Man Goes To Car Dealership. Then He Catches An AutoZone Worker Making A Delivery: ‘Do I Have To Pay Dealership Prices?'

Most people assume dealerships are getting their parts straight from the manufacturer. Seems like a safe assumption since you’d think they have a direct line to official parts. 

But this TikTok is revealing a shocking truth. Is it as bad as some people are making it seem?

AutoZone Delivers To Dealerships?

In a trending video with more than 30,000 views, content creator @true_story718 shares his take on another trending clip.

In the original video, a man is filming while near a car dealership when he spots an AutoZone worker getting out of his car, receipt and part in hand, headed toward the dealership entrance.

"What the heck am I looking at? AutoZone, what's going on?" the man recording says.

@true_story718, whose commentary plays over the footage, goes, "No way, bro; no way, bro.”

The guy filming asks the AutoZone worker if he's delivering parts to the dealership, and he confirms, adding that they deliver to dealerships regularly. "We deliver to all the dealerships," he adds.

"Am I going to have to pay dealership prices for them?" the man recording asks. The AutoZone worker, clearly just trying to get in and out, gives an honest shrug, "Uh, I don't know.”

"I bet you not many people know that. That's actually pretty crazy, dude. Oh man, that's kind of shady practices to me. I feel like they should be ordering better quality parts,” the guy recording adds.

From there, @true_story718's commentary ranges from stunned to skeptical. He wonders whether customers are actually being told they're receiving OEM parts when they might not be and raises the point that most people have no visibility into what actually goes under the hood during a repair.

"How will we know? We're not there when they're fixing the car, so we don't know what part is being put on the car," he says.

He also brings up a separate claim floating around that AutoZone is planning to close hundreds of stores, though he stops short of confirming it and repeatedly notes the video could be staged. 

"Of course, entertainment purposes only," he adds. "I don't believe none of that. That could have been a skit."

Is AutoZone On The Brink Of Disaster?

Nope. AutoZone is actually in the middle of one of its most aggressive expansion phases in years, TheStreet reported. 

The company is opening roughly 365 stores this fiscal year, up from 305 the year before, and spending nearly $1.6 billion on it. Its most recent quarterly earnings showed total sales up 8.4%, the biggest jump since 2023, and its commercial business, which sells to professional mechanics and repair shops, grew 10.4%. 

The company also opened 14 new "mega hub" locations in the quarter—large-format stores stocking over 100,000 parts—with a target of nearly 300 nationwide. 

OEM VS. Aftermarket 

Whether or not dealerships ordering from AutoZone is inherently shady depends on what kind of parts we're talking about, AutoZone reports.

OEM is short for "original equipment manufacturer" and means parts made by or directly contracted by the company that built your car, designed to match the factory specs exactly. 

Aftermarket parts are made by third-party companies and sold at a range of price points and quality levels. Aftermarket parts can run 20 to 50% cheaper than OEM equivalents, and in categories like brake pads, filters, and exhaust systems, some aftermarket options actually outperform OEM. 

As for whether dealerships are required to use OEM parts, they're not. According to Capital One Auto Navigator, there is no rule obligating a dealer service department to use factory original components. Insurance companies in particular often push for cheaper parts, which can mean aftermarket (or even salvaged) components end up in a repair. 

Commenters React

“Really people this has been going on for the longest time,” a top comment read.

“All auto stores supply parts to [dealership] auto shops,” a person said.

“They get parts from everywhere,” another wrote.

Motor1 reached out to @true_story718 for comment via TikTok direct message and comment, and to AutoZone via email. We'll be sure to update this if they respond.