I had a litle time to kill this morning before an appointment I had, so I want to Auto Zone to get DEF to carry in the truck. As I figured I got a blank look. They sales person went to the shelf with all the additives on it and stared at it with a bigger blank look. He then asked what it was I wanted again. He goes to the computer and can't find anything about it. I told him that I knew Auto Zone had it. He then said if I got him a part number he could order it.

I still had some time to kill so I went down the street to Advance Auto. Told the girl what I wanted, she in turn went and asked another girl about it. That girl came out and said yes we have it. She said they got it in last week but no one knew what it was for. So I gave her a quick DEF lesson, she thanked me and I walked out with a gallon of DEF in my hand. $7.99 a gallon.

I then went back to Auto Zone and walked in and showed them that there really was such a thing and Advanced Auto had it. This time I had the same guy and another sales person with a blank look.

Its terrible the help these places get, the worst is they are not even willing to try. Neither of the Auto Zone guys would last a day working for me.

Greg

I had a litle time to kill this morning before an appointment I had, so I want to Auto Zone to get DEF to carry in the truck. As I figured I got a blank look. They sales person went to the shelf with all the additives on it and stared at it with a bigger blank look. He then asked what it was I wanted again. He goes to the computer and can't find anything about it. I told him that I knew Auto Zone had it. He then said if I got him a part number he could order it.

I still had some time to kill so I went down the street to Advance Auto. Told the girl what I wanted, she in turn went and asked another girl about it. That girl came out and said yes we have it. She said they got it in last week but no one knew what it was for. So I gave her a quick DEF lesson, she thanked me and I walked out with a gallon of DEF in my hand. $7.99 a gallon.

I then went back to Auto Zone and walked in and showed them that there really was such a thing and Advanced Auto had it. This time I had the same guy and another sales person with a blank look.

Its terrible the help these places get, the worst is they are not even willing to try. Neither of the Auto Zone guys would last a day working for me.

Greg

Imagine the looks i got in early July...... I ended up calling my local Napa Store..... long time employees who have been around.... 1st guy thought i was prank calling him....until someone over heard and confirmed it.... I told him to check his website as it shows 2.5 gal and 1 gal containers......

Long story short i can call them in the afternoon and have it 1st thing the next morning :)

Met up with the same blank stares at local auto parts stores in Kelowna, BC. Most wouldn't believe that such a thing existed until I showed them the Owners Manual. After I finally found some at a reasonable price at the local Hino dealership I did the same as LanuytG and took it back to show the folks at the other places.

Moved to Maintenance & Fluids.

It's just a paycheck for them anymore. All they have to do is choose the options that we tell them on the computer and find the part on the shelf. If they happen to know the function of said part...then they just might be management material.:rolleyes:

This reminds me of the topic of DEX VI when it first came out. I had the same experiences when seeking DEX VI at the auto parts stores, and even my local GM dealer about 3 year ago! The "stealership" tried to see me some old bottles of DEX III and told me it was "basically the same stuff". I spent the next couple minutes explaining the physical property differences and marketing issues between DEX III and DEX VI. Even after all that, I got the "yeah, whatever" look from them. Then, I gave them a very detailed lesson on how they were idiots and why most people don't trust dealerships.

New technologies do NOT hit all markets at the same time, and the auto industry is no exception.

A year from now DEF will be everywhere. Until then, you'll get some blank stares occasionally, and probably a lot of mis-information.