Highest retail auto part stores per capita in the USA (guess only)

[GON]

I travel the USA regularly, and since I am banned by my Wife for dining in places like Hooters, I sometimes browse auto parts stores for something to do when I am occasionally not working in a town/ city in the USA. On the prowl for the clearance oil, etc....

I started to unscientifically get a sense of where in the USA has the most retail auto part stores per capita.

From my observation- El Paso, TX.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Philadelphia, Brooklyn, or the Bronx

Somewhere in Michigan would be a good guess because of the auto industry in general in the Detroit area

 

[40w8]

Yeah we had a F150 stolen in Monahans, Tx that was found in Juarez with ignition lock and transmission damage. Got it towed back to El Paso, and fixed. This scenario could be adding to the repair of older vehicles. In hindsight. We should have just not collected it.

 

[GON]

Yeah we had a F150 stolen in Monahans, Tx that was found in Juarez with ignition lock and transmission damage. Got it towed back to El Paso, and fixed. This scenario could be adding to the repair of older vehicles. In hindsight. We should have just not collected it.

Sorry your truck was stolen, amazed you were able to get it back.

All I know is when I search for AZ, AAP, and OR parts stores to visit, I can't get to all of them in EL Paso. I c an in many other cities the size of El Paso with ease.

 

[40w8]

We got it back because the guys couldn't drive a stick and messed up the clutch. Then, someone else broke in and beat up the ignition interlock. El Paso is a less rich city, so many junkier cars on the road. I read once where some guys at a Juarez junk yard got hold of a radiation canister and spilled it open. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/01/science/nuclear-spill-at-juarez-looms-as-one-of-worst.html

 

[10WSmuckers]

Phoenix, Arizona. Lots of them here but they are mostly the chain stores with cheap crap

 

[ryster]

We have no shortage of auto parts stores here. About 45 miles outside of Philadelphia. Within 10 miles of home I have 3 AAPs, 2 Pep Boys, 4 NAPAs, and 2 AZs...and they are all always busy either with retail customers or delivering parts to local repair shops.

Seems like whenever an AAP goes in, an AZ goes in quickly within 2 miles and vice versa.

I will say that the workers at the AAP and AZ around here typically go above and beyond to help customers. The employees at these places tend to get criticized, but I have always found them to be eager to help. They deal with a lot of crap.

Recent exchange overheard at AAP:

Customer: "The cigarette lighter/power port thingy in my Mazda6 is dead. My mechanic told me to bring a replacement and he would replace it. I would like to buy a new power port, please."

AAP worker 1: "That is going to be a dealer only part. We will not be able to source that for you."

Customer: "What do you mean dealer only? What dealer? Where am I supposed to get the part for my mechanic?"

AAP worker 1: "You would need to go to a Mazda dealer like the one down the street, and ask the parts counter to order that for you. Then when it comes in, pick up the part from them and take it to your mechanic to be replaced."

Customer: "That makes no sense. I don't want to do that. I don't know what to do!"

AAP worker 1: "Does the power port work at all, or is it totally dead?"

Customer: "When I plug stuff in to it, it doesn't do anything like it used to."

AAP worker 2: "If you can wait a few minutes, I will come out and we can look at it together and at least check all of your fuses. It could just be a fuse issue."

I mean, seriously. It was headache inducing but just the willingness of one of the workers to go out and help the customer check their fuses was astounding.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

One of each.

 

[01rangerxl]

I am within about a five minute drive from at least one of each of the big four national chains in the NE part of Birmingham, AL, technically Center Point, AL. There are two AutoZones I can get to within maybe 8 minutes of my house, exactly two miles apart. It seems crazy to have them that close, but none of them are ever slow. Neither are the shops here. There's a lot of repairing/patching up of cars going on around here and probably significantly more older vehicles than in most parts of the country.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Fort Payne AL.

Autozone, Advance and Oreillys all next to each other. Park at one, walk to the other 3.

Locally owned parts store 2 minute walk away.

 

[partspro]

I wish I had counted the times that I had that same conversation when I worked, DIY, not Commercial, the dude was normally breathing beer fumes all over me. Sometimes the Dealer Part is cheaper!!

 

[Majsmith]

I am within about a five minute drive from at least one of each of the big four national chains in the NE part of Birmingham, AL, technically Center Point, AL. There are two AutoZones I can get to within maybe 8 minutes of my house, exactly two miles apart. It seems crazy to have them that close, but none of them are ever slow. Neither are the shops here. There's a lot of repairing/patching up of cars going on around here and probably significantly more older vehicles than in most parts of the country.

I hope you wear your body armor when going out in Center Point...not the safest suburb.

 

[hardcore302]

I have a pep boys , AZ, and apparently all within walking distance of my house in long island ny and seem to pass one regularly on the weekend.

 

[01rangerxl]

I hope you wear your body armor when going out in Center Point...not the safest suburb.

I definitely don't walk down Center Point Parkway, but it's not all bad. Much of the crime is centered around a few apartment complexes and a few bad streets, and largely between people who know each other (though you don't want to be a bystander). My street is very quiet and generally well kept, but yeah I do hear gun shots sometimes.

 

[AutoMechanic]

We have a lot here. Advanced Auto used to have their headquarters and training center here in Roanoke Virginia. Then they moved to I think Charlotte. The owner used to fly his private jet out of here too. Advanced Auto is about 5 minutes down the road and several locations in the area too. O’Reilly on my end of town is about 4 minutes away then Napa the new one is about 15 minutes away the other is about 30 minutes away and the other about 45 minutes away. They are building an Auto Plus and Pep Boys here too.

And Auto Zone there are a lot of locations here and all but one are in the ghetto though I still like going to them for the tools and parts. Plus it seems like each chain carries different cool stuff lol. We have all of them on the city part of the area and in the county we have a good amount too I live in the county. So yeah too many to count here lol. Some of them used to be 24 hour stores years ago then that stopped unfortunately.