I just wanted to share some of my brief experience with Firestone Car Centers so that hopefully others can avoid them in the future.. Simply put they rip off the customers on car repairs.. Last night I heard scraping sounds coming from the breaks and the break pedal would shake also. I got pretty worried because I was on the road and there was a Firestone right there..it was past 6 pm (they were opened till 7) so I stopped by.. First I had to pay $9.99 just to check the brakes then the mechanic in charge there began using scare tactics saying that the brakes have to be fixed now, you cant drive like that, bla bla Here is the Firestone estimate...does this look right or is this way too much? 1. Front Brakes - Caliper Set: $339.99 Parts - $ 100 Labor --> $439.99 2. Brake Rotors: 2 x $116.74 = $233.48 3. Adjust and Clean Brakes (2 wheels): $19.99 4. Flush Break System: $17.99 Parts - $42 Labor --> 59.99 Total: $763.44 (before taxes) They didnt even give an option to rebild or simply adjust the calipers. I went to Brake Check today and I fixed the front and the rear brakes for just $204 (total) and they also drained the brake fluild and maintenance on the calipers as well... Conclusion: Firestone rips people off
I agree -- for a time, I went to Firestone to repair my Oldsmobile . . . after the third or fourth time in, I realized that I was literally throwing money away and moved on.
Firstly...I agree about Firestone...while they may have some that are tryin to rip you off...in more cases, it is just incompetence... When I was a working mechanic, I couldnt even begin to tell you how many times we had to fix Firestone mistakes... that said... what ws the diagnosis on how badly the brakes were screwed up? Did you take it down to the metal?...were the rotors deeply grooved/scored? and how old was the vehicle? In most cases where you just need to replace the pads....all you need to do is to replace them with new pads, and resurface the rotors... New calipers should not be required unless they are defective...so...unless that was the case..they were tryin to scalp you on that. Calipers are not adjustable...and very few ppl will still try to rebuild them these days... the rears are a different animal tho...(if drum brakes) you need to replace the shoes and sometimes the connecting hardware needs to be replaced...and of course the drums will often need to be resurfaced also.. Drum brakes will need to be adjusted. Brake system flushes are seldom needed unless you have lots of moisture in the system or the fluid is very old.. Brake Check does a decent job for the most part...I was a assitant manager at one for a short time...and their training system is(used to be) decent...they normally were very conservative in their estimates...they would rather sell you stuff that *might" be necessary in the future (hardware, seals, etc) in order to ensure that it doesnt break later and cause you to come back and make them warrantee their job....but it isnt normally done in malice...it is more to protect their backends. Your best bet is to find a good mechanic somewhere and use him for everything....chain stores are not the best place to get your vehicle worked on since they will either screw it up via incompetence, rip you off intentionally, or oversell to protect themselves....none of which are the best thing for you the consumer.
Oh, believe me, you don't want to get me started on "Just Brakes", they are the biggest f*king crooks in the business
Thats all that needs to be said....im glad they did that 20/20 thing a few years back on them and finally put them out of business here in Houston for the most part.
The car is 99 Honda Accord LX 4 Cylinder.. When Brake Check did the inspection the showed me all 4 breaks and they showed me where the rotors had grooves in the metal so they machined the rotors to fix that... Overall I am happy with Brake Check
My friend had a bad experience with Midas. He's German, so they noticed his accent and told him he needed new rotors, calipers, and brake pads, for his Ford Mustang. All he wanted was for them to fix some squeaking. They charged him like $700! I'm willing to bet they used some cheaper aftermarket parts, and charged him Ford OEM prices. The sad thing was that they never got rid of the squeaking.
Firestone ripped me off in college by misdiagnosing my car multiple times and making me pay for several "repairs" that weren't actually problems. I paid over $1,000 on 3 different trips where they said something different was wrong with the car each time (even though it continued to experience the same symptoms of overheating and shutting down in the middle of a drive, and refusing to start again)... Each time I got it "fixed" it experienced the same problems as I drove away from the Firestone (this one was in Sugarland) I finally sold the car and bought my current car.
Unless you live in a small town (Lubbock) where employees actually care, Firestone basically blows. The one in Austin ripped me off big time.....
My dad took his truck in to Firestone recently because the brakes were making noise, not stopping very well, and the light came on in the dashboard area indicating a problem with the brakes. He got the brake job, still had trouble stopping, and the brake light continued to come on. So he called them up, and the idiots at Firestone said "That brake warning light has nothing to do with the brakes." WTF?? He took it back up there and they eventually fixed it for free, but I couldn't believe they had the nerve to actually say that.
I don't know if this applies to brake lights but I have had problems in the past where the sensors are faulty causing lights to come on when there is actually no problem. They replace the sensor and the problem is fixed. Maybe that is what they meant? I usually take my car to the dealer and they always rip you off. Their big thing is to come back saying you have all these other problems plus your original problem. They also seem to love to replace frayed spark plug wires. Sometimes I wish they would just focus on the problem you bring your car in for rather than look for other problems. If it ain't broke, then it don't need fixing. The last time really got me, though. My a/c compressor went out. So, I brought my car in, got a rental, and paid out my ass to fix this issue via labor/parts costs. Then, I get my car back and the rear a/c doesn't work...only the front. The rear vents blow hot air. So, I tell the service rep., take my car back in(thinking their going to give me a loaner cause they screwed up the repair), and he tells me I'll need to leave my car so they can run their long ass tests except...he won't give me a free loaner or rental car even though they clearly botched the repair. They want me to pay for their mistake. So, I took my car and left. Ford can kiss my ass.
I had some work done at Firestone on Hwy 6 (Bearcreek) last year. The only reason I took it there was so I could borrow my brother's truck while it was there. He lives across the street and has all his work done there. Those buffoons broke my passenger side mirror and tried to ductape it back on thinking I wouldn't notice. Seriously. DUCTAPE!!! Idiots.
