Get Into The Zone, the Dumb Zone

I like to do my own auto maintenance. I learned to do it out of necessity, but now I do it because I’ve just never found a garage I could trust. This weekend I resolved to give my truck some loving attention and I stopped by Auto Zone to pick up the necessary parts. After waiting at the parts counter for what seemed liked forever (about 5 minutes), a dumpy looking kid finally appeared and after staring at his computer monitor for a couple of seconds, asked me if I need help.

Me: “Yeah, I need a serpentine belt for a 2000 Toyota Tundra V8 4x4”
DofusBoy: “A 2000?”
Me: “Yeah”
DofusBoy: “Toyota?”
Me: “Yeah”
DofusBoy: “Is it a car or a truck?”
Me: “Truck … Tundra”
DofusBoy: “V6 or V8?”
Me: “V8”
DofusBoy: “4x4 or 4x2?”
Me: “4x4”
DofusBoy: Air conditioning?”
Me: “Yeah”
DofusBoy: “That’ll be 13.99”
Me: “OK”
DofusBoy: “Will you need anything else?”
Me: “Yeah, I need some brake shoes for that too.”
DofusBoy: “OK” “front or rear?”
Me: “Brake shoes … … Rear”
DofusBoy: “That’ll be 15.99 – lifetime warranty.”
Me: “Cool”

DofusBoy pissed me off. Not only did he prove that he couldn’t listen, he also proved that he knows nothing about cars. For those of you who may not know, brakes may take either brake pads or brake shoes depending on what type brakes they are. Disc brakes use brake pads and drum brakes use brake shoes. Disc = Pads, Drums = Shoes. My ‘68 Mustang had drum brakes in the front (and boy did they suck), but just about every new car or light truck sold in this country in the last, oh, 30 years or so, has used DISC BRAKES IN THE FRONT! Thus, anyone asking for brakes shoes for a modern car is by default specifing that they are for the rear of the vehicle. This is really basic car trivia 101. It’s something a parts counter person should know. Really.

What makes this so sad is that this isn’t the first time this has happened. The last time I bought brakes shoes, the counter person did exactly the same thing (except this time it was at a Pep Boys store). But that time I at least knew to expect it. The person in front of me was buying air shocks for his Firebird. The counter guy had to ask if the Firebird was made by Pontiac. And then he asked the customer if he wanted two shocks…

Just remember this the next time you take your car in for an oil change. The guys under the lift changing your oil may not have been smart enough for the parts counter job.