Mace1647545504 Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 I have finally convinced my wife this place is horrible, but they had to almost kill me before she believed it. I had gone there for years for oil changes bought some tires,let them do some other minor things but that's it. For instance , took my olds there (3800) and when I bought it had the upper and lower intakes done that day, they were fine but I'm anal that way. So i take it there for an oil change, I get a cll that says it needed the gaskets replaced. I asked how they knew that, and was told "you needed a trained eye" to which I replied I have a pretty good eye and know how to diagnose that very problem. They insisted the gaskets needed done then I dropped the bomb on them, they were done just a few thousand miles ago then silence. They then said " well with the miles it was recommended" There are several more times which I won't go into. Anyway, we will fast forward to the present. I had them rotate the tires , so after less that 1000 miles I hear a bang bsng on deceleration. Felt like the drive shaft was banging on the frame, so I assumed a u-joint was going bad. I have it towed to my mechanic and get a phone call a few hours later that when he raised the vehicle the left tire almost fell off. This is the last straw, had I driven it the wheel would have more than likely fell off and then who knows what would have happend. Anyway BEWARE mace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Letting a chain do any work on your car is a terrible mistake in the first place, even just an oil change. They will hire anyone just to keep bodies there, turnover is insanely high. Techs get low hourly wages for flat rate there, and work a minimum of 50 hours with a 35 hour guarantee. Most jobs they use firestone book time which is utter shit and all jobs basically end up paying 0.7 hour. I lasted like 3 months at a Firestone, a fucked up back and shitty workers compensation claim later I told them to go fuck themselves. Tl;dr: I'd rather shit in my hands and clap than set foot in one of those places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Just another example of how you never know what kind of tech you'll get when you take your car somewhere. It doesn't matter where you go for an oil change you are getting the lowest paid, least qualified person in the shop to do your oil change. Sad part is people want experience but for someone like me to do your oil change without the business loosing money the oil change would cost $100. What's worse about aftermarket places like Firestone is that getting decent employees is so hard anyone who thinks they can work on cars can get a job, getting good work at these places is rare. The unfortunate reality is the good techs end up at dealerships where they can make a good living, and when most people go there for their basic maintenance shit still gets fucked up because of the entry level techs. I'm not sure how to fix the issues with the car repair business but it sucks that there are so many rejects calling themselves technicians when they can barely hang parts. Glad to hear that you only got close to having a wheel off, because it sure could've been worse. I really wish a lot of so called "techs" would quit working on cars or take it way more seriously because the effects of your work put the safety of those in that car and the safety of everyone near that car at risk by doing shit work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Yup. Firestone, Midas, Tuffy, all those types of places suck cock. I don't understand how they get any business whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Yup. Firestone, Midas, Tuffy, all those types of places suck cock. I don't understand how they get any business whatsoever. Because people see a coupon for a $50 brake service and oil change then go in to get a stripped out drain plug and chinese filter thrown on while the tech puts grease covered pads onto rotors that look like Ray Charles set up the brake lathe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky31186 Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 I suggest finding a good mechanic at any shop... I worked for midas for 3 years and the people at the new albany store never screwed people over. I was a certified tech for them. So to label a company due to a few idiot mechanics is shitty, There are shitty and really good techs everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Yup. Firestone, Midas, Tuffy, all those types of places suck cock. I don't understand how they get any business whatsoever. I use a valvoline quick change on my work truck because the fleet management requires it. I'd never let them touch anything I own though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benner Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Honestly if you have a Tire Discounters around you give them a try for the service. Some of the stores are good and will do good service and do almost anything. I'm 1 of 2 ASE master techs with our lead tech having 25 years experience in mechanics as a profession. We do almost anything short of engine/trans R&R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Honestly if you have a Tire Discounters around you give them a try for the service. Some of the stores are good and will do good service and do almost anything. I'm 1 of 2 ASE master techs with our lead tech having 25 years experience in mechanics as a profession. We do almost anything short of engine/trans R&R. Really? You're proving my point. I worked at a Tire Discounters many years ago, I thought I was pretty good back then too. I mean I guess I could bolt on wheels without them falling off, or hang parts and do alignments. So you go Master Tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 I suggest finding a good mechanic at any shop... I worked for midas for 3 years and the people at the new albany store never screwed people over. I was a certified tech for them. So to label a company due to a few idiot mechanics is shitty, There are shitty and really good techs everywhere. Well yeah, there are exceptions to every rule. I'm sure all of the aforementioned stores have good techs working at various locations, but I think overall, there are a lot more bad chain stores than good. I know so many people that have been screwed by chain shops because they didn't know any better. Paying $1800 for a catalytic converter replacement because "it's a Pontiac and you can't get parts for them anymore" or paying $800 for pads and rotors because "it's a Honda and foreign cars are more complicated to work on," etc. I've heard so many horror stories of these places doing more harm than good, customers paying outrageous money only for them to fuck it up worse than it already was. Then having them "fix" it again to the point where they need towed to a dealership to be fixed the right way. I've personally used Tuffy and Firestone for stupid shit before and never had a positive experience. Same goes for literally every person I know who has ever used them. I think the bad stores outweigh the good by a huge margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 In 2003, Valvoline Instant Oil Change left my filter loose. Lost half my oil by the time I got home. I've changed the oil myself ever since. In 2007, Tuffy charged me something ridiculous to install a pair of mufflers on my GTP. First the manager argued that my direct fit aftermarket mufflers wouldn't work because he thought I had a single in, dual out from the factory. He put my car up on the lift to "show me I was wrong" only to be proven wrong himself. They installed the mufflers and got them "as straight as they could" which was crooked as fuck. Looked like Stevie Wonder had lined up the tips. I took it to Mad Hatter and they literally fixed them in three minutes. In 2008, got a hole in a heater hose and it pissed coolant all over the place. Shut off the car before it got too hot and coasted into the Eastland Mall parking lot. I pushed it to the Firestone there and had them look at it. They tried to tell me I needed a new heater core because "you can't remove the heater hoses without destroying the core." I called them on their BS and when I said I would have it towed somewhere else, they agreed to replace the hose. Speaking of heater cores, I replaced mine in my truck a couple months back, and didn't feel like flushing the cooling system myself. There's a Tuffy literally half a mile from my house, so against my better judgement I decided to give them a shot. It's just a coolant flush, it couldn't possibly be a problem. Before I even handed him the keys, the manager tried to tell me I needed intake gaskets. LOL, shut the fuck up. Then he tried to tell me my radiator cap wasn't pressurizing the system properly. And at the end of the day, charged me $20 extra because "it took longer than we expected since there was a lot of crap in there." Those are just my experiences. They pale in comparison to some others I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99StockGT Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Unfortunately these sorts of tales can happen anywhere, though they ARE more likely through the high turn-over chain stores. In smaller shops you typically have tighter controls over QA, more hands and eyes paying attention to each job. Chain stores survive on volume so get you in done and out in the minimum time and maximum margin however that often times leaves lesser trained/skilled people doing some of the work which is never looked over by a more trained/skilled tech. On the other side of that token you have smaller shops or "Mom and Pops" that take longer to get the job done and may end up being a bit more expensive than the chain. However the ones that survive and thrive have a higher QA control, so if something happened to be missed by the tech working on it there's at least one more set of eyes/ears that checks it over before it ships. Taking that kind of time just doesn't make good business sense for most chain stores in the "Get them in get them out" mentality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShowHBK Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Scams... all of them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Valvoline is actually a decent company. Faslube and Jiffylube are fucking LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 While were at it, I used Tuffy once for a Brake line job. Talked with the Manager first, then the lead-Mechanic 2nd. They both got the idea I knew my shit and ended up doing a great Job at a great price. No bullshit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bastard Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 My parents took an explorer to Monro once because it was overheating. They wanted to charge them $8000 to replace the motor because there was metal shavings in the coolant. After a water pump, thermostat and a coolant flush it ran great. I have been back to that store since they have been under new management and it was great. It all matters who is running the store and how its run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted November 8, 2016 Report Share Posted November 8, 2016 While were at it, I used Tuffy once for a Brake line job. Talked with the Manager first, then the lead-Mechanic 2nd. They both got the idea I knew my shit and ended up doing a great Job at a great price. No bullshit. For the record Tuffy stores are franchises. Some are run like chain stores, some are run like Mom and Pops shops. It just compounds the fact that you never know what you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted November 8, 2016 Report Share Posted November 8, 2016 Ford does the work I don't have to pay for or I am not capable of doing myself. I do the rest. NTB left the filter loose on my wife's car years ago. Fortunately I caught it within a few miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Gump 9 Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Make America great again!! Jk, I fed up with stores and dealers, that why I learned how to work on my car. It's my therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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