Ok, pay attention to this review, because it has way more with the way company operates than the people in Fairfield.
I would like to say that the SA I worked with, Julio, was excellent. Very polite, helpful, friendly - everything you'd want in a person doing that job and it's unfortunate that I need to write a negative review despite having a good experience with him. My primary issue is with the technical team.
I have a Gen III Prius that has been experiencing significant rhythmic driving noise (like a helicopter). It didn't seem engine-related and I walked in suspecting the tires and poor alignment or the wheel bearings (WBs) are going (150k on the original set!)
I bring it in and the guys fit me in. I'm a teacher, so I just sat in the waiting area and did some grading for the three hours it took to review the car. The SA knew that it could be either a tire problem or a WB issue - the technicians would confirm the cause during their inspection process (part of each visit). While my tires aren't brand new - they weren't bad either. It would make sense to examine the WBs first as you'd have to remove the wheel to change the tires and it could easily be checked simply by rocking it back and forth once lifted to check for play.
That did not happen They installed the tires and once the work is done and can't be reverted, they hand me a recommendation to replace the front WBs -- for $900. The cost for the new set of tires, alignment, oil change and wiper replacement I had done was $750.
Personally, I feel like the technicians should have been able to assess the cause of the noise before indicating it was the tires. The way this plays is that it feels like they sold me tires first, knowing that I couldn't undo it and then hit me with this to push my bill further.
I declined to book an appointment for the WBs as I wanted to do more research. I did and came across another huge problem: the Duralast hubs that they quoted at $199 EACH retail locally for LESS THAN $90. What's worse is that they have terrible reviews referencing lots of failures, low quality, etc. $100+ markup on each plus an absolutely absurd amount of labor (double what would be required, according to another mechanic I consulted) is insulting to my intelligence as a consumer.
I called another Firestone to inquire about the markup and they were seemingly caught off guard by my question but offered to upgrade me to a better brand (Moog) for the same pricing. Reasonable, but this doesn't address the underlying issue.
Here's my problem, simplified:
1. I came in with a problem, either tires or bearings.
2. While they were checking my car, they neglected to identify the WB issue or knew about it and sold me tires anyway knowing that bearings are a must-do.
3. If I were notified about the WBs, I could have made a better decision and greenlit that repair first (for a similar cost) since my tires while worn, were nowhere near at-risk for failure.
In that way, I'm feeling extorted. My issue was manipulated, I was sold something I didn't immediately need and then was quoted an inflated job, using sub-quality parts at an extreme markup on parts and labor.
The technician was polite, the SA was awesome - but something isn't right in terms of how Firestone structures repairs so that they are more extensive -- and expensive.
***AND***
The final insult was that when I went to an independent mechanic to have the fronts changed out - they tell me the back ones needed replacing too as just changing the fronts won't solve the interior noise issue. They could not figure out how Firestone missed that additional repair since they had all the wheels off - and supposedly performed an inspection.
What I hope somebody does when they read this, is reach out to me directly. I'll also be sending a copy to the social media team for the company. I think it's unconscionable to take advantage of somebody's lack of knowledge like this - it definitely makes me rethink Firestone and the card I have with them going forward. I have more work to do (rear bearings) I have credit with them I could use but not if it's just going to be another inflated experience. read more