Defective Oil Filter

[kyreb1862]

As some of you may remember I made a recent post about a defective Bosch oil filter I bought at Auto Zone. I finally got a chance to go in and discuss the matter with them. The catalog that is located at the oil filter rack specifies a Bosch 3330 oil filter for a 77 MGB. The guy at the counter looked up the 77MGB on the computer and it specified a Bosch 3402. The manager told me to bring back the used filter and they would give me a refund or the proper filter. So I guess the moral to this story is don't always trust a catalog. Find a parts guy you can trust and stick with him.

 

[Scott_Hower]

Personally, I dont trust AutoZone for anything but oil and consumables.

For hard parts, I use honest-to-God auto parts stores. The kind with a used piston onna counter filled with ashes. I once bought brake pads on a Sunday afternoon from AZ (the only place open). Got them home and they were obviously the wrong pad. Honda used two caliper suppliers in the early 90s and the pads are not interchangeable. Autozone guy swore they were the right part. I had to lay the old and the new side by side and literally show him the differences. He suggested I just file/grind the backing plate. Uh, no thanks, just my money back please.

Another lesson my dad taught me that I ignored - if possible, take the old part along with you when you buy the new.

 

[DrEntropy]

"For hard parts, I use honest-to-God auto parts stores. The kind with a used piston onna counter filled with ashes. "

You said it! I found a parts house a number of years ago where the guy still uses BOOKS to check for/order parts! He just this year got a computer in the store, that just because HIS suppliers "went on-line". The guy can have about any part I want in my hand by 1PM if I call before noon, does a second "run" at 4PM.

Other thing I am kinda 'funny' about: I'm supporting a local merchant instead of the CEO of AZ or one of the CounterMonkeys. To me that means something.

 

[Bugeye58]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif 100%, Doc.
I helped two friends start up their local parts store 30 years ago. They sold it after 15 years to another friend. He has made it a NAPA store, but kept the books behind the counter, and stocks a lot of non NAPA stuff. Surprisingly, quite a bit of British stuff! I still get my deep discount, too. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff

 

[budk1953]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif In fact my first job was in a auto parts store my father worked in (I was 10) - it was a chain at the time, 3 stores, and I used to sort used parts for the scrap man, turn oil cans upside down to drain so they could sell gallons from the left overs, etc.
I just recently found a local store that has the old 3' racks of greasy catalogs who can get just about anything I need, in fact they just ordered a $3.00 oil filter adapter for my Midget from the Wix factory.

 

[RickB]

That's the NAPA store in my community!
They go by the name "North Bend Auto Parts".
They run a machine shop, they have real tools, real parts & guys behind the counter who know which end of the wrench to hold & what way to turn it. I don't go to Schmucks / Kragen etc unless I absolutely can't help it.
NBAP stocks the stuff I need for my cars, riding mower, & before I sold it my 4wd diesel tractor. They know what a K&N filter is & how to maintain it.
I've never gotten the wrong part from them - lots more than I can say about the "other guys".

 

[Steve_S]

Agreed. I go to a local parts store. They don't sell scooters or stereos or spinning hub caps. They just sell parts and that's what they know. AND they stock MG parts and know what each one is. I consider myself lucky.

 

[Bugeye58]

Most of the time I just walk behind the counter and look the parts up myself.
The downside to doing that is that if I screw up, I refuse to return the part, as it was <u>my</u> mistake! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif
Jeff

 

[kyreb1862]

Used to be all mom and pop parts stores around here. They were staffed by guys with grease under their nails that new how to look up stuff in real dog eared catalogs. Now they have mostly been run out of business by the box stores. Very sad but something I am just learning to deal with.

 

[ccougill]

I'm lucky, I guess, that one of the local Advance Auto Parts stores has some pretty good people working there. However this is one branch only, and not the one nearest my home. I drive right past two of their branches to get to the one I use. The chains have pretty much driven the mom and pop stores out of business, the same way Loews and Home Depot did the small hardware stores

 

[jessebogan]

A good parts guy is such a gift, and a bad one is useless. As I have to use parts people at a lot of different "venues" I get to experience them all, sometimes on the same day. I buy my own parts books when I can. It is so much easier to say check price and availability on a XXXXXXX that it is to try to get a semi trained parts person to correctly identify a small part on an 89 XJS fer instance. Some of the better parts houses will give you catalogs if you ask. I have Champion, Bosch( for ignition and fuel) 4 seasons AC parts,Snap On, NGK, and Gemplers all by the desk, Lucas catalogs from 1948 to 1987. The Lucas stuff I found on ebay, but all the rest I got just by asking. I have parts books for all of my cars except the Audi, and I am looking hard for one of those. I also keep all the parts catalogs from all of the vendors I have ever used. Some companies are kind enough to use factory part numbers, and others use factory drawings. All of it can be a help. Remember, knowlege is power, so the more you know before you even go into the store, the better off you will be when you leave.

 

[AngliaGT]

We had our local import parts place close
down because they kept raising the rent on them.
The owner,Andrew,was familiar with a lot of the old
cars,& it was nice to talk to somone who knew what
a Cortina,or an Monte Carlo 850 was.
Sadly,I think that those days are gone forever.

- Doug

 

[LLAngus]

I agree with most of the responders of this thread. The local NAPA deal (9 stores owned by the same family) has three 4 foot long catalog sections. If they are unsure of the part they got for a picture. I have my favorites but was surprised by one of the countermen (persons???) the last week. I was looking for the primer with sealer in ti so the doors and fenders would not rust through the primer. The guy not only hooked me up with the primer but cleared up a lot of misinformation I have picked up on wet sanding, paint selection, etc. It turns out he use to work as a body and paint man. I took his advice on the sanding (better than the local auto paint store's) and tried wet sanding the 77 B. I will take a dozen donuts down to the store as thanks. Oh, the owner's wife works in the store and I like the way she defers to someone else if she knows they are better informed then she is.