Advance, Autozone, O'Reilly, NAPA - Your Favorite

sohccammer427

sohccammer427

Joined
Dec 11, 2006
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479
Location
North Carolina, USA
Let's not turn this into a bashing thread. Just asking if given a choice which of the Big 4 do you normally shop?

For me, NAPA usually has the best selection of Euro oils, so I normally pick up oil there when they have their monthly specials.
When I was growing up NAPA was almost the only alternative to the dealership. Remember Echlin electrical/electronic parts? Good stuff.

AZ has really the lowest price on their STP and STP extended life oil filters, which they have for my Colorado that is not available at WM.

O'Reilly seems to carry a lot of OEM branded on certain items.

The town where I live has, two stores each for the Big 4, not including a Carquest, which is part of AA.

So I guess it just depends. If I have the time, I'll look online and compare products and prices. If I'm in no rush sometimes I'll go with Rock Auto.
 
I usually stop at O'Reillys mainly because it is the closest to me, but go to AA as my next choice. Then Napa, but it is the farthest away. Many years ago when I worked on cars professionally I went to either of the 3 independent auto supply stores in town. Of course at that time there weren't any of the chain stores here. Believe it or not 3 of the 4 independents are still in business.
 
In this order:
Napa
Auto Zone
Advanced Auto
O’Reilly

Reasons: Napa usually has best quality parts with Auto Zone not far behind. Unfortunately most of their staff needs more training, and education at least in my area. And the furthest away too only one location in my area for Napa, the rest have at least 4 locations. Advanced Auto has the best rewards program with some parts being decent and the staff being friendly but some stuff is not the best, which will be with anywhere. O’Reilly is last because in my area is very rude when you ask a question about a part and don’t even greet you when you come in. Also like other places most stuff is lower quality. For the lowest prices by far Advanced Auto on most things. For oil I go to Walmart can’t justify paying 2-3x more for the same product.
EDIT: Wanted to add Auto Zone and Napa are on top of my list too because they have a lot of things the other stores don’t have like I go to Napa for my CRC Knock’er Loose penetrating oil nobody else carries it. I liked it so well Napa started putting it on the shelf for me and others to buy. Auto Zone carries the Berryman Carburetor Cleaner which no other parts store here does. Along with a couple other items too.
 
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I know my mech tries to use Napa parts, he says he has the best luck with them. For me since I don't do my own OC or work it depends on what I need, my next battery purchase will be a Super Start from O'Reilly.
 
Amazon and Ebay first. Next it would be Autozone as it was easy to drive to during the workweek--although with work from home AAP is the closest store to me. I do shop some specific online vendors for special stuff, time to time.

Basically anything that can wait a few days for or be scheduled will get mailorder parts.

Fluids I generally get from Walmart. Along with batteries.
 
I live within 3 miles of an Oreillys, Napa, AZ, and AAP. Napa is usually my go to store account being 2 blocks away. It is a mostly commercial account store (kinda grungy) and caters to the shops with knowledgeable people behind the counter. It's not one that the DIYer just goes in to browse the selection, but they are usually friendly and will wait on you. The AZ is always super clean and usually pretty well stocked.
 
AutoMechanic said:
In this order:
Napa
Auto Zone
Advanced Auto
O’Reilly

Reasons: Napa usually has best quality parts with Auto Zone not far behind. Unfortunately most of their staff needs more training, and education at least in my area. And the furthest away too only one location in my area for Napa, the rest have at least 4 locations. Advanced Auto has the best rewards program with some parts being decent and the staff being friendly but some stuff is not the best, which will be with anywhere. O’Reilly is last because in my area is very rude when you ask a question about a part and don’t even greet you when you come in. Also like other places most stuff is lower quality. For the lowest prices by far Advanced Auto on most things. For oil I go to Walmart can’t justify paying 2-3x more for the same product.
EDIT: Wanted to add Auto Zone and Napa are on top of my list too because they have a lot of things the other stores don’t have like I go to Napa for my CRC Knock’er Loose penetrating oil nobody else carries it. I liked it so well Napa started putting it on the shelf for me and others to buy. Auto Zone carries the Berryman Carburetor Cleaner which no other parts store here does. Along with a couple other items too.
Click to expand...
That reminds when I called O'Reilly to double check to see if they had a battery in stock, I asked the kid if he had a multimeter we could check to make sure the battery tested at 12.6 and his response was "I think all ours test at 12.4".
 
The AutoZone stores look awesome. The team who designed their stores did a good job. BlueOval has a good point about the staff at NAPA. Many are still the old counter pros of yesteryear. Other's just basically look up parts on the computer. All things considered, for electrical/electronic parts I'd go with NAPA.
 
In my area Napa is the best. In my hometown it's a Parts City(an offshoot of Oreilly). It's the employees that make the difference in both places. There are parts I like and parts I don't like from all parts stores. My favorite aftermarket brake pads I can get at a parts store(Raybestos EHT are my first pick) are the Duralast Cmax from Autozone. I avoid their batteries and Duralast Gold brake pads though.
 
According to what I need. If I can find what I need on Amazon I’m good. Then it’s AAP, NAPA, O’Reilly, and finally Autozone. Always Walmart for oil and filters. Side bar: Wife and I rented a car several years ago when we went to Ireland. The wiper blades were shot. Pulled into a very small independent parts store parking lot, took one of the blades inside the store to get new ones. The owner asked me what year, make, etc. and instantly realized I was a tourist. He installed the new blades and said. “No charge. I’m glad you came to Ireland on vacation to help support our economy.” That’s a stone cold sign of appreciation in my book.
 
I find most parts stores to be poorly merchandised and difficult to "shop" in. It's one thing if I need a specific part from behind the counter, but to try and browse for an impulse purchase gives me a headache.

Lordco is the exception I've found, but their pricing (at least when I last lived in BC) was subject to the whim of the parts person behind the till, with out to lunch "list" prices and subsequently applied discounts. I get giving professionals a jobber rate, but it's not a very consumer friendly model.

With that said, I bought oil in Indiana once, and found the AutoZone to be relatively well laid out.

Edit - redundancy.
 
A very competitive business to be in, but then again, a lot of vehicles on the road.
A few stats from Wiki:

Autozone, Headquarters Memphis, TN, 6,400 stores, 10 Billion Revenue (2017)
Advance Auto, Headquarters Raleigh, NC, 6,300 stores, 9.6 Billion Revenue
O'Reilly, Headquarters Springfield, MO, 5,460 stores, 9.5 Billion Revenue
NAPA, Headquarters Atlanta, GA, 6,000+ Stores, 14,000 Auto Care Facilities, 19 Billion Revenue
 
If forced to pick among those listed, AAP would get the nod. They generally have an easily found online code of at least 20% off no min, up to 25% with small minimum (~$15). I can usually beat the others listed on the same/similar part, eg. Zerex Asian Formula AF last time. Rarely if ever find anything at AZ or O'R, too high.

I do go to Napa for thier semi annual 40% Gold Filter sale, and occasional good deal on Napa oil, syn or conventional. I don't go to AP stores looking for help, if I did I say local Napa might be most useful. But, I know what want/need before I walk in that why AAP on codes work for me. In the days of 40-50% off codes, AAP only place I purchased batteries, Autocraft. Those days long gone, last few battery purchases, WM, ~$50 value and 3yr Maxx.
 
I plan ahead and order online for 99% of foreign car parts.
I use an AAP near me; formerly Coast Automotive (a Mecca of a speed shop). They retained their knowledgable employees.
I also use a NAPA near me which services many garages and I've done well by them. They have nice dogs in the store too.
There are no O'Reilly's where I live but I drive past one in Fort Edward, NY and they seem to specialize in quality truck exhaust parts.
Everything else is just fluids and wiper blades and that's OK.
 
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