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Holy price difference batman!!

78Suburban

78Suburban

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I went by Napa today and ordered some brake calipers, and traded my front calipers in as cores. I still gotta run by and pick up some cores for the rear from a ck5er, but didn't get a chance today like I was hoping. The two rebuilt calipers and cheap set of brake pads ran be about 60 bucks at Napa. I asked them how much a set of rotors would be, and they said 100 bucks. I only had 70 bucks left in my pocket.. Drove right down the road to Advanced auto.... a set of rotors cost me only 63 bucks there.

They are Wearever brand.. part number YH141049. I guess they're the same for both sides? Wonder why they were so much cheaper at Advanced? Also asked them on calper price at Advanced.. they said 16 bucks.. I paid 20 at Napa.. Maybe I should get my other set of caipers from Advanced....

I still can't get over how much cheaper advanced was on brake rotors.. saved me 40 bucks!!! :eek1:
 
have you ever seen a napa manufacturing plant anywhere. they sell the same thing that every other parts house sells but they pay the manufacturer to put it in there box.
 
Advance has two lines of the rotors, wearever and (i forget the other one). Made by Raybestos IIRC.

The "other one" is made of a higer quality metal than the wearever.

Both are the same thickness though and meet or exceed the OE requirements.
 
ya napa is def more expensive, although ive had better luck with there parts...going to discount 3 times to get a master cylinder for my buddy and 3xs i got the wrong one....:mad: on the other hand discount is cheaper $50 for a starter as compared to $100:eek1: at napa.
 
I tell you what I go to car quest for one reason cause I know a guy that works there and he hooks me up. I do go to the cheaper stores to buy some stuff though. Probably always will. I have had both good and bad luck with all auto parts stores parts.
 
I normally will use NAPA or Carquest because they are locally owned where I live and I know I will get better service. So to me it is worth paying a little more to support a local business. As for Autozone, I gave up on them when I had a clerk actually yell at me because I disagreed with what his all knowing computer told him.
 
An account at napa gets me 10% off. A actual good counter guy/friend that has never given me a part that doesnt work,and thru the years I have given him some doosies!:bow:
 
I go to the NAPA here because there are 2-3 counter guys that know their ****, and one that actually knew the p/n for the conversion u-joint I needed off the top of his head. All the other parts stores in town I can't get a lug nut without telling them whether my cluster**** of parts in the garage had a/c originally.
 
My Napa blows Kragen and Autozone out of the water on pricing. It's in the account setup, even if you have an account, there are still different levels of price reduction. I get around 20% off what a normal customer would pay.

Napa is the best because I can get rotors for my Dodge or Chevy, pick up a new hydraulic hose for my disc, and all the filters to change on any of my tractors or combines.
 
The cheep rotors come from the China. I've run across stories of pre-mature warpage type problems. No idea where the Napa parts come from. Locally I'm able to buy direct from the brake parts w/d.
 
i stopped putting any faith in kragen when the guy at the register made a comment about me doing some exhaust welding when I placed a couple pieces of flex pipe, some regular exhaust pipe, and a bunch of clamps on the counter. I said no i was doing some exhaust clamping (hence all the clamps, duh). he then said that i shouldn't be using flex pipe because it limits flow. (i dont really care, my exhaust flows fine and flex pipe is great for me and my ever changing exhaust setup). So then he asked what this was for and i said an 82 K5, and he said, "What's that, like a Jeep or something?"
 
If you want cheap--you have to SAY so!...

ALL parts stores,whether it be NAPA,Autozone,or whoever,all have a few different brands and price ranges of parts!...when a customer walks in and asks for,lets say wheel bearings,they assume you'll want quality name brand ones like Timken,and thats just what they will sell you,unless you complain about the prices!..THEN they will say "OHH"--you want the CHEEP ones?...its the first rule of retail--sell the expensive stuff first if at all possible!..:doah:

This happens to me all the time--but having been a parts counterman for 20+ years,I know all the sales pitches,and "tricks" of the trade--like putting CHINA brake rotors in Raybestos boxes,or swapping one brand of stuff for another,and using the "other" brands packaging..or just getting raped because its an unsuspecting female customer that doesn't know the difference between "list" price and "dealer"..

I paid 28 bucks each for brake rotors for my 82 GMC Cabalaro I had,at a store 15 miles away from the one I worked at,because even with my employee discount,the cheapest ones we had were 56 bucks apeice!..we didn't stock that part # in the "cheep" line of rotors,so I bought them elsewhere (much to my bosses chagrin,but he only paid me 8 bucks an hour,so screw him!:p: )..

Same deal when I went to buy spindle bearings for my riding mower--the parts clerk hands over BCA bearings,at 16 bucks a pop!--I needed 4 of them,and didn't expect them to cost more than 20 bucks total--when I told him I'd have to come back,he said "Oh,wait--we have them in "Auto Value" brand for 4 bucks apeice!"...so I was right,I got all 4 for the price of ONE in BCA brand!..but they wouldn't have told me about the cheap ones unless i asked or complained..

Around here,Autozone USUALLY has the lowest price--but not all!--some are independently owned,and they set their own prices--you cant get the same parts for the same prices at the two stores only 5 miles apart!..many times the Autozones have the least experinced counter help too...you pay for the experience the guys at places like NAPA have,and sometimes its well worth it!..and most of the "real" parts stores either HAVE a "bargain" brand,or can get them--IF you ask!..:crazy: ..
 
I use partsamerica.com for most things and napa for the hard to find parts. Like leaf spring bolts or ball joint adjustment tool. napa caries some things that other stores do not.

Partsamerica.com is great. The prices are much cheaper. I made a $315 order the other day that woud have cost me about $400 if I purchased them in the stores.

Partsamerica is the online store for schucks/checker/kragen. You order online then go pickup your parts in one of their stores. You save lots of money and the best part is you don't have to deal with the idiot counter person. Just pick out what you know you need. great for ck5 folks since we know what parts we need even if they came from another make and model :)


Napa is overpriced and sells the same brands repackaged as the cheap stores like pep girls...
 
I only head to NAPA for the hard to find stuff...for any routine/common parts and supplies I just hit pep boys or autozone. These days, I find it much more efficient to look up specific part numbers online and just take them in though - to anywhere, and just skip the counter-guy-lookup.

Between NAPA's and Summit's online catalogs, I can usually find just about any part I'm looking for. The chevy Truck Shop in Orange, CA is my fallback for any era-specific stuff.
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hopefully my chinese rotors won't warp... dang, my truck has communist parts :doah:

Picked up the calipers they ordered at napa.. man, I'm really impressed with the quailty.. those things appear to be pretty well rebuilt, and come with bleeder screws and calper bolts... Probably gonna shoot some high heat enigne paint on the calipers so they won't rust...

Gonna try to swing by and get some core calipers from a ck5er tomorrow, since I'll be in town. If I get to, then I guess I'll go back to Napa and order 2 more calipers... Would the ones from Advanced be the same thing? I could save myself about 10 bucks by getting calipers from advanced. I might swing by and see if they have any in stock I could look at...
 
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