I've noticed a lot of Wells part numbers are the same as Autozone Duralast numbers. Is this just a coincidence or is the Duralast a re-packaged Wells product?

http://www.wellsmfgcorp.com/~wellsmfg/locations.html

Joel

Quite possible, at least for some parts. I know Autozone carries parts in Wells boxes also.

Well, here's your answer.

I looked up a duralast part I bought from autozone in the past, a Ford TFI ignition module.

The Autozone Duralast picture and part number come straight out of the Wells catalog.

http://www.autozone.com/selectedZip,92126/initialAction,partProductDetail/initialpartType,00029/initialR,992344/initialvehicleId,1151704/shopping/selectZip.htm



http://www.e-webcatalog.com/wells/Par ... o=F121;000100&Manuf_No=NA

That's what I suspected. Thanks CC. It's getting hard to keep up with who makes what, and who sells that what.

Joel

Wells has had a crappy rep for a number of years. It explains a lot.

I can give you another bit of info that will scare hell out of you. When a parts house decides to switch suppliers the new supplier comes in with all new EMPTY boxes and proceeds to transfer the stores stock into their boxes. Of course this does not apply to all the parts because of the different types of packaging but when it comes to boxes, if the part is not specifically branded then it's anybody's guess who made them. I saw this first hand while working in a parts store.

for some reason, I doubt they do this at the store level in an autozone... most of their staff isn't smart enough to pull that off without screwing it up.

Well, they do screw it up.

And you go home with a correctly numbered box with a part inside that doesn't fit, spend 2 hours taking the car apart and scratching your head, 45 minutes back to the parts store to argue with the clerk, and another 4 days for the correct part to be ordered.

Quote:
No doubt about the not smart enough part. I once worked for a supplier to Auto Zone. The returns we got were hilarious, sometimes. With one return we got a case of bathroom freshener spray.

Midnight 85 is absolutely correct. But when the old parts are re boxed into the new suppliers boxes, it is usually the new company and/or mfg reps that do the work.

RACE ON!!!