Can't even look up oil filter # without your stupid phone now

[Jim Oaks]

Dude, is this thread for real? People work there and its literally their job to find you parts.

You've never had a "That's not the right part" conversation with the person behind the counter? LOL.

Yes, the person behind the counter can look up the oil filter part number for you. But you might have to wait in line behind other people waiting in line to get parts. I just want to get what I need and leave.

 

[Curious Hound]

I May have chosen an overused examole. But my experience proves that I was in overdramatic. I live in an area with typical chain store parts houses staffed by whatever warm body can show up most days.

The last really good parts store experience I had was on my way home from Colorado last year. I had finally figured out my coolant leak was a bad radiator cap. Stopped at a NAPA in a small farming community somewhere, maybe Kansas? The kind of store that has been there almost since cars were invented. Told the counter guy I needed a 13# radiator cap for an aftermarket radiator. He didn't ask me what vehicle because he listened and heard me say aftermarket radiator. He said it's probably one of 2 types. He grabbed both off the shelf and let me take them out and try them to see which one fit. The first one I tried was the right thing. I went back in and finished the deal. We had a nice chat. Then I traveled up the street a few blocks and got breakfast at the coffee shop he recommended. It was a winning experience all around and started my day off perfectly.

I have finally found a good local parts house. It's family owned and has a bunch of older guys working there that know how to do it. It's a few minutes of extra driving. But well worth driving past half a dozen chain stores.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

That's why @Jim Oaks pays us Mods the big money.


Or they want the VIN for almost everything.
Funeral home I used to work at, I'm a funeral director, had a hearse with a leaky power steering hose. They used a fairly large service shop in the city who had parts lookup computers, etc. Their computer puked when they put in the VIN because it was a hearse conversion and it came up "truck" and not a Cadillac CT5. You couldn't simply put in "Cadillac CT5" and find a power steering hose. I got home, found one on Amazon in less than five minutes (boss reimbursed me), took it to the shop, and said "Here's your flippin' power steering hose".

Handicap van suspensions are really fun too...

Newer cars you about need the VIN, there are so many different options they are hard to freestyle. Especially on the dealer side, with the VIN the parts book limits to THAT vehicle and it shows what packages and whatnot apply. It is awesome (at least on Stellantis Starparts)

Usually the VIN pulls up the vehicle as it left the factory so if an upfitter changed things (handicap conversion, hearse/limo conversion) their changes wouldn't be shown obviously.

GM is a PITA though, it wouldn't surprise me if they had some special order special fleet thing that screws everything up. They were the hardest to deal with when I was behind a parts counter.

GM brakes are especially horrible. Law enforcement Tahoes are the worst. They try to save themselves by putting a decal with a bunch of codes somewhere in the car that say what brake package it has. It may be in the glovebox, It may be back behind the seat with the spare tire it may be somewhere else. But it is there for your convenience...

They had like 3 brake options, it was a joke.

In the end we ended up throwing in the towel and just ordering brakes from GM which was probably their intention all along. Since they could pull it up by the VIN (accurately) it cut a lot of messing around with parts stores.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I walked into Autozone with a Ranger brake switch, put it on the counter and said”Dude, I need one of these.”

The look on his face was priceless.

I said, “Just messing with you, the part number is XX-XXXX.

I had to look up price and availability anyway.

I got into numerous arguments with counter help when I’d bring in a part number because they would insist on year/make/model. I’d be like, you don’t need to know that, I brought your part number, there’s nothing to look up unless it’s not on the shelf.

Sometimes I’d mess with them and be like, well, it’s an 89 Bronco II 2wd converted to a 4x4 with 86 B2 axles and a 91 Ranger 4.0 harness and computer with a 4.0 out of a 96 Explorer and 93 Explorer springs but we are looking for none of that. Does that all fit in that little box on the computer for year/make/model? Now take my part number and go get my part.

At one point when I’d walk in, someone would just log into the computer on the end of the counter and leave me be. I’d look up all my parts and go fetch them myself.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Sometimes I’d mess with them and be like, well, it’s an 89 Bronco II 2wd converted to a 4x4 with 86 B2 axles and a 91 Ranger 4.0 harness and computer with a 4.0 out of a 96 Explorer and 93 Explorer springs but we are looking for none of that. Does that all fit in that little box on the computer for year/make/model? Now take my part number and go get my part.

I used to just rattle off what I needed for each vehicle relating to what I needed.

I would get comments about how I had so many car projects.

"Nope just the one I didn't mention"



I went into O'Reilly's for zipties or something last year and one counterguy actually ran my plate (which was kind of weird), he was outside when I pulled in and he didn't think my Ranger sounded normal. "There is no way that thing has a 2.8..."