On June 29th, I scheduled my 2004 Honda Element with 250,000 miles on it for a Wheel Alignment. This vehicle has been aligned by Firestone's across the country every 10,000 miles since 90,000 miles. After waiting for over 2 hours for the vehicle to be completed, I was told that they had broke the essentric bolt that would adjust the rear toe for the alignment. Since the store manager Joseph was not in at the time, a call was made to the district manager, who denied me being reimbursed for a rental car. I called corporate, and left to purchase a rental car with my own funds. After writing this original review, I was contacted and told they would reimburse for my rental car. The next two and a half weeks are detailed below:
June 29- Drop Off for Wheel ALignment, Bolt Broken. I was told that the bolt is no longer available to be ordered and is "In development" I was forced to order a used bolt off of ebay and pay for additional shipping to get it rushed to me, as I was without my vehicle.
July 2- I deliver the bolt personally to Firestone
July 3- I call for a status update. Firestone Mechanic claims the broken bolt is seized and unable to be removed. We agree that they cannot use heat to remove the bolt, as that would damage the rubber bushing.
July 5- After I do further research, I find out they can replace the bushing only without replacing the whole control arm. I call in to the Firestone Mechanic and tell them they have permission to use heat to remove the bolt, which will damange the bushing but it can be replaced. Also, the bushing is not part of the control arm at all, it is part of the spindle. I had to find this out based on my own research, the Firestone Mechanic did not know this.
July 6- I call for a status update, Part has not been ordered. Firestone says they don't know where to order it from. I let them know that I already contacted the dealer, and they have it in stock.
July 7- I call for a status update, I'm told that they didn't know they had to pay cash with the dealer, and someone from the store will need to go pick it up
July 8- I call for a status update, I'm told they ordered the wrong part and will need to order a different one.
July 13- I go in person to the store and nothing has changed. I'm told "we don't have anyone to go get a new part" and I'm shown the wrong part that they ordered. I'm also shown my vehicle, and the wheel hub is hanging by a thread only by the hydraulic brake line. Most likely this is the cause of the ABS issues mentioned later. I've included a photo of this for reference.
July 13- I go to the dealer myself and order the part
July 14- Bushing arrives at the dealer, and I have to go pick it up and deliver it personally to the Firestone store. I'm told "no, that's a control arm bushing" when I drop it off, even though it is in fact both spindle bushings, as they still did not know which I needed to order. I ask when this will be done, as its already been two weeks without my car. I'm told "well we are really booked up, so probably not for a few more days at least"
July 15- I call for a status update, manager Joseph tells me the bushing has been replaced, and the car will be ready by the end of the day today.
July 15- I'm told the car is ready for pickup. When I arrive, the manager Joseph tells me I should have warned them that the vehicle had rust on it, and that no matter what future mechanical issues there are, they will no longer be servicing my car.
Upon taking a test drive in my car, I noticed that the ABS light is now on. It was not on when I dropped it off. I brought this up to the manager Joseph, and he refused to even look at the car anymore.
All in all, I am completely baffled that this situation even had to happen. I would expect anyone with eyes to be able to identify rust on a vehicle that is 17 years old and has 250,000 miles on it. I would have expected the mechanic working on the alignment to tell me "this bolt is rusted solid, so we will not be able to adjust the toe on the rear tires to spec." I would have left and gone on with my day, happily driving away in my vehicle. Instead, I was faced with a two-week-long fiasco wherein I had to spend $1000+ of my personal funds on rental cars and parts (which was eventually reimbursed) as well as a significant amount of my time running to play parts boy and calling around to do research that I would have expected these professionals to know. Throughout this whole experience, I was never contacted once regarding a status update on my vehicle. This was a daily hassle that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.
As I stated at the outset, I brought this vehicle in for a wheel alignment. I was not given any wheel alignment report or receipt on what was completed, so I'm not sure the original alignment ever took place. I have been a loyal Firestone customer for many years, but that will be ending today. read more