Advance Auto Parts – a Review

Advance Auto Parts in Appomattox, VA

A few years ago, I went by and asked the Advance Auto Parts staff to check my battery. They asked why, what was wrong with my vehicle. I replied that nothing was wrong, but winter was coming and I wanted to be sure that my battery was all right. It took a lot of back and forth, but the man finally checked my battery and it tested in the normal range.

Also a few years ago, I had my mom go by the same location to have her car’s battery tested. The man didn’t have it completely hooked onto the battery, which made it seem the battery was bad. My mom said something, so he adjusted it then it was testing fine. That seemed like an underhanded trick, but she didn’t say anything.

When first shopping for a straight hitch with the ball for my vehicle’s hitch receiver, my mom went to this location. She told them that when the hitch receiver was installed that we were told that it had to have a straight hitch, no drop and no rise. They said they’d never heard of such a thing and sold her one with a 2″ drop. Needless to say that it had to be returned. How have their employees never heard of a straight hitch?

Several days ago, she went by there to have the battery and alternator tested because her SUV didn’t seem to want to start every time or was slow to start. They said that both the battery and alternator were all right, but didn’t show her the readings on the machine. Two days later, she was still having problems and another place tested the battery. The battery was testing at less than 50% and had to be replaced. Advance Auto should have seen that when they tested the battery.

Advance Auto Parts in Madison Heights, VA

A few years ago when I was out of state with a friend, he turned off my vehicle’s engine without turning off my headlights, which killed the battery. After I got back into Virginia, I went to Advance Auto Parts in Madison Heights to have my battery tested. Even though it was starting all right, they said my battery had been damaged, so I had them replace it. The man who helped me was really nice and even cleaned the battery terminals.

He also helped me in purchasing a straight hitch since I hadn’t gotten one yet. He said that he was sure the one he handed me would fit, so we didn’t check it. When I got outside, it didn’t fit because it was a Class 1 and had to be exchanged. I left with the one it was exchanged for instead of installing it in the parking lot.

I really didn’t like how it was designed with the ball being a separate piece and ended up returning to the same location at a later date. I exchanged it for the Reese brand straight hitch with three balls. This is a great product because it has 3 different size balls on it so you’re ready to tow anything and it is all one piece (the balls aren’t removable). It wasn’t supposed to rust, but it did after only a couple months. Of course it was a few days past the warranty period when I contacted Advance Auto Parts about it so they said that it wasn’t their problem. The manufacturer didn’t do anything about it either.

Overall thoughts

I don’t recommend Advance Auto Parts. I’ve called them for things that the staff has never heard of (such as hairpin clips) and they aren’t interested in checking their stock either. I highly recommend O’Reilly Auto Parts, they are always happy to help and their prices are lower too.

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