I miss the old days of buying parts...

[rusty ol ranger]

When you walked into some hole in the wall auto value/napa or whatever, that smelled like rubber, trans fluid, and oil. Talked to some guy behind the counter named bob who would yank out his trusty 800page book and spend 15minutes finding the part you need...

Then when he found the part...you had 2, maybe 3 brands to choose from. All of decent quality...probably built here in the US. You went home...installed the part, and it worked properly right out of the box.

What brought this rant on is i was shopping front end parts for the vic. I went to rockauto...and of course there is 50 different brands...most ive never heard of...ranging from stupidly cheap to ridiculiously overpriced. You cant even trust the brands you know anymore....because most of their shit is exactly that...shit...and since front end parts are important and personally i hate changing them you want to make a good choice.

So then you go on google...spend an hour researching which brands to buy...every brand has 50/50 mixed reviews. So now youve wasted all this time just to still not have a solid choice in the matter.

So i ended up ordering mid teir parts...just so i can install them, not be broke, and hope whatever underpaid, overstressed, sweatshop worker that built them wasnt having an off day so my ball joint dont fail and send me into a guardrail/tree/peterbilt at 60mph.

Sorry....just had to vent a bit. The modern world has a way of sucking fun out of everything.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Ive succumbed to buying non critical stuff from Amazon, and making sure it has the 30 day refund.

I return a lot of parts.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It is definitely a huge problem.

I have a whole big rant that includes this all that I’ve been refining.

I’ve migrated to buying anything with a “lifetime” warranty from the local AZ that I can. I own my vehicles long enough, I will use that warranty.

 

[fastpakr]

Ive succumbed to buying non critical stuff from Amazon, and making sure it has the 30 day refund.

I return a lot of parts.

Same. For the price, I accept the risk of a quick run to drop the offensive new part at the nearby ups store.

I did have a surprising experience recently with the local Acura parts department. Their counter guy offered me wholesale pricing on their stuff just because I came in prepared with a part number. That made it cheaper than online places for most things, and they have it in my hands the next morning.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

It is definitely a huge problem.

I have a whole big rant that includes this all that I’ve been refining.

I’ve migrated to buying anything with a “lifetime” warranty from the local AZ that I can. I own my vehicles long enough, I will use that warranty.

I usually buy from rockauto. Unless i need it NOW then i go to napa and pay 3x as much and still have to wait overnight.

Just sucks that everything seems to be junk no matter where you get it.

Rockauto has pissed me off a few times recently with their parts catalog being off...i noticed it mostly with seals...then i ordered a fan switch for the bronco and it was wrong also. They list all the switches being the same from like 78-91. They are 4pronged because theres no "off" setting on the fan switch. The RBVs have 5 prong and i assume the 87+ F series do too.

The "off" setting on the older stuff was handled in the panel/floor/defrost side

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I really don't miss dealing with parts stores professionally on a daily basis.

I really miss junking.

I had a random thought awhile ago how much fun my son will have when he is old enough to go (he has 9 years)

Then the next thought was they never have anything of interest now, it is going to be a complete waste of time in 9 years.

To bypass both issues for my Ranger I try for NOS off ebay, just snagged a blower motor switch and a door switch from there and didn't have to explain what I was looking for to three people four times before finding it for them on their app.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I really don't miss dealing with parts stores professionally on a daily basis.

I really miss junking.

I had a random thought awhile ago how much fun my son will have when he is old enough to go (he has 9 years)

Then the next thought was they never have anything of interest now, it is going to be a complete waste of time in 9 years.

To bypass both issues for my Ranger I try for NOS off ebay, just snagged a blower motor switch and a door switch from there and didn't have to explain what I was looking for to three people four times before finding it for them on their app.

NOS is great if you can find it lol

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

NOS is great if you can find it lol

 

[fastpakr]

NAWSSS!

 

[RobbieD]

Today's parts, and the corporate commitment to excellence:

"It just has to look somewhat like the old one that you pulled off; it doesn't necessarily have to actually work."




Don't get me started, on how crappy today's parts are . . . . .

 

[Uncle Gump]

Being my own parts counter guy is far better then I've found around here.

been using Amazon for years. Most things get dropped at my door next day.

 

[RobbieD]

Today's parts, and the trusted old companies that have sold out to "investors":

"So what if it doesn't work; it has our name on it, so you got what ya paid for."

 

[Bill]

Being my own parts counter guy is far better then I've found around here.

been using Amazon for years. Most things get dropped at my door next day.

I've had mixed results with Amazon. They have a big issue of sellers selling name-brand parts, then they turn out to be some generic ChinaCo part in a counterfeit box. I also receive a used part that someone returned to Amazon.

I've had no issues with Rockauto other than their occasional warehouse thing where I'll order a set of spark plugs that they say will take a day to get here and it turns out one of the four ends up coming for a warehouse in Georgia and takes a week to get here.

 

[Roert42]

I guess I didn’t realize there use to be competent parts guys back 100 years ago.

I just live with it.



I had a guy at the local Honda/ Acura dealer tell me he would be able to figure out what battery I needed without the VIN. Even thought I had brought him the old Honda/Acura battery.


As far as quality goes. If it’s easy to get at and doesn’t require spilling of fluids, I’ll take the chance on cheap parts.
If it’s critical or requires significant disassembly to replace, I’ll do some research on brands and buy from a reliable source.

 

[Ranger Kip]

There's a few shops like that here in wellsboro still. I needed a female 3-Tee brake line fitting for my Ford 8n fuel lines. We looked through several manuals till we found one. Borden's Auto Parts.

I found a truck I wanted to use as a parts truck in a lot. I talked with the owner of the lot (old drinking buddy) and I got the owners contact and eventually bought it as a parts truck for my ranger. Cash exchanged and a phone number. When I'm done he will recycle the remnants.

Just a handshake and cash.

I have a few junkyards around me like that too.