I remember when there were multiple differing parts suppliers including 1 or 2 thriving hot rod shops. Now its down to 2 or 3 which ALL carry the same thing & are staffed with a revolving barrel of monkeys.
The interweb & Amazon have killed your corner auto parts store.
I had a Worldpac account until even Redline weber started limiting the ACVW stuff they carried.

I'll go there is it's very time-sensitive and ONLY with the exact part number on a sticky note. I have a NAPA storefront on a regional warehouse 5 miles away.

But the days of trying to figure things out with a sharp counterperson are long, long gone.

Went to Napa the other day at their distribution center. The counter help told me to try orilerys or auto zone ! For a 02 Chevy part. Drove to the dealer and picked it up. DUH

We have a Napa / Riebes by me best parts in the area. They actually carry premium parts over regular napa stores. Of course this really just applies to newer cars, mostly not german stuff.

FLAPS good for routine supplies but not parts. The other local shop here discourages retail trade - only wants the commercial accounts. Otherwise, the standard 914 sites and the inter web. Local garage handles my other car.

But Rock Auto has all the parts you'll ever need!

I try. I really do.
My 914 lives in a small, midwestern town. I often try to get things at one of the 3 local auto parts stores: napa, Advance and O'reilly's - but almost every time I do, I find I can get it quicker and usually cheaper online.

The last time was going in to get a new trickle charger. Desk jockey didn't know what i meant. "Battery Maintainer" seemed to jar something loose....but I paid much more than if I had ordered it. I honestly bought it there out of pity for the place...

In a lot of cases, it doesn’t make sense to stock rarely sold parts in expensive store front real estate. You’re also not going to find qualified help at low wages so it makes sense to sell good margin parts that turn over often and that employees can sell without training.

I had some good help from the guys at Napa recently when I made my copper oil pressure line, but seriously... They can't even help me with my 80s mustang on a good day. 914rubber, autoAtlanta, lmr, for old cars you need to go to the specialists. For my explorer? Yeah, whatever... Flaps, Amazon, whatever works. Although flaps do have a selection of wiring stuff that since RadioShack pooped the bed you can't find elsewhere.

FLAPS counter help in town is turning into a joke. Tried several places looking for 914 13" wiper blades. NO stock, including Walmart.

Within 100 miles I can go to NAPA (sometimes successful), O'Reilly (for consumables), and Autozone (usually my last resort). Plus most major brand dealerships and tire stores.

Even wholesale suplliers are , lacking ,, I used to buy 200 Valve Guides at a time . Now lucky to get 12...

Well, if you are having a hard time finding parts I'll do my best to make sure we have them. We have started stocking many parts we don't make too. Just makes sense that if you need a set of wheel bearings we have them. Hope that helps, but yes I feel your frustration. Thought it was just me getting older.

On another note now that I have my lift in we will start taking apart a few cars that we can harvest parts off of, supposedly every other Friday for a few hours. This way the girls and Scott can see where our parts actually go onto the cars and get a better feel of how they should fit. Call it team building, or just having some fun, but it should be time well spent.

I’m going to start with a premise that Advance Auto, O’Rileys, AutoZone, and the chain stores are not really FLAPS.

FLAPS is the crusty local place that has an automotive machine shop in the back and a counter staffed by men who actually know the difference between a Weber and a Holly carb and have actually rebuilt a carb a time or ten. They should actually know what decking a head or resizing rods means and have the equipment and someone in house that can do it!

The counter staff should know the difference between a crankshaft and a camshaft. Ideally they might even have a dusty old Edelbrock box or two still hanging around from the 80s waiting for someone rebuilding a small block.

When I’m heading toward where the oil and filters are, the first question shouldn’t be what year, make, and model. There should be a greasy, dirty, dog eared paper catalogs near said filters that I can look up what filter fits what. Of course, that cross reference book is only needed when I don’t already know which filter I need by memory like when I buy a “new” used 30 year old car I’ve never changed the oil on before.

When I want transmission oil cooler hose - they should not bring me fuel hose or heater hose. I shouldn’t have to explain to them what the difference is and why it matters.

So by my definition, FLAPS are almost extinct. There are a few still around but they are becoming increasingly hard to find. Sometimes I still find an old school NAPA that is OK but increasingly they too are staffed by people that clearly don’t know a Porsche from a Pontiac.

Signed - grumpy old man who avoids the chain auto parts stores like the plague.

Same with hardware stores, basically a thing of the past.

My local NAPA is decent, at least the counter is not manned with younger kids who have no clue

Another grumpy old guy

Finding parts at a local NAPA or AutoZone is like rolling the dice. My go to parts sources are Rock Auto or Pelican. You need to deal with vendors that cator to our cars.

There is an O'Reilly around the corner from me. I buy oil, carb cleaner, batteries, bulk vacuum hose and stuff like that when I am there. I don't even try to find 914 parts there. They are OK when it comes to parts for the 06 GMC Envoy, but even parts for my old Jeep pickup are questionable. They used to have a bunch of guys there that knew something about cars. They are gone and the counter people there are a bunch of kids that only know what the computer says.

For anything complex, I either go to Zims, order from one of our suppliers on here like AA, 914Rubber, PMB, Tangerine, BDStone and others. Or I go to the internet and use PET to get the Porsche part number, then I do a search for it and buy it online.

Another grumpy old guy.

Samey samey here - for years I've only bought stuff like motor oil, batteries and cleaning supplies locally, and everything else comes from online/mailorder suppliers...

You gotta know the limits. The local places are good for modern cars and SOME classic Detroit muscle.

The last place near me that was good (Broadway Auto) closed up during COVID in 2020. That SUCKED. Their machine shop was great, and inexpensive. The desk staff knew left from right.

Zach

It's not just auto parts though. The same issue exists with ag and construction machinery. Even a decade ago it was pretty usual to walk into a Deere/Cat/Case dealer and get good advice from the parts counter. I've not experienced that so much lately. And machinery is a bit tough since some types can change a lot in a low serial number span due to the small production numbers.

I would say locally in the PNW, not really disappearing, but changed a lot over the years. Some have already said, FLAPS are going to stock common parts that sell. I can still walk into most any local parts store and get parts for our drivers (1994 Jeep, 1994 Ranger). I don't even bother with FLAPS for the 914 or Bug.

What sort of sucks is the lack of decent parts. Installed more than a few bad parts out of box. If I want a Motorcraft or Mopar part, have to order...which means I generally shop online anyway.

Good for wiper blades still, maybe an overprice quart of oil?

Interesting thread on a topic I hadn't thought much about, but yeah, FLAPS have really changed. Gone are the old FLAPS that included a service garage where the guys doing the wrenching were also helping at the counter. That guy probably already knew what you drove and something of your history with it. Gone also are the specialty import parts shops that any town of 30,000 people or larger had where you could pick up all kinds of VW parts from in stock inventory.

Our local NAPA and O'Reilly's still have a few guys and even the occasional gal who know how to wrench and can give decent advice, but they are mixed with staff who don't know the business end of a screw driver so it is luck of the draw. Of course, I also know a lot more about my cars now than I did back in the day, so have less need to seek advice.

Then there is the age of our cars. Our cars are as old now as Model As were back in our glory days when we could pick up lots of parts for our 914s from the FLAPS on a whim. I doubt the Model A guys would have had any better luck finding parts back then than we do now. As has been said, FLAPS are made for modern cars and I"m not sure that has really changed much.

I do miss the stable staff who owned and worked the shop for decades. Had a staff of mechanics always available to help. Wrenched their own cars and raced them on weekends. You don't find that at the FLAPS anymore.

We still have one mom and pop auto parts store left in the area. I'm not sure when they opened the doors, but I know when I was started going there in the mid to late 80's, the same guy was working the counter that still works the counter today. I think he took it over from his dad. Back in the 80's he had the stock, blonde feathered haircut...now... bald. We're not getting any younger.

He's obviously got a lot of experience and has helped many times with parts for my 1990 F-150. Even if he doesn't have a part, he can usually point me in the direction of where to get it. I've never gone to him for 914 parts. I usually just use the vendors on this site.

Welcome to capitalism, where businesses sell products that can make them money. Upset that your 50 year old car doesn't have parts available at your local FLAPS? Price check: you're probably the only one in your area. Most folks go to FLAPS for oil, or for random parts or tools for their >20 year old cars that they need asap. I wouldn't even buy parts for my 99 MX-5 10AE at FLAPS...because I know they won't have parts that actually fit. It's an e-commerce world now. Get in and stay home (and actually, that's the point!)

I recently had Napa tell me to check with a clutch and hydraulic place in town for a throw out bearing for a small block Windsor Ford. Napa is usually pretty good for me. A bit of a disappointment on this one. I have found O'Reilly to be more willing to help with the odd ball stuff.

The moral of the story is supporting the niche vendors that support your cars. Yes, your dollar supports vendors that make your parts and distribute them.

Went to NAPA, AutoZone and O'Reillys this morning. NO 13" wiper blades or VHT SP730 clear caliper paint Have to order. Be in Wed next week. Enough said.

And they all wonder why they are losing business to Amazon

If I have to go online to buy wiper blades and rattle can paint, you can be damn sure it won’t be to AutoZone.com

It is very frustrating to try to support local stores but to repeatedly find they are incapable of running a store.

I also extend this to the checkout process. The main purpose of any business is to get the money out of my hand in exchange for goods they have.

Yet, when I just walk in to buy a quart of oil, all the counter staff is too busy to take my money. I end up waiting around endlessly while some fool drives the computer - asking another greater fool if that part looks like what they have on their car and they debate if that will solve the problem.

No one will actually take the money as I’m standing there trying to give it to them.

I’ve literally left stock on counters and walked out. If a store can’t be bothered to have staff to man a cash register for sales - hopefully later they can find the manpower to restock those items.

I know . . . Many will say I’m the . Maybe - but if you can’t find a way to take a customers money for a straight forward cash sale of oil, washer fluid, and all those other high margin items - they deserve to go out of business because they are the ones transferring it to Amazon which was really my only 2nd choice.

PS - don’t bring up “supply chain” or difficulty getting labor. This has been going on for decades as FLAPS wither away. Agree 2020-2021 has accelerated the trend. However, it was already in progress.

Funny this happened to me yesterday for a frigging fuel filter. ! Couldn't take it

I've done this at Lowe's and Home Depot too many times to count. Luckily, service at my three regular FLAPS (Napa, O'Reilly, and Autozone) is usually very good despite the lack of knowledge (worst at my Autozone).

I also think computerized inventory may be contributing to prioritizing profit to a point it becomes counter productive. Numerous times I've been told the stores don't have control over their regular stock inventory. Whatever arrives in their shipments is determined by computers. Any item that falls below some minimum volume sales threshold can easily be nixed to free shelf space for better profit makers. What gets lost in the algorithm is the customer frustration of not being able to find what should be a common item and choosing to permanently take their business elsewhere. It isn't just a problem with FLAPS of course. It is the world we live in now.

BTW, we do have an old fashioned hardware store in the middle of downtown with narrow aisles crammed full of stock which is great. They have been successful enough to open two additional locations but the new stores don't have the vibe or experienced staff of the original. Until recently, we had an old fashioned grocery just a few blocks away from the hardware store. Then they move to a new location out of downtown and quickly sold out to a local chain. It's all hipster now. A real shame.

I had a similar experience at the Griot's Garage merchandise tent at the Monterey Historic Races a few weeks ago. The two (2) "cashiers"/"salespeople" acted like I was totally invisible when I was standing right in front of them with some leather care products I wanted to buy in my hands. Completely ignored me to wait on other people who showed up after me! I left the stuff on the cash register and walked away. Needless to say, I will never buy any Griot's products again, online or otherwise.

Here in SoCal, the PepBoys* auto parts have been bought out by Advanced Auto retail chain...*tire & brake centers remain as PepBoys tho. Little by little my fave things to buy are not anywhere to be seen at FLAPS; but I did score an Odyssey battery for a proj car at a good price at Autozone