It’s a 2007 Passat with 118,000 miles. Been in a fender bender, but nothing serious. I need to turn the key several times for it to start up.
You’re right…this goes back to when Rush Limbaugh started. He’s attacked people with higher educations for decades. I guess because he was such a failure at education he has something against people who are. Keeping the public uneducated and uninformed is a great way to control them.
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Andy Griffin’s characterization of Lonesome Rhodes was quite prophetic on many facets of Limbaugh’s rise in influence and fame. But “A Face in the Crowd” and “Onion Head” were counter to Andy’s preferred persona so he tried to keep those films under the radar.
I do the same thing. Their search engine stinks. But I have never been let down by their fitment evaluator once you know the part you want.
Auto Zone and the other McParts stores have been quite successful in closing local mom and pop stores here.One independent store and NAPA remain here while 7 McParts stores have replaced a similar number of independents. While I have considerably more automobile repair experience than anyone on a parts counter several of them locally have years of experience and are able to get the troubled but clueless car owner on the right track. Reading trouble codes is for some a good start but the diagnostic printout is necessary.
And as for Amazon, I ordered an updated/improved recoil starter for a B&S engine on line and the Amazon site sent me an original B&S which is a pitifully weak and failure prone piece of junk.
Any free professional guidance you get from AutoZone employee will be worth what you paid. They’ll be no better at diagnosing your car than you are, and they’re likely to throw parts at it, costing you more than it would have cost to hire a professional to diagnose and fix your car.
If you knew what part needed to be replaced, I might recommend changing it yourself with help from a knowledgeable friend, but on your own, I can’t recommend it.
If you knew what needed to be replaced, I’d go into when it’s a good idea to order parts online and when it’s a good idea to buy them in a store, but you’re not ready for that talk yet. Hire a professional.
I went to autozone one Sunday about 20 years ago to get a carb rebuild kit. I asked the counter guy if the kit comes with a float. He had no idea what a float was.
This is a case of not all stores being alike. The town I live in ( pop. 31000 ) has an Autozone and a O’Riellys while not mechanics the people there do have quite a bit of knowledge.
Still not providing enough details. What happens when it doesn’t start up? Is the starter running? what do you hear? How long has this been going on?
How does it run once it starts?
Wow. Just can’t get over it? I think it is more a rebellion against the elite ruling classes than anti-intellectuals whatever that is. You know, the folks that hire the people that look and think just like they do from the same ivy league colleges, and then decide how the rest of the country should live.
At any rate I would no more ask an AZ clerk for car information than I would ask a Walmart clerk for medical information when buying band aids.
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I have no problem asking our local parts store (Sanel Brothers) an automotive question and getting a correct answer.
Yeah I’d ask the guys at NAPA too but not Auto Zone. At least here.
Yes, you can learn to fix a lot of the common problems you’ll encounter on your VW. I learned how to do my own auto repairs on a VW Rabbit, so such a thing must be possible. Best way to get started is to have someone experienced show you first. Ask around if there are any diy’er auto repair classes in your area.
I buy most of my parts at a local independent auto parts store. Not a national chain. Experience has shown me this the best way. At least where I live. Not as many wrong parts, or bad parts that I have to return. And the staff there is very knowledgeable and that saves me some time, $$$, and grief to have them tell me what I’m trying to do can’t be done that way, and the way to do it is … that kind of guidance is really valuable to a diy’er, and the chain stores in my area don’t offer it. When I was rebuilding my truck’s carb I ran into a problem and took the carb right to the parts store, where the staff there gave me the proper guidance what to do – I just needed a bigger screwdriver is all. If you don’t have a local inde parts store where you live, NAPA stores were pretty good too. But that was some time ago.
Mail order sources can offer very good prices, but it comes at a big loss of convenience, especially if the part is the wrong part or is bad right out of the box. That happens frequently to my diy’er projects and I’m thankful I can just take the part back and exchange it for a new one, all done with the 20 minute drive to and from the store. It would be very frustrating if I had to mail it back and wait for the exchange to come again in the mail. The mail order method works well if you know you are going to be doing a job that requires quite a bit of stuff. You can order it all in advance, and save a pretty penny that way quite often. For example the 194 style light bulbs will usually cost $2-4 each in an auto parts store, but can be purchased in quantity for less than 25 cents each at the online store Rock Auto.
Suggest you start another thread here on why your Passat doesn’t start reliably.
OP should focus on getting a proper diagnosis before figuring where to get parts.
Don’t start throwing parts at the problem.
Year and mileage? Maintenance history.
I would first remove and inspect the spark plugs.
If age/mileage unknown replace with same brand and part # as original.
Check compression and fuel pressure.
Does this engine have adjustable valve lash?
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If you mean that when you turn the key, nothing happens, no noise etc, but after turning it several times, then something happens, then it could be a safety switch. If you have an automatic, put it in neutral and see if it starts more reliably there. If so, you need a park/neutral safety switch.
If you have a manual, it could be the clutch safety switch.
[quote=“MikeInNH, post:5, topic:105163, full:true”]
The problem I have with AutoZone or any of the national chains is the quality of their parts.
The AutoZone near me advertises they carry NGK plugs. But they have an extremely limited supply and they will push the plug they always have in stock (Auto-Lite). The knowledge of their staff is questionable. Constant turnover. They are convenient, but I’m not a fan.
[/quote]It must have been your particular application. AutoZone stocks a large number of spark plugs from a number of different brands, even the small store4 I worked in.
I really liked the part where Lonesome Rhodes’ fan base was able to hear his real opinions, when he thought they weren’t listening
In virtually one instant, he hit rock bottom, and perhaps deservedly so
On the other hand, his fan base “needed” him to be just so, and he gave them what they wanted
As for auto parts store search engines, I believe napa and o’reilly are superior to auto zone
I still feel that the napa parts store guys are better. And part of it is that they have more patience.
why is it that napa parts store guys don’t change bulbs and install wiper blades in the parking lot, like their counterparts at auto zone and o’reilly. Is napa better at enforcing company policy, or is it something else?
We have seen many a person ask about how to do this or how to do that, I trust this place, so ask your questions here and get your parts wherever, though I am a 20th century schizoid man and would not feel bad about asking the counter parts people at NAPA before I bother these great people with a question that can be easily answered at the NAPA counter.
Bottom line-problem must be diagnosed FIRST. Maybe the little scanners at autozone might help but doubtful. Need to a a shop that specializes in VWs or a dealer.
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For a 2007 VW , any competent repair shop should be able to handle this.