Chevy Driver Prices Part at NAPA. Then He Goes to O'Reilly: 'Anything But AutoZone'

'Way too expensive'

Chevy Driver Prices Part At NAPA

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Stacy Fernandez

By: Stacy Fernandez

Mar 29, at 8:00am ET

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Anyone who's ever comparison shopped at an auto parts store knows that the prices are all over the place. This makes it hard to know which one should earn your loyalty.

In a social media video, Luke Fischer (@that.98.chevy.k2500) filmed his parked white Chevrolet K2500 truck with a simple message across the screen. He has something to say on the matter.

"Hot take: O'Reilly's >>> Napa."

In the caption, he adds, "Napa way too expensive for the same thing."

NAPA vs. O’Reilly: Which Has Better Prices?

Cheapism surveyed four major auto parts chains—NAPA, AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, and O'Reilly—across a broad basket of parts ranging from wiper blades and batteries to alternators, fuel pumps, and clutch sets. Their finding was that based on price alone, O'Reilly came out on top as the cheapest overall option.

The caveat they note is that there's no single winner across every category. Prices vary enough part by part that shopping around still pays off. But as a general rule, O'Reilly tends to land lower.

Part of why NAPA pricing can feel inconsistent is structural. Unlike O'Reilly, AutoZone, and Advance (which are all corporately owned chains), NAPA operates on an independent ownership model. Per NAPA's own blog, owners "decide how they wish to run their businesses," and the company explicitly markets this as a feature, not a bug.

That freedom extends to pricing. Two NAPA stores in different towns can charge meaningfully different amounts for the same part, and there's no corporate mandate keeping them in line. It's a model built for community ownership, but it also means you might walk in and find prices that don't match what you'd find anywhere else.

But NAPA has a reputation for stocking harder-to-find and professional-grade parts, and some mechanics swear by it for quality.

Same Part, Different Box

There's another layer to this debate that often gets lost: A lot of what you're buying at any auto parts store—NAPA, O'Reilly, AutoZone, or otherwise—may literally be the same part, just in different packaging.

Advance Auto Parts lays it out with an example. The factory shocks on a Chevy Silverado Z71 are branded Rancho. When you go to replace them at a parts store, you'll find Monroe. Different name, same company. Both Rancho and Monroe are owned by Tenneco, which manufactures the same applications under both brand names.

CARFAX explains that sometimes you can buy the identical part from the same supplier in an aftermarket box for less money than the "genuine" version, even though both came off the same assembly line.

Commenters React

“Autozone over all,” a top comment read.

“I work at a napa dealer/mechanic/weld/tire shop so i have a slight bias towards napa,” a person said.

“Anything but autozone honestly,” another wrote.

What do you think?

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Comments

“Yes, very very hot take,” a top comment read.

Motor1 reached out to Luke Fischer for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to O’Reilly and NAPA via email. We will update this story if any party responds.

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