Is auto Zone a rip off?

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What do you guy’s think about Auto Zone in general and more specifically what do you think of their prices? I for one have always shopped at auto. and just recently bought my oil and filter to do an oil change. they were running a deal so I only spent about $25 dollars for a 5+ gallon jug of gtx high mileage and a Bosch filter and got a $7 dollar mail in rebate for the oil and a $2 one for the filter. So in this case after the rebate ill have spent $16 which is a pretty sweet deal. The oil normally runs between $23-$28 dollars at auto zone. And the filter for about $6 or $7. without the sale or rebate I would have spent $32. But today while at Wal-Mart I noticed the same oil for $18. I didn’t see any bosch filters but they had a Fram tough guard filter for $6 which is what I normally use. So if I would have bought it at Wal-Mart then I would have spent $24. In this case without any sales auto zone would have been 8 dollars more expensive than Wal-Mart. It’s the same way for windshield wipers. Wal-Mart tends to have windshield wipers 3-5 dollars cheaper than auto zone. So it seems that when it comes to maintenance parts for vehicles that auto zone over charges you. At least that’s how it is where I live. Ill purchase parts from them but from now on I’m going to check Wal-Mart’s prices on everything else. So what do you all think? Is auto zone a rip off when it comes to maintenance parts? Is it worth shopping at Wal-Mart to save an extra buck? And where do you guys normally shop for repair and maintenance parts?

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[mossyoak83]

I go to walmart for oil and oil filters, and have bought a set of cheap wiper blades there. As far as parts I like to go to autozone and use my rewards card or whatever you call it as mentioned before. Their lines are screwy, you have to go to one to look up parts and then go check out at the other end of the store, but I guess that is how they do business. I’ve only bought parts at advanced a few times and have never been to an O’Reilly parts store so i cant comment much really on how well the service is. Napa is a good place but they do have shorter hours and on the weekends when i need parts they are no help unless its on saturday from 8-noon.

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