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 example. But my experience proves that I was not 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..."

 

[SenorNoob]

Counter people is why I usually stick to the O'Reilly's here in town. I went to school with the last 2 managers and my dad worked with the one before that (who is regional now). No too hard to get what I want. Even when I just describe the truck and why the "stock" parts don't fit.

 

[JohnnyO]

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.

I don't know if they still have this but Cadillac and Lincoln used to have "livery packages" with heavy duty brakes, suspension, and sometimes cooling. Meant for cars that would either see a lot of miles in livery service (think airport black cars) or be hearse and limo conversions and significantly heavier than stock. Cadillac's package back in the late-90's and 2000's included six-lug wheels. Yeah, just try and find those brake rotors now.

Was talking to a Ford service tech at the Ford Nationals and he said that Shelby Mustangs are perfectly fine to work on. Parts just come from Ford Performance Parts. Saleens are a PITA to get parts for because they kept changing suppliers. Brakes on one Saleen might be different than brakes on another one.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I don't know if they still have this but Cadillac and Lincoln used to have "livery packages" with heavy duty brakes, suspension, and sometimes cooling. Meant for cars that would either see a lot of miles in livery service (think airport black cars) or be hearse and limo conversions and significantly heavier than stock. Cadillac's package back in the late-90's and 2000's included six-lug wheels. Yeah, just try and find those brake rotors now.

If done right it should still all come up by the VIN at a dealer.

Caravans and the like were like that too brakewise.

Was talking to a Ford service tech at the Ford Nationals and he said that Shelby Mustangs are perfectly fine to work on. Parts just come from Ford Performance Parts. Saleens are a PITA to get parts for because they kept changing suppliers. Brakes on one Saleen might be different than brakes on another one.

Shelby's at least for awhile were halfway Ford sponsored. They were built on the same line as the regular Mustangs, one of the stipulations was they couldn't take any longer to assemble on the line as a normal Mustang. I don't know if they still do that or not.

Saleen and Roush buy GT's and dress them up with their own power adders, suspensions and appearance packages. They are not quite as tight with Ford as Shelby is.

 

[oldgeek]

I like our small town parts store. It's a family owned store. They are affiliated with Parts City now. They won't charge me a core charge on things knowing I'll bring the core back asap. When they were affiliated with Advanced Auto, it was real easy to look up the part number on the website and ask them to order it. Parts City's website isn't as good. A lot of times their prices are competitive with Rock Auto, especially after shipping is included.

 

[Roert42]

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.

I think that’s called stealing.

Normally when I buy stuff at a store I still have to wait in the same line with the others.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Just my observation here, but it seems that the age of the person at the counter plays a big part in the level of service I get at any store, not just parts stores.

I was in the drive-through at a Chic-fil-A in my Ranger, where the restaurant was having a promotion on frozen drinks. I'm super reserved about the kind of stuff I put in my body, so when the college-age girl approached me (she was very nice to me) with a tray containing a sample of a frozen drink, she asked me if I wanted a frozen Powerade. Those are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup which I believe is a factor in developing dementia, so I declined.

She froze. I could see panic behind her eyes. Nobody had told her that this may be an outcome of her offering. Life had not prepared her for this moment. After about 10 seconds, she said, "OK, thank you!" and moved on to the next vehicle. As I pulled forward under the awning, I heard her exclaim to the other girls that somebody "actually said no" to her drink offering, like it was so notable that it caused her to consider that people can make a choice and that not everything goes as planned - or maybe it didn't. Maybe she looked at it like there was something wrong with me, and why didn't I just take the free sample? There is something wrong with me, but that's not it.

Recently I went into the O'Reilly in town, knowing what I wanted. There were two guys in there, a younger guy and a much older guy. When the younger guy saw me come in, he immediately went into customer service mode, queuing up the search on the computer. He said, "what do you need?" and I mentioned that I was looking for the bearing grease. He did the same thing the girl did. He couldn't find it in the parts catalog (I assume because it wasn't a part). He said, "I don't think we sell that here..." and I told him I was going to take a look anyway.

I knew where it was. The older guy came around the corner of the aisle I was on after the younger guy said he couldn't find it, and looked both frustrated with his... coworker? Maybe this guy was a manager? I don't know, but he saw I did know what I was after and said, "yeah, you're in the right spot for what you're looking for," turned around, and disappeared into the racks.

I don't think these kids are stupid. They're showing the same traits as I did when I was learning under pressure, and unfortunately there's nobody to teach them about how the world works, so they're not prepared - emotionally, socially, or educationally - for being an adult. I felt bad for both those younger people, and a little afraid for the future. Some of these grown adults will use the tools they've got and struggle, making decisions based on limited knowledge, and never looking beyond their immediate experiences to broaden their minds.

Others have a chance, but here's the thing. We can't just pass blame and not help this younger generation. We have knowledge they need. We have experience some of them are in awe of, and really want to learn. It's the parents leaving their kids in front of a screen and then the education system frankly burying "the bar" (remember 'raise the bar'?) via NCLB, so yeah, it's on us to teach them the way.

I've been to college. Twice. You know what I learned? Not information to advance my knowledge for the degree I was after, no! I learned that trans people don't have mental illness. I learned that men are inherently pigs and racism is a byproduct of the American Way. I learned that a "professor" can clock entirely out after providing a list of readily available and free media like YouTube videos and open links to online articles that, for some reason cost me $52,000 after nearly 8 years of a 4-year curriculum, so I could get hired by companies that require that special sheet of paper.

I have a degree in both general IT and computer forensics and digital investigation. I use them because I sought out more than just what was provided to me. This is a wild tangent here to say, if this is "college level education" then yeah. It should be free.

The whole system is broken and we're all a part of it, but in my opinion none of us are at our best unless we're helping someone else be better. That older guy at the parts store could've taken the time to show the younger guy the ropes. That girl with the samples needed more instruction because for her, it wasn't "common sense". That would require enough people to know for it to be common.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I was at Home Depot purchasing some stone blocks for a landscaping project. There were two sizes and I was buying the smaller size. The girl rang them up as the larger more expensive size and I happened to catch it and told her it wasn't right. I took a picture of the tag on the rack with the price on it. She didn't believe me and refused to go check the price herself. She was going by the picture she had on her computer and the price it showed. The small and larger blocks looked the same. I even pointed out the obvious size difference since it listed the measurements. I had to go find another employee who confirmed the price for me. You really have to be careful that you're not being overcharged at those home improvement stores.

In schools today they don't want anyone left behind, and don't want anyone to feel bad if they're not as bright as the other kids, so they can end up setting the pace and holding back everyone else in their class. Reality is that some kids need slower classes, and some kids need advanced. There's nothing wrong with identifying a child's learning abilities and grouping them appropriately.

My ex-girlfriends' son was brilliant but couldn't spell for crap and didn't see the point in memorizing how to spell words when he could just ask his phone how to spell them.

I'm not going down that college rabbit hole. I'll get pissed off and violate my own forum rules.

I don't trust the modern education system at any level, and I'll just leave it at that.

I'm seeing younger people getting involved in Ford Rangers and discovering things many of us have known for a long time. It's like we came full circle and are starting over. I saw someone recently post a video in amazement that you can unclip the cables on a tailgate and then remove it!

I hate social media.

I hate that there's a TRS facebook group.

I hate the quick likes and instant gratification.

I hate that people are more interested in social media fame than being part of a community.

I like when we can get people into the forum and be part of a community that actually helps each other. I like when those people actually get together and wheel, hang out at car shows, or have some kind of adventure together.

We can bitch about the younger generation, or we can try to take them under our wing and educate them.

My greatest mentors weren't teachers, athletes, or movie stars. They were my father who could fix or build anything, my uncles who were the same way, my mother who was always that one person you could count on to be there for you, and my friends that worked on their own shit which led me to feel like if they can do it, I can do it.

We learn from each other.

Build your shit.

Share it with the younger generations.

Teach them.

Inspire them.