I know that some of the members are mid or upper level management at NAPA stores. Why in heaven's name is there such a difference in parts prices? I went to my local NAPA store looking for an exhaust valve for a 392 International and.....$49.49 plus freight, Sealed Power. I go to an independent parts store a block away and for the same Sealed Power exhaust valve....$22.10 plus freight.

I pursued a similar question with the owner of my local store and he contacted his division manager, or whatever NAPA calls them, and the reply was....wait for it...."the higher NAPA pricing reflects the additional customer service that NAPA provides". I'll say someone is getting serviced, that part is accurate!

People still use NAPA? Several decades ago, their quality was a cut above others. No longer true.

In a lot of cases yes, but not all. They have had to become competitive or go under. I deal with them on a regular basis and compare pricing as well. Lately I have found they are sometimes actually cheaper than O'smiley's, Retard (UHH advance) or the Zone. One of the things I do like is they have actual parts people that know how to use a catalog if needed. They also retain employees/ managers as opposed to the revolving door .

I’m glad to hear it. However, if your average customer only looks for Chinese pricing, does it matter where you go?

True story: go into a local NAPA, decide to "support local"..... need 9 qrts of oil, find that a single qrt is $11( which is just a tad high) and then see they sell the 5 qrt bottle. When I ask the "sales associate " how much is the 5 qrt jug is he looks at me as if I'm a re---d and says "uhhhh 5 times 11 issssssssss?" My response was "5 times 11 issssss me going 4 blocks up the road and buying it from Walmart for $22. PHUCK crapa auto parts...

A month or so back a member here shared that NAPA had VR1 on sale at a good price. And free shipping.
I went online and ordered some 10W 30. When I checked out, the site informed me no shipping but it would be ready for pickup at the store nearest my house in 2 days, and I’d get a call when it was there.
Almost a week goes by, and I get a call from someone at the store, he tells me he’s sorry but he’s been searching all over but can’t find any VR1 10W-30, and is going to cancel my order.
I’m complaining to a gear head kid at work about this and he tells me they always have it on the shelf at the NAPA he goes to. It’s right by my route to the office so I stop at that store on my way home. No VR1 on the shelf or even a space where it had been stocked so my friend was wrong. I ask the clerk and he checks on his computer and says a store west of there has 7 quarts of it. I’m going in that area the next day so I leave early and swing by there.
Clerk goes into the back room and comes back with 3 quarts. He shrugs his shoulders and says we show 7 quarts, but I only found 3. So I bought those.
On my way home later I’m remember there’s yet another NAPA on my route, so I pull in. Kid there checks his computer and tells me there’s 4 quarts at the store I’d been to earlier that day. I told him I’d been there and no they didn’t have 4 quarts!
He’s really helpful actually, he calls a warehouse and orders some and says it will arrive in a few days.
That store is 15 miles from my house, but I call in a few days, it’s there, and I have another errand to do in the area and drive over there and get 3 quarts.
Now I have the six I wanted!
So one store says they can’t get it at all, and after dealing with 3 other NAPA stores I finally am able to get my hands on 6 quarts of VR1!

NAPA has a NASCAR racing team to support.

Ever since (10 years ago or so) they started sponsoring that NASCAR team, some of their prices have gone through the roof. They must have a list of some parts they feel they can get away with overcharging for.
Our local NAPA has changed hands 3 or 4 times in the last 15 years. I seldom even call them for prices anymore.

Simply put, it pays to shop around, unless you are in dire need of something.

The local NAPA where I live has been run be the same family for at least two generations and has real parts guys working the counter. Yes I may pay more for a part than at one of the three chain stores but I get better service and the right part. So the higher price is worth it to me.

Some of what they carry is better quality. Even if the same part is being remanned by the same company, there are varying degrees of quality. NAPA is usually on the higher end. So basically it comes down to what I am buying if I'll be shopping at NAPA or not.

My town has a major local Napa distribution warehouse with a store attached. They have everything with no more than a 5 minute wait time for it to come from the warehouse so I go there a lot.

This is the way it was( I say was) here. My buddy owned 3 NAPA stores in the area......true car guy...would find whatever ya needed. He decided to retire and corporate bought all his stores. We buy NOTHING from them now as their pricing has gone through the roof and the folks answering the phones are clueless!

I'm in Freehold. What town is the store?

South Plainfield

Good to know. Thanks.

As a former NAPA supplier I can tell you without hesitation NAPA is picky about quality. They require that parts supplied to them meet OE fit, form and function. They know how to monitor quality and they check parts. The only thing that Advance, Auto Zone and some of the other big retailers care about is that your price to supply them is cheaper than anyone else on the planet and you agree to 360 day payment terms and unlimited returns.

The local NAPA store sent a rep by our shop a few years ago offering to set up our commercial account. I had always thought that they were higher than their competitors in town which is why I didn't do much with them. I told him that and he said that they have tiered pricing and that the more we spend the better the pricing.

I sent him packing by telling him being in business for decades was my volume discount qualifier and I did not intend to start at the bottom for them or anyone else. How arrogant of them. And ignorant. That business plan won't work anymore. Who would pay more for any length of time just to eventually get pricing that they could get everyday elsewhere?

But the counter help is so bad at the local parts stores that I usually look up what I need and take the information to them. But then, since I'm already on the computer, I go ahead and compare prices and availability. That usually means that I order on line. As long as I can wait, it is cheaper and more convenient. Our purchases at the locals has dropped significantly. Fortunately, we are not on any volume programs.

Around here their bread and butter seems to be the repair shops and makes sense from the stand point of not having to deal with the average consumer - let the shop have that headache. Clearly all the chains do it, it just seems to me that NAPA puts more effort in to. They'll even paint your building if you cut a good deal. For most routine things RockAuto is a lot cheaper, even with the shipping, for the exact same part. It's the odd, hard to find stuff where they get my business. Go in most places looking for a choke rod clip and they'll ask what you're talking about. Go in to a Napa and they'll rummage up a tray of them in 5 sizes and both left and right handed.

As for knowing how to use a catalog, do any of the usual suspects even have catalogs in the store?? Same counter guys at my local branch for at least 10 years and not sure I've ever seen the same face twice down the street. I recently switched to buying my batteries there as they beat the price by a mile and when it comes to old school lead-acid, there's only 1 company still making them regardless of the label on it. Odd thing is that the price for the exact same battery differs up to $25 between (2) Napas in the same town.

There are two NAPA stores near me that are good, the one in Antioch, IL is outstanding and still has it's own machine shop! Lots of NAPA "service centers" around here too, they apparently fell for the tier pricing but are usually very good also. There is one middle aged woman at the counter in Antioch that blows the guys away...no pun intended...

I always comparison shop, and if somethings a few more dollars at Napa, I like the service I get there better, and the employees seem more long term.

In case people don't know, they give 10% off to AAA members which is nice, though it seems like the website prices already include the 10% discount compared to if you just walk in off the street.