I just found the best guy to deal with so far. NAPA on NFB near Ellicott Creek. I wish I can remember his name, but he is an older guy, always whistling or humming something when you walk in. He knows his shit, and if he doesn’t know about something, he will make every effort to find what you are looking for. I have to go back this week, I will get his name.
you might not remember but it was a nightmare trying to find bump stops for my 94 ford taurus. (the rubber chunk on the strut to keep it from bottoming out), wend to about 10 different parts/dealerships stores then I called you and you spend a couple min and I think you had them the next day. had to order a bellows/bumper kit or something.
HAHAHAHAHA!!! Thats my brother. Yes he does have a clue and when he doens’t have a clue he calls me. So he is a good bet to go to.
Thanks. I appreciate that. 
Happen to drive a Subaru?
I have to be careful of what I say, here, but for the most part, the days of having a walking parts catalog in the form of a human being are done and over with. For a multitude of reasons, I put it to you that no one…no one…can possibly know what you will need off the top of his head, except in a fairly narrow field of applications. Parts stores generally pay pretty lousy, for one. If you’re walking into a parts store and the guy behind the counter looks like a kid fresh out of high school, he’s making 8 bucks an hour. Seriously, McDonald’s pays better. Give the kid a break before you lambaste him for not getting the joke when you ask him to look up a radiator for a '72 Beetle. He’s almost certainly never even seen one.
The sheer number of parts available are astounding. For example, within a given model year, a manufacturer may have configured a vehicle with several different brake systems. The parts guy will not, can not, know what is on your vehicle in this instance. The onus is on the customer to have some understanding of his parts and his task. We’re glad to help, mainly, but please, don’t blame me when your '04 Malibu has none of the 3 brake setups offered in 2004; they used leftover '03 parts. An ill-informed, ill-prepared customer is just as bad as a counterman with no knowledge. Catalog errors are a plague. As a customer and a counterman, they kill me. They happen in electronic form, it seems, far more often than paper form. A counterman who can find AND use a catalog is rare, it seems. That’s almost disgusting to me.
The idea that your counterman is a displaced mechanic is erroneous, and shame on anyone who believes it is otherwise. The days of the big 3 using the same 50 parts on 30 configurations of 70 platforms are over with. If you walk into a parts store and believe the kid behind the counter “should know” about your vehicle, you are wrong. Your expectations are wrong.
Should the counterman have a general idea of brake systems? Yes.
Should the counterman have a general idea of what a bearing is, the ABS system, and what the difference between one seal and the next is? Absolutely.
Should the counterman be able to tell you how to perform a brake conversion or engine swap? No. If a mechanic cannot tell you, if well directed internet research yields little, then why on earth would the kid behind the counter be able to? Why would you even think that?
To expect ANY parts person to have specific knowledge to your vehicle is, quite simply, wrong. Education in parts is ongoing. I spend alot of time reading, I spend alot of time prepping for my ASE exams. There is no “parts school.” Countermen are very rarely mechanics. I am not a mechanic. I’m just a guy who fell on hard times and needed a job - that’s a common story in this field.
And yes - when I don’t know something, if I can’t direct you to someone who does know, I will tell you “I don’t know, but I’ll try and figure it out.” If I’m really stumped, I’ll call my brother, either to confirm what I think, or to help me figure it out. Thanks Pat.
I do what I can. But I still won’t use Duralast…
duralast rotors are great, ive seen them track tested and last just as long as top dollar brembos
duralast batteries are great, ive had quite a few without problems
besides that i agree that for the most part duralast is not something youd want on a performance car
Some customers just have no clue what they’re talking about. I once had a guy bring in his perfectly good serpentine belt, looking for a new one because his steering made a clicking noise when he turned the wheel.
???
There’s never a dull moment. If I have a customer looking for an oddball part for a car that I don’t know too much about I like to ask the other guys I’m working with if they know about it.