I'm done with Autozone parts!

[hotfarmboy1]

Ok tonight was the last straw!!!

For the last few months I've had nothing but problems with parts from Autozone. What happened tonight was just the sealer of how ticked I am.

Was on my way to work, almost there, when I hit a pothole. I've hit this one many times but normally miss it. I didn't really think anything of it. About 1/8th of a mile later I get to the corner, stop, and go to take off, engine dies. I'm like WTF? I try to restart it and it cranks but no fire. At this point this is very weird I've never had any prob like this with the car, its always started. I pop the hood and get out to check with my flashlight. I notice right away 2 things very wrong with what I see.
Problem #1 is the timing belt has come off!! WTF?!! I had just replaced this a couple of months ago along with new timing tensioner and idler pulley from, you guessed it Autozone. I had double and even triple checked the timing and the tension and they were all right and it was tight. But out of the blue the belt comes off??
Prob #2 At the same time I replaced the timing belt I also replaced the passenger side engine mount with a new one from, once again AZ I looked at this mount, and the rubber cover was off of it, and the disc under that came out in my hand, so one way or another the mount was broken after only 2-3 months?? Needless to say I called off work for the night and called a tow truck. Now over 2 hours and $100 later I finally get myself and my car home.

Along with those problems I've had other problems with some of their parts within the past few months to a year. Earlier this year I replaced the rear brakes on the car, putting on new rear drums with new sealed bearings already installed at the same time. 2 weeks later the driver's side bearing is loose in the rear, so I have to replace it with a warranty on the part. And then now recently I notice the pass side rear bearing is bad and loose as well. Was going to take care of it this weekend.
Then last weekend I replaced the right front wheel bearing with a press. Just like I've done many times on other cars at my old job. And a few times on my cars as well. So its not my first time doing it, and I'm actually pretty good at it. Well first try, we get the new bearing in the knuckle, snap ring in, then go to press in the spindle. And the inner race on the back side of the bearing comes out!!! I've never seen this happen on a new bearing!! WTF! By that point, Autozone was closed. I had to wait till morning to call them and they got one on the way and warrantied it for me. Next day I changed up the way we did this bearing and spindle and it worked out even better, no probs. Get it on the car and everything is fine. But now starting to hear some humming from that corner already. So not this paycheck, but another one from now I was already planning on just ordering a new complete knuckle from Ford with the bearing already in it cause I'm tired of messing with this crap.

After tonight though I'm debating on whether or not to even replace this stuff on the Autozone warranty for now and then replace again later with Ford orig parts. Or just bite the bullet and use the credit card and buy them all now. Either way for the future Autozone has now lost my business I'm tired of their crap parts failing on me constantly lately and I'm not gonna deal with it anymore.

And for reference I've actually been driving the car pretty easy lately and haven't been hard on it at all. Been taking it easy to keep from getting any tickets or to keep from it breaking again. This is not a good start to my weekend.

Oh yeah and to top it off, I have an appt in the morning to get new tires put on the car as well. Now I'm just gonna have to take the wheels off and take them in there to have it done, so I can put the wheels back on the car myself.

will have pic of current damage under the hood up soon.

 

[johncarbaugh]

Lifetime warranty is not worth anything unless you like changing the same part every year. NAPA get the good stuff. My local NAPA has a much more knowledgeable staff than any discount store. They have all been the automotive business for years. One guy was my service manager when I was a mechanic 15 years ago.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Oh I agree, Napa or CarQuest are both more knowledgeable than AZ. Prob for me is both of them close earlier. Especially the local Car Quest. Most of the time I end up finding out what's wrong at night and the only place open thats close is AZ. Driving 10 minutes compared to 35 mins to get to somewhere better can make the difference in getting the car fixed that night or waiting till the next day.

Either way I'm going to start getting higher quality parts from now on. I'm done dealing with this crap.

 

[sajnaj]

i think that i see your biggest problem in that pic. its a ford i have always had to keep on working on all of my fords but that is just personal experience. this would be kind of dirty but why not get replacement parts and then return them and get your money back. the way i look at it they stuck you with some **** parts and a tow bill why not stick it back to them

 

[hotfarmboy1]

I wouldn't say the prob is that its a Ford. This car has 150k mi on it and the orig parts lasted a whole lot longer than these AZ parts did. The orig parts saw a lot of abuse too, while I've been pretty easy on the car in the past few months. These parts that just failed are still under AZ's warranty. I just don't know if I want to put more of the same crappy parts on the car just to have to do the work over again later. I do know the local manager though, I'll see what he can do for me.

 

[Rookie]

I'd put the same crappy parts on for now since they are covered under warranty and save up for good parts.

I'm in the same boat. Replaced the brakes on the suburban and they squeal.

 

[hornadylnl]

Autozone is the menards of car parts stores. Made in china.

 

[CountryBoy19]

NAPA get the good stuff. My local NAPA has a much more knowledgeable staff than any discount store.

NAPA has their fair share of problems too. They used to be pretty good but they've also gone downhill. Dad won't use them anymore, and the shop where my brother works also quit using them. Dad spent several hundred dollars on new batteries for the tractor. They died 1 week outside of the full warranty period, but they were still supposed to be covered by a prorated warranty. Do you know what NAPA's prorated warranty covers 1 week outside of the full coverage period? 10% of the purchase price. So dad's several hundred dollars turned into several tens of dollars... and he still has that credit at the local NAPA. The only thing he will buy there is retail products etc, not NAPA parts, and the only reason he does that is to use up the credit he has.

 

[ATOMonkey]

Nothing wrong with Autozone. You bought the cheapest parts they offer and they broke.

Autozone also offers brand name parts. On top of that, they'll change your wipers, battery, test your battery or alternator, loan you any tool you want for free.

+1 for Autozone.

I'm sorry your car broke though.

 

[SSGSAD]

I hear this complaint a lot !!!!! OOOO'reilly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fenway]

So what is a good auto parts store?

 

[jeremy]

Truthfully, Napa.

You might pay just a tad more that some of the other stores. However, you get quality parts everytime...

 

[Leadeye]

Autozone is the menards of car parts stores. Made in china.

As they say in China, subcontracted to "mountain village industry".

 

[Indy317]

I would avoid AZ as well. I remember years ago when they used to sell all sorts of different break pads. Now it seems they only sell their three brands (metallic, semi-metallic, ceramic) and maybe one or two other brands. I also remember my dad getting brake pads for free constantly, because their generic pads would always wear out.

I went into get some pads for my Eclipse and decided to spend the money on ceramic. They pulled up the parts available and got them, that was it. So I put them on and they started making horrible noises. Did some research on various forums and it seems ceramic pads can "glass" or something. It sounds like if you are a hard on your brakes like I am, you don't want ceramic.

More research said that if your smart, you will at least turn the rotors as well every time you put new pads on. I remember AZ, since they don't turn rotors, just saying that if there are no bad groves in the rotors, no problem.

Eventually I went to a non-nationwide type store. Guy there looked in his computer and said the computer is recommending either metallic or semi-metallic for my vehicle, and it wasn't recommending the most expensive pads either. The pads I got were Wagner ThermoQuiet. I had to have a mechanic put them on because I couldn't get one rotor off and had trouble getting one bolt from one of the calipers to loosen. If anyone has suggestions on getting rotors and caliper bolts off that seem stuck, let me know.

 

[OneBadV8]

Yeah, I used to work at Autozone. You have to know what to buy and what not buy there. They do have some nice stuff, but they also have some stuff that I wouldn't put on my vehicle if I was paid to do so.

 

[DialTone301]

Buy the name brand parts and you should have no problems. If you buy the cheapest parts they offer then you get what you paid for.

 

[fireball168]

Was on my way to work, almost there, when I hit a pothole.

Problem #1 is the timing belt has come off!!

It would seem to me, just from a cursory visual inspection, that you've got a fair amount of aftermarket bulldokey on the engine, including timing gears and a distinct lack of a timing belt cover/guard.

Would you have happened to hit that pothole with your right front wheel?

Potholes throw rocks.

Unprotected/uncovered timing belts have a propensity to pick up road debris and take them for a ride.


A wise man once told a young kid who thought he wanted to play with cars:

Cars are like "the morning kickstand", the more you "jack" with it, the quicker it goes away.

 

[sclark]

The sad truth is that it is almost impossible to find a good part or parts store anymore, no matter how much money you spend. We have had the best luck lately with O'reillys, though a door lock actuator I got back in April this year has went out for the second time. It is lifetime warranty but who wants to pull their door apart every couple months.

-1 to crappy parts and crappy part stores!!

 

[Neo46121]

You may want to check out what advance has to offer

 

[eldirector]

Autozone/Oreilly for consumables (oil, filters, spark plugs, etc...). They sell the same brands as everyone else, but for a better price. I don't even both the parts monkeys at the counter any more. They just read the computer screen anyway. No real help.

Napa for replacement parts (brakes, suspension, steering, etc...). Much better quality on even their "cheaper" stuff, and they also carry very good quality parts for more money. My local Napa guys are pretty knowledgeable, don't mind digging through their books to find what I need, and they have a machine shop in the back. Their service is heads and shoulders above everyone else.

If Napa doesn't have something, I'll go to the dealership. Be prepared to pay out the nose, though!

I do almost all of my own maintenance. If I want to just do it once, I go to Napa. Learned that the hard way.....

@ Indy317 - penetrating oil, heat, hammer, and impact wrench for those stubborn bolts, in that order until they pop loose. Put them back on with anti-seize.