what auto store do you use? [Archive] - Toyota MR2 Message Board

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whalejr3104-08-2011, 01:58 PMhey guys just wondering who uses what auto store to see who is most popular as i am trying to figure out who i really want to use since i now have so many close to me. toymdngn04-08-2011, 01:59 PMnapa. Sh0ty04-08-2011, 02:02 PMNapa, but I voted Vatozone. If Napa doesn't have what I need, Vatozone is the next closest to me. whalejr3104-08-2011, 02:05 PMNapa totally wasnt even in my mind...haven't had one around me for a while now...sry to all who use napa that isnt in the poll :doh: toymdngn04-08-2011, 02:11 PMof course, this is area sensitive. the napa store in my area does not order idiots. these guys know their stuff.

i have a friend that works at the autozone in my town, and i won't go in there unless he's working. pretty much everyone else in that store is a complete moron.

the kragen/orieleys up here has some good people, but i've had waaaaaaaaaaay too many bad experiences with shitty parts from there. the same can be said for autozone parts...

another reason i like my Napa is because i've known one of the parts guys for 12+ years and he gives me a pretty good discount, mainly because he knows i'll give him the business before i go anywhere else. Oteck04-08-2011, 02:36 PMdealership not an option? they have a parts department lol grizzy22504-08-2011, 02:54 PM^+1, i get my parts from the dealer... and if the dealer doesnt have it someone on this forum will:D WidebodyMr204-08-2011, 09:00 PMHonestly... I go with who has the least wait time. TomsMR204-09-2011, 03:08 PMnapa has a history of being the best parts place. i think they stock better quality inventory, and they're still competitive.

in short.. anywhere but autozone. autozone parts make your car break. DK110504-10-2011, 10:57 PMI got to NAPA and Pepboys. I like NAPA more but pepboys is much closer to my house. Sh0ty04-11-2011, 12:28 AMOh, for parts, dealer. I just do Vatozone / NAPA for oil filters, since my local super doesn't carry anything but FRAM. Microwavable04-11-2011, 06:12 PMVatozone for little things. I also hit up the swap meet that's literally across the street from my house that goes on 5days a week. For tools anyways. How about online stores for specific parts, what sites are best used for OEM? marazaii04-11-2011, 07:28 PMautozone/ pepboys for little things but napa for the good stuff... RePete04-11-2011, 08:19 PMFor any BC dudes reading, I don't recommend Lordco. Their prices are equivalent to the dealership but their merchandise is only so-so. They're good for an emergency, but I'd stick with online OEM purchases if possible. canadam04-11-2011, 10:31 PMI buy OEM parts when possible. It's worth it. TomsMR204-12-2011, 12:00 AMyou should always check dealer prices before buying crappy aftermarket bits.. you'll be surprised sometimes. theres a few aftermarket bits that are more expensive than stock! theres also a LOT that are within just a few bucks of knockoff junk.

sometimes the aftermarket has huge advantages.. a lot of times its really not that much more for oem.

for the most part.. oem really is better. toyota made some really great parts in the 90's. Luni04-12-2011, 03:47 AMI only go to parts houses to obtain lubricants, hardware, batteries, and fluids.

I wont buy ANYTHING for ANY of my cars from a parts house besides those things above, AND with the exception of NAPA for rotors. I buy my rotors from NAPA.

So, I voted Other. TomsMR204-12-2011, 12:02 PMi have free starters and alternators for life because i didnt buy from the dealership.. they're both 5-7 years old now and in perfect condition, since they're reman'd oem units anyway.

they're also less than 1/2 the price. some things just make more sense aftermarket. Luni04-12-2011, 01:36 PMI might try an aftermarket starter but not an alternator. Ive tried to run a lifetime parts store alternator and it didnt work right, I took it off and put another one on, didnt work right. Had my old bad one rebuilt, it didnt work right. Ordered a brand new Denso from Toyota, perfect.

I know others like Tom have had good success with the parts store ones, but not me and I wont run em. Kerry Phillips04-12-2011, 06:11 PMHello!

Have not done this lately,but Advanceautoparts.com
Has a deal, go online, order your parts about an hour in advance, then at checkout time on the website, type in P20 for discount/promotion and enjoy a20% of your entire purchase!


Wal-Mart is cheap on synthetic oil, bout the only automotive supply I will buy there.
Kerry TomsMR204-16-2011, 03:02 PMI know others like Tom have had good success with the parts store ones, but not me and I wont run em.
It is good to know that there ARE dead-on-the-shelf reman starters and alternators. it definitely happens, kind of a lot.

ive gotten 2.. they never left the store though, i had them bench tested. the ones i took home and installed have been flawless.

some companies "fix" them, and some just replace everything inside with brand new stuff and call it a reman. the brand new "remans" tend to be more reliable. autolite does both ways.

i dont know if you can even buy a brand new toyota alt/starter for mr2's anymore. i think they're all remans.. they just tend to have higher quality standards. toymdngn04-20-2011, 11:10 AMIt is good to know that there ARE dead-on-the-shelf reman starters and alternators. it definitely happens, kind of a lot.

ive gotten 2.. they never left the store though, i had them bench tested. the ones i took home and installed have been flawless.

some companies "fix" them, and some just replace everything inside with brand new stuff and call it a reman. the brand new "remans" tend to be more reliable. autolite does both ways.

i dont know if you can even buy a brand new toyota alt/starter for mr2's anymore. i think they're all remans.. they just tend to have higher quality standards.


all of the "reman" starters and alternators i bought for my 1st MR2 from kragen and autozone were garbage. 5 starters and 7 alternators, all bad right off the shelf. when i finally demanded my money back (they just wanted to keep swapping parts) they admitted that the parts were junk and when they are "remanufactured" that they just replace the broken/burnt out parts, and leave the rest.that was 10 years ago though.

i was really surprised when the alternator in my Mazda6 needed replacement though, as Napa would have had a wait of a day or so, but Kragen had one in stock. i went in there and told them of the troubles i'd had there before with their alternators (a couple people remembered me) and they told me that all they carry now are the Autolite units, the ones that are COMPLETELY rebuilt, here in CA, using all new parts but the case. i bought it, and it hasn't given up on me yet (~1.5-2years now). i didn't believe them at first, but a few days after installing it i stopped at napa, and they carry the same exact thing. told me not to worry about the autolite stuff, it's all pretty good now. napa even listed it for a few bucks less than kragen. Servin04-27-2011, 12:17 AMNapa all the way! Lots of times they have OEM parts for aftermarket part prices. Have opened many a box to find a part still in a OEM bag with OEM part numbers on it. Prices arent always the cheapest but sometimes you get what you pay for. Luni04-27-2011, 09:50 AMI will concede Napa has sold me an OEM part or 2 in my day. So, I guess, Ill say this. If I can get something from the dealership I will. Some stuff, I will get from Napa. My last MR2 had its ECU temp sensor and the gauge temp sensor go out. Bought them from Napa for about half of what the dealership wanted at the time. They were both OEM Denso sensors. toyotaspeed9004-28-2011, 07:53 PMThis debate goes round and round.... and round and round and round.

The fact of the matter is that most companies these days can reverse engineer, re-engineer, and have the tools to make the same parts with the same quality as Toyota did in the 80's and 90's... and now it's MUCH cheaper.

On top of that... Toyota doesn't make most of their parts. A lot of their electronics are ND or NGK/NTK parts. A lot of the pumps are made by Aisin. Pistons are "ART" (whoever the heck that is... I doubt Toyota has a foundry for pistons, though, and then stamp them "ART"), clutches are Exedy, etc.

So what's my point? Find the brands you trust and find a salesman you trust to sell them to you. I live in an area where the dealership thinks each Toyota box comes with a little gold nugget. I am not joking when I say they wanted $27 for a thermostat and O-ring gasket. Needless to say I paid less than 1/2 for a Napa and no problems. Further all but 1 of the Toyota parts runners at the local dealership don't know their head from their ass when it comes to older stuff -- and the worst part is when I tell them that what they're asking shouldn't matter the begin to argue. I've also had them literally sell me the wrong part and try and convince me it's right.

Similarly there are some guys at Napa, Carquest, Autozone, and O'Reilly's (formerly CSK) who make those bad Toyota parts runners look like genius'es.

I used to work at Schucks back when it was CSK.... I was only there for 2 years yet I had a ton of return customers and shops coming specifically to me to parts (even though there was a commercial center CSK literally 4 blocks away). I had a ton of Toyota guys come in all the time asking for me because I would give them the correct information and I didn't BS about it. I also knew what was better behind the counter and why... not just because "this one costs more cause... uhhh.... it has a better warranty".

As for reman alts and starters.... the dealership is rediculously expensive. All other stores have multiple lines of parts -- a low end rebuild (which at CSK/Autozone may mean it was basically a JY part that was fixed of any bad parts and cleaned up) line, a full rebuild line, and a new line. Most parts people won't even quote the new line.... because they are 10-20% more than the better rebuild and sell about 5% as often. They're rebuilt within spec but that doesn't mean they're as good as new or as good as Toyota original spec for those units. Keep in mind that there's a lot at play with an Alt or a Starter -- mainly YOUR electrical harness in your car. I don't know how many times I sold an alternator because "yeah, we found the problem to the be the alternator".... "would you like me to test the old one?".... and it turned out to be fine. Probably on average close to 35% of the time I tested a unit it was in good working order.... which means there's another problem with the car.

Also, if you know to ask at Napa or Carquest they have more than one system.... and that means they can order from non-Napa and non-Carquest warehouses... a lot of the time the prices are the same as what they have in house yet are brands like Aisin, Exedy, Denso, etc.... which means you're getting the same part from them at a lower cost that you would get from Toyota.

So.... the end of this rant is just this -- find someone you trust to get parts from. Who you deal with is probably the most important factor. TomsMR204-29-2011, 01:02 AM^ yup.. its 2011, manufacturing quality, on the low end, easily exceeds toyotas capabilities in the 90's. aftermarket stuff is much better than it was years ago. iLLsT0LZ08-09-2011, 11:57 AMused to use advance cus of there customer service and avail. parts unless i was lazy then went to autozone down the st. now there is an orileys and they are about as friendly as adv. and its 3 stores down closer to my house than autozone lol so 9 out of 10 times i use orileys, or if it can wait i ebay it with the part number your looking for you can get what ever you need for the most part the cheapest there... or atleast know about what you should be paying. b.18tuner587508-09-2011, 12:47 PMNAPA FTW

Back when I worked at Autozone I would shop there and no where else. Never really saw the other side.

Now I work at NAPA and the difference is noticeable. I see so many less customers returning with bad/warranty parts. Even the guys that work here are ten times as knowledgeable. Seems to be the trend that the everyday shopper heads to Autozone while the experienced people go to NAPA. Starlet 3SGTE08-10-2011, 11:18 PMi dont know if you can even buy a brand new toyota alt/starter for mr2's anymore. i think they're all remans.. they just tend to have higher quality standards.

Different dealers do different things for reman units. Both the Toyota dealers and the Lexus dealer in my area have starters and alternators reman'd by the shop I work at. Not every unit but those that are costly or hard to get quick end up on my bench.
That said I'm not like the standard rebuilder that is trying to see how many units can be done in a day. I take my time and examine each unit. I want to know why it failed and if it was the fault of time or if something on the vehicle caused the fail. If the fail is common amongst a group of units I try to find a way to improve or replace the unit with something that won't fail.
I also keep open communication with the tech staff at the regulator and rectifier manufacturing plant. I let them know exactly what their products are doing in the real world and they tell me part numbers to swap in to make earlier said corrections.

As for parts stores of course start at the dealer for Toyota parts. From there NAPA gold's line is darn good, silver you may as well be at autozone. After that it depends on who the parts person is.
Craig is the manager at advance near my shop. That man is a Godsend to mechanics. He thoroughly understands most anything you call him about even if you don't know the name of the part. However he doesn't deal with the general public, commercial only. hdelsol11-11-2011, 02:37 PMIn my opinion it just depends where you are. The Oreilly's near me isn't great most of the employees are pretty lazy. So here I use Autozone. Back in Tulsa I had pretty good luck with Advance. SW21-3SGTE11-29-2011, 05:18 PMNapa, Bennett Auto Supply, Congress Auto Supply, or dealer. Napa and Bennett i'll get alts and starters from any day. Congress is the best place for hoses... if they can't find it they'll get it made! Other then that DEALER! As for fluids for the most part you can get the same ones from parts stores at Wal-Mart lol. Wal-Mart has saved me many of times. hdelsol12-08-2011, 02:10 AMIn my opinion it just depends where you are. The Oreilly's near me isn't great most of the employees are pretty lazy. So here I use Autozone. Back in Tulsa I had pretty good luck with Advance.

I take this back. The guys at advance in Tulsa are a bunch of idiots. Not all of them of course. goopi12-08-2011, 02:16 AMLordco (Canadian), Canadian Tire (Canadian:rolleyes:), and stealership. jimbosr102-04-2012, 07:07 PMover the years when i relocate to a new area i always ask the dealer for a wholesale account.they will do it and you get a very good discount when ordering parts.tell them you have a account at another dealership but sence you moved would you set me up. SW21-3SGTE02-06-2012, 03:15 PMThey usually want a tax ID # to establish the account. Most of the dealers in my area at least. Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.