Kragen Auto Parts

(This place is now operating as O’Reilly Auto — and the shopping experience seems to have deteriorated even further.)
How urgent is your automotive problem?
1) Can you get the part online? Amazon?
2) Can you get yourself to a Wal-​Mart?
Only if you answer «No» to both of the above, should you even consider going here. Completely indifferent, sub-​Soviet experience, mediocre pricing, and a soulless corporate ownership.

This store, now owned by O’Reilly, really screwed me over. I went to buy windshield wipers. As I left, an employee there offered to help me install the wipers on my car. Sure, why not? We walked outside and he began to help with it but then realized he was not able to do it– he was having a hard time getting the old wipers off the car. Right at that moment, another guy wearing an O’Reilly hat came over and offered to help. He said, sure, let this guy (will omit his name here) take care of this. And he walked back into the store, leaving with me the man who I assumed worked there, given his hat and his presence in their parking lot, working on cars. NOPE, not the case at all! Turns out this guy is a random guy without a home who lingers in their parking lot working on cars. And as such, his work is completely unlicensed and non-​guaranteed.
Wouldn’t be an issue if he hadn’t roughly jerked around my windshield wipers, bending them and severing their connection within the car. But that’s what he did. He finally installed them and when I brought up the fact that they were very bent and made a funny *THUMP THUMP* noise when they did their business, he advised me to «have your boyfriend look at it.» Uh, not only is that comment offensive and sexist, but it’s also heterosexist. It’s also extremely frustrating to break something on someones’ car in doing a routine task like swapping out windshield wipers, and then pass the buck to my mythical boyfriend. And when I ask for help from an O’Reilly staff member, I DID NOT WANT HELP from a random schmuck who could break parts of the car and leave me with no recourse.
The rain held out for a while, so I ignored the problem for a bit. But then the late March rain came around, in full force, and the wiper problems became unbearable. One of them is so jacked that it didn’t stop at the edge of the windshield, it kept wiping (!) and got caught sticking out from my car, to the left of my driver’s side door! This was while I was crossing the Bay Bridge in torrential rain, so it was potentially dangerous and I had to pull over after the bridge and deal with it ASAP. I went back to the store and they refused to have the manager speak to me about it, and claimed NO responsibility for letting a random guy work on my car — a guy who was wearing an O’Reilly hat, no less, so appeared to be a staff member (that’s why I trusted him to do what he did!) They gave me some number of a corporate office and told me to take it up at that level. A repair shop down the road estimated the needed repair at just under $ 200, including labor.
I hope to call corporate tomorrow, but I am guessing they’ll also give me the cold shoulder. Just for something simple, new wipers, I will likely have to dish out another $ 200. And for that, I will no longer give them my business, and will tell my friends to do the same. This place sucks, don’t give them your money.

I went to this location (now called O’Reilly Auto Parts) with a list of parts/​hardware that I thought I needed to reattach my front license plate. I explained the situation to one of the employees, who asked to take a look at my car and told me he could install the plate for me just by drilling right into the bumper. Only $ 2 for screws + free installation = awesome!

There’s really no helping the fact that every visit here will vary depending upon who helps you. Often times I’ve had perfectly willing employees who unfortunately couldn’t help me much because I knew much more about my car than they did.
This last visit, however, I was pleasantly surprised. I barely started describing my problem (the terminals on my battery were corroding, resulting in an unreliable connection to my battery so my car wouldn’t start half the time) when the guy (didn’t catch his name, sorry!) offered to just come out and take a look. He happened to own the exact same make and model of car, and had even had the same thing happen to him; turns out it was a simple fix. They didn’t have the part at that location, but he called to the next nearest one and sent me down there for it.
So 4 stars because of the really good customer service about 90% of the time, although they could be more reliable on this point, and perhaps be better staffed more often (they were this time, but often there’s only been on or two people working so they don’t have time to give personalized attention).

Went in here on a Saturday afternoon to get a new battery. I was able to check ahead online to see if it was in stock., which it was. When I got there, I didn’t have to wait in line very long which is nice. The employee helping me was very courteous and attentive, which I understand is not always the norm for auto parts stores, like Kragen. She got me a new battery and allowed me to deposit my old one, which also saved me some money. Located on Broadway, it’s nice that this place has a parking lot. Of course, even though it says no servicing your vehicle in the parking lot, this doesn’t stop people from doing so, which might be an issue when it’s crowded.
Automotive stores can be a nightmare if you need actual help from employees who either cannot give you help because they don’t know what they are talking about (which has happened before at other stores) or because they are too busy to care. So far, though, I haven’t had an issue at Kragen. Even when at another location in Berkeley (before they closed), I’ve always received excellent customer service.

Most of my experiences here have been a-​ok. But recently, my husband went in and brought oil to dump, asked the punk kid «Can I dump my oil here?» and MELVIN the punk says, «I don’t know, CAN you?» WTF!!! Then proceeds to ask my father in law if he’s in line before he will ring him up – who does that? Kids like this need to get told.

I cant stand this store out of everyone that works there one person who is the manager is helpful the rest of them are just collection paychecks.

As noted by other reviewers — this is the closest Kragen to me. I go here because I can walk here — not because it’s the best or the nicest auto parts store around.
At the intersection of 51^st/​Broadway, we’re not in the «hood» by any stretch of the imagination, but the store & parking lot definitely shows folks who exhibit some fairly anti-​social behavior.
For example — I have taken home packages of screws only to discover that they are missing several pieces (the plastic box just snaps onto itself, not taped). I once made the mistake of pointing out to another patron that there were trash cans on either side of his car, fewer than 5 feet from where he dropped his trash — and he threatened to kick my ass (I told him to go ahead — that he’d be a laughing stock for doing so over his own littering).
There are often people fixing their cars in the parking lot, leaving trash and toxic chemicals all over the place.
They’ve recently been bought by O’Reilly — so the name and store colors are all changed.
Customer service is usually pretty good — the guys will help you to the best of their ability, which varies.

Ahhhh, disorganization. I went in for what I thought was a really easy thing (license plate screws for my front bumper) but it turned into a pain and the lack of staff on the floor available to help with questions lead to a crazy frustrating visit.
Aisles of all the car basics, but after trips to auto superstores like Pep Boys, I have a new found appreciation for clean floors, well-​arranged items, fully stocked shelves and floor staff at the ready.
Finally, after waiting in the queue for my turn at the register (despite not having an item to purchase), I asked the nice guy to help figure out what size screws I needed to affix my plate to my bumper. He came out to my car, took a look and then went back into the store to suggest the appropriate size.
Of course this is the kind of store one only visits when it’s a necessity, but think about a pet store supermarket… why can’t Kragen apply the same bright lights, clean floors logic?

Since this is the most convenient auto part store for me, I’ve kept going there… keeping low expectations. Whether it’s the expectation lowering or their customer service getting better, I’m upping the rating to 3 stars.

Every time I come in here — which, fortunately, isn’t very often — I am immediately greeted by an enthusiastic employee who sticks by my side the whole time, ensuring I get the right part for my car. I’ve even had them offer to come outside and help me install it.

I find this place funny. Lots of mindless wanna-​be mechanics come here. I was in here once looking for some tire shine for my car and a heavy set man came in, grabbed a tail pipe and asked an employee, «Aye bruh! This make noise???». How stupid can you be? Anyways, Great place! Oh and by the way, If you’re a young one looking to upgrade your car with «performance» parts from kragen, This one doesnt carry any.

Kragen is alright for accessories, cleaning supplies or minor parts such as light bulbs, windshield wipers, etc. I would go elsewhere for major parts.
A few months ago I came here to rent a torque wrench and hoped to get my check engine light diagnosed, but the guy behind the counter said Kragen was cutting back on tool rentals and they no longer diagnose check engine lights like they used to. Bummer.
However, the employee (wish I could remember his name) saved the day and offered to help me out. He ran to his car, grabbed his personal code reader and offered to diagnosed my check engine light. Sweet. Everyone else behind the counter seems to be just as cool.

I give it an A-​OK. as far as selection goes. I will probably go online somewhere for more important parts. But if it’s an emergency they’re pretty darn convenient.
It’s true. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. 4.75÷5 for customer service. Everyone was so nice and so willing to help and see what’s up. Felt bad because my cc is so worn it sometimes doesn’t work. They had to get my cc number old-​school style, with the carbon paper, ya kno? But they were nice about it. Cracked some jokes about it. Had an alternator test done. Kept it real. Didn’t try to sell me anything, just told me to go get it checked out because it was showing signs of being on its way out.
Nice guys, those guys.

So picture this, two girls in the parking lot of Kragen with a dead Corolla. It just needed a new battery — how hard could that be? With the help of Andres and Troy (employees of Kragen) it wasn’t so bad. These two guys were awesome and helped us out immensely going so far as to come out to the parking lot and check on us. Thanks guys!

It’s fine if you need a car part. They’ve got a lot of stock. I was there on a slow time, so no complaints about service. Was in and out in a flash.

Same as it ever was it is what it is Cheap car parts and other random shit you may need. The staff has been cool to me on the 3 times in the past that I have shopped there.

Here’s the thing– When you’re the only person working customer service and you can’t help me because you’re, say, on the phone for 15 minutes helping identify a customer’s trasmission problem, or giving detailed directions to your store, hey no problem.
But when instead you’re on the phone for 15 minutes chatting with your girlfriend about Big Phil’s house party and about how good she looked in that one pink skirt and how you loved that it matched the miniature sunsets painted on her nails, leaning nonchalantly against the service counter while I’m standing there in disbelief waiting to order a new alternator from you, and then you turn away to avert my befuddled gaze? Well that just ain’t happenin.
— One star for the other customer service guy who returned from his break and subsequently provided excellent service.
— One additional star for not giving a shit if folks use your parking lot as a makeshift communal workspace, no matter what the sign says.

I wish there was another place in the area to buy auto parts. The staff is either incredibly rude and condescending (not having a penis I’m too stupid to figure out anything on my own) or they ogle and hit on you.

Just your same ol’ Kragen except for the the fact that this branch has to have the worst employees behind the counter ever hired by the modern man. I’ve been in there a half a dozen times and every time I’ve been sorry. True story; needed an oil pan drain plug (w/​a magnet) but wasn’t sure which size I needed:
«Hi, I need an oil pan drain plug w/​a magnet for a ’96 honda accord EX»
checking computer…“Don’t have any.”
«Okay, I’ll just take the OEM plug then.»
checking computer…“Nope. Out.”
«Okay, I’ll just get a new gasket then. What size do I need?»
(big sigh, eyes roll to ceiling, responds in loud annoyed voice) «If we don’t have any drain plugs, logic would follow that we don’t have any gaskets either! Wouldn’t it?»
Of course they did (a$$h@le), for that logic to follow, they would only sell the plugs and gaskets together. Man, this whole «customer service» thing sure went the way of the Dodo. I found a pack of gaskets on my own in a whole display of gaskets and o-​rings.
Drive the few extra miles and go to the Kragen in Berkeley on Martin Luther.