as a former advance auto retail parts pro, I wanted to throw in my 2 pennies. First off, the online promo codes are the easiest way to save money. Secondly Advance will price match or beat MOST competitors..Lets say Prestone anti freeze-$15.98 at advance, $13.99 at Walmart..that's a no brainer. But what about the online deals? Competitors like rock auto, ebay, amazon are overlooked. Most of what you are seeing from ebay and amazon in some cases is a huge price disparity, from what I can tell, some of those parts are china made, and are quite cheap..it's a get what you pay for kinda thing. A friend of mine who is the commercial parts pro has been letting me use some of rock auto's prices, BUT in some cases I have to throw in the shipping cost as well. Example..TPS sensor on Rock Auto $15.99 at Advance $44.99...Advance has their system set up that they can discount prices to a certain point...they usually will show a green checkmark, a yellow yield sign, a red X or a black X...when the red x or black x show up, that means that the low price rock auto has is eating into the store profits, and is usually not allowed...but lets say shipping on the rock auto part is $10.50..you are still getting a better deal at $26.49..and advances system might show a yellow sign...9 times out of 10, they will use that price..I always did. Another thing that's easy to do...check the other parts stores...find the cheapest, and use that...last I knew, advance will not use EBAY prices at all, but has used amazon in a few cases, as long as shipping was added in..Every morning as part of the previous days paper work that needs filed, it prints off a report that tells what price changes were given...the report also gets sent to the district manager, who usually by 830am has called, complaining about a few deals that were given out, and as long as you have a valid explanation, he usually shuts up.
My best advice is to do checking online, take a price list with you of what the part would cost elsewhere, include shipping charges if there are any, print off the page if possible, and if the part number is different, usually you can have them cross check the part number to see what it matches in their system. I usually stick to dealing with 1 or 2 employee's in any parts store..they learn your car, and makes getting in and out a LOT quicker. Use the online promo's...I just bought a battery for my grand prix, $107, plus tax and core online...with code would have made it $87, plus core..I had trouble getting it to check out on my phone, so I called...the lady gave me $30 off..when all was said and done I paid $84..I was happy..the autocraft silver was more expensive than that..I got the gold, and the more CCA battery to boot...
To recap..cuz I just reread it..it looks confusing
1. Research the cost of the part you need online..check online stores, as well as Autozone, OReilly, PepBoys, Napa..the usual suspects
2. Print off the page, if the part is cheaper, if it's an online store like Rock Auto or Amazon, include shipping prices in the print off
3. You can usually tell who the managers are because they have a checkerboard print around their collar most of the time..if not it will be a black and white shirt
4. Don't get mad if they won't go to the lowest price, ask if they will meet you somewhere in the middle..they will usually spend a couple minutes seeing where the system gives them the red X, and do a dollar above that.
5. Use online promo codes and choose to pick it up in the store..this will save a lot of aggravation, especially if you pull up and the parking lot is packed, call ahead to make sure they are gonna have the parts pulled and ready to go
6. If you can afford to wait, like I still do, order the part off of ebay, wait a few days for it to ship.
7. If any of the managers are being an a$$ at advance, usually those guys are new, and they are trying to impress the new boss, take your story down to Autozone or OReilly's..tell them what happened, and they will make it right..they are always wanting the competitions business..
Hope this helps..
