So I took the day off to do some work on my '98 BMW 528. I got the brakes all finished and was starting on the thermostat and fan clutch. Got the fan off and clutch done. got the thoermostate off and ready...but wait. WRONG PART . I swear I hate it when that happens. Maybe I should have looked before I started on this, but I was assuming I had the right part. You guys have this happen?

Yep. Did the rear brakes on the wife's Zoom-Zoom (Mazda3) a few months ago. Nobody had the right pads, so they ordered them. I picked up the pads, took the car apart, and found that they had given me the wrong pads. Took them back, and after arguing with them, they wanted to re-order them. After the argument, I told them I just wanted my money back, and ordered the correct pads from a different FLAPS. Took four days total (two days off work that I hadn't planned on) to do the rear brakes. Started on Saturday. Steering knuckle on the Jeep broke Sunday on the way back from getting the wrong pads. Wife had to drive my truck to work, so I'm at home with two broken vehicles and my bicycle.

Side note: Steering knuckle broke because the ASSHAT at Ed's Mufflers that did my brakes stripped the caliper mounting hole, and didn't say anything... he just put it back together and hoped that I wouldn't notice. Few months later, the caliper fell off and locked up the right front wheel at 60 mph. That's pretty exciting in a Jeep Wrangler. That's the LAST time that anyone else works on my vehicles but me.

Yikes, that's kinda the reason I like to do my own work, but I really do like to work on cars when I have time. It's just different when you HAVE to work on them.

Yes that is majorly annoying. I was helping a friend of mine replace the valve cover gasket on his '91 MR2 Turbo. He had ordered all the parts through the local Toyota dealer. After we disassemble all of the intake piping and remove everything we realize that the gasket is wrong, but now instead of just being a giant moving oil leak, the car is undrivable. The following Monday he takes the gasket back and says "you gave me the wrong one" (it was for the 2.2L N/A version, not the 2.0L turbo) and he shows how the gasket he has does not look the same as in the parts diagram. The Toyota monkey then starts to argue with him that the gaskets are actually the same (trust me, they clearly are not the same). He returns the incorrect gasket, gets refunded, and heads to the FLAPS.

FLAPS also thinks the gaskets are the same and proceeds to argue about it. We end up hunting through the maze of Toyota parts suppliers and eventually find a dealership that actually understands there is a difference and after about 2 wks, we finally get his car back together...

edited...

Whenever I go to buy parts from a flaps or any vendor I always make sure I have the part numbers for everything that I buy first. About 25% of the time they get it wrong. It blows their minds when you seem to know more then they do.

Flaps for me is a last resort and only if I need it now. I think it is funny when I’m standing there with the part number and the old part from my car and they are trying to sell me something completely different. How much is your time worth and how much will you save buying the wrong cheap parts from most flaps. And most dealers are not that much better.

A good parts person is hard to find because they don’t want to pay them anything now a days. That is why I’m willing to pay a little extra and buy from specialized vendors who know their stock.

Stay far away from ED'S mufflers in Oregon.
Craig C. Laughlin

The worst is when your car is broken down away from home and the part you go to get is the wrong one. I had my truck starter conk out about an hour from home and got a new starter from a FLAPS near my house and went back with my Dad and brother to fix it. It was dark and hard to see and I never noticed in taking the old on off that the new one wasn't the same . Luckily we were able to push start the car and drive home without a starter.

That's why I love AAA. You never know when something is going to need to be towed somewhere. I have pulled over to help people with a tire change or something simple, but if it is requiringsome parts and tools it should be towed to a good place to work on it.

Finally got the right part last night and drove it today. All better.