Other than $140/hour for labor which is the same as the volvo dealership, my biggest gripe is that they will try and sell you services you don't need. Before you go in there, please be aware, the guy you are talking to behind the counter makes a commission off anything he sells you.
The first time I went there I had an issue that, to be fair, was amazingly difficult to diagnose, their guys could not find the problem. My 80 y/o neighbor is the one who figured it out. He told me what to replace, I ordered the part and took it to the Calexico Pep Boys to fix it. they said it would be $350 for labor to install the part. I asked my neighbor if that was reasonable, he threw a fit saying it was not reasonable and to bring it to him. It took him 5 minutes to unscrew the old part, slide it out, and replace it with the new part. MAYBE 10 minutes. That is what they were going to charge me $350 for. They said they would have to break the engine down to get to the part, that was nonsense. An utter lie.
2nd time... I needed tires. I wasn't planning to return to Pep Boys, but I needed the two tires ASAP, a friend was borrowing my car to go to San Diego. I had no time to order anything. Pep Boys website said they had my tires in stock. I went there and their website was incorrect, they do not have my tires in stock but I could get them the next morning. Fine, I had no alternatives. I should have looked harder or, just waited.
I am older, I drive very little. I don't need $300/each tires. The sun does more damage than my driving thus, I wanted inexpensive tires. I don't need to replace them due to tread wear, but instead sun damage. When I originally asked if the website was correct and they have the tires in stock the guy laughed at me telling me they don't keep cheap tires in stock. I asked which tire would fit my car where it IS in stock. They don't have those in stock either.
Then he tried to tell me I have a problem with my radiator. He asked... "Don't you smell that sweet smell coming from your engine? It's radiator fluid. By this time I was beyond annoyed and told him no, I don't smell any such thing and neither does he! I told him to knock it off, I'm not having them do any car repairs. He laughed again and said, "Okay okay." When he realized I wasn't going to tolerate more of this nonsense, he stopped.
Pep Boys protects its upper mgmt from customers. I called asking for the name and contact information of the area mgr and was told they don't give out that information. But I could write to the generic email address they have and he would get it and contact me. And he did, his name was Chris. I explained that all my car engine lights are on, telling me there is a problem with the tires since they replaced 2 of them. He offered no solutions, just an amazement that there was such an issue.
Never again, Pep Boys, you guys suck! read more