/3 of the engine bay to get to the part that needs replaced. (All that crap is buried under the MAF sensor, air box upper and lower, and and and - it is as tight under the hood as a Prius. No fun at all!

Even brakes are a total ass pain on that vehicle as well, you can't use a piston compressor you have to turn the pistons counter clockwise with a special tool except nobody makes the tool (the car parts stores have a 4 way one that is waay too small), the only thing you can use that has half ass success is a vice grip and a 3' cheater bar for the first half till the piston recesses too much to bite anymore. The last half you better hope has warmed up enough and goes easy cause it is 2 screwdrivers held together in a origami mess with 2 pairs of vice grips and that doesn't work very well.

 

[Shran]

My buddy down the street has been a Ford mechanic for 30+ years... he has asked me a couple times why I didn't get into that field and said that I'd be good at it. My answer is that I wouldn't enjoy it as a hobby any more. He's the one who is always complaining about how complex new vehicles are and how he's needed both shoulders rebuilt after years of working overhead... no thanks. I think I'd get burned out really fast as a flat rate dealer tech, and I probably wouldn't make a good hourly guy... I like to take my time & do a good job.

I don't enjoy working on newer vehicles at all though. Front wheel drive cars are almost an automatic No if someone asks me to fix their stuff... I'll do brakes, radiators, easy stuff like that but someone else can do the bigger projects. I don't need the money bad enough to do side jobs... my hobby stuff is more important.

 

[superj]

/\ this is exactly how i feel.

--------------------------------------------

Here O'Reilly's liked to build its stores right next to existing Advance stores. I don't know whether this is common elsewhere, but having a competitor literally right next door can't be helping Advance.

advanced auto just built a store next to the oriellys here in my town, like opened a month ago new. the oriellys was our only parts store for ........ dang, probably almost 20 years here in flour bluff. if you want to jump on the highway, the next closest is napa, than 1/4 mile later, oriellys. than adavnaced, autozone, pepboys, and the rest are all over town from that point in an outwards circle

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My buddy down the street has been a Ford mechanic for 30+ years... he has asked me a couple times why I didn't get into that field and said that I'd be good at it. My answer is that I wouldn't enjoy it as a hobby any more. He's the one who is always complaining about how complex new vehicles are and how he's needed both shoulders rebuilt after years of working overhead... no thanks. I think I'd get burned out really fast as a flat rate dealer tech, and I probably wouldn't make a good hourly guy... I like to take my time & do a good job.

My brother did that for 18 years, his back is pretty much shot.

He "retired" this year at 37 and is now a Ford ASSET instructor teaching new Ford techs how to tech. He is off on Christmas break and is actually at the beach right now.

 

[sgtsandman]

Uh uh

I am sure lots of people want to blow their weekend removing the front fascia of a vehicle to replace a headlamp bulb.

Even the easy stuff like brakes, I think we are losing people that get any sort of enjoyment out of doing it themselves. Some vehicles have like 5 different options for brakes (most call themselves a GM product) which is infuriating to deal with.

And pricing is horrible, with my discount a Motorcraft spark plug for my 1987 302 was like $9 a pop at Carquest and I had to wait a day. They are $2.23ea on Amazon right now with free shipping.

To be fair... working on our newer stuff does nothing for me. I really do not care for it, everything is a PITA that fights every step of the way.

All this is why I'm probably never going to buy new again. There has been a couple intermittent glitches with the 2019 that is making me want to get a body-on frame 4X4 Explorer to rehabilitate and get rid of the 2019 while the getting is good.

It left the girlfriend stranded for an hour one time until the electronics in it decided to wake up and make it's weird noises. The battery is fairly new and tested just fine. So it wasn't that. I've been told that flashing the high beams will make it "wake up" when that happens. One shouldn't need to learn work around techniques to make their vehicle operate as it should.

The sensors on the front bumper don't like to be iced over either. Windshield deicing spray seems to work as a fix for that. There have been a couple other one off events that have happened as well. Then there is a potential transmission issue looming over one's head...

 

[Roert42]

People that enjoy working on older cars will always enjoy working on older cars.

People that have to fix their 15yo pos will always have to fix their 15yo pos. No matter if it’s gas, diesel, hybrid, or full electric.
If you got to get to work on Monday you’ll figure out a way to make it go, fun or not.


As far as the rear brakes on your 20 year old GM. Ford does the same thing for rear discs with the parking brake built in, other OEMs too. That’s why I prefer rear drums. It’s either the stupid ratcheting brake cylinder or a drum inside the disc (fyi, it’s worse).

 

[Roert42]

My brother did that for 18 years, his back is pretty much shot.

He "retired" this year at 37 and is now a Ford ASSET instructor teaching new Ford techs how to tech. He is off on Christmas break and is actually at the beach right now.

Happens in most fields.
The techs get burnt out and become either a Manger or a Trainer.
Whatever position happens to be available when they decide they’ve had enough.

 

[Brain75]

As long as we are pissing and moaning about fixing cars instead of Advanced Auto going kaput I have one that really really frosted my willy. The better half's civic (which is on it's death bed now - different thread), she ran the battery down once while traveling out of state, like left the dome light on overnight in sub zero weather. tried to start it, got one chug and then nothing... no biggie jump start. well the theft light started going bonkers and chime screaming away. She calls me up and says what do I do?... I google, instinctively tell her to disconnect the battery entirely for 30 minutes to clear the computer, and google some more... finally I find it. The computer has forgotten all keys, as far as it is concerned there is no legitimate (antitheft chip) key for the car - solution call a locksmith and have them reprogram in all the keys.

Cool, I tell her all this, she accepts it and calls a locksmith and specifically asks "can you reprogram a key, like add the first key with a computer not just clone" he says yes, $100 truck roll fee later he has left and not done a damn thing... $250 tow bill to honda, $250 to reprogram the one and only key she has on her (she was travelling so didn't have spare, valet, nothing but 1 key), and then back home facing another possible $250 to get her other 2 keys working... for the last 2 years she has lived with just 1 working key rather than deal with it because.... the computer to reprogram it is $400... not like a $30 forscan adapter and free software.

It is for this exact reason I told her you need to consider a Ford Fusion Hybrid for your next car (again different thread though).

 

[scotts90ranger]

Another $120 spent... got 8 spark plugs for the '97 Ranger, serpentine belt, set of plug wires, premium front brake pads (they were out of rotors), valve cover gasket, I think 4 oil filters, set of spark plugs for the wifes camry, one of those 10' pigtails of wire for the trailer side of a 7 pin connector, caps and valves for an A/C system with core tool and one of those galvanized 3x4' drip pans (I drive junk Fords, they're nice to have around ).

We'll see what else I think of, might stop by Friday after work... I tried to get a master and slave for the Ranger but they didn't have any, will see about trying another store or checking stock online first...

 

[901wd#2]

Do yourselves a favor and set up an account if you use one particular store often, you don’t have to provide a tax ID, but the discount works off of volume and certain products you’ll pay half of retail for others 90% just make a name up.

 

[kishy]

This is only going to seem slightly relevant, but whatever.

The availability of retail auto parts in the US has always fascinated me, being a Canadian in a border city. There are several major chains and a couple of independents in my area, but it seems like there's really only about 3 or 4 distribution networks they actually get their parts from, and prices are generally substantially higher than just (USD price * exchange rate). Most of the stores operate "standard business hours", e.g. M-F 9-5 type of deal, so your options for working on something in an evening or on a weekend are pretty limited and you make sure you stock up on whatever you might need before you tear into the project. For comparison, a half hour drive away near Detroit, there's an AutoZone distribution hub store open till midnight 7 days a week.

I buy a lot of stuff from RockAuto and ship it alternately to my home or work, or to my friend's house in Detroit and go get it (typically for really heavy stuff where the shipping cost across the border goes insane). But I've also spent a lot of money with Advance and a handful of money with AutoZone, and a smaller handful with O'Reilly, in all three cases, a mix of in-store, ship to home, and buy online/pick up in store. In one case I was changing u-joints on a Saturday evening and realized I had the wrong ones after the driveshaft was already out. No problem, hopped in my other car, drove across the border, and bought a pair of Advance's store brand U-joints, and was back in my driveway installing them an hour later. In another case, I was changing a rad hose in my friend's driveway in Detroit at 10PM and broke a hose clamp. No problem, walked 2 blocks over to an O'Reilly and bought a pack of them - for the price of a single one in Canada.

For the Ranger, on day 2 of owning it, the gas tank sprang a leak. Rust where the strap touches the tank. New Canadian-made Spectra Premium tank at a Canadian parts store? $475ish Canadian and had to be ordered in. Same Canadian-made Spectra Premium tank at Advance across the border? $88 US after a 30% off coupon code, and they had it in a local store.

I'll definitely be sad to see Advance go, if that's what this is the start of. I have a feeling the US auto parts market is going to gradually become a bit more like the Canadian auto parts market, and that's not a good thing for the DIYer.

 

[Bill]

Here O'Reilly's liked to build its stores right next to existing Advance stores. I don't know whether this is common elsewhere, but having a competitor literally right next door can't be helping Advance.

We're going to see a shakeout in this sector anyway. Pep Boys gave up selling parts a few years ago. That was a sign. As new cars become nearly impossible to work on outside of dealers and become EVs, the auto-parts stores will be shut out of parts for those because independent shops and vehicle owners won't be able to do the work.

We have numerous O'reilly's and Autozones either across the street from each other, or even in the same strip mall. I used to think Pep Boys was really cool back in the 80s and 90s. They carried everything for your car or truck whereas Kragen (which is O'reilly's out here now) and Chief only carried auto parts. I don't think we had Autozone out here back then. But, we had a ton of really good independent stores. As for Pep Boys, I don't think there is the market for all the junk people used to buy for their cars anymore, and what people do buy is a fraction of the cost on Amazon.

 

[Bill]

To be fair... working on our newer stuff does nothing for me. I really do not care for it, everything is a PITA that fights every step of the way.

Wait til you see what it takes to replace a heater core in some of the vehicles now. If you though pulling the dash back was bad, some of the cars require disassembly of the dash and disassembly of part of the engine compartment to get the heater core out. And the aggravating thing is it would be a 30 minute job if the manufacturer had an access panel in the plenum like they did decades ago.