For a 5000 dollar worth 1998 Honda Civic with 60000 miles on, you would not pay 1500 dollars for 1) Timing belt and water pump replacement, and 2) two CV axles (with boots) replacement for clicking sounds on turns.
I sadly have to say it was my mistake to choose such an expensive and over rated shop to take my old car to where I could have searched for an honest group of mechanics or family owned garages.
I will first list the positive things about Firestone Auto. The staff at most of the places is quite friendly and courteous. I really do not have anything against the actual people I interacted with. After all, they are doing their job. The kind of job they do at the end of the day is also impressive and I have not experienced the same problem reoccur. So yes, they do have a few good auto technicians with them.
Now comes the negative part.in a nut shell - I think they rip you off. They are a true corporate world. I would like to list things that started at 45000 miles when I purchased this car and I was pretty inexperienced about automobiles. I must admit that the initial check right before I purchased my car was done by a nice mechanic and he explained to me the different things that might need attention in a good way.
A) I had a tire go bad. I checked with a mechanic and he told me to get it replaced. Obviously to take another opinion, I went to these tire guys and they said I need two more and just because I can't replace 3, make that a whole rack. I asked them the reason. They said the other tires have cracks on their edges and are not good tires. They also charged me for unnecessary rotation and alignment and stuck me a nice 600 dollar bill for Turanza Tires with rotation and alignment. I did get a good set of tires, but it could have been held off for another 6-8 months without any issue. I paid them 600
B) I believe because of some ice hits, the exhaust pipe fell off. They stuck me a 600 dollars (their favorite number) bill for mufflers, catalytic converter, and labor where this thing usually costs about 300 dollars. This was the first necessary repairs though because it had stalled my car. I paid them 600.
C) At 60000 service mark, they said that most of the things have been done (a pleasant surprise) because they had done it at the time of 50 or 55 thousand mile mark itself:) e.G. Transmission fluid flushes etc. Etc. They said the timing belt with the water pump (same labor avoidance) should be replaced and I don't disagree. But even if the car is 10 years old with 60k miles on it, I would still wait for about 10k miles more and not more than that. Honda Manual says if the car isn't driven in extreme weather, 90k is still good. So 70k should be more than fine. But one can never know. I said I am OK with replacing the timing belt and water pump. They again gave me a 600 dollars quote total where this should not cost a penny more than 300 dollars. I did not pay them anything and walked out.
D) Now comes the best part. I went their for an oil change, and since my state inspection sticker was about to expire, I told them to get that done too. They inspected the vehicle and told me that they would put a rejection sticker on it because the CV boot and axles are bad and need to be replaced. The car indeed did give me a clicking sound upon taking U turns but was intermittent. I believe them because I now have 2 more opinions. But no other mechanic in MA told me that my inspection would fail because of it. I was fortunate because the sticker had another 1 month to expire so they did not get a chance to take the actual test and put me into the system with a reject. Now comes the best part. They stuck me a 1200 dollar bill to replace CV axles, boots with lubricant, and labor. Another good mechanic was surprised when I told him about this. He thoroughly checked the car and said this car would pass inspection despite the issue with CV boots because it is not that severe. However he told me that eventually this will have to be replaced and he gave me a 300 dollars quote.
I have already paid them twice the standards for the work done. Had I paid them the other quotes, you would not be reading this!:)
I urge people to do-it-yourself. If you buy a second hand car, it isn't even worth the money you put on it. If not, find a good local mechanic and let us stop this corporate bull sxxx.
Billionaiire
Randolph, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
0 comments