I wish I could say I had a fantastic experience at this Firestone, but it was very disappointing.
Everyone I spoke with at this location was very friendly. The offices and waiting room were very clean and neat. But that's where the positive experience ends.
I took my car in after I had driven it across the country. I could feel that I needed brakes, but I also wanted to have it looked over to make sure the rest of the car was in good shape after the trip.
I called and made an appointment and said that I thought I needed brakes and wanted to get my oil changed and tires rotated. I didn't mention the miles I'd just put on the car because I wanted to wait and see what they told me. I was an easy target: I had out of state plates, an out of state phone number, and had said that I might wait on the car while they did the work. I'm sure they thought I was brand new to town and knew no one, none of which is true. Plus I'm a chick. Everyone tries to take advantage of me when it comes to cars.
Once they had changed the oil, rotated the tires, and examined the car, they called me over to the desk to tell me everything I needed to have done to the car. They told me I had 50% of my brakes left, which was odd for so many reasons: the car has 60,000 miles on it and the brakes have never been replaced; before I left on my trip the shop I've taken six cars to over ten years told me I had 30% left (I trust them implicitly); I could feel that they were worn and needed replacing. The strangest part, though, was that they told me I had 50% of the pads left and still needed to replace the pads *and* rotors. I'm still trying to figure that one out, all these weeks later.
I also want to note that I asked them to put nitrogen back in my tires after they rotated them and they didn't. When I asked about it I was told they could do it for $30. The nitrogen that goes into tires is 80% air sooo... no thanks?
Then the gentleman handed me a three page list of things I needed to have done, including:
--Replacing all shocks
--Replacing the oil pan (told me this after they had already changed the oil)
--An alignment
--A new battery
--Brake pads
--Rotors
--A brake fluid flush (because that doesn't come with new brakes...)
All of this totaled well over $1,000 and I was very skeptical about what they were telling me, so I told them I'd wait. I left and promptly called a friend's husband who isn't a mechanic but does all of the work on all of their cars. He took a look at my car and said he didn't think it needed anything except brake pads. But that I was definitely below 50% of my brake pads. A few weeks later I made an appointment with a dealership. When I called them, all I said was that I driven my car across the country and wanted to have it inspected. They said my brakes were almost completely gone, that I was almost metal on metal. I'm not sure what that translates to as a percentage, but I feel pretty confident it's below 50%. They said that my shocks were fine, my battery was like new, there was absolutely no need for an alignment. They replaced my brakes for less than half the cost Firestone was going to charge me for the brake pads (and that included brake fluid) and they did it in about the same amount of time it took Firestone to change my oil and rotate my tires.
I went to Firestone because of brand name recognition and because I hadn't developed a relationship with a dealer or mechanic here yet. I'll never go to another Firestone after this experience. I will never, ever trust a single thing Firestone says about my car. I don't recommend this shop at all (on the plus side, I now have a dealer I trust). read more
