I hate to admit it but I use to work for a Ford dealership when I was younger as one of the detailer's and seen this a few times in the middle of winter. Some guy in a beat up plow truck comes walking in with bunny boots on and some oil stained Carharts and starts looking at the brand new F-350's going for 50+

I laughed as salesman after salesman would blow this dude off till finally one of the younger guys walked up and started to help him. In under an hour the guy handed over cash and drove away in a brand new truck.
QFT
I had a salesman do this with my 2011 Sierra when I pulled into the Ford dealership when looking for a truck for my wife (she is dead set on wanting a new F-150 CC). He walked out and said "ready to trade that GM in for a real truck?". I just laughed and let the wife waste a couple hours of the time test driving rigs and told him we would get back to him another day

 

Most sales men can't find their but with both hands. They will do and say anything to get you to buy that is their job. I have went to the dealer I work for on my off days in street clothes and they try to sell me a car. Best thing I can suggest is to go inside and ask the operator which salesman has been there the longest. Parts guys, well we can't be experts in everything. Majority of them don't even do any mods or know anything about them.

That being said, I went to an Oreallys and told them I needed some rear brake pads for an 04 C1500 and the counter guy looked at me and laughed and said "they didn't make c trucks in 04".

 

A buddy of mine is having some work done to his GTO at a shop in Nashville. I called my buddy to ask a question while he was at the shop and asked him to hand the shop owner his phone.

I asked the shop owner if he was able to tune VATS out of the computer for my engine swap. He said I didn't need to because that was part of a separate computer and there was no need for it. He said if I wanted a tune, I would have to send the computer to a guy in Florida as there was no else that could tune it. He told me the same guy in Florida would make me a conversion harness for $350. I told him I was making my own harness, and he told me I wouldn't be able to do it because I needed special tools.

At that point I told him he was wrong about everything and to hand the phone back to my friend. I told my friend good luck on ever seeing your GTO run again and hung up.

 

Had a dealer ship tell me 16 hours for a cam swap.

 

It amazes me how many shops and companies have employees or owners that will put their hand on the bible and swear on stuff that is 100% bullshit. Even worse when they try to argue after you explain why they are wrong. I've been getting pretty mean with people lately, because these pseudo-experts have cost me a shitload of money over the years. The most recent example being the machinist who honed my block over the specs that I provided him with because it has "race pistons that need more room". They don't need more room than the manufacturer specifies, chief. $1000 later...

 

My fav and most common that I hear is "without cats your engine light will not go off,and cause it not to run right."

Another on is "you can't align a vehicle that has been lowered"

 

The stealership computer, alldata or another software actually shows to pull the heads to do a cam swap.

Or it was either the older guys that have worked on gen II engines so they dont know any better.

Last time i stepped into a stealership i needed a Oil pickup tube oring.
I didnt have the PN with me and after about 45 seconds of talkin to the guy behind the counter i just asked if i could use the computer to show him what i needed. Worked just fine and maybe he learnt him something haha.

I confused the crap out of the guy at advanced auto yesterday, took a alternator in to get tested. Its a 05 silverado alt that i had on my samurai.
And of course when he asked what vechicle im working on, i told him 1988 suzuki samurai
It was so fun. I finally told him what i had done and put the Alt on the machine to find out why i couldnt get it to charge, it was dead. Gettin it rebuilt tom.

Most of the parts stores around here know when i walk in, its a frankenstein vechicle im working on.

 

Couple similar stories, from the same orileys actually, but different days.

1.) I got to buy a new TR6 spark plug because I cracked one putting it back in when the socket slipped. The guy couldnt find it in the computer since its not listed as a stock replacement for any GM truck. I told him an 04 just for ***** and giggles. As soon as I mentioned it was going in my 402 his eyes got huge and he asked the guy next to him if I shouldnt be using autolite plugs in a race engine instead of the NGK I wanted, like it would matter anyway. I finally got irritated and looked up the number on my phone and told him and he came back in 10 seconds with the right plug.

2.) This was actually yesterday. I was trying to fix my leaky rear caliper on my 99. Looks like I overtightened the banjo bolt so the threads were messed up. I finally ended up giving up and just getting a new caliper. When he asked what is was going on I said a 2006 tahoe 4wd. He just looked at me and said "you drove a truck over here though". So to blow his mind I said, "Yea, its going on my other truck. Which is actually a 99 silverado, but the engine is an 06 block, the axle is from a 92 2500, and the rear brakes are for an 06 tahoe. So how about that caliper?'

Why cant people just do what I ask :thud:

 

I love those kinda stories.

I had a guy come to the counter a couple weeks ago and he was tryin to tell me that he had a full auto AR15 in 45-70. Hahaha. It was all i could do to not laugh.
I think i added a 20% retard handling fee on his order.

 

I always test out any new auto part store I plan on frequenting by asking for some sparkplugs for an 03 6.6 chevy 2500....just to see if they play along