Finding parts for our cars is getting hard isn't it?

[73chgrSE]

Seems like scarcity of parts combined with overall incompetence has made this car hobby very frustrating as of late.  Parts store people are mostly idiots. They don't care why should they. Wrong parts come in boxes with the correct part # on it. Then some things take 6-10 weeks to get. What the hell are you doing that a part should take you 6 weeks? Almost everything is made in the 3rd world. Brand new stuff comes to you broken. Didn't used to be this way man.

[Ghoste]

Im not sure that i ever found it easy to get parts.  The parts stores have worsened for sure but beyond that it seems like it was always a challenge.

[Dano 1]

I've found that getting parts for pretty much anything, even my new daily drivers is a challenge. Most of the parts store guys are so bad I've gotten the point where it's a game to see how long it takes them to get confused. Usually unless it's a very simple part lookup, they just give up and just let me go in the back and look for what I need.

I think one of the biggest differences for us young guys is the lack of quality USED parts out there. Gone are the days of going into the junkyard and having your pick of engine cores or suspension/body parts. I'm lucky enough to live in the south where there are still a few old cars kicking around and to have made some friends who actually held onto these old cars but even then it's a struggle finding any parts that are in anywhere near usable condition.

My go-to these days is Rock Auto and they continue to impress me with part availability, price, and delivery time. Even with shipping, the vast majority of their parts are MUCH cheaper than the big chain parts stores and you usually have a few brands to pick from, each at different quality levels. Their catalog is nice and simple/intuitive to use too. No I was not paid to say this although if they're reading this and would like to trade free parts for promotion PLEASE let me know 

[Mike DC]

 

The parts store guys used to know more about these cars back in the 1980s-90s . . . . when they were only 20 years old.

I don't expect parts store guys to know jack about 50yo cars.