These Are Your Worst Auto Parts Store Experiences

When a part breaks on your car out of warranty, the most cost-effective way to fix it is to do it yourself, but most of us can't fabricate parts ourselves. Earlier this week we asked our readers to share what their worst experience at an auto parts store was. Surprisingly, the responses came from both sides of the counter. Customers entered the comments section to air their grievances with parts shop employees and the frustrating odysseys they went on to buy the correct part for their car. Parts store workers would stay quiet and vent about shoppers who might make their shifts far more irritating than they had to be. Without further ado, here are your terrible tales from the aisles of your local parts store:

Actually happened just the other day. My battery died before work, so called in, then went on the AutoZone app and ordered a battery, the little kit for the connectors, and a small ratchet set to do the job. Figured since I ordered before they opened it would be ready in no time since everything was in stock. Waited until noon, didn't hear anything so called to check, the guy tells me they haven't pulled it yet but they'd call back in an hour to confirm everything. 3.5 hours later, still nothing, call back, just for the same guy to tell me they still haven't pulled it, and that the ratchet set isn't in stock..... Get a ride to the AutoZone to turn in my old battery and get my other stuff. Finally get back and install the battery in less than 15 minutes. I now know next time to just get a ride to the AutoZone next time instead of trying to expedite anything with the app.

Submitted by: cardawg

I was not feeling 100% and had stomach issues. I was at an Advanced Auto. I asked an associate if I could use the bathroom. I do my business and I start to feel better. I start to walk around the store and get the things I need.

Another associate I never met gets in my face about using the bathroom. I explained the situation. That was not good enough. I said, "Do you want my business?" He said, "No." I remembered his name tag and I called corporate as soon as I got home. They gave me a nice coupon for my troubles.

I saved that coupon for about six months. My wife's battery went. I walk in and asked the person checking me out does this guy still work here? Unfortunately, they said yes. I never went to that store again.

Submitted by: Scott The Stagehand

When I was 19 (30+ years ago), I stood in a Pep Boys with a pair of neon green double wiper blades in my hand, thought about buying them for my 12-year-old, 140,000-mile Toyota. So my worst experience in an auto parts store was that instant when I could have been that guy. But I put them back on the hook and walked out, so maybe that was actually my best moment.

Submitted by: BuddyS

I was like 13, and my dad and his friend were working on his work truck. They needed a part, so he had me go get it for them. His English wasn't the best and he told me he needed a "timer start". So I hopped on my bike and rode about 15 minutes to the AutoZone to get a timer start for a 1985 Chevy C10. I got there and asked for help, but the guy at the parts counter had no idea what I was asking for and my description of the part was of no help. He was getting visibly annoyed. He finally said he can't help me and told me to try a different auto store. As I was leaving, I was checking out the Euro taillights and another employee approached me. He was like I think this is what you're looking for, it's a thermostat. The part looked like what my dad needed, so I thanked the guy and went to pay. The guy who checked me out was the first guy, and he said to me "You needed a thermostat this whole time, huh? Maybe next time you come in, learn to speak English." It caught me off guard and didn't really hit me till later. I just remember thinking, "It's 2001, f**k that guy."

So my worst experience was also my best experience at an auto store since that other employee went out of his way to help.

If you're out there reading this, Hispanic AutoZone employee from Burien, WA from 2001, my 13-year-old self would like to thank you for helping me get my dad's work truck back on the road.

And if the other guy is reading this, my 13-year-old self wanted to tell you this so much, "Go f**k yourself."

Submitted by: Minivanman3

I worked for O'Reilly and AutoZone at different times for nearly a decade combined. The worst experience was always the "Good Ole Boys" who needed a part for a Chevy 350. The computer system does not have a category for "Chevy 350," so they would always get very upset when you had to ask what vehicle it was for. The reply was almost always, "It's a Chevy 350, they are all the same!" Most of the people on this site should know that while many of the components of the Chevy 350s were the same, many others were not. Often, they would just spout off some random car and random year that had a 350 and ask for the part from it. This would almost always end up getting them the incorrect part, and then they would blame me for it. These people were the worst. All of them were shady tree mechanics who thought they knew more than everyone in the store. Little did they know I was a GM-certified mechanic who only worked the parts stores on the weekend for extra cash.

Submitted by: Cody Yager

I worked at Kragen (Part of Checker/Schuck's/Kragen that eventually was bought by O'Reilly's). It was rural Northern California, and the store was frequented by mountain rednecks and olds. One of the olds decided to drive his bustleback Seville through the front doors and try to push two aisles of shelves into the back room of the store. He would have probably made it a through-and-through, but the aisles pinned themselves against the battery racks behind the rear counter.

Nobody was hurt aside from the driver – ambulance took him away, and we never heard the outcome. We got to take home a lot of free product after insurance instructed us to dispose of any product that hit the floor in the melee. He had the throttle pinned for several seconds, which left a burnout mark on the floor that cheap corporate tried to buff out. The mark was still visible a year later when I left.

An aside – the prices are out of control. I needed an upper radiator hose for my Ram last week. They wanted NINETY SEVEN DOLLARS. It was $53 from the dealer.

Submitted by: Carey Mahoney

Mid-1990s, we had an '89 Subaru GL wagon 2WD. It broke down on the SWMBO* on her way home after work, when I get there the serpentine belt had broken. We get it into an empty parking lot where it can sit overnight, next day I go to an auto parts store near where I worked and they sell me a belt. After work, I try and try to install it, and it is just too short. Next day, go back to store, hear "that's what the warehouse has." Go to a different store, they sell me one, it doesn't fit either. It seems all these auto parts stores used the same warehouse, so I wasn't going to get the right belt from any of them. The next day, I go to the Subaru dealer, pay twice the price of the auto parts stores, it fits easy peasey.

*She Who Must Be Obeyed (pronounced swim-bo)

Submitted by: Evildad

In the early '80s, I owned a '66 Porsche 912 that needed some body repair and repainting. I had a friend whose dad owned a body shop and he loaned me a stall to do the body work and agreed to do the paint job for cost of labor if I sourced the paint. The paint color was that standard dark non-metallic blue that was so common in the '60s. It was a simple formula, so I took the Porsche paint code to a local parts store that mixed paint for all the body shops around town and they mixed the paint. I spent a day removing exterior chrome, mirrors, lights, etc and masking everything off. They shot the paint early the next morning, and I get a call at work..."You need to come look at this." I drove over and there sat my car with an absolutely flawless paint job...That glowed a hideous, throbbing bright blue as if there was a light source pulsing under the paint. I had to put it together (It was my daily driver) and drive it for a month before I could sand it down and re-paint it. The store replaced the paint with the proper color, but I ate the time and labor.

Submitted by: Terry McLeod

Never really had nightmare situations with any auto parts store. The worst experience was buying a reman Denso alternator for my truck. It went out within a few months again when I was 30 minutes from home. It was around 98 degrees with 80% humidity, but I had to minimize the electric load, so no A/C in brutal traffic and the most stressful drive of my life. I made it and RockAuto exchanged one for shipping cost only. The replacement cooked my battery. Both terminals coated in corrosion and the water fill plugs on the battery had residue from the hydrogen/acid/water evaporating. Denso has just gone so south in terms of quality. The most amusing auto parts experience I had was when a guy at AutoZone seemed to have smoked some weed and was singing love songs while helping customers. He kept asking his co-workers, "When did you last drink from the fountain of love?" I had some brake rotors machined there and they did a great job. Those were the days before the lawsuit shut that down at AutoZone.

Submitted by: Tex

My dad had a mechanic shop when I was younger and I'd help out running cars and parts around. One day, one of the mechanics asked me to run down and pick up brake pads for a Honda Accord he was working on and gave me one of the old ones to match it up. Went down to the parts house we dealt with, which had a new guy at the commercial desk. Give him the car info, he hands me back a set of pads. Match it with the one I had, and it was wrong. The guy thinks that's weird, but grabs me another. Same as the previous one, wrong. About 30 minutes later, digging through boxes, he finds the one that matches but it shows in his system it's for a Camry. I make a snarky comment about him not knowing what he was doing and take the parts and head back. Well, the mechanic gave me the wrong pads to match it with; they were indeed for a Camry he had been working on before. Off I go with my tail between my legs to get the very first set he pulled for me, and to receive a similar snarky comment in return. 20+ years later, the guy is still a good friend, so not the worst story but still a classic.

Submitted by: ImInTheJeep!