I've been asked to expound upon my experiences and knowledge of Pep Boys by the site owner, so here goes... (Please keep in mind that I'm only repeating what I've been told)
I seem to have really bad luck with cars. Alternators go out, radiators spring irrepairable leaks, water pumps stop pumping, master cylinders die... You name it, it's happened to at least one car I've owned. Of course the flip side to that is the fact that I've had incredible luck with mechanics. I've only been overcharged once and that was in an emergency situation. Otherwise I've been very fortunate to have mechanics who not only treat me like a knowledgable member of society but also take the time to explain exactly what's wrong and what needs to be done to fix it.
I've had 3 mechanics in my life and several friends who work as shadetree mechanics on the weekends that I've used repeatedly. Many times to save money I'll go looking for the part myself and usually find it. All of these people have warned me repeatedly against buying Pep Boys parts. I've heard them called anything from 'pieces of shit' to 'worthless junk made by kids in a Tiawanese sweatshop'. The way it was explained to me is that Pep Boys uses the cheapest materials available to manufacture their parts and then to top it off they use the cheapest labor available to put them together. The end result, I've been told, are parts that might last a few months at most and if you're lucky you'll need a replacement, if you're unlucky you'll end up with a huge repair bill.
Before I was made aware of Pep Boys' reputation among honorable mechanics I took a car there once to have the alternator replaced. I got there when they opened. I was told it would probably take 2 hours, so I waved good-bye to my ride and settled down in the waiting room confident I'd make it to work on time.
Five hours later my car still hasn't been moved into the bay and I go up to complain and ask when this is going to be done since I'm missing valuable time at work that I won't be compensated for. I'm told by a very apathetic, mumbling employee that they just 'got real busy' and that I'd just have to wait.
They closed at nine and that's when I finally got out of there with my car.
No apologies, nothing. I was just presented the bill and sent on my way.
That alternator lasted 4 months and even though it was under warranty I was told that it was my electrical system that caused the alternator to go bad and that I was just SOL and 100.00.
I took the car to a REAL mechanic who told me that my electrical system is fine and that it's the alternator that's bad, not my system. He replaced it with an alternator that actually was less than the one I'd gotten at Pep Boys and 5 years later when I sold the car the thing was still working.
This is where my education about Pep Boys began and it's been the same tune over and over again. I see by this site that it's the same everywhere.
So take it from me and several mechanics... Pep Boys' parts are junk and the mechanics there are generally idiots just waiting to clock out for the day. They don't care if your car is fixed right or not, why should they? They don't have to listen to you complain and they'll get paid either way.
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