“We had the same part a few weeks ago.”
An AutoZone employee opened a box of Duralast parts and found something that wasn’t supposed to be there. The discovery has left many wondering about where auto parts actually come from.
The post by TikToker its_rafa (@_rhr.21_) has drawn over 57,600 views before it was deleted. The clip shows him unboxing what commenters identified as a Ford starter solenoid from a Duralast box, only to reveal a part with NAPA Auto Parts branding inside.
There’s no dialogue in the video, just a laugh track underscoring the reveal. His caption says it all: “So like NAPA and AutoZone got some explaining to do.”
Its_rafa, who posts regularly about his job at AutoZone and other life events, was not surprised by the discovery. He weighed in on the comments to explain what he sees on the front lines.
“Every part comes from the same 3 distributors and they all just put different tags and they come by the same [expletive] we all the damn same we just sell it with different pricing and for gross margins,” he wrote.
When some commenters suggested the NAPA part might have gotten into the box through a customer return that wasn’t properly checked, its_rafa pushed back. “No, we actually checked and it came like that in multiple stores,” he wrote. In a follow-up, he added, “It’s actually a recall for many stores in the region.”
Fellow AutoZone employee Charlie Wallace backed him up, writing, “I work at 6398 and we had the same part a few weeks ago.”
The accidental cross-branding may look like a scandal, but it’s really a glimpse at how the aftermarket auto parts industry works. The fact is that the major retail chains—including AutoZone, NAPA, O’Reilly, and Advance Auto Parts—don’t manufacture anything. Instead, they buy from a relatively small pool of manufacturers who supply all of them under different labels.
One player in this arrangement is Standard Motor Products (SMP), a New York-headquartered company that has been manufacturing auto parts since 1919. SMP makes parts sold under its own brand names, including Echlin, which is sold exclusively through NAPA. But SMP also supplies parts that AutoZone and O’Reilly sell under their own house brands.
According to SMP’s most recent annual Securities Exchange Commission filing, the company’s three largest customers account for roughly 61% of its total revenue. O’Reilly alone represents about 28% of SMP’s sales, followed by AutoZone at nearly 19% and NAPA at about 14%. In other words, the same manufacturer is making parts for three of the biggest chains in the business.
When a manufacturer runs parts for multiple retailers on the same production line, labeling mix-ups may be inevitable.
The comments section turned into a crash course in auto supply chains. Commenters, many of them current or former parts store employees, confirmed what its_rafa was saying.
“Used to get boxes with NAPA stickers over Duralast on our drop shipments. SMP does most jobber’s ignition parts,” wrote Nick Rivera.
LincolnOnVogues put it simply, writing, “In reality we are just resellers.” Its_rafa replied, “That is true.”
Patrick wrote, “They’re literally all the same part, made by Standard Motor Products.”
The cross-pollination isn’t limited to AutoZone and NAPA. Dustin wrote, “When I was at Advance Auto, we got a Duralast control arm on a truck delivery.” GreenShirtGuy, who works at what he called “the green store” (O’Reilly’s branding color), wrote, “We get Duralast boxes every so often. Same factories just different boxes for some things.”
Tommy Sargent, who said he works at O’Reilly, confirmed the pattern from the other side: “I’ve had a NAPA part come out of an O’Reilly box, a.k.a. Standard Ignition.”
If the parts are the same, why choose one store over another?
The answer, according to commenter Cole Meyer, is mostly service and warranty. “Some stores do have exclusive lines and people seem to forget there is different tiers of products,” Meyer wrote. “Most the time there will be a low cost economy line, mid range daily driver line, and then a high quality premium line.”
Davidcotter18 made a similar point on batteries, writing, “Most common thing used to be batteries from Johnson Controls. Accounted for 75%+ of all automotive batteries. Your $130 850CCA Walmart battery is identical to a $160 850CCA Napa battery, just different warranty.”
So while the part inside the box is often the same no matter where you buy it, the difference is in the warranty, the price, and which store is closest to your driveway.
Motor1 reached out to its_rafa via TikTok direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.
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