Getting Parts At The Dealer Nowadays!!

[mank10]

Went to my local dealer to pick up some service parts for a older carburetor, The looked at me like I just crawled out of some hole. I guess I should of handled the situation like this:

Here's how ya really "Git Er Done" at a modern parts counter.......

Walk up with your X-Games hat on backwards or sideways....(depends on what "hood" you want to represent).....

Spot the dude a AMP energy drink.....nod head and drawl the word "sup" real casual like.

For your particular situation......I would use the terms "Throttle Body or EFI" to get in the correct general direction.....then,

Pawn the problem off as its for your grandpa's tractor....this may score sympathy points.....dad's tractor wont work, as he was the one who wouldn't buy the X-box upgrade for the parts kid 5 years ago !!

Pull carb out for example at this point......Make sure the guy notices you have a extra Full Throttle energy drink in the cargo pocket of your white / gray / black camo print baggy pants.....offer it right then !

Put the Oakley sunglasses on top the X-Games hat to prove your down to serious business at this stage.

If you have a tongue piercing......rattle the stud on the back inside of your teeth right then to get the Bro's attention.

Ask to see the parts catalog.....look up the carb kit yourself....write the number and quantity down twice....give one to him, you keep the other.

Give him the unopened pack of Skittles you were saving for the deal clincher......all that's needed now is for you to give him your cell number so he can text you when the parts come in.

Be sure to say....."Preesheeate it Bro"....Thanks for hookin' me up !!!"

Enjoy!!! Mank

[1/4case]

Nothing tweaks me more than the parts guy " Customer service rep." telling me my part is not listed so you cant get it.

[Billy J Shafer]

How about going to get parts for your Studebaker and being told we don't sell foreign car parts.

[krawlr]

I have lots of "imaginary cars" I use to get the parts needed for my various projects.

[Colin]

LoL???...

[MoRo]

Yeah, well, last week on Wednesday, a friend of mine took his 3/4 ton Ford to the Ford dealership, suspecting the fuel pump and gone out. They checked it out. Yup, fuel pump. He called yesterday morning as he saw it hadn't moved yet. They didn't have a pump in their stock so had to order it. It got back ordered. He went to NAPA and picked a pump up, right off the shelf and delivered it to the Ford dealer and told 'em he wanted his pickup back that afternoon. He got it at 4 PM.

Why couldn't they get a fuel pump from NAPA when the one they ordered didn't come in??

They said the ones from the parts houses wouldn't work.











That one did.

[Billy J Shafer]

MoRo I had the same problem on Ford engines used by Onan and Kohler. Tell the parts guy it is a generator engine and they will swear that automotive parts will not work. 300 six Ford gen engine water pump same as ford pickup engine. But the gen engine pump will cost more if you tell them it is an industrial engine.

[grub54891]

Called my local part's store,Got the "rookie" on the phone.Told him I needed a hydroslatar valve for a 1942 austin martin.Heck,I'm not sure if they made that car back then...lol
He was looking for about 5 min and comes back,say's where on the motor is it?I say in the oil pan!!I have the valve in my hand.I get a quiet hmmmm...on the line.After a bit he comes back on and say's kind loud...TOM! is that you?I was laughing so hard I had to hang up.The other guy's at the store were egging him on as they figured it was me on the line...I don't think he ever will forgive me for that one!!!

[Sky]

Thank goodness for my puter. I sware these days i tell ya i dont even fool with dealers. I could get a better responce out of a dead parrot or by finding out myself. I just look up what i need, ebay or any other place, fill out the order form, push "buy it now" snipe it, request it, get it out of a mail order catalog, ect. and i can do it more quickly and swiftly then these modern day chuckle head clowns that are just there at the dealer for a pay check and i know im getting the CORRECT part becouse i ordered it MYSELF. REMEBER: these days it's all about $$ NOT quality. Reminds me of a time i called napa and said i needed a coil for a type X WICO magneto....I figured hay what the heck they might actually have it cuz they have SOME tractor parts......Guy thought the Wico magneto was a make of a automobile.

[trudsmtuner]

Nice thing about the small town, A few of my friends work there. Plus I just look everything up myself, because I'm in there as much as an part time employee.

It's funny I will be in there and you get the guy that doesn't know how to work on anything but tries anyway Vs. the rookie who don't have a clue parts guy. I snicker at them for a few minutes and proceed to offer my advice if they except it.

BUT HEY...... WE WERE NOT BORN MECHANICALLY INCLINED.
All happens from life experience, working on are " JUNK"

Don't get me wrong there are a few that parts is just a job and they don't care. But there others may not know a whole lot but they want to learn.

HAPPY WRENCHING, Justin

[Gomer Buehring]

Originally Posted by grub54891

Called my local part's store,Got the "rookie" on the phone.Told him I needed a hydroslatar valve for a 1942 austin martin.Heck,I'm not sure if they made that car back then...lol
He was looking for about 5 min and comes back,say's where on the motor is it?I say in the oil pan!!I have the valve in my hand.I get a quiet hmmmm...on the line.After a bit he comes back on and say's kind loud...TOM! is that you?I was laughing so hard I had to hang up.The other guy's at the store were egging him on as they figured it was me on the line...I don't think he ever will forgive me for that one!!!

I usually ask for a thermostat for a '65 VW bug, that keeps them busy for a while

[Billy J Shafer]

I think I still have a guy looking for a water pump for a 66 VW Bus.

[John Newman, Jr.]

I am very fortunate to have an auto parts store that I go to where I tell the guy ONCE what kind of part I need. He will still probably ask what it is for, but knows me well enough that when I start with "...Well, it's not really for a car, but I've got this old engine (or generator) and it......."
he will give me that 'Come on back here' nod of the head and we shuffle towards the good old fashion counter rack with all the parts books in it.
If it isn't in stock, I usually have my part in a couple of days.
The only catch is that the part still has to be made and listed, but these guys actually know what they are doing. This is not a chain store, just an old, established parts store that has been around since I was a kid. Not many left, but they are out there if you look hard enough.

[Ray Cardoza]

When I need a part # for one of my little briggs i hit up the oldest shop in town. the place has been in business since the 1920's and most of the guys there know what i come looking for unless i get the rookie then i have some fun and tell him its a old one and give him just the model letter. as he looks in the new part books and gives a confused look when he cant find a model a briggs in the book. the poor kid gives up and i keep nicely asking are you sure its not there? we both look and sure enough its not in the new ones so he gets one of the old guys and the old guy points to the old book of briggs letter series engines and he looks all confused. the old guy looks over at me and asks if im given the newbie a hard time and i say yep just letting him do his job and me my part as the customer.

[George Vaughan]

NAPA opened up a new store in my neighborhood a while back. They do have access to some agricultural related products so I started out with them by visiting their web site before going to the store, finding what I am looking for, and then bringing a printout of it to the folks at the counter. After a few visits they now recognize me coming in the door and always go out of their way to help me. One of the guys always asks "what are you working on now?" I think he gets a kick out of hearing about all of the old stuff I work on. Everything I buy there is odd to them but they always try to help. Sometimes they just bring me to the particular parts bin in the back and let me find what I want (woodruff keys, copper fittings, etc.). It's a win-win situation...they have a regular customer and I have a parts source that can get me something quickly if necessary.

[JKWidener]

Got a new parts guy at our Napa. Is a big diesel fan, and owns a large Dodge cummins pulling truck and likes to think he is pretty mechanically inclined. And he is pretty good on some aspects. He delivered some parts one day to my job, and before he left i wrote down on a piece of paper the following information. "Parts Needed: 2 Champion plugs for a 1909 Case steam engine" He then went back to Napa and started the chore of looking them up. Later i get a call from one of the older gentlemen i deal with asking if it was me that put him up to it, i informed him that it was me and wanted to break him in correctly. Well i guess he spent 30 minutes looking in the Champion catalog for the plugs and even called Champion to see why it wasn't in the book. His co-workers and myself now call him Champion...

[ELIDAS]

.

>.Why couldn't they get a fuel pump from NAPA when the one they ordered didn't come in??

They said the ones from the parts houses wouldn't work.<


Same reason Burger King doesn't borrow hamburgers from Wendys. Some dealers have had such bad luck with aftermarket parts that they refuse to use them.
On the other hand parts are getting much harder to get. I work for a Chrysler Jeep dealer.

[Michel C. Baudinot]

i went the other day to Napa to get some plugs for my 42 B John Deere had one of the plugs with me laid it on the counter. guy with more metal on his face than my fairbanks has, ask me if he could help me i said need 2 plugs like this one he asks whats it out of i told him, he tugs on his bar through his lip and replys we don't carry tractor parts this is a auto parts store, i looked at him said well do you carry nondeturgent 30 w oil, he looks at me says we have oil but never heard of that brand, tryed to explain it to him but he was lost as last years easter egg. cam back after lunch and got my parts but not from him. most of the time you have to have a life history of what you are working on anymore to get parts form some of these parts stores.
michel

[Danny J]

Originally Posted by ELIDAS

.
Some dealers have had such bad luck with aftermarket parts that they refuse to use them.

Yeah maybe some aftermarket parts cause problems but dealer parts are usually more pricey. I had a ford ranger and needed a camshaft, lifter and cam follower kit. Talking to the ford dealer the parts were more than double the cost that Napa quoted me! Who do you think I got the parts from?

[Motormowers]

The flip side of this argument are morons who come up to the parts counter and say " I need a carb gasket for a 5HP Briggs" and dont have any engine#. Any productive shop worth its salt today is on a computer data software to look up parts. You only get options based on your criteria. No numbers = no choices. The old addage of "arent all 5HP Briggs carbs the same?" is long gone. With thousands of parts in inventory and many new ones added all the time its impossible to keep all parts locations in your head. So walk a mile in the parts guys shoes, most arent dumb as a bag of rocks. Help them help you and have all your info when searching parts.