@@joeyscleaninglady2877 Usually that's something that you get in a parts shop where things like brake pads are on the shelf. Some people think it's funny to put their old pads back in the box and put it back on the shelf. Sometimes it's people who "return" supposedly incorrect parts for a refund or credit, the person that takes the item back doesn't check it before putting it back on the shelf. I would say that any time you buy a part that is new in the box and the box has been opened (they're always sealed from the manufacturer) then check it very carefully before leaving the shop, and preferably before paying for it...
I grew up in my parents parts store since 66. When the Auto Zone opened up across town, we started getting a ton of returns on brake pads. I couldn't figure out how I got things so wrong. What was happening was that customers would get the wrong part from them and then buy the right part from us and then rebox and return the wrong ones to us. I started marking my parts in front of the customer as I put them back in the box. That stopped the crap. I've opened boxes and found used spark plugs that customers try to return, so now I mark everything that goes out.
This is a common problem. Guys who think they are smart, put the old parts in the box and try to return them and get their money back. Smart parts men always open the box and check the part on returns.
@@mrdanforth3744 So when the old part is returned to the seller, they don't check to see if it was the new part and then they just sell that to someone else. Most employees don't check anything.
@@thatrealba I'd love for him to do something like that, and do some crazy car mods to it like a lift kit with mud tires, crazy paint job, turbo the motor, etc.., and just drive it till it's trashed!!
You missed the joy when an entire production run of a part is mislabeled and gets distributed. You can keep reordering the part but you'll never get the right one until the 10,000 wrong ones get purged from inventory.
similarly, I routinely require seeing the old part coming off my car to confirm a shop actually did the work. there are lots of shady shops out there too.
@@AADX74 Right! Even if they did do the actual replacement, the old parts might not have been that worn. I took a Matrix in to diagnose a squeak when hitting bumps, they replaced the front pads and rotors. The car had 22k miles on it. I checked and the rotors did appear to be new, I could see the resurfacing marks on them. I asked for the old ones back and they said they threw them out and the trash had already been removed in the hour since they did the job. It was on a Saturday. Also, they never did fix that squeak.
SirDougelton old timers are the best parts guys every time it’s some young guns I ALWAYS get the wrong part. You HAVE to bring the old part to mirror it
suppose to check the part before selling it, had two different parts that somehow got put back on the shelf and when I checked them before selling it to the person they were used and the person was glad I checked first. you can also see when the last time your store sold that item and go from there if need be.
"Driver's side" and "passenger's side" become meaningless when the eBay dealer is dealing worldwide, including to countries with both left- and right-hand drive.
I was a parts driver for a Ford dealership in SoCal after high school ('82). My counter guys were constanty giving me the wrong parts for delivery. I quickly realized the importance of double checking the parts against the invoice since I was the guy face to face with the shop owner had to listen to his complaint. Most times the parts matched the invoice but was still wrong due to the incompetent salesman. Surprisingly, the older guys with 20+.years at the counter were just as bad. It was a fun job being paid to drive around L.A and meet the owners but don't get their order wrong !!
That it does, but you can also get yelled at for taking so long, but a quick check over of parts saves a lot of time... especially if there is some distance involved.
There was a place here in Australia with an old guy in his 70s, real picture of lung cancer.... He used to tell you that "yours must be the only one in the country" if HE GOT the wrong part. He tried this crap on EVERYONE so one time I looked into the repair manual and the manual stated exactly the opposite of what he gave me. It was a cheaper place but we are so far out of town that it was NEVER cheaper once we drove back in. So even though thye were 70% the price of others, I stopped going. Honestly it was literally half the time that he got it wrong. Other guys were better but this guy was most often at the counter.
The best DOA part experience I've had was with an air flow sensor on my BMW. Bought a bulk, non-brand (i.e. really crappy) one for peanuts, it was DOA so I took it back. They didn't have another one on the shelf so they gave me a legit OEM part instead, which would've been something like three times the price, free of charge.
Good 'ole Wizard - every now and then someone like him comes along and restores your faith in the car repair trade. His quiet thoughtful delivery is a tonic to watch. Thanks!
I also got a rebuilt 307 Oldsmobile engine that had been dropped. Some of the pushrods were bent.Back to the store it went. More time wasted while another engine was shipped out. The replacement engine was so tight it couldn't be turned over except with a pipe on a long breaker bar. Returned that engine as well and never used that parts store for rebuilt engines ever again. Then there was the time at a junkyard where the counter man was instructing a yard man to spray paint and old olds 350 engine blue to cover up the gold paint to make it look like a newer engine. What a bunch of crooks!
LOL, i've been working on cars for 45 years and I can relate to just about each of your stories... So for fun I'll add one... Some years ago I was referred to a different parts store... Nice folks, but they were about half an hours drive from me each way.... And whenever I called they always had the right part in stock, like magic. But strangely, lots of times it looked different. When I argued it.. they would always swear it was the new updated version, or give me a story about universal fit. When I got the part back to my shop, naturally it wouldn't fit or work. So I'd call and they always sincerely apologized and got me the right part in a few days... Finally after they gave me the wrong, but very similar part, I called and a young lady told me they had already ordered the right part right after I left the store with the wrong one they sold me... Anything to make a sale, they always had the part in stock, but in reality they took my money, gave me the wrong part while they ordered the part which would get there in a few days. If I had 3 days to wait, I would just have ordered the part from the store down the road instead of wasting 2 hours in travel time. I changed parts stores pretty quickly. Beware of this scam... it's more common than you think.
ALWAYS BRING IN THE ORIGINAL PART TO DIRECTLY MATCH IT UP TO THE REPLACEMENT. This bait n switch policy you described would drive me away after one time... more short sighted " auto parts policy" that's just going to drive people away/ to online parts sources.
I worked as a parts runner at a shop when I was in college. The mechanics gave me so much crap (“Wrong part, college boy”) that I quickly learned to take the old part with me to the parts store and compare it BEFORE signing the invoice and leaving the store. The parts store guys were sometimes annoyed, but it saved me a lot of face and return trips.
I agree. gone the extra mile in terms of up stream vendors who do a great job on the follow through to make things right, and also stories of customers who are very appreciative and thankful and understanding.
It is the whole deal of - no accountability and the same people make life hard for others. They don't care if they get fired or show up for work. They just go somewhere else and make another disaster.
I spent many years as a parts man, so I've seen the other side of this. I found you have to be part parts man, part mechanic, and part psychologist. I can't count the times I got yelled at because the mechanic ORDERED the wrong parts and somehow decided it was my fault because I got him exactly what he wanted but it didn't fix the car. Or the mechanic who can't be concerned with giving you the VIN, or the proper model year and RPO's, but wants the right stuff RIGHT NOW. Or the guys(usually old, tight farmers) that bring their used parts back in the boxes for new credit and you're swamped and don't catch it. Or the countless people who come in and want you to diagnose their $200 junk with 100% accuracy so they don't have to pay a mechanic. Half the time they think you should install it, too. Or the people who want you to stay and wait 45 minutes after close to pick up a part, and then tell you you're too high priced and they're going to O'Reilly's(the Dollar General of parts stores). It goes both ways, Wizard. A good parts man OR a good mechanic is rare and worth his weight in gold. I think every parts man should spend a year turning wrenches(I did), and every mechanic should do a year behind the counter.
I deal with all this stuff too. Lol. Its funny. They order parts online and they end up wrong or it doesn't fix the problem and they call back blaming us and saying we sent the wrong part. Lol No you ordered it wrong bud. Lol You would also be very surprised how many shops order the wrong oil or fluids for cars and ask us how to fix their stuff over the phone. I was a mechanic for many years before I did parts. I see both side of these points tho. Im man enough to say that😁😁
Very long winded but spot on comment, thank you very much! Yes we are very rare indeed, and I wish there was a bounty on my ass I’d turn myself in for the money $$$
It should be 5 years. Any respectable apprenticeship is 5 years. 5 years is a blink of an eye. And afterward, ...you think you know, ....but you really don’t know shit yet. You just acquire the journeyman title.
Nice little story about our small group of repai shops 30 years ago. A manager at one of our shops was doing pretty good on sales. however when we were doing year end inventory we found out that most of the boxes had been opened and then resealed to look like they were not touched. we opened them and found out that 3/4 of the boxes had old parts in them. He had been doing jobs without giving the customers a receipt and pocketing the money. If we didn't check the boxes we would have sent back several boxes of old parts to the parts store as new returns and in turn the parts store would have put it back on their shelves to resell.
My daughter ordered brake parts for a Chevy Equinox. They sent those ok, but she received a big heavy box too. It was adressed to her. We opened it and found it to be a crank pin for a marine engine. The thing weighs 45 - 50 lbs. We called and they said" keep it" It would cost more than the part was worth for shipping . The thing must be for a ship, its huge. I priced them out, $38 dollars. Yeah, not worth shipping.
@@nickcaesar7650 Yeah , she never researched it before buying it and never told me a thing until she got it. That being said it has 124k on it and hasnt needed much beyond brakes and some front end parts. That being said. Its better than the Saturn View she bought that died and couldnt even get a transmission for it. They told her at the garage to just scrap it. Now THATS GARBAGE .
Same as an Equinox. Minivans on stilts with cheap plastic interiors. It's just way harder to get interior parts, thanks to their limited sales and nonexistent current support. Buy if you don't mind average everything.
Oh Wizard, you are so genuine and kind. You said you wouldn’t quote a job for $200 and then charge $300. My local shop did me even worse then that. I got quoted $800 total then was told it would be $1100 dollars due to having to buy new parts. Showed up to pay and pickup my vehicle and it was $1743.32 to get my truck. They never called me after telling me $1100 was the *Final* price. It was 2 hours before closing and the girl at the front desk said all the mechanics had left and nobody could explain the jump in price. I had to pay to have my work truck back, then called back and they asked me if I wanted it fixed correctly, I said yes, and then he told me that is what I had to pay and to get over it. I hate getting anyone to do work for me anymore!
When living in SF, I used to get old spark plugs, and even the 2nd time back, I had the auto parts guy open the box in front of me and he was shocked. lol!
I had a car when I was 16 that needed a clutch. Did it in the winter on jack stands in the garage. The parts store gave me the wrong clutch plate. A friend helped me the first time and through several attempts to make the clutch work. After I gave up and took it back to the parts store, my friend was, understandable no longer willing to lay on the garage floor in the middle of the winter and I had to wrestle the transmission back into place by myself. Luckily I was in good shape. I lost all desire to work on my own cars for a couple years after that.
Driver/Passenger completely eliminates the confusion... Unless you're buying a part for a model which is also made for right hand drive markets... Such as everything Japanese, Australian or British...
That's exactly what I was going to comment on. I have never worked on a Right Hand Drive Supra but there are enough of them around that I know asking for a drivers side part for a Supra is not a good idea.
The car manufacturers themselves pretty much all use Left and Right, based on someone sitting in either of the front seats, and they typically specify this on one of the first pages of their parts catalogs. That eliminates any confusion over driver side and passenger side for LHD and RHD markets. Left and Right are the same regardless of which front seat you're in.
I had an incident years ago, where I had a 2004 ram pickup come in with a blown engine. The customer had supplemental insurance to cover powertrain parts. His Insurance ordered a used engine from LKQ. When I attempted to lift the engine out of the crate, the oil pan fell off, and inside it the pan were a broken connecting rod. Apparently a shop in Houston, returned a blown engine to LKQ. They kept the replacement one, and got their money back. LKQ apologized and sent me another engine overnight. Then they had the sheriffs department come to pick up the other engine, because it still had all of the tags, and documentation from the other shop.
@@jhh70 yes they do. I've seen him working at one in Lenexa KS. We had a car meet there and I recognized his apollo ls 911 immediately. He was making fries in the store.
The average person has no idea what an auto mechanic goes through on a daily basis. It is so critical for mechanics to have the correct parts they need to help work efficiently. Thanks Wizard for all your great videos, I really enjoy them!
I think any of us who have fixed cars in any capacity have run into parts issues. My latest was two brake calipers in a row that were mis-cast nearly a quarter inch out of spec. Blew my mind when I finally figured out what the heckola was going on.
Ordered a set of headers one time from summit,got a new box with some rusted out old headers with rusted bolts and acorns in the box. Summit sent a new set and paid for the shipping.
Left hand side part is based on you sitting in the car looking out the front windshield....and looking at left side of car. Doesn’t matter what side of car you drive (USA or U.K.)
Bentley Nut the problem is the people selling the part are not informed as we all are. Properly it’s based upon sitting in the driver’s seat but it it true the people selling the part don’t understand that concept. That’s the point he was trying to make.
I’m so happy your channel has taken off as fast and comprehensive, as it has had! I can relate to your content on so many levels. Thanks for all the great advice you provide.
🤔Wow!🤔 Well we’re getting to see a whole other side of the Wizard 🚙🧙♂️🚗 in these last couple videos! 😳😳 Thanks for sharing these with us; ❤️me some Wizard Story-time!
I hope you're better at saving money than hoovie I have a feeling you are. I like your informative videos and your down-to-earth personality thank you for posting!
You are a bright spot, Car Wizard, in a world gone mad! Love listening to your segments which are both informative and help get my mind off the insanity. Thanks!
It sure seems like everything is a race to the bottom, lowest cost on parts/manufacturing everything and you are right they do not care. What changed is the CULTURE - it is horrible.
1:55 That typically happens when somebody 'returns' a part and the counter guy doesn't look in the box to make sure the parts are there, and still unused. They do the return, throw it in the take-back pile, and it gets restocked. Especially during a rush when trying to help a line of customers out the door as quickly as possible. Had a guy once try to return a 'starter', and the box was all taped up (our boxes didn't have any tape). I start cutting open the box as the guy protests, "You don't have to do that". I open the box, and... It's a rock. I look at the guy like 'really?' and he looks at the rock, looks at me, looks at the rock, and runs out the door. Have lots of horror stories, I hated that job, and it's the reason I hate people.
I also sold auto parts and had people try to bring back a part saying that they didn't need it and many times I caught people trying to return the old one for a full refund saying that they didn't need it and when they get caught they'll either be embarrassed or wanting to fight you saying that's what you sold me and twice had people want to fight me saying that they got what you see in the box and I had a customer try that one Sunday afternoon when we're busy, put a set of brake shoes in the box on the counter and said to me "I didn't need them after all and I'd like a refund" considering I sold them (they were special ordered for a one ton Chevy pickup) and when I opened the box all I saw was a set of shoes worn down below the rivets and covered in gear oil,I told him that I couldn't give him anything back and he tried to hit me several times until a local cop corralled him and locked him up (he was picking up a couple of part's for a cop car that we had ordered for them for) he called for back up and locked the guy up.I got called into the owners office to explain and afterwards he said I was right- eventually left because of working conditions
You tell em Wizard. Glad to know I’m not alone in this problem. Keep fighting the good fight. They do this to experts like you. How little must they care about the rest of us.
I know your pain about Local parts stores. The sad fact is WE the parts store guys, get parts from the warehouse that are used. Shame on your local store for not verifying the part was indeed new/reman, but it gets hectic in the parts store. Most of the time every shop in town, thinks they have priority. Sometime stop slips past the counter guys and drivers. We don't have time to open every box. Anyways my rant. Keep up the good work on the channel. And before you AMAZING NEVER MAKE A MISTAKE MECHANICS try to roast me. I can fully tell you, I have worked at shops, with parts stores attached. I to am an ASE certified mechanic.... Yes MECHANIC!!! It takes a lot to be a parts guy!!! and the pay is shit!! But the A/C and Heat are a wonderful thing when your health goes south.....
You didn't hear that they WEREN'T REMANUFACTURED. They were literally someone else's broken part...... because remanufactured parts don't come covered in old black grease.
Bought a starter for a 99 Ford Taurus from O'Riley. Installed it. Nothing happened. Starter's bad . Took it back, guy's sorry, here's another one. Well okay, I say, just test this one , just to be sure. That one's bad,too ! Amazing ! Two out of three (remanufactured in Mexico) starter's are defective from the factory... nice quality control,guys...
Gotta love late spring early summer out in the plains on the prairie where you've never seen so much tall bright green grass in one area before. On windy days the grass sways and dances back and forth as far as the eye can see. Its a beauty all of its own
I think when a wrong part was shipped out to the shop was because the person or shop wants the sale on the part but doesn't have it, so to buy time they send out the wrong one to get you sidetracked until they get the part.
While watching this video, I anxiously felt the need to check the status of an online order I placed a few days ago through IPD for a CV axle and associated parts. Lo and behold, the "available" part is now backordered -- by a month!
I understand every single concern you have to deal with believe me I had my own share of issues with part suppliers and many times it wasn't fun to deal with them :(
I / we can only imagine Wizard. but at the same time, you are one of the few/only ones we trust and may need certain things done even if you've had problems with similar things prior. We understand. I appreciate this video.
Its not always the suppliers fault, i was a parts man for a Ford main dealership and one day this guy threw a car battery over the counter shouting that we had wasted his afternoon with the wrong part, turned out the vehicle was a diesel and not a petrol as he had said, i could tell you a thousand similar stories, i am not suggesting the Wizard supplies the wrong information as he is clearly a very competent mechanic, an i think $85 an hour is very reasonable.
I’m in New Zealand and we get the same issues. For years getting brand new parts shipped from Italy for Fiats took up to 8 months. Mercedes parts come from Singapore and take 3 weeks. I have a car where everything is special order so things like tyres and spark plugs take weeks from Japan. I understand your issues and commiserate with you.
6:05 a mechanic should know that left and right are from drivers perspective. Drivers/passengers side is very unhelpful when a number of countries drive on the left.
@@dcan911 My point is, he's talking about problems he's had ordering parts for his shop, which is in Kansas--not a place where any confusion about what "driver's side" means is likely to arise between a mechanic and a parts supplier.
@@ZGryphon parts suppliers ship all round the world. Many cars are sold in both LHD and RHD markets. An Aussie could say the same as you, and they'd be equally wrong!
Thank you for the insight into what you have to deal with. My Father had a glass shop and I saw some of this. You have helped me to understand what my local mechanic has to go through and helps validate some of the crazy stories I hear. I dont know if it's fraud, but customer service for the service providers is a problem so providing service at any level is a multi level concern. I wish all service centers were as forthcoming, diligent and professional as you. Thanks you for your service, even though I am not likely to use your service.
OEM parts aren't usually manufactured by the car company. They mainly just assemble. When I was a manufacturing engineer at Navistar (we made the Ford Powerstroke Diesel engine) we made blocks, heads, cams and cranks. Everything else was purchased. We also had a dept that removed felpro gaskets from their box and put them into OEM boxes for resale at a major markup.
Wizard this has happened to us many times we’ve got sent bad engines an transmission I know the process all to well I appreciate the advice keep the videos coming!!
I've bought oil and got home it was used oil someone brought in. A guy at napa told me I was a moron because I didn't know my truck was a diesel. It is a LS 6.0 gas engine.
I think it depends on the store, I've had Napa employees go out of their way to help me, same with O'Reilly and even AutoZone. Where i've had the worst experiences is PepBoys. The only thing they seem to be good for is oil and chemicals and honestly Walmart has them beat at that.
love your videos, and knowledge, and expertise! I spent many years in the auto service business and encountered the same problems many times. Getting the right parts from the parts house was so bad that I amassed my own set of catalogues. I must have had 50lbs of them. Then there were the new aftermarket parts that didn't quite fit and rebuilt parts that were defective out of the box. All this was a money loosing thing for me. I used to take my pressure tester to the parts house when buying a radiator cap. I found new ones that wouldn't hold the listed pressure and it went on and on. Even at 85.00 an hour it's easy to loose money and it's a tough business. There's never enough tools and diagnostic gear either.
I work for 1A Auto which is also AM Autoparts. You may have ordered from us before. We are the top auto parts seller on ebay. We were actually #7 of all US sellers in 2018. Our main warehouse is in Olathe Kansas. If you order from us the parts should be there next day as long as UPS handles it the whole way and it doesnt get shifted to USPS sure post.
As much as The Wizard complains about eBay and the internet, I remember what it was like before either existed. There was NO MARKET for old cars, parts were unobtainable in general and you had to rely on Hemmings and the few specialized vendors who supplied things for your vehicle - and they took FULL advantage with their pricing. eBay and the internet saved the collector car market and thousands of cars from ending up as scrap.
PussyGalore but back then you went on parts expeditions and visited all the junk yards in the area. i used to go to junk yards even though they claimed they never had any of my car's model there. often they were mistaken and i would find cars they didnt know were there.
That's disconcerting...... He's sat in the right seat, but the steering wheel's missing! Oh ! don't get me started on DOA, ELF and WPIB parts... grrrrrrrr :(
@@BLOODRAVIN01 I think he might be joking like I am. Joke- something to arouse laughter. Also something not taken seriously . I think they also might call it sarcasm.
As someone who worked in parts for 10 years in every level from stocking to management, the quality of both parts and workers has suffered SO much in the last 20 years from these corporate giants gobbling up all all the small guys and then cut rate purchasing. Glad to be on the repair side, which of course has its own problems.
Well guess what Wizard, I have a '96 old Honda Civic sedan 1.6, and every time I go to the mechanic to do whatever, first thing first he checks what's wrong and what needs to be changed. He will call immediately to a parts store and order the parts he needs, and by the time he finishes taking away the old parts from the car; a scooter arrives with the parts needed. Then he mounts them in and checks the levels, gets paid and there I go. The time it takes can last 1 hour to one-morning depending on the situation, and in the middle also fixes little things from someone arriving in the meantime. Forgot to tell you that I am living in Taiwan.
I bought a f150 that needed a exhaust manifold (4.6 2v don’t worry it’s a good one) I bought the manifold from ford, apparently no one buys the ford part so the part was made in 2011, no issues with it but found it funny. Even the parts guy was like are you sure you want the ford part and not an aftermarket part? I’ve heard some horror stories about aftermarket manifolds like pipes being casted closed and stupid amount of slag then being thrown into the cats. I compared the ford part to one that was an aftermarket at my job, legit the ford part quality made it look like a completely different part to the Dorman one. Sometimes, key word sometimes, the dealer part is worth it and better than the aftermarket part
I really respect this not only for your wisdom but also because its a wise use of down time---reflection on parts issues while on the way to leisure time. 👍🏼👍🏼
I use eBay to buy part for my classic Saab 900. It's honestly the best place to get off small parts and parts pulled from old cars. And you can get a good deal most of the time! I've had good luck.
Don't feel bad, I worked in a Computer service/repair shop for a few years and dealt with the same stuff from dealers a lot of times. Finding a reliable one can be tuff but they are often worth their weight in gold. Customers often don't realize how much time is involved in the parts shopping and dealing with vendors, it's often worse than dealing with the customer (some are really bad). It's almost like suppliers try to give small shops a hard time on purpose, maybe pushing them out of business.
@@bradleycross5987 - there's a lot of issue with that in my humble opinion... when you have warranty work that needs to be done to the internals of your engine, you don't want somebody rushing to try and get it done... You want someone to do it right!!!
Take out thier engine with a blowtorch and a sawzall, and return the charred remains ... That's what$65 / hr buys you A/oles !... garbage in, garbage out.
85 is a great rate. shop bills wont pay themselves! also props to the good customers out there that understand when a job goes sideways in a way the mechanic has no control over not to hold it against them. just they way it is when getting stuff fixed.
Air filters too. It's pretty common for people to put an expensive filter into a chip filter box and then buy it. Then some poor guy comes along and buys the expensive filter, only to find a dirt cheap one inside of the box.
Wow, great insight Wizard I had no idea it was that wild but when I think about it I’m not surprised. Thanks for bringing this to light. I am actually at this moment having to give my mechanic some slack for an issue I have to bring back to him because he didn’t solve it.
One time, while I was working at O'Reilly, I was checking in the truck and got a box of brake pads with a Brakebest label and number, but it was a Duralast box. Brakebest is O'Reilly's brake supplier "brand", and Duralast is Autozone's. They are literally the same pads, from the same factory, in different boxes.
Warhawk Fishing Very common. I worked in a distribution warehouse that supplied parts for semis. They would buy Chinese brake shoes and other parts and unbox them on one line and another line would Rebox them on another line with their name on it. Basically as long as they meet their standards they are allowed to do it.
I worked at a parts store for 2 months, drove me mad with all the mistakes made by staff but also customers who didn't know what they needed and also wanted us to diagnose the problems with their cars. Modified cars were the worst. Have to send out 3 - 4 different sets of brake pads because he's fitted something different to a BMW 318i. Supply a filter set for a Honda Civic to find out it's had an engine swap with an Accord. Cambelt kit for a Toyota Curren 3SFE to find it's been swapped with a 3SGE, the list goes on.
I can completely relate to receiving broken parts and having them replaced with the exact same broken parts. I had a problem once with a master cylinder from a local salvage yard. Returned it, got another that was as bad as the last. This time I made some marks on it with a sharpie. When I returned it. Sure enough, within a few minutes after they took back the return, they presented me with a replacement with the exact same marks. I pointed out what I did, they refunded my money and asked me not to return. I was glad to comply. The best thing to do is never do business with folks like that. Within a few years, they were out of business. Wonder why?
I have be a mechanic for 30 year's i know what you are talking about. It is really hard to get any sort of quality on any new car parts even new genuine parts. There is no way i whould run a work shop . Some times i get a better run from wrecker yard parts than Chinese parts.
Hyundais have the worst aftermarket parts imaginable. One guy sone a timing belt and the tensioner failed after 3000 miles. He could hear this flapping and it was the timing belt slapping against the roller..... mind you these are interference engines and if the belt breaks, valves hit the pistons (hyundai 2.7 delta V6).
this is exactly what happens in a shop. finally retired and im waiting for sweet death to come a knocking for me.
what parts manufacturer requires a core charge for brake pads?
@@joeyscleaninglady2877 Usually I see that with brake shoes for drum brakes, I've never seen that with pads.
@@joeyscleaninglady2877 Usually that's something that you get in a parts shop where things like brake pads are on the shelf. Some people think it's funny to put their old pads back in the box and put it back on the shelf. Sometimes it's people who "return" supposedly incorrect parts for a refund or credit, the person that takes the item back doesn't check it before putting it back on the shelf. I would say that any time you buy a part that is new in the box and the box has been opened (they're always sealed from the manufacturer) then check it very carefully before leaving the shop, and preferably before paying for it...
@@joeyscleaninglady2877 You missed a pretty good Autoline video and chat today, people were asking for you
wow ! such blissed out attitude : congratulations !
I grew up in my parents parts store since 66. When the Auto Zone opened up across town, we started getting a ton of returns on brake pads. I couldn't figure out how I got things so wrong. What was happening was that customers would get the wrong part from them and then buy the right part from us and then rebox and return the wrong ones to us. I started marking my parts in front of the customer as I put them back in the box. That stopped the crap. I've opened boxes and found used spark plugs that customers try to return, so now I mark everything that goes out.
Z.
This is a common problem. Guys who think they are smart, put the old parts in the box and try to return them and get their money back. Smart parts men always open the box and check the part on returns.
I have commercial customers that try and pull that crap. I'm honestly disappointed that they don't have any respect for the people they work with.
@@ethanmaede3220 about the time they try that crap they should loose their trade discount
@@mrdanforth3744 So when the old part is returned to the seller, they don't check to see if it was the new part and then they just sell that to someone else. Most employees don't check anything.
When you said Hoovie got a Cobalt, at first I thought, why would he buy a cheap GM economy car....then I realized you were talking about a boat.
Yacht* haha
Why WOULDN'T Tyler buy a cheap GM economy car?
@@thatrealba I'd love for him to do something like that, and do some crazy car mods to it like a lift kit with mud tires, crazy paint job, turbo the motor, etc.., and just drive it till it's trashed!!
I was hoping tyler bought a Cobalt SS
In the split second it took me realize what the Wizard was actually talking about I was trying to think of what the heck kind of Chevy that was.
Pro tip for hoopty fleet owners - invite your mechanic to join you on vacation.
was just thinking that haha hey come hang out and I got this boat too!
@@craigclark2379 feed her well and give her inches… wait, what?
You missed the joy when an entire production run of a part is mislabeled and gets distributed. You can keep reordering the part but you'll never get the right one until the 10,000 wrong ones get purged from inventory.
DON'T EVER GIVE UP YOUR USED PART UNTIL YOU CAN COMPARE IT TO THE REPLACEMENT
+
similarly, I routinely require seeing the old part coming off my car to confirm a shop actually did the work. there are lots of shady shops out there too.
@@AADX74 Right! Even if they did do the actual replacement, the old parts might not have been that worn. I took a Matrix in to diagnose a squeak when hitting bumps, they replaced the front pads and rotors. The car had 22k miles on it. I checked and the rotors did appear to be new, I could see the resurfacing marks on them. I asked for the old ones back and they said they threw them out and the trash had already been removed in the hour since they did the job. It was on a Saturday. Also, they never did fix that squeak.
@@paulh2981 I would hit all the bushing of the suspension with silicone spray
Which is why I always try and stick with OEM, unless prohibitively expensive.
“wire it how you want” = “we’re not confident in our electrical manufacturing and don’t want liability if it sets your car on fire”
Yup.
These inferior people make my blood boil! Yes they ARE inferior.
I work for AutoZone and it's so true. Someone will accidently process a core as an undamaged return and that's how old parts get sent out.
SirDougelton old timers are the best parts guys every time it’s some young guns I ALWAYS get the wrong part. You HAVE to bring the old part to mirror it
suppose to check the part before selling it, had two different parts that somehow got put back on the shelf and when I checked them before selling it to the person they were used and the person was glad I checked first. you can also see when the last time your store sold that item and go from there if need be.
You’re the best wizard! I wish more people had the ethics and standards you hold.
"Driver's side" and "passenger's side" become meaningless when the eBay dealer is dealing worldwide, including to countries with both left- and right-hand drive.
I was a parts driver for a Ford dealership in SoCal after high school ('82). My counter guys were constanty giving me the wrong parts for delivery. I quickly realized the importance of double checking the parts against the invoice since I was the guy face to face with the shop owner had to listen to his complaint. Most times the parts matched the invoice but was still wrong due to the incompetent salesman. Surprisingly, the older guys with 20+.years at the counter were just as bad. It was a fun job being paid to drive around L.A and meet the owners but don't get their order wrong !!
That it does, but you can also get yelled at for taking so long, but a quick check over of parts saves a lot of time... especially if there is some distance involved.
There was a place here in Australia with an old guy in his 70s, real picture of lung cancer.... He used to tell you that "yours must be the only one in the country" if HE GOT the wrong part. He tried this crap on EVERYONE so one time I looked into the repair manual and the manual stated exactly the opposite of what he gave me. It was a cheaper place but we are so far out of town that it was NEVER cheaper once we drove back in. So even though thye were 70% the price of others, I stopped going. Honestly it was literally half the time that he got it wrong. Other guys were better but this guy was most often at the counter.
People are either born lazy or not.
The best DOA part experience I've had was with an air flow sensor on my BMW. Bought a bulk, non-brand (i.e. really crappy) one for peanuts, it was DOA so I took it back. They didn't have another one on the shelf so they gave me a legit OEM part instead, which would've been something like three times the price, free of charge.
"Dorman OEM parts?" - Hahahaha! I'm sure Eric O. from South Main Auto would like a word with those dealers!
Yes, the OEM sources a company like Dorman to supply service replacement parts.
Bosch part in a Volvo box costs $50 extra and the same part in a Mercedes box costs $100 extra. Those are some really expensive cardboard boxes!
No some somebody kept the OEM part and returned the Dorman crap back to the dealer.
Hoovie: "I bought the cheapest yacht in the US"
He didn't buy the cheapest but a nice one
@@AndrewLaMonica1
How do you know? Have you physically seen it? Have you tested it?
Wizard: Oh Crap.
*USA
Good 'ole Wizard - every now and then someone like him comes along and restores your faith in the car repair trade. His quiet thoughtful delivery is a tonic to watch. Thanks!
I also got a rebuilt 307 Oldsmobile engine that had been dropped. Some of the pushrods were bent.Back to the store it went. More time wasted while another engine was shipped out. The replacement engine was so tight it couldn't be turned over except with a pipe on a long breaker bar. Returned that engine as well and never used that parts store for rebuilt engines ever again. Then there was the time at a junkyard where the counter man was instructing a yard man to spray paint and old olds 350 engine blue to cover up the gold paint to make it look like a newer engine. What a bunch of crooks!
LOL, i've been working on cars for 45 years and I can relate to just about each of your stories... So for fun I'll add one...
Some years ago I was referred to a different parts store... Nice folks, but they were about half an hours drive from me each way.... And whenever I called they always had the right part in stock, like magic. But strangely, lots of times it looked different. When I argued it.. they would always swear it was the new updated version, or give me a story about universal fit. When I got the part back to my shop, naturally it wouldn't fit or work. So I'd call and they always sincerely apologized and got me the right part in a few days... Finally after they gave me the wrong, but very similar part, I called and a young lady told me they had already ordered the right part right after I left the store with the wrong one they sold me... Anything to make a sale, they always had the part in stock, but in reality they took my money, gave me the wrong part while they ordered the part which would get there in a few days. If I had 3 days to wait, I would just have ordered the part from the store down the road instead of wasting 2 hours in travel time. I changed parts stores pretty quickly.
Beware of this scam... it's more common than you think.
ALWAYS BRING IN THE ORIGINAL PART TO DIRECTLY MATCH IT UP TO THE REPLACEMENT.
This bait n switch policy you described would drive me away after one time... more short sighted " auto parts policy" that's just going to drive people away/ to online parts sources.
I worked as a parts runner at a shop when I was in college. The mechanics gave me so much crap (“Wrong part, college boy”) that I quickly learned to take the old part with me to the parts store and compare it BEFORE signing the invoice and leaving the store. The parts store guys were sometimes annoyed, but it saved me a lot of face and return trips.
Hey car wizard, love your crazy stories. How about telling us some success stories from when people have gone the extra mile for you?
That doesn't happen as a mechanic....
I agree. gone the extra mile in terms of up stream vendors who do a great job on the follow through to make things right, and also stories of customers who are very appreciative and thankful and understanding.
Lol... Would be interesting to see David tackle that one. At times he seems to not be fully acquainted with Murphy's Law.
There are none.
It is the whole deal of - no accountability and the same people make life hard for others. They don't care if they get fired or show up for work. They just go somewhere else and make another disaster.
Fully agree
And this is because these are low paid drones. Higher pay and being more discerning with hiring would reduce the problem.
I spent many years as a parts man, so I've seen the other side of this. I found you have to be part parts man, part mechanic, and part psychologist. I can't count the times I got yelled at because the mechanic ORDERED the wrong parts and somehow decided it was my fault because I got him exactly what he wanted but it didn't fix the car.
Or the mechanic who can't be concerned with giving you the VIN, or the proper model year and RPO's, but wants the right stuff RIGHT NOW.
Or the guys(usually old, tight farmers) that bring their used parts back in the boxes for new credit and you're swamped and don't catch it.
Or the countless people who come in and want you to diagnose their $200 junk with 100% accuracy so they don't have to pay a mechanic. Half the time they think you should install it, too.
Or the people who want you to stay and wait 45 minutes after close to pick up a part, and then tell you you're too high priced and they're going to O'Reilly's(the Dollar General of parts stores).
It goes both ways, Wizard. A good parts man OR a good mechanic is rare and worth his weight in gold. I think every parts man should spend a year turning wrenches(I did), and every mechanic should do a year behind the counter.
well said! watch my youtube channel some time....
Our shop makes a game of it. We order the same part from all the stores. First with the correct part gets paid.
I deal with all this stuff too. Lol. Its funny. They order parts online and they end up wrong or it doesn't fix the problem and they call back blaming us and saying we sent the wrong part. Lol No you ordered it wrong bud. Lol
You would also be very surprised how many shops order the wrong oil or fluids for cars and ask us how to fix their stuff over the phone. I was a mechanic for many years before I did parts. I see both side of these points tho.
Im man enough to say that😁😁
Very long winded but spot on comment, thank you very much! Yes we are very rare indeed, and I wish there was a bounty on my ass I’d turn myself in for the money $$$
It should be 5 years. Any respectable apprenticeship is 5 years. 5 years is a blink of an eye. And afterward, ...you think you know, ....but you really don’t know shit yet. You just acquire the journeyman title.
Nice little story about our small group of repai shops 30 years ago. A manager at one of our shops was doing pretty good on sales. however when we were doing year end inventory we found out that most of the boxes had been opened and then resealed to look like they were not touched. we opened them and found out that 3/4 of the boxes had old parts in them. He had been doing jobs without giving the customers a receipt and pocketing the money. If we didn't check the boxes we would have sent back several boxes of old parts to the parts store as new returns and in turn the parts store would have put it back on their shelves to resell.
Grifter fallout. Didn't he know that his scam was going to be detected eventually ?
Greedy ba$tard..
I owned a shop for 10 years, 21 years as a technician, man I don't miss it.
My daughter ordered brake parts for a Chevy Equinox. They sent those ok, but she received a big heavy box too. It was adressed to her. We opened it and found it to be a crank pin for a marine engine. The thing weighs 45 - 50 lbs. We called and they said" keep it" It would cost more than the part was worth for shipping . The thing must be for a ship, its huge. I priced them out, $38 dollars. Yeah, not worth shipping.
My god, you actually let your daughter buy a Chevy equinox??? Arguably one of the worst cars in automobile history
@@nickcaesar7650 Yeah , she never researched it before buying it and never told me a thing until she got it. That being said it has 124k on it and hasnt needed much beyond brakes and some front end parts. That being said. Its better than the Saturn View she bought that died and couldnt even get a transmission for it. They told her at the garage to just scrap it. Now THATS GARBAGE .
@@scottfirman The Constant Variable Transmission gave them a big nail in their coffin.
Same as an Equinox. Minivans on stilts with cheap plastic interiors. It's just way harder to get interior parts, thanks to their limited sales and nonexistent current support. Buy if you don't mind average everything.
Oh Wizard, you are so genuine and kind. You said you wouldn’t quote a job for $200 and then charge $300. My local shop did me even worse then that. I got quoted $800 total then was told it would be $1100 dollars due to having to buy new parts. Showed up to pay and pickup my vehicle and it was $1743.32 to get my truck. They never called me after telling me $1100 was the *Final* price. It was 2 hours before closing and the girl at the front desk said all the mechanics had left and nobody could explain the jump in price. I had to pay to have my work truck back, then called back and they asked me if I wanted it fixed correctly, I said yes, and then he told me that is what I had to pay and to get over it. I hate getting anyone to do work for me anymore!
When living in SF, I used to get old spark plugs, and even the 2nd time back, I had the auto parts guy open the box in front of me and he was shocked. lol!
I had a car when I was 16 that needed a clutch. Did it in the winter on jack stands in the garage. The parts store gave me the wrong clutch plate. A friend helped me the first time and through several attempts to make the clutch work. After I gave up and took it back to the parts store, my friend was, understandable no longer willing to lay on the garage floor in the middle of the winter and I had to wrestle the transmission back into place by myself. Luckily I was in good shape. I lost all desire to work on my own cars for a couple years after that.
Cheers to Mrs Wizzard for not hanging out in the passing lane.. She gets gold stars.!
Who's that sitting in the back seat ?
I love to convince my wife to drive. It is great. I talk to the windshield too.
I want a GF for the obvious reasons as well as this one lol.
Hilarious! So good...
Weird how some people, (mostly women), automatically ask me to drive whenever we get into a car..even theirs!
Driver/Passenger completely eliminates the confusion...
Unless you're buying a part for a model which is also made for right hand drive markets... Such as everything Japanese, Australian or British...
That's exactly what I was going to comment on. I have never worked on a Right Hand Drive Supra but there are enough of them around that I know asking for a drivers side part for a Supra is not a good idea.
Steve Evans , New Zealand.
The car manufacturers themselves pretty much all use Left and Right, based on someone sitting in either of the front seats, and they typically specify this on one of the first pages of their parts catalogs.
That eliminates any confusion over driver side and passenger side for LHD and RHD markets. Left and Right are the same regardless of which front seat you're in.
@@dunebasher1971 until you get a french car and it's marked "d" and "g"!
GM here in Australia has totally different part numbers from US GM.
I chased every part for the mechanics who restored my 1963 Ford. Finding the correct parts was the most difficult part of the resto'! John in Texas
All those fun cars and he road trips the Previa. My man.
P.S. Tell Tyler I have the cheapest 928s in the nation for him.
I had an incident years ago, where I had a 2004 ram pickup come in with a blown engine. The customer had supplemental insurance to cover powertrain parts. His Insurance ordered a used engine from LKQ. When I attempted to lift the engine out of the crate, the oil pan fell off, and inside it the pan were a broken connecting rod. Apparently a shop in Houston, returned a blown engine to LKQ. They kept the replacement one, and got their money back. LKQ apologized and sent me another engine overnight. Then they had the sheriffs department come to pick up the other engine, because it still had all of the tags, and documentation from the other shop.
God how rich is hoovie WOW I MEAN THE MAN HAS A BOAT!
I think they own a bunch of Freddy’s Frozen Custard stores
that actually explains A LOT of things... good for him though
Come on...you should know that by now. He takes losses on all his cars, yet can afford a house that big. You think us regular people can do that?
@@jhh70 yes they do. I've seen him working at one in Lenexa KS. We had a car meet there and I recognized his apollo ls 911 immediately. He was making fries in the store.
and you at KINKO's strait flipping copies
The average person has no idea what an auto mechanic goes through on a daily basis. It is so critical for mechanics to have the correct parts they need to help work efficiently. Thanks Wizard for all your great videos, I really enjoy them!
I think any of us who have fixed cars in any capacity have run into parts issues. My latest was two brake calipers in a row that were mis-cast nearly a quarter inch out of spec.
Blew my mind when I finally figured out what the heckola was going on.
Ordered a set of headers one time from summit,got a new box with some rusted out old headers with rusted bolts and acorns in the box. Summit sent a new set and paid for the shipping.
Left hand side part is based on you sitting in the car looking out the front windshield....and looking at left side of car. Doesn’t matter what side of car you drive (USA or U.K.)
Bentley Nut the problem is the people selling the part are not informed as we all are. Properly it’s based upon sitting in the driver’s seat but it it true the people selling the part don’t understand that concept. That’s the point he was trying to make.
I’m so happy your channel has taken off as fast and comprehensive, as it has had! I can relate to your content on so many levels. Thanks for all the great advice you provide.
🤔Wow!🤔 Well we’re getting to see a whole other side of the Wizard 🚙🧙♂️🚗 in these last couple videos! 😳😳 Thanks for sharing these with us; ❤️me some Wizard Story-time!
Parts horror stories... the bane of every mechanics shop. Dealing with irate customers is a skill on its own you learn very quickly.
I hope you're better at saving money than hoovie I have a feeling you are. I like your informative videos and your down-to-earth personality thank you for posting!
Absolutely the best episode yet. Dealing with PARTS UNKNOWN will make you crazy. Thanks, Roger, Vista, Ca
I worked in 2 different stores, and a warehouse. So many stories...
Canadian fan here. Love your channel. And, all your stories about customers. So interesting and somewhat shocking too!
You are a bright spot, Car Wizard, in a world gone mad! Love listening to your segments which are both informative and help get my mind off the insanity. Thanks!
It sure seems like everything is a race to the bottom, lowest cost on parts/manufacturing everything and you are right they do not care. What changed is the CULTURE - it is horrible.
These episodes about day to day stuff are really interesting to me. Thanks Wizard!
1:55 That typically happens when somebody 'returns' a part and the counter guy doesn't look in the box to make sure the parts are there, and still unused. They do the return, throw it in the take-back pile, and it gets restocked. Especially during a rush when trying to help a line of customers out the door as quickly as possible.
Had a guy once try to return a 'starter', and the box was all taped up (our boxes didn't have any tape). I start cutting open the box as the guy protests, "You don't have to do that". I open the box, and... It's a rock. I look at the guy like 'really?' and he looks at the rock, looks at me, looks at the rock, and runs out the door.
Have lots of horror stories, I hated that job, and it's the reason I hate people.
I also sold auto parts and had people try to bring back a part saying that they didn't need it and many times I caught people trying to return the old one for a full refund saying that they didn't need it and when they get caught they'll either be embarrassed or wanting to fight you saying that's what you sold me and twice had people want to fight me saying that they got what you see in the box and I had a customer try that one Sunday afternoon when we're busy, put a set of brake shoes in the box on the counter and said to me "I didn't need them after all and I'd like a refund" considering I sold them (they were special ordered for a one ton Chevy pickup) and when I opened the box all I saw was a set of shoes worn down below the rivets and covered in gear oil,I told him that I couldn't give him anything back and he tried to hit me several times until a local cop corralled him and locked him up (he was picking up a couple of part's for a cop car that we had ordered for them for) he called for back up and locked the guy up.I got called into the owners office to explain and afterwards he said I was right- eventually left because of working conditions
You tell em Wizard. Glad to know I’m not alone in this problem. Keep fighting the good fight. They do this to experts like you. How little must they care about the rest of us.
I know your pain about Local parts stores. The sad fact is WE the parts store guys, get parts from the warehouse that are used. Shame on your local store for not verifying the part was indeed new/reman, but it gets hectic in the parts store. Most of the time every shop in town, thinks they have priority. Sometime stop slips past the counter guys and drivers. We don't have time to open every box. Anyways my rant. Keep up the good work on the channel. And before you AMAZING NEVER MAKE A MISTAKE MECHANICS try to roast me. I can fully tell you, I have worked at shops, with parts stores attached. I to am an ASE certified mechanic.... Yes MECHANIC!!! It takes a lot to be a parts guy!!! and the pay is shit!! But the A/C and Heat are a wonderful thing when your health goes south.....
Why can't these stores be the size of big box stores like The Pep Boys. Everything under one roof including tires and service.
You didn't hear that they WEREN'T REMANUFACTURED. They were literally someone else's broken part...... because remanufactured parts don't come covered in old black grease.
Bought a starter for a 99 Ford Taurus from O'Riley.
Installed it.
Nothing happened.
Starter's bad .
Took it back, guy's sorry, here's another one.
Well okay, I say, just test this one , just to be sure.
That one's bad,too !
Amazing ! Two out of three (remanufactured in Mexico) starter's are defective from the factory... nice quality control,guys...
Gotta love late spring early summer out in the plains on the prairie where you've never seen so much tall bright green grass in one area before. On windy days the grass sways and dances back and forth as far as the eye can see. Its a beauty all of its own
I think when a wrong part was shipped out to the shop was because the person or shop wants the sale on the part but doesn't have it, so to buy time they send out the wrong one to get you sidetracked until they get the part.
The only time I've sent out cores by accident is after my supply chain sent me a core part. There's so many levels of failure to get to that point
While watching this video, I anxiously felt the need to check the status of an online order I placed a few days ago through IPD for a CV axle and associated parts. Lo and behold, the "available" part is now backordered -- by a month!
I understand every single concern you have to deal with believe me I had my own share of issues with part suppliers and many times it wasn't fun to deal with them :(
I / we can only imagine Wizard. but at the same time, you are one of the few/only ones we trust and may need certain things done even if you've had problems with similar things prior. We understand. I appreciate this video.
Its not always the suppliers fault, i was a parts man for a Ford main dealership and one day this guy threw a car battery over the counter shouting that we had wasted his afternoon with the wrong part, turned out the vehicle was a diesel and not a petrol as he had said, i could tell you a thousand similar stories, i am not suggesting the Wizard supplies the wrong information as he is clearly a very competent mechanic, an i think $85 an hour is very reasonable.
Dude you are a great mechanic thanks for sharing I'm a service technion for over 30 years I feel your pain
Driver side change too. It depends in what country the seller is or if the car is JDM or USDM...
Japan, New Zealand, Australia and the UK we all are right hand drive and POSSIBLY south Africa too.
@@OffGridInvestor yep indonesia, malaysia,singapore,hong kong, india , so many other african countries too
I’m in New Zealand and we get the same issues. For years getting brand new parts shipped from Italy for Fiats took up to 8 months. Mercedes parts come from Singapore and take 3 weeks. I have a car where everything is special order so things like tyres and spark plugs take weeks from Japan. I understand your issues and commiserate with you.
6:05 a mechanic should know that left and right are from drivers perspective.
Drivers/passengers side is very unhelpful when a number of countries drive on the left.
NOTE: Kansas is not one of those countries.
@@ZGryphon whats your point?
@@dcan911 My point is, he's talking about problems he's had ordering parts for his shop, which is in Kansas--not a place where any confusion about what "driver's side" means is likely to arise between a mechanic and a parts supplier.
@@ZGryphon parts suppliers ship all round the world. Many cars are sold in both LHD and RHD markets.
An Aussie could say the same as you, and they'd be equally wrong!
Thank you for the insight into what you have to deal with. My Father had a glass shop and I saw some of this. You have helped me to understand what my local mechanic has to go through and helps validate some of the crazy stories I hear. I dont know if it's fraud, but customer service for the service providers is a problem so providing service at any level is a multi level concern. I wish all service centers were as forthcoming, diligent and professional as you. Thanks you for your service, even though I am not likely to use your service.
Maybe I’m the only one that noticed but you used a song that Project Farm usually uses in his videos :) keep it going wizard!
Royalty free muzak.
More great stories from the wizard.
Just an fyi - it's not slander if it's true. You would have had to tie me up and gag me to keep from name dropping these bad offenders.
Yup, if there is truth to it and it can be proven put them on blast.
I honestly just say it. And that's what Google reviews are. They can try to sue me. But the cost of the lawyers will mean they won't.
Link Knight you think you have more money to spend on lawyers than a brand name parts store or a dealership 😂😂 they would bankrupt you in a heartbeat
OEM parts aren't usually manufactured by the car company. They mainly just assemble. When I was a manufacturing engineer at Navistar (we made the Ford Powerstroke Diesel engine) we made blocks, heads, cams and cranks. Everything else was purchased. We also had a dept that removed felpro gaskets from their box and put them into OEM boxes for resale at a major markup.
Hoovies new Jeep needs an alignment. It's out!
Wizard this has happened to us many times we’ve got sent bad engines an transmission I know the process all to well I appreciate the advice keep the videos coming!!
I've bought oil and got home it was used oil someone brought in. A guy at napa told me I was a moron because I didn't know my truck was a diesel. It is a LS 6.0 gas engine.
Wow lol
That sounds par for the course for a NAPA employee.
I called Napa once for a brake hose for my Lexus gs400 and the employee told me that my car is piece of shit and they don't carry it
What is it with Napa employees being the most miserable bastards on the planet. Oreillys employees always seem to be way more helpful and happy.
I think it depends on the store, I've had Napa employees go out of their way to help me, same with O'Reilly and even AutoZone. Where i've had the worst experiences is PepBoys. The only thing they seem to be good for is oil and chemicals and honestly Walmart has them beat at that.
love your videos, and knowledge, and expertise! I spent many years in the auto service business and encountered the same problems many times. Getting the right parts from the parts house was so bad that I amassed my own set of catalogues. I must have had 50lbs of them. Then there were the new aftermarket parts that didn't quite fit and rebuilt parts that were defective out of the box. All this was a money loosing thing for me. I used to take my pressure tester to the parts house when buying a radiator cap. I found new ones that wouldn't hold the listed pressure and it went on and on. Even at 85.00 an hour it's easy to loose money and it's a tough business. There's never enough tools and diagnostic gear either.
My favorite ebay sellers will have a used part untested as is and want a retail price.
I work for 1A Auto which is also AM Autoparts. You may have ordered from us before. We are the top auto parts seller on ebay. We were actually #7 of all US sellers in 2018. Our main warehouse is in Olathe Kansas. If you order from us the parts should be there next day as long as UPS handles it the whole way and it doesnt get shifted to USPS sure post.
As much as The Wizard complains about eBay and the internet, I remember what it was like before either existed. There was NO MARKET for old cars, parts were unobtainable in general and you had to rely on Hemmings and the few specialized vendors who supplied things for your vehicle - and they took FULL advantage with their pricing. eBay and the internet saved the collector car market and thousands of cars from ending up as scrap.
PussyGalore but back then you went on parts expeditions and visited all the junk yards in the area. i used to go to junk yards even though they claimed they never had any of my car's model there. often they were mistaken and i would find cars they didnt know were there.
Thank you again for pointing in the right direction for that timing belt and idler!
They were correct and Borg Warner, so ought to be good.
That's disconcerting...... He's sat in the right seat, but the steering wheel's missing!
Oh ! don't get me started on DOA, ELF and WPIB parts... grrrrrrrr :(
He is driving the car without a steering wheel. Now I know why he is called the Wizard.
@@godgirlsguitars
"He is driving the car without a steering wheel."
Does that make him a "clever dick" ? :) I can see his hands.
in America the steering wheel is on the left not the right
@@kevinshort3943 he is using his wizard powers. His hand motions are him casting the spell on the car to steer itself.
@@BLOODRAVIN01 I think he might be joking like I am. Joke- something to arouse laughter. Also something not taken seriously .
I think they also might call it sarcasm.
As someone who worked in parts for 10 years in every level from stocking to management, the quality of both parts and workers has suffered SO much in the last 20 years from these corporate giants gobbling up all all the small guys and then cut rate purchasing. Glad to be on the repair side, which of course has its own problems.
Well guess what Wizard, I have a '96 old Honda Civic sedan 1.6, and every time I go to the mechanic to do whatever, first thing first he checks what's wrong and what needs to be changed. He will call immediately to a parts store and order the parts he needs, and by the time he finishes taking away the old parts from the car; a scooter arrives with the parts needed. Then he mounts them in and checks the levels, gets paid and there I go. The time it takes can last 1 hour to one-morning depending on the situation, and in the middle also fixes little things from someone arriving in the meantime. Forgot to tell you that I am living in Taiwan.
I bought a f150 that needed a exhaust manifold (4.6 2v don’t worry it’s a good one) I bought the manifold from ford, apparently no one buys the ford part so the part was made in 2011, no issues with it but found it funny. Even the parts guy was like are you sure you want the ford part and not an aftermarket part? I’ve heard some horror stories about aftermarket manifolds like pipes being casted closed and stupid amount of slag then being thrown into the cats. I compared the ford part to one that was an aftermarket at my job, legit the ford part quality made it look like a completely different part to the Dorman one. Sometimes, key word sometimes, the dealer part is worth it and better than the aftermarket part
Talk to a watchmaker about parts (and even tools)
They'll have some opinions about that topic. 😂
I once ordered an 8oz bottle of refrigerant oil and I got a brand new aftermarket steering rack along with my oil.
Order GM parts from GM Parts Direct. Always right, decent price, OEM, faiiiiirly quick.
I really respect this not only for your wisdom but also because its a wise use of down time---reflection on parts issues while on the way to leisure time. 👍🏼👍🏼
Cool new logo! Enjoy your time at the lake and thanks for the insights into your work.
at first glance I thought the thumbnail said *CRAZY FARTS*
Forgan Mreeman I would still watch.
Same here haha
oh i’d definitely watch his crazy farts video
Very informative TY
OMG Dorman does supply some OEM parts. Sorry but they do. Also some Dorman parts are good expecially stainless brake lines.
I use eBay to buy part for my classic Saab 900. It's honestly the best place to get off small parts and parts pulled from old cars. And you can get a good deal most of the time! I've had good luck.
Going to the ozarks or table rock?
Don't feel bad, I worked in a Computer service/repair shop for a few years and dealt with the same stuff from dealers a lot of times. Finding a reliable one can be tuff but they are often worth their weight in gold. Customers often don't realize how much time is involved in the parts shopping and dealing with vendors, it's often worse than dealing with the customer (some are really bad).
It's almost like suppliers try to give small shops a hard time on purpose, maybe pushing them out of business.
Hmmmm.... You only pay $65 an hour, fantastic we will show you what $65 an hour get you! 😂🤣😂
Can you bump up the hours to make up the difference or is that fixed too?
@@bradleycross5987 - unfortunately most warranty claims are fixed hours on fixed rate..
@@bradleycross5987 - there's a lot of issue with that in my humble opinion... when you have warranty work that needs to be done to the internals of your engine, you don't want somebody rushing to try and get it done... You want someone to do it right!!!
Take out thier engine with a blowtorch and a sawzall, and return the charred remains ...
That's what$65 / hr buys you A/oles !... garbage in, garbage out.
Hey Mr n Mrs Wizard is that your daughter in the back? Nice to know your family people great stories by the way
85 is a great rate. shop bills wont pay themselves! also props to the good customers out there that understand when a job goes sideways in a way the mechanic has no control over not to hold it against them. just they way it is when getting stuff fixed.
I don't think it's much higher than that out here in the sticks. Plus, they're not going to do an engine out service on your 512TR.
You are definitely right about 5-10% failure rate. Oil filters in the wrong box are a regular occurrence
Always check the number on the side of the filter.
Air filters too. It's pretty common for people to put an expensive filter into a chip filter box and then buy it. Then some poor guy comes along and buys the expensive filter, only to find a dirt cheap one inside of the box.
This video reminds me of why I hate driving across Kansas ..... You get road hypnotism from driving straight for so long
Wow, great insight Wizard I had no idea it was that wild but when I think about it I’m not surprised. Thanks for bringing this to light. I am actually at this moment having to give my mechanic some slack for an issue I have to bring back to him because he didn’t solve it.
One time, while I was working at O'Reilly, I was checking in the truck and got a box of brake pads with a Brakebest label and number, but it was a Duralast box. Brakebest is O'Reilly's brake supplier "brand", and Duralast is Autozone's. They are literally the same pads, from the same factory, in different boxes.
Warhawk Fishing
Very common. I worked in a distribution warehouse that supplied parts for semis. They would buy Chinese brake shoes and other parts and unbox them on one line and another line would Rebox them on another line with their name on it. Basically as long as they meet their standards they are allowed to do it.
I worked at a parts store for 2 months, drove me mad with all the mistakes made by staff but also customers who didn't know what they needed and also wanted us to diagnose the problems with their cars. Modified cars were the worst. Have to send out 3 - 4 different sets of brake pads because he's fitted something different to a BMW 318i. Supply a filter set for a Honda Civic to find out it's had an engine swap with an Accord. Cambelt kit for a Toyota Curren 3SFE to find it's been swapped with a 3SGE, the list goes on.
I can completely relate to receiving broken parts and having them replaced with the exact same broken parts. I had a problem once with a master cylinder from a local salvage yard. Returned it, got another that was as bad as the last. This time I made some marks on it with a sharpie. When I returned it. Sure enough, within a few minutes after they took back the return, they presented me with a replacement with the exact same marks. I pointed out what I did, they refunded my money and asked me not to return. I was glad to comply. The best thing to do is never do business with folks like that. Within a few years, they were out of business. Wonder why?
I have be a mechanic for 30 year's i know what you are talking about.
It is really hard to get any sort of quality on any new car parts even new genuine parts. There is no way i whould run a work shop .
Some times i get a better run from wrecker yard parts than Chinese parts.
Hyundais have the worst aftermarket parts imaginable. One guy sone a timing belt and the tensioner failed after 3000 miles. He could hear this flapping and it was the timing belt slapping against the roller..... mind you these are interference engines and if the belt breaks, valves hit the pistons (hyundai 2.7 delta V6).