Penny Pincher Auto Parts at 2401 W Van Buren St, Phoenix, AZ 85009

We ordered online and drove in to pick it up before noon last Saturday. The woman handling will-call was rude to my dad and me right away. She stacked a big heavy box on top of two smaller ones on the cart, and it slid right off onto the floor. We’d driven pretty far to grab that part, so we asked her to check that it wasn’t damaged inside. She just said, “I didn’t drop it,” even though the whole mess was her fault for putting a heavy box on top of the others. Some other guy walked by, and I asked him to check inside. She told him what we needed but claimed he doesn’t speak English — he still took a look. Turns out the part was fine, but we wanted her manager to see where it happened on her watch. If anything had been broken, we would’ve demanded a new one, but she kept arguing it wasn’t her fault the whole time. I’ll still shop here, but they need to train that employee to treat customers better. My dad’s been coming here forever and never had trouble till this run-in.

The tech who helped us gave service that blew me away. You hardly see that kind of attitude anymore. Miguel M deserves every bonus coming his way. He made the whole trip feel easy. If I come back, it’ll be for him. You can tell he actually cares.

Save yourself the trouble. This place overcharges for junk and won’t take anything back. We bought an alternator because our mechanic sent us there, and we’ve had to come back three times because every one they sold us was no good. They flat-out refused to refund us. Worst experience ever.

Penny Pincher’s been giving fair prices in the Valley since I was a kid. My old man took me there years ago, and now I bring my own kids. Call ahead, put your order on will-call so you don’t spend all day waiting. Prices beat every other shop in Phoenix. Some folks badmouth the place, but my cars have never complained in thirty years — big laugh there. Lines can get long, but they move quick, so don’t let that scare you off. They take cash and cards, and parts always fit. I’ve never returned a dud from them, unlike O’Reilly’s or AutoZone. They honor core returns too, which is nice. Right in the heart of Phoenix and true to the name — if you want real savings, local mechanics know this spot.

This place is packed from open to close, sitting on the wrong side of town, the parking lot’s a nightmare, and some workers are hard to understand. Still, the prices blow away the competition, and they always have exactly what I need. Inside the store you can see why the phone wait for quotes takes so long — those people are going nonstop. Long lines, hard work, but worth it. Their prices are the draw. Give them a call and you’ll see.

First time visiting, and the line situation was a little confusing at first. The guy helping me kept trying to talk to me in Spanish, which was fine—I can get by, but I’m not fluent. Didn’t bother me, but I could see it being a problem for someone who doesn’t speak much Spanish at all. Other than that, though, it was straightforward. Walked in, found what I needed, and the price was reasonable. No complaints.

Every time I go here, it’s smooth. The parts are solid—never had a bad one, and if by some chance you do, they’ll swap it out no questions asked (just keep your receipt). The staff is always friendly and actually remembers you after a while, which is a nice change from places where you feel like just another face in the crowd. ---

First time here, and honestly, the place looks tiny from the outside. Inside’s a little cramped near the entrance, but once you get past that, the parts area is huge and actually well-organized—at least from what I could tell in the back. Parking’s a whole thing, though. There’s a spot right by the door, but if you’re bad at parallel parking or just hate tight spaces, do yourself a favor and park on the side street. The second you walk in, it’s a little overwhelming—there’s two lines, and I had no idea which one to take. Turns out, if you called ahead for a part, you go to the “Will Call” side. They’ll grab it, you pay, and you’re out. I didn’t know that, so I ended up in the wrong line at first. The other option is the longer line where you actually request the part, but hey, at least it gave me time to see why this place stays busy. Here’s the kicker, though: even though they said they had my part and I waited 30 minutes, they couldn’t find it. The guy helping me—who, by the way, was super nice, just like everyone else there—ended up sending me to Parts Authority down the road. Turns out that’s where they order from when they don’t have something. At that point, I figured I might as well just go straight to the dealer next time and skip the middleman. The part at Parts Authority was only 60 cents more, but when you’re counting pennies, it adds up. Still, I learned something new about how this whole parts game works. And honestly? No more Auto Zone—they charge way too much. ---

They’ve got a decent selection of parts for a lot of different cars, and the prices are pretty fair. The staff speaks English and Spanish, which is a plus. Sometimes O’Reilly will match their prices, but if I lived closer, I’d probably grab everything from here instead. ---

I swear, every electrical part I’ve bought from this place lasts about as long as a cheap coffee filter. Got a starter, installed it, and it worked—once. Then it acted like the battery was dead. Took it back, got another one. Same thing: started three times, then died. Every single electrical part I’ve put in from here is garbage. Never seen one last more than a week. Absolute junk. ---