stupid bastards.. ordered a timing set for a 03 8.1l and it comes in with no problem..

put the motor together with comp cams cam and performace internals.. go to turn it over and its FROZE. **** it ill use a pry bar on the flywheel.. BANG, tink. ok no i know something broke, 2.5 hours later i now have the oil pan off and have checked all the pistons in the cylinders and the crank and the rods say 20 times and still it doesnt move more then 180 degree. come to find out the stupid ******** at advanced auto send me a timing set with a cam gear that isnt to spec.............................. when i tighten the cam bolts on the gear it tightened so tight that the plate between it and the cam that there was no play and it broke the ears off the plate that held it to the block..

so pissed. advanced says we dont have a super availible right now give us your number and they will call ya back.. 3 calls later and 2 hang ups i get that answer.... will see in the morning.

local machine shop has the gear and is gonna fiix for 15-20 $ and im gonna back charge advanced

 

My local Advance:

A.) Wouldn't hire me years back, as a part-time employee, while I was in school. Went back to the back for an interview, they asked me about stupid ****, answered it all in detail. They hired some tool instead. No pun intended.

B.) Didn't have anyone in the building that knew anything about nitrous fittings and their sizes. I walked out with no help.

C.) Usually has one register open, only when they're packed.

D.) Had to fire their manager, because he was stealing parts, to build his son's small block Silverado.

E.) Literally, JUST closed down for a week, because of a bank seizure of their property. The regional guys were evidently too damn stupid to pay taxes on the building, and then lost a week of sales because of that mistake.


So yeah, I love my local Advance. Now what about your truck?

 

They hire idiots in Oklahoma as well... It's the closest store but I will usually drive out of my way to buy parts from O'Reillys.

 

Vidalia?

 

Sure enough.

 

I would never buy an important part like that from a local auto store.

 

Get your timing set from this guy, don't try to fix that one: HD timing set LS engines NEW GM - LS1TECH

 

Me and my buddy had our local advance manager trying to look up spark plugs for my 05 Cummins. No matter what he punched in his computer he never could find which ones it called for. lol.

 

Most employees just don't care anymore. And the business doesn't care either. I used to manage a NAPA store, and I cared. Customers loved it, and I never had one complaint the whole time I was there about me. I walk in that very same store quite often, and they just don't care. I wanted a 1/8 pipe thread plug, and they couldn't find one. The computer showed 12, and they couldn't find one. They never corrected the computer either. I have had two occasions with that store where I was a customer, and other customers were told not only do they not have the part, but they could not get it. Both times I walked to the shelf, and grabbed the item the customer needed. When there is a problem like that with a store it is the management, and not necessarily the chain. NAPA here used to be the best place to go to get the right part, now they have nothing.

 

I have the best experience with NAPA, then O'reillys, then Autozone. The employees just know how to look up the parts on the computer, that's it. Very few have the practical automotive knowledge that can only be attained by actually tinkering on cars and trucks. I found the NAPA, at least here, has an older generation of employees who actually work on their own cars. While Autozone usually employs pubescent teenagers.