March 1995 Toyota Tercel, 118,000 original miles. There was nothing wrong with the brakes—I just felt they were due to be checked/replaced— new rotors and pads. All was good when I left the shop— until a couple of months later when I lost my brakes going down a hill, went up the next one, and pulled over to find my LEFT brake locked down against the rotor, smoking, and smelling like burned rubber. After it cooled off it seemed fine and I continued down the road. It was a one time incident, but I noted an intermittent squeak and a slight scraping noise, though I couldn't pinpoint the location—I just got new brakes, it couldn't be coming from there.
In May I decided maybe it was 'coming from there', and I returned to the shop to be told I needed a $68 brake hose, and a $68 caliper. *[The temporary 'fill-in manager' on July 25 reports there is no record of me being sold a caliper. I informed him it shows up on my original receipt as 'no charge'. There is also 'no charge' for labor that day. Why IS that? ]
Around August I noticed my RIGHT front brake intermittently grinding, and then releasing. I returned to the shop. *[The temporary 'fill-in manager on July 25 reports there is NO record of this visit. I do remember that day everything was FREE of charge, and I didn't get a receipt. Why IS that? ] I was told that day that it is normal on 'older' cars to have bits of rust drop from above, and get stuck between the rotor and brake pad. The car was put on a lift, and silicone lubricant was sprayed between them. I test drove it slowly around the parking lot, came back to report that I could still hear a slight scraping noise, and was told that was all they could do for it—it was something I'd 'just have to put up with'—stuff happens with OLD cars.
With that information, every time my brakes locked up I paid $5 to go through the auto-wash/with underside spray to get rid of whatever was between the rotor and brake. I continued to put up with the 'normal' slight scraping noise. When it got more than slightly irritating I would stop at a shop and inquire about it. I was always asked why I took my car to Meineke in the first place. Their commercials say they're the BEST! That's why: (
On July 24 in the middle of nowhere, 60 miles from home—no services, motel, no phone; the right brake locked and would not release. There was a deep gouge on the edge of the rotor that was not there when I checked my tire pressure on the 23rd—that day I'd bought $100 worth of tune-up parts, installed them, and had a car that ran like a top.] My tire had turned brown from the dust coming off the rotor. I drove home at approximately 20 mph; leaving my location at 7pm, I arrived at 2am, stopping 15 minutes every few miles to let the wheel cool off.
*Phone call to 'temporary fill-in' manager at 10:30am on the 25th: "If I'd damaged the rotor it was NO longer a warranty situation. It has been a year, and my car has over 70,000 miles, it's natural that something could go bad. There is NO record of my car being here to have lubricant sprayed between the rotor and brake. It is a he said/she said situation (translation: you can't prove a thing). YOU SAY they replaced the left front caliper, it sounds like the right front caliper has gone bad." *At the beginning of the call he claimed to have no record of the left caliper being replaced, even though I have the receipt right in front of me. It was only at the end of the call where he admits that it is on the computer, but he has no idea why it was FREE.*
I replied, "If I brought it back and they replaced the left front caliper free, they knew they messed up the first time. Why wasn't the right front caliper checked? When I came back with my 'naturally occurring scraping noise' why wasn't it checked then?"
After this lengthy, condenscending conversation the 'temporary fill-in manager' admits, "If it'd been me? The first time you came in I would have checked the calipers when I did the brakes. You have two choices: bring the car in today, and pay for what YOU did to it (if we can resurface the rotor we will), or wait until Corporate opens on Monday and take it up with them."
*Your Meineke warranty can be voided by incompetent employees not doing their job in the first place—LIFETIME means absolutely NOTHING.
*Get a second opinion! After telling several mechanics the farcical 'rust dropping between' story I recognized the COP OUT of someone who wouldn't admit they should have changed the right front caliper in the first (or third) place.
*When you call them they will obfuscate for as long as possible—keep you confused, deny responsibility, create a new problem that wasn't related to the original one, as long as it is not going to come out of THEIR pocket. And my personal favorite?"I'm from the regional office. I'm just here filling in for a week." Regular manager? The manager has only worked here for three months. NO, I have no idea who the manager was in July." So they change managers more than most people change %, and they don't have a computer to pull up the manager from ONE year ago? I didn't ask for an eight generation genealogy report.
*The mechanics I talked to during the past year REFUSED to check/fix the brakes BECAUSE OF the lifetime warranty. I was always told I had to take it back to Meineke. Why would I do that? If I wanted silicone lubricant; I would go to the store and get my own can.
*If something is FREE of charge it doesn't necessarily mean you ran across a super nice guy. Get a RECEIPT of what was done, even if they claim they can't do it in the computer—handwritten, signed and dated!
*BLAME THE CAR—a 1995 Toyota with 118,000 miles is OLD, even though they will run until the body falls off if you take care of them properly.
Off to Meineke... Update later.
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