I've bought exactly four items from Pep Boys ever. The 10-year-old battery in our Subaru Outback went in November; my wife went out on her lunch break to buy a new one and Pep Boys was the closest, so she bought it there.
Three weeks later it was dead. I took it back to the place where she bought it (of course they don't have a computer system that would let me return it to the three closer stores to our house without a receipt) and exchanged for a new one. Since I was already there and needed a water pump (and the nearest Advance that had one was a 20 mile drive from the house), I asked the clerk to check.
It was a shot in the dark, really...generally no one but Advance or Autozone has any Subaru-specific parts in stock around here. They had it, it cost $3 more than Advance, so I bought it figuring it was worth the extra to not have to make another trip. They also had the timing belt for the same price as Advance, so I bought that, too.
The second battery died last week. I decided I wasn't going to waste my time on a third and OK'd my wife paying $20 more for AAA to install a new one when they came to give her a jump...I'll just get a refund when I take it back to Pep Boys tomorrow.
The car has been leaking coolant (about half a gallon/week) since the water pump change. It was clearly leaking from the thermostat housing, so I changed the thermostat last week. It might have taken a knock or I might have torn the gasket when doing the water pump. I completely cleaned the housing when I replaced the thermostat so I could tell if it was still leaking. It's bone dry a week later...not a drop is coming out.
The car still lost a third of a gallon of coolant this week, and this evening I determined that it's coming from inside the timing belt cover. That means it's coming from the front of the water pump, which means only one thing: the pump was bad when I put it on.
Three of the four items I've bought from Pep Boys were bad out-of-the-box, and all were purchased in the past three months. I'm not going to waste my time on another water pump from them...I'll get a refund and install the one from Advance (different brand). I'm seriously questioning whether I should trust the timing belt I bought from there. The Subaru has an interference engine...if the timing belt goes, a whole bunch of bits are going to get smashed that really shouldn't get smashed, and it'll cost a lot more than I want to put into this car.
Has anyone else found replacement parts from Pep Boys to be total garbage, or have I just had an unlucky streak? For $50 and some peace of mind, I'm thinking of buying a new timing belt from Advance and throwing the one from Pep Boys away...I have to take it off anyway to replace the defective pump.
Thoughts?
Three weeks later it was dead. I took it back to the place where she bought it (of course they don't have a computer system that would let me return it to the three closer stores to our house without a receipt) and exchanged for a new one. Since I was already there and needed a water pump (and the nearest Advance that had one was a 20 mile drive from the house), I asked the clerk to check.
It was a shot in the dark, really...generally no one but Advance or Autozone has any Subaru-specific parts in stock around here. They had it, it cost $3 more than Advance, so I bought it figuring it was worth the extra to not have to make another trip. They also had the timing belt for the same price as Advance, so I bought that, too.
The second battery died last week. I decided I wasn't going to waste my time on a third and OK'd my wife paying $20 more for AAA to install a new one when they came to give her a jump...I'll just get a refund when I take it back to Pep Boys tomorrow.
The car has been leaking coolant (about half a gallon/week) since the water pump change. It was clearly leaking from the thermostat housing, so I changed the thermostat last week. It might have taken a knock or I might have torn the gasket when doing the water pump. I completely cleaned the housing when I replaced the thermostat so I could tell if it was still leaking. It's bone dry a week later...not a drop is coming out.
The car still lost a third of a gallon of coolant this week, and this evening I determined that it's coming from inside the timing belt cover. That means it's coming from the front of the water pump, which means only one thing: the pump was bad when I put it on.
Three of the four items I've bought from Pep Boys were bad out-of-the-box, and all were purchased in the past three months. I'm not going to waste my time on another water pump from them...I'll get a refund and install the one from Advance (different brand). I'm seriously questioning whether I should trust the timing belt I bought from there. The Subaru has an interference engine...if the timing belt goes, a whole bunch of bits are going to get smashed that really shouldn't get smashed, and it'll cost a lot more than I want to put into this car.
Has anyone else found replacement parts from Pep Boys to be total garbage, or have I just had an unlucky streak? For $50 and some peace of mind, I'm thinking of buying a new timing belt from Advance and throwing the one from Pep Boys away...I have to take it off anyway to replace the defective pump.
Thoughts?
...seriously... you can buy anywhere you want, just dont be surprised if the parts have issues from the aftermarket, I get it so much that I am jaded against the aftermarket now...I like the peace of mind and the hassle free maintaining of my own stuff, that I get when I use OE stuff...I get enough stress from crap parts at work, I dont need it at home too
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