In reply to Trackmouse :
I did have one once. Interestingly enough it was when I was living in Gainesville Florida.
Now i have 3 good ones. But none are cheap.
In reply to Trackmouse :
I did have one once. Interestingly enough it was when I was living in Gainesville Florida.
Now i have 3 good ones. But none are cheap.
Knurled. said:'Tis why I am glad I am not a mechanic. I'm a technician.
Same. Us technicians hate mechanics.
This is probably unrelated to the original drama, but since his drain plug had been leaking I checked the oil & discovered it's full of crud.
It's only 1,000 miles over the sticker on the window, which I expect is 3k from his last oil change. I ran my Accent 5k between changes and I never encountered crud like this.
Any idea what would cause this?
Pete, call my cousin...
In reply to Pete Gossett :
Rust in the dipstick tube.
Large chunks like that are not floating around on top of the oil, if present. They sink to the bottom of the pan and just sort of stay there.
Gross incompetence at best, deliberate negligence or worse. I’d make a crusade to file complaints with every consumer protection agency in your state. Mechanics and the businesses that hire them are usually licensed and those licenses are typically overseen by some state/local agency. It probably wont improve their work, but you can make them squirm a bit. Besides, you’re not the only one they’ve screwed and the more complaints the overseers get, the better the chances are of something useful happening. After you’ve made those complaints, send copies of all of them to corporate. Just for the satisfaction of a fight well fought.
I learned my lesson with Firestone 40 years ago. I use them now only for tires on our company vehicles because of their convenience. I believe they have “had” to replace three tires that could not be patched.
Pete, that weren't no mechanic....
In reply to Knurled. :
Good, that's reassuring. I told him to get it changed asap anyway.
In reply to Sanchinguy :
I like that plan...
Firestone lost my business years ago when they told me my brake fluid was “very dirty.” I had fully flushed it a week prior and it was pristine.
You can call and raise hell, but at the end of the day, Firestone doesn't care if they piss you off. You aren't the customer type they want.
Their entire business model is built around a customer base that knows nothing about cars and can be told what to do and will do it, costs be damned, because of "safety". For every one of you they piss off, there are literally 100s of others that will shut up, pay the bill, and thank them for the berkeleying they got.
I don't know, did they actually do any work since you said you declined their price twice?
Perhaps the loose bolts were the source of the noise to begin with?
I have used the Firestone near me a few times for tire related stuff and they have been pretty good. They have even pulled old tires off some wheels for free for me before. So not all Firestones are bad.
It isn't just firestone, I went to look at my wife's cousins journey yesterday. 6 months ago she paid 1800 to the local gm dealer to do tires, new inner and outer tie rods and an alignment. It needs new outer's again because they never put boots on them.
In reply to Pete Gossett :
Long Hair Rick's in Ocean Springs - seriously. Only guy in the area I would trust - he worked on my Suburban and the F250 I used to have, as well as the Mustang. Good dude, and really reasonable.
why are people still using firestone and national chains, when small indy shops are available and usually better.
Go here for reviews.... https://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files Never steered me wrong.
To me, Firestone is synonymous with scams, rip offs and hucksters. I will NEVER take any car to a Firestone store ever. If I am in an ambulance on my way to the hospital and they need to stop at Firestone to fix something to get me there and save my life, I will still refuse. Firestone is the worst of all the national chains, and that is saying something because I have never found a national chain worth a crap.
z31maniac said:I don't know, did they actually do any work since you said you declined their price twice?
Perhaps the loose bolts were the source of the noise to begin with?
It was pretty clearly stated in the post that they were to replace the timing belt. The work he declined twice was a proper screw job of overcharging for a serpentine belt.
Wooow. Indy shops or your own garage only from now on!
I tried dealing with a Merchants for a basic alignment on my E46 M3. Like, literally just make the wheels all point straight. I don't even know why I went to them in the first place, because I usually don't trust chain shops like that. Anyway, the first Merchants said my car (at stock ride height) was too low to get on the rack, but the other Merchants up the road could do it. Went there, "oh we don't align BMWs because they're impossible to get right." Oooookay, it's literally a few bolts and they're not made of unicorn tears or anything.
Found a great indy place near my office and they were like "oh, E46? bring it in!" while telling me about the Bentleys and Rolls Royces they've worked on for a small-time luxo dealer nearby. They are my people now.
Toyman01 said:You can call and raise hell, but at the end of the day, Firestone doesn't care if they piss you off. You aren't the customer type they want.
Their entire business model is built around a customer base that knows nothing about cars and can be told what to do and will do it, costs be damned, because of "safety". For every one of you they piss off, there are literally 100s of others that will shut up, pay the bill, and thank them for the berkeleying they got.
I know this to be 100% true, one of SWMBO's coworkers takes her car to the Firestone on base for everything - including charging her $70 to change the fog light bulb - which she happily paid.
In reply to FIYAPOWA :
Awesome - thank you! I'll definitely call Rick next time I need to pass off a job to someone else.
In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :
In my case, because I'd not found anyone who could recommend a decent shop, Firestone is close & has great hours, and I've used them for mounting tires before so I was at least somewhat familiar with them.
After a bit of research I discovered Firestone stores are apparently franchise, not corporate owned. So I called & talked to the local manager & sent him pics. Not sure what, if anything(doubtful) will come of it, but he might just be my first of many calls.
So, you know you had a timing belt changed at a tire store, right? Don't do that. If I need laser surgery on my eyes, I don't go to Costco and ask the girl that fits glasses.
Also- Choose two of these: Good, Fast, Cheap. You don't get all three.
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