Life of a Partsman

[Eagle Kammback]

as found at The AMC Forum, I love this

Life Of A Partsman
I work behind the counter
in an automotive store,
Sometimes I'm a "genious"
Sometimes I'm called much more

I claim I'm no Mechanic
But, when the job gets sick,
The Mechanic comes and asks me
What makes the darn thing tick.

I'm supposed to know the numbers
Of bolts, nuts and gears,
For every car that was ever made
For more than fifty years.

I'm an Engineer and Machinist
And what not, oh My Lord,
I'm supposed to be an Edison
Combined with Henry Ford.

But life would be a pleasure
And I'd grin from ear to ear'
If the customer would only tell me
The Make, Model and Year.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Life of a Partsman

good luck to the parts guy

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Life of a Partsman

The most annoying thing a parts guy deals with is a customer who has no idea what the hell he is working on/driving. I can't tell you how many people who bring in a greasy starter and I ask them what's it from. "It's a Toyota." They are shocked to hear that there were more than one starter put in Toyotas in the last fifty years. The few years I worked as a counter guy; I lost count how many times I went out to the parking lot to tell the owner what kind of car he owned.

I can tell you that there are just as many moron car owners as moron counter guys.

[Barry Donovan]

Re: Life of a Partsman

haha. ;D
a relative was a mangaer at a parts tore, now at a dealer.

he was a smart one. Mention one car,and he could give you stuff from another to make it better. It is funny who does not catch on to entire generations from all countries..doing the same exact thing...and then some moron standing up for his brand name like a midget to a yugo trying to doubt the knowledge. hilarious. parts guys are tortured..the smarter they get.

I still use summit racing for a japanese car. I caught on in the 80s. lucky me.

[jordanmorningstar]

Re: Life of a Partsman

My favourite from the parts guy days:

customer: I need some parts for my car
me: What kind of parts
Customer: Car parts. I think.
me: Fair enough, what kind of car?
customer: Red.

[98ciHemi]

Re: Life of a Partsman

I have a few good parts guys. Then are the ones that I avoid like the plague. The ones that get that I really need parts from 4 different model years of Escort, and that I really do know which spark plug #s I want are the best. One even got out a book to help me find the parts I needed. Then there was the kid at autozone that tried to sell me a SBC fuel pump to replace the Escorts dead one.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Life of a Partsman

Normally I'm throwing a fit because of parts guys, especially the ones at national parts chain stores... however, sunday I needed something easy so I went to Schuck's (now O'Reilly's) and picked it up (rag joint)... all while hearing this conversation at the counter. "I need a socket to remove the center nut off the wheel".... parts kid (maybe 18) "what kind of car" "toyota" was the response...."okay, what year", "2005, but it's a special car so you may not have its parts in your book"... "what model"..."sentra"... "why do you need the socket?" "I need to remove a rotor off the car", "you don't need to remove that nut", "Just what size is the nut" this 60 year old guy said. "32 mm probably" was the kid's reply... "I need that socket, after all I told you my car is a special car". The kid gives up and walks him back to find the socket..... I was snickering.

You know, I think I'd go with the 18 year old kid when it comes to knowing how to fix rice....

[tedly]

Re: Life of a Partsman

My favorite was a guy getting brake pads for his car. There were different ones for a convertible, so I asked him: 'Is your car a convertible?' His response: 'How do I tell?'

[ch1ll]

Re: Life of a Partsman

What really blows? The parts people that always get it right for me get jerked around by management and eventually fired when they bitch. The ones that continually get stuff wrong get promoted to manager.

[tedly]

Re: Life of a Partsman

What really blows? The parts people that always get it right for me get jerked around by management and eventually fired when they bitch. The ones that continually get stuff wrong get promoted to manager.

The squeaky wheel gets replaced.

[Eagle Kammback]

Re: Life of a Partsman

I like my local store, Carlson's, and Advanced, I believe that at every Advance, there is a guy working named Jake

And what I heard when BigBuds1 was helping me with the Eagle

NAPA
Never
Any
Parts
Anywhere

Though I've never used NAPA for anything

[68camino]

Re: Life of a Partsman

I have known a few really good parts men, the kind that had smarts yet they were dowm to earth as well.

[jordanmorningstar]

Re: Life of a Partsman

What really blows? The parts people that always get it right for me get jerked around by management and eventually fired when they bitch. The ones that continually get stuff wrong get promoted to manager.

The squeaky wheel gets replaced.

Most amazing mechanic I've ever known is a buddy who works at a national-chain parts store, schlepping parts at the front counter, while singlehandedly keeping the entire store from imploding. They've given him one promotion and one raise in the 5 or 6 years he's been there, and makes less than if he'd just gone to McDonald's. Meanwhile, they go through idiot managers as fast as the idiot managers go through drool cups.

[milner351]

Re: Life of a Partsman

The best story I have from working the parts counter at Giant auto supply part time in highschool for $3.35 an hour as this:

me : what can I help you with today miss?

her : my boyfriend sent me here to get him a tune up kit for his car.

me : what's the year make and model of his car?

her : it's blue

me : how about I call him and talk to him about his car?

her : it's blue and loud and fast, his number is ......


turned out it was a chevelle, with a 307 :

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: Life of a Partsman

The best story I have from working the parts counter at Giant auto supply part time in highschool for $3.35 an hour as this:

me : what can I help you with today miss?

her : my boyfriend sent me here to get him a tune up kit for his car.

me : what's the year make and model of his car?

her : it's blue

me : how about I call him and talk to him about his car?

her : it's blue and loud and fast, his number is ......


turned out it was a chevelle, with a 307 :

Well was the chevelle at least blue?? ;D

I've got plenty of stories from both sides of the counter from working at AZ for three years through college.