O'Reilly's: Does Anybody Actually *BUY* Anything There?

General Discussion
1

Anybody shop at this chain? As with most every Southern town, it seems, you have the three major chains: Advance, Autozone, and O’Reilly’s. For years, I went to Autozone because they had stores in New England (to cover my warranties if/when I moved back home). Then Advance started opening stores in New England, Autozone downgraded their “Rewards” program, and so I switched to Advance. Somewhere along the way, probably about 10 years ago now, O’Reilly’s opened two stores here in town. Nice-looking stores, very clean, but almost never any reason for me to go in there. Their promotions are absolutely worthless!

So I recently needed some replacement wiper blades. Used to always get them at Advance, but they stopped selling them (it’s just the refill blades … I refuse to needlessly buy the whole arm). Turns out O’Reilly’s got 'em! Can’t believe it! $8.99 and I can ship to store and pick them up. Wow! That’s great!

So I go to order, and wouldn’t you know it … suddenly the “Ship to Store” button is grayed out and I can only “Ship To Home”. Fine - ship it to my house, then.

WHOOOAAA !!! $13.99 shipping charge !!! You’ve GOT to be kidding me. These are just refills, remember.

So once again - O’Reilly’s proves to be absolutely worthless. I really don’t know HOW they stay in business. Must have contracts with garages in town, but then I never see any O’Reilly’s trucks zipping around, either. I don’t get it …

2

We have an Oreileys opening soon. A farther walk than autozone, but NAPa is not out of the way as I drive home. Now I need some new wiper blades, the NAPA seemed better for less than what I got at autozone, so I will skip the Autozone and free installation go to NAPA for a replacement set. Need bulbs whatever is fine, need a starter motor I prefer NAPA. Just my superstition I guess. I think all they carry is the full blade, not sure guess I am lazy in my old age and had enough hassles with the refills I can accept $12 vs $4,

though every day I turn around prices are getting crazy, need a crown, got a gold one 3 years ago, $865, quote today $1865, same dental practice, only $165 extra for gold over porcelain,

Means the wipers may be $18 a peice tomorrow, then I will ask for inserts.

3

I’ve had – let’s just say – uneven experiences with that chain myself. They did provide a set of wipe blades one time, which worked ok tho. So that’s something. Suggest not to ask for any small diameter tubing tho … :wink:

4

I’m in NH. We have one O’reilly’s near me. I’ve only looked at their website a couple times when I needed a part and the prices seem higher, I’ve never been in the actual store. I buy from Advance or Rock Auto. Advance has some decent discounts but you have to order it online then pick up at the store to get the discount.

5

ChrisTruck:

You should’ve written this post for me. That’s exactly my experience: O’Reilly’s prices are never competitive, Advance is best (but only if you buy online and pick it up), and I also buy from Rock Auto if I can’t get it at Advance, or if it’s something more unique.

Autozone used to be my “go-to” store, but their Rewards Program went down the drain, and their prices only seem to match Advance (but without the 20% discount), so no reason to go there. Plus, they’ve only got ONE store here (in the center of town), but Advance has opened FOUR now! They’ve completely surrounded that ONE Autozone store, and I don’t know how it’s holding on.

But O’Reilly’s?? Please go out of business. Can’t stand your commercials, either.

O - O - O - O’REILLY’S

I usually sing, “OW - OW- OW - OUT-OF-BUSINESS” (LOL!)

6

Funny, I use them all the time. They usually have the parts I want/need when the two A’s don’t

7

I buy wax and cleaners there and maybe an occasional other item but I would never buy any real car parts there like brakes or alternators etc. Here they used to be Crown Auto where they actually had a couple service bays, then Champion where the parts were not too bad and a good selection, but the O is just not up to that standard. For real stuff its NAPA or the dealer.

8

We only have 3 auto parts stores in my neck of the woods; AutoZone, O’Reillys, and NAPA.
So the choices are pretty limited. I haven’t found O’Reillys to be any worse than the others although there does appear to have been a little degradation of O’Reillys over the past couple of years.

AutoZone here is pretty much staffed by high school kids, O’Reillys has become staffed by what looks like work release inmates, and NAPA is the only professional looking operation left.

9

I find O’Reilly to okay, for the most part. Their prices are definitely higher than Autozone. However, they do seem to carry some parts that are slightly higher quality, versus Autozone. IMO opinion, their prices are fair, but they’re definitely not a bargain

Sure, they have their house brands, and the typical Fram, Wix, Purolator, etc. But they also carry some brake parts, for example, that are higher quality . . . IMO . . . than Autozone. I don’t care for autozone brand brakes, FWIW. I’ve tried a few that just plain didn’t fit correctly. I asked them to check. No mistake, not misboxed. Just plain garbage. I demanded my money back and went elsewhere. End of problem. Never had a problem with pep boys, napa or O’Reilly brake pads

I’ve actually bought bulk hose and tubing there, George. They let me go behind the counter and show them which one I need, and they cut off the length I needed. Not a problem at all

I’ve had good experiences ordering parts, to be sent to the store. Ordered them in the morning. They were there in the early afternoon, as promised. It was slightly more expensive than rockauto, but I had it that same day. it was worth it to me. Autozone didn’t even HAVE the part in their system, thus impossible to order and have them send it to the store. O’Reilly 1, Autozone 0

Walk into an autozone, there’s always a lot of customers. Not so with O’Reilly. Sure, there’s customers, but significantly less. In my neck of the woods, there are a lot of people of limited means, and the penny pinchers don’t shop at O’Reilly

In my area, the big chains are Pep Boys, Autozone, O’Reilly and NAPA

I prefer NAPA over the others

We also have Carquest, but I’ve seen very few of them, only one that I know of for sure. I don’t think I know of an advanced near me?

10

They are an ok chain. If I’m on the other side of town and need something…I might stop in and get it. As for Rock Auto…I ordered 3 specific items and they all arrived being the wrong part. I crossed them off my list when getting a refund turned out to be nearly impossible. I might try them again in a year or so. Autozone is my store of choice since they rarely make mistakes.

11

Only chain auto parts store in my area that carries “fluid film” to protect my truck chassis from rust.

12

In recent weeks I have driven past the McParts stores to shop at a new NAPA store and will likely continue shopping there for a while. The lack of schemes and deals and membership cards to get some exclusive price deal turns me off and so far NAPA just has the good stuff at a reasonable price. It’s funny that the new NAPA store was built within a rocks throw of both an Advance and O’Reilly’s store. I actually drive past 2 O’Reilly’s and 2 Advance and 1 Auto Zone to get to the new NAPA store. Could it be that the McParts corporations have overextended themselves?

13

I don’t have an O’Reilley’s or Autozone here. I have NAPA and Advance. In my area we also have Car Quest auto parts stores.
Recently Advance and Car Quest have teamed up (merged?)

I can order online at Advance using discount codes and pick-up at the nearest Advance OR Car Quest. It gives me more stores with more parts available.
CSA

14

I too live in NH. I’ve driven by a couple O’Reilly’s, but no one close enough to me to visit.

Personally I like Sanel. Local independent chain. They carry good quality parts, and the parts people are very knowledgable who have been working there for years. They have a HUGE warehouse in Manchester NH off of Canal St in one of the old mill buildings. They probably have about 10 stores in NH and ME.

When I lived in Goffstown I’d use either Goffstown Auto parts (which is now owned by Sanel) or Robbins.

15

Yeah I have to go to a Car Quest to get Delco parts. When I got a new battery last year, I asked about how fresh it was and he said they get two trucks a day delivering batteries. My particular one was a week old. This is not a large city but I thought they must supply local mechanics if they do a volume like that.

16

The O’Reilly’s near my house is good. The people there are friendly and have been doing it long enough that they know what they’re talking about. And it’s a lot closer than NAPA, so when I need to run out to grab something in the middle of a job, I’d much rather go there.

I’ve been to others though where the counter people barely know anything about cars, and have to try several times before they grab the right part.

Never had to have something shipped to my house through them. If I’ve gotta wait around for a part to arrive in the mail I’d just as soon get it from Rock Auto and save a bunch of money.

17

An O’Reilly’s is the closest and most convenient store for me to shop but in the past year the store has had 2 complete employee turnovers and the counter help isn’t much help at all. The last time I was there they made me think that I was interrupting their lunch. For several years that store was well staffed, even the middle aged lady there was extremely knowledgeable. I’m kind of curious where their good employees have gone. This is a very small town.

18

@Rod_Knox I think your good employees have moved to my town. We have all 3 az advanced & O’reill’s that has very knowledgable employees az & advance empoyees are better suited for Macdonald’s.

19

Ha, ha! Is this age discrimination or gender bias? I get the 2 mixed up all the time! I don’t know whether to be offended or take it as a complement.

By the way, some of my best friends are middle-aged and some even women. :wink:
CSA

20

My experience here in Duluth, MN is like shadowfax’s. O’R is much closer than alternatives. I can get there and back via bicycle if I need to. Anything else is miles and big hill climbs away.

They are friendly. If I ask to look at the alternatives they have in stock, they are happy to let me open and look at them. Once I bought the cheapest water pump and couldn’t get it installed without its o-ring becoming dislodged. I took it back asking for help. They showed me the more expensive OEM-grade part with its much better casting and o-ring, gave me full credit for the cheap one. The other day they showed me the two brake pad sets they had for my van. Looking them over and looking at country of origin, I happily bought the more expensive ones.