Auto Parts

I don't know what the deal is with my car, but every six months or so it seems, I need to go out and buy new exhaust hangers. So yesterday I went out to go buy some so my exhaust isn't hanging by just the exhaust manifold any more.

The first store I went to was O'Reilly. O'Reilly opened sometime last year, and ever since they opened, they've been my favorite auto parts store in town. I walked in, told the guy what I needed, and he pulled out the parts book to look up the hangers. They had the hanger for the very end of the tailpipe, but they didn't have to one for the muffler itself in stock. The guy working there said he could order one and it would be here Monday, or I could go down the street and try Checker, since they are owned by the same parent company.

So I went down the street to Checker. Told the guy what I needed, he pulled out the parts book and looked it up. They didn't have them in stock, so I decided to go down the street to AutoZone. When AutoZone first opened, they were my favorite auto parts store. But lately, I've liked them less and less. Their staff seems ruder and less knowledgable, and they never seem to have what I need. So I walked in there, and told the guy what I needed. He looked on his computer, and said they didn't have them. I was looking at the computer screen as he was looking for the part, and all he did was type in the vehicle information and do a generic search for "muffler hanger". Nothing popped up. What he was using looked pretty much exactly like the search feature they have on their website. When I tried using it, I couldn't find them either, but I know AutoZone has rubber exhaust hangers for other cars (I found them on their website), so I bet if he would have looked in a parts book and found a part number, I bet he would have been able to find me an AutoZone that did have them.

So then I crossed the street to NAPA. I've never really liked NAPA, their parts seem to cost more, and aside from one person that has helped me there, they all seem very rude. So I walked in, told the counter guy what I needed, and without looking in a computer or looking in a part book, he told me he didn't have what I needed. This seemed odd to me, because the last time I was home I had to replace my exhaust hangers, I came to NAPA and bought the exact same exhaust hanger I was now searching for at a cost of approximately six dollars (O'Reilly want's two dollars for the exact same part). The counterperson then proceeded to tell me he could sell me a universal exhaust hanger, to which I said no thanks and walked out.

Long story short, the NAPA and AutoZone in West Saint Paul both simultaneously suck and blow, O'Reilly rules, Checker is OK, and PepBoys was unmentioned in this post, but they kinda suck too.

I'm going to O'Reilly tomorrow to order my part.