Advance Auto Parts - 2024 Q4 clearance

[Chuckster in NJ]

No real experience, my local store has the gallon bucket of surface shield so I researched it and found some concern about fire risk, I guess it never dries, was hoping to get some feed back here before spraying all over, regardless I would stay away from exhaust, I may use it on core support and frame rails, but if my truck catches fire it'll probably save me money as it's a money pit

Spraying anything on the exhaust could be a fire hazard.
Back in 1974 a friend of mine sprayed his headers with enamel paint and although it looked great with white headers his Camaro caught fire after a 15 minute drive.…….. The car was a total loss.

 

[dlwilson]

I ordered the below steel for $39.68 shipped. The first half of the order arrived yesterday. One of the 1/2" angle pieces was bent, but I mostly got it back into shape. I'm still waiting on the the other shipment, but Advance has emailed the tracking numbers, and it should be here today.

Flat Stock - 1/8"x1-1/4"x3'

Flat Stock - 1/8"x1-1/4"x4'

SQ TUBING 1X4'

4 of these: Angle Stock - 1/2"x1/2"x1/8"x4'

Steel, Angle Stock - 3/4" x 3/4" x 72" x 1/8" - Common structural A36 mild carbon steel alloy

3 of these: Angle Stock - 3/4"x3/4"x1/8"x3'

 

[Dh3256]

No real experience, my local store has the gallon bucket of surface shield so I researched it and found some concern about fire risk, I guess it never dries, was hoping to get some feed back here before spraying all over, regardless I would stay away from exhaust, I may use it on core support and frame rails, but if my truck catches fire it'll probably save me money as it's a money pit

Sounds like my truck I am a little concerned about the flammability when I do the seemingly annual frame welding.

I bought a car that had been Fluid Film'ed and it doesn't really dry either, it seems to leave a gooey mess. Moreover, the guy sprayed it on rubber parts like hoses and those have swelled as a result.

I would think the volatile flammable solvents would evaporate. I did find the fire reference, it seems like it was pretty quick after application so maybe the solvents had not evaporated yet.

 

[Shocker]

I can get some Pentosin 5w-30 oil locally. Is it worth $28 for 5 liter? Supposed 65% discount.

I think so if you need the Euro rating. It is approved for BMWs and the like.

Personally I use Lubri Moly in my 2013 X1 3.0. A 5 liter jug runs about $48 bucks so something with the same rating is worth $28.

 

[ericg]

I ordered various pieces of flat stock and angle. Part of the order shipped from Oregon. The order was 8lbs and was a total of 6 pieces. When FedEx delivered it, there was no shipping tube/container. The ends of the original shipping were wrapped with cling wrap. Two of the angle pieces came loose and separated from the rest. Thankfully someone at FedEx secured the two pieces and put a new shipping label on them. I cant wait to see how the rest of the order comes on Thursday from California.

 

[dlwilson]

The rest of my steel angle and flat bar order arrived yesterday. Like ericg, one of the angle pieces had come loose, and had its own shipping label.

I don't understand how/why Advance would sell this much steel for $40 and ship it to me in two days for free. But I'm not going to complain about it.

 

[pbon]

I think so if you need the Euro rating. It is approved for BMWs and the like.

Personally I use Lubri Moly in my 2013 X1 3.0. A 5 liter jug runs about $48 bucks so something with the same rating is worth $28.

A very good LL-04 oil is Penzoil Platinum Euro or Quaker State Euro. Cheap at Walmart in 5L jugs and well regarded on Bobistheoilguy dot com. I know many BMW owners prefer to buy the most expensive oil they can find, but it is not necessary. Educate yourself at Bobistheoilguy if you want to learn about oil.

 

[Jeepster04]

Picked up my 4 gallons and 8 cans of surface shield. I know he said the total was over $80 when I placed the order, but they only charged me $69 when I picked it all up. $15x4 + $3x8.... Should be $84 plus tax.

Anyway, Im going to call back and see if they can ship some of that mobil 1 oil to their store.

 

[ATC]

I tried to load up on the steel, but they won’t ship a single piece to me. I’ve tried everything in this thread, and if it’s not available in my local stores for pickup, their site just says “choose a different method” (or whatever it says)

Only thing I can get is air fresheners, radiator stop leak, and some car wash stuff. Thats it.

 

[zeekh]

Only thing I can get is air fresheners, radiator stop leak, and some car wash stuff. Thats it.

Stock up they're on sale

 

[ATC]

Stock up they're on sale

I got a wheel cleaning brush and a few microfiber mitts for store pick-up tomorrow hopefully!

 

[Shocker]

A very good LL-04 oil is Penzoil Platinum Euro or Quaker State Euro. Cheap at Walmart in 5L jugs and well regarded on Bobistheoilguy dot com. I know many BMW owners prefer to buy the most expensive oil they can find, but it is not necessary. Educate yourself at Bobistheoilguy if you want to learn about oil.

Yeah, I am pretty well educated on oil formulas but I am sticking with Lubri Moly. It is about 15 bucks more for a 5 liter jug but I have never had an issue using it. My BMW's/Porsche's run a long time with very few issues so I am sticking with it.

 

[dlwilson]

I tried to load up on the steel, but they won’t ship a single piece to me. I’ve tried everything in this thread, and if it’s not available in my local stores for pickup, their site just says “choose a different method” (or whatever it says)

Only thing I can get is air fresheners, radiator stop leak, and some car wash stuff. Thats it.

I tried it just now by doing a search for "Forney clearance steel", then on the results page under "Availability" I checked the box for "Ship to Home". I added seven different steel items to my cart (checking "Home Delivery" for each), then went to the cart. Only one was in stock, but there are at least 10 available for flat stock 3/16x1 1/4 x 36 a36 mild steel.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...lloy-common-structural-steel-49435/11120823-P

 

[ATC]

Well, nevermind:

 

[Jeepster04]

Tried getting my store to have the Mobil 1 shipped to their store like they did the surface shield, no go. They said it wasn't on clearance....

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

Yeah, I am pretty well educated on oil formulas but I am sticking with Lubri Moly. It is about 15 bucks more for a 5 liter jug but I have never had an issue using it. My BMW's/Porsche's run a long time with very few issues so I am sticking with it.

"MOLLY" is the secret sauce.

 

[Farmall450]

They allegedly shipped my 2x2x1/4x6 angle (out of Portland, lol). Their website is so bad. I went to pickup some clearance 5 gallon oil today and 2 rang up for my store closing price (like $12) and the rest were full price. The guy "couldn't" sell them over the counter, so I was stuck w/ them at their inflated rate. He said call customer service, who of course said he should have been able to fix it; ultimately I'll have to return them to a different AA if I don't want them at full price (even tho they're ~60% off at my store, as it is closing).

No wonder they're failing...which is too bad, I always liked Carquest/AA.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I do t think they’re failing, they just got 1.5 billion for the sale of worldpack and they’re closing 500 under performing stores out of 5000.

 

[Farmall450]

I do t think they’re failing, they just got 1.5 billion for the sale of worldpack and they’re closing 500 under performing stores out of 5000.

Advance Auto Parts plans to close hundreds of stores, four distribution centers and slash jobs amid the sluggish demand for vehicle parts, the company said this week.

The announcement came with the release of the company's third-quarter report on Thursday, when it reported an adjusted loss of 4 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.19 one year ago.

The car part supplier's gross profit increased 11% in the third quarter this year compared to the nearly 37% increase in last year's third quarter. Executives said the drop in profits will force the closure of more than 700 locations by the middle of 2025.

Advance Auto Parts to close hundreds of stores, slash jobs amid sluggish demand

The company reported it will close 523 corporate stores, exit 204 independent locations and shutter 4 distribution centers by mid 2025.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Old Man Roger]

Meh

 

[Steve_P]

Advance is struggling because their sales are falling. So, they raise prices 5% percent a year to make up for the 3% drop in sales. And over a decade, what happened? Whenever I do a price check on them, or any local parts store, they're ~2X more than Amazon or Rock Auto. They don't even try to remotely compete with Walmart on oil. Instead, they basically cater to the cars that break down while driving past the store.

And I'm a long-time customer of my local store; but the only thing I've bought there in a decade are batteries. My store used to always have 3+ customer cars in the lot when I drive past, now it's typically 1-2. They blame the decrease in sales on the complexity of modern cars, etc. BS. Yes, cars are more complex, but if you want $26 for a cabin air filter, the exact same price to the penny as the other four chain stores in town, and I can get it online for $12, where am I going to buy it?

 

[Old Man Roger]

Advance is struggling because their sales are falling. So, they raise prices 5% percent a year to make up for the 3% drop in sales. And over a decade, what happened? Whenever I do a price check on them, or any local parts store, they're ~2X more than Amazon or Rock Auto. They don't even try to remotely compete with Walmart on oil. Instead, they basically cater to the cars that break down while driving past the store.

And I'm a long-time customer of my local store; but the only thing I've bought there in a decade are batteries. My store used to always have 3+ customer cars in the lot when I drive past, now it's typically 1-2. They blame the decrease in sales on the complexity of modern cars, etc. BS. Yes, cars are more complex, but if you want $26 for a cabin air filter, the exact same price to the penny as the other four chain stores in town, and I can get it online for $12, where am I going to buy it?

That seems more of a brick and mortar vs online thing though, not really an advance thing?

 

[Farmall450]

That seems more of a brick and mortar vs online thing though, not really an advance thing?

Our closing Advance has a Walmart, Menards, & Farm & Fleet in the same town. All 3 have way better prices on oil and filters, and are brick & mortar. F&F is definitely a smaller company, too (probably not Menards).

 

[Steve_P]

That seems more of a brick and mortar vs online thing though, not really an advance thing?

For sure. But Advance just announced they were closing 700 stores and not Auto Zone- but AZ may be next. I have three Advance stores within 12 miles of me; two within four miles of me. Seriously? They just opened the second one that's four miles from me for some reason. Why? Not including the three I listed, there's another one that's less than ten miles from the newest store; so, four stores within a 15-mile radius and not even 50K customers that would shop there. There are two Auto Zone locations in a slightly larger radius. OTOH, unfortunately, I only have one Trader Joe within 90 miles.

If you look at just the basic numbers from Advance's earnings reports, their yearly sales amounts keep going down and their net income keeps slightly increasing. How is this possible? They keep raising prices, which increases the move to buying online - and to falling sales. This isn't a sustainable business model when two license plate bulbs are $10 in the store and $4.50 on Amazon; the same valve cover gasket set is $44 vs $21 online.... Their prices have just gotten ridiculous, and their only customers now are the "oh ****, this just broke and I need a new widget now to fix this tonite to get to work tomorrow".

 

[ATC]

I haven’t set foot in an auto parts store to buy anything in probably 6-7 years. Only to dump used oil. Their prices are asinine.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Our closing Advance has a Walmart, Menards, & Farm & Fleet in the same town. All 3 have way better prices on oil and filters, and are brick & mortar. F&F is definitely a smaller company, too (probably not Menards).

Walmart might as well be Amazon, not sure how big the others two are though. And in this case advance is no different than any other auto parts stores, all of them are going to be way more expensive than Amazon or Walmart.

For sure. But Advance just announced they were closing 700 stores and not Auto Zone- but AZ may be next. I have three Advance stores within 12 miles of me; two within four miles of me. Seriously? They just opened the second one that's four miles from me for some reason. Why? Not including the three I listed, there's another one that's less than ten miles from the newest store; so, four stores within a 15-mile radius and not even 50K customers that would shop there. There are two Auto Zone locations in a slightly larger radius. OTOH, unfortunately, I only have one Trader Joe within 90 miles.

If you look at just the basic numbers from Advance's earnings reports, their yearly sales amounts keep going down and their net income keeps slightly increasing. How is this possible? They keep raising prices, which increases the move to buying online - and to falling sales. This isn't a sustainable business model when two license plate bulbs are $10 in the store and $4.50 on Amazon; the same valve cover gasket set is $44 vs $21 online.... Their prices have just gotten ridiculous, and their only customers now are the "oh ****, this just broke and I need a new widget now to fix this tonite to get to work tomorrow".

4 stores that close is obviously a bad idea, and probably part of the reason they’re closing stores.

I suspect a good amount of their business, and other auto parts stores, is probably commercial accounts like auto repair shops, and people like us who repair and maintain our own vehicles and don’t want to wait for parts to be delivered. The oh **** crowd is probably largely batteries.

 

[demarpaint]

I've done OK, I ordered and picked up Blaster Rustproofing, in gallons and spray bombs. I also grabbed these: Diehard Scrapers not that I really needed them, but the price was hard to pass on.

 

[Jeepster04]

The oh **** crowd is probably largely batteries.

There were 3 people getting batteries when I picked up my SS. Made me lol.

 

[Daytonaer]

I got sucked in by the "good deal" and ended up with a bunch of things I don't need at a fair price.

I got surface shield cans in store off the shelf for the sale price, this is great, I had been buying at different stores $8-10 a can.

The gallon surface shield I ordered got cancelled.

The other items I added to get $35 free shipping came, but I have no need. So far I have received 3 boxes, with 2 more in transit. I do not understand the economics of free shipping.

The gear wrench "1 1/4" ratchet wrench is listed as pn. 86710 came. The pn and pic are for the 10mm wrench, and that is what I got. The 1 1/4" listing must have been a typo. Fair price for a 10mm made in China wrench opposed to great price for big wrench.

I ordered/paid for store pickup a dash cam for less than $15, the store manager called me and told me "we don't have that," he said he could "get one in," but it would be more like "$50." I don't know if he was playing games or not, the store had listed inventory, when I tried to take him up on his offer to get one in he replied he could do that but I would have to pay more $, I politely declined as I have no immediate need for a camera. I am suspicious about this interaction as I have had numerous negative interactions with this store in particular historically, but I don't feel I deserve a special price so I just cancelled and let it go. I would not be surprised to find that camera on the shelf at his store unsold in the future.

I'm glad to hear some people got some bargains. I really like the surface shield up in the rust belt. I hope Advance sticks around, but I was just shopping for a car battery: $230 for decent lead acid at Advance, competition selling comparable for $150....

 

[pelletman]

I just spent a bunch of time putting items in the cart, and taking items out when they weren't available, mostly Forney metal stock is out of stock. I did get a bunch of other stuff, but it was very frustrating. Website is slow too.

 

[2manytools]

I'm glad to hear some people got some bargains. I really like the surface shield up in the rust belt. I hope Advance sticks around, but I was just shopping for a car battery: $230 for decent lead acid at Advance, competition selling comparable for $150....

I think they have become semi-furniture like, in that prices were raised, but yet they always have a coupon to add. Albeit the coupons were even better at 30% once upon a time, it seems the setup is to take advantage of those that don't know better than to order online for pickup.

I'm all set on rust protection for the next (couple) vehicles and trailers... brake cleaner

 

[californiamilleghia]

Just drove by the local Advance Auto and there was a line 10-15 deep waiting to get in ,

Limiting access but no idea how many are allowed ,

I might go by first thing in the morning on the way to breakfast ,

 

[drwheels]

I went to one before noon that had a line. I didn't wait. .Stopped at a store close to home and he told me which ones were closing.

 

[Farmall450]

Finally found a store with some brake parts for my truck

 

[tabs]

i've always figured AA/Adv/Oreilly's raised their prices so much in the last decade because they gave up on trying to compete and instead rely on gouging any customers that can't wait to order online. i've been in that boat so often in my life where, since i only had one car and HAD to get to work the next day or by monday, i HAD to buy the part today. it's too bad they treat their customers like that.

i ordered oil change stuff to get to the $35 free shipping. all were on "sale" but were essentially regular price. but that's fine because all i really wanted was this wrench:

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

$15.** for a 32mm gear wrench ratcheting wrench is a steal. now what i will ever use it for i can't say. but that doesn't matter because i have one now!

 

[Old Man Roger]

i've always figured AA/Adv/Oreilly's raised their prices so much in the last decade because they gave up on trying to compete and instead rely on gouging any customers that can't wait to order online. i've been in that boat so often in my life where, since i only had one car and HAD to get to work the next day or by monday, i HAD to buy the part today. it's too bad they treat their customers like that.

i ordered oil change stuff to get to the $35 free shipping. all were on "sale" but were essentially regular price. but that's fine because all i really wanted was this wrench:

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

$15.** for a 32mm gear wrench ratcheting wrench is a steal. now what i will ever use it for i can't say. but that doesn't matter because i have one now!

Totally agree that all auto parts stores gouge us all. There was a supply issue for a short time, but it hasn’t been an issue for years, yet they keep raising prices. I mean $40 bucks for 1 wiper blade? Over $500 bucks for an alternator? $300 bucks for a battery?

 

[Farmall450]

$300 bucks for a battery?

Farm & Fleet is advertising that they just lowered the prices on many of their batteries by $2-$40.

They're good batts too (East Penn Deka). Not sure why Napa thinks the same ones are worth 30% more.

 

[Farmall450]

Finally found a store with some brake parts for my truck

Turns out this was a website glitch - got there last night and that store was NOT closing. Still got the stuff, tho.

 

[zeekh]

Totally agree that all auto parts stores gouge us all. There was a supply issue for a short time, but it hasn’t been an issue for years, yet they keep raising prices. I mean $40 bucks for 1 wiper blade? Over $500 bucks for an alternator? $300 bucks for a battery?

I bought motor oil at ORiellys the other day. It was +$10 over the same oil at walmart.

 

[PlantItDeep]

Farm & Fleet is advertising that they just lowered the prices on many of their batteries by $2-$40.

They're good batts too (East Penn Deka). Not sure why Napa thinks the same ones are worth 30% more.

Napa is very specific by store too
A year ago I was on the road and figured I would buy a set of batteries at town I was at since pair I had in pickup were about shot and we had a cold snap coming
Napa in that (large) town I was in would not match the same price that a town closer to home had.
So I bought batteries on the way home
I was surprised... I told them exactly what I was doing but they preferred to lose the sale over matching the price

It was about $50/battery different too by memory