I made a mistake and went to Firestone for an oil change and tire rotation. I usually use the dealership I have used for 20 years. An hour into the service, I get a call that my car needed an alignment and was pulling badly. This was simply not true, as I had driven it 180 miles two days prior with no issues, and I had an alignment done with a brake job last month, so I said hell no. When I went to pick up the car, jackass "mechanic" had apparently drained my oil over his hands, then entered the car. Dirty oil was on the door handle, door frame, top of the door, steering wheel, and radio controls. I bitched and they cleaned everything up. The next day, I noticed the glove box was sprung on one side and part of a heel print was on it on the inside. I managed to straighten the issue with a pair of duck bill pliers.

I did a "customer service" survey which assured me I would have a response in 2 business days. It's been 5.

Never again.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
I made a mistake and went to Firestone

That's all you needed to say. I too, went to Firestone. ONCE! I learned from that, and as you wrote, "Never again!"

There's a really good independent shop near me where I have all service done, except for

• Warranty work or specialized stuff that has to be done by the dealer
  
  
• For anything to do with tires we go to Discount Tire
  
  
• Alignment, when needed, is done by a specialty shop that was recommended by Discount Tire

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
There's a really good independent shop near me where I have all service done, except for

• Warranty work or specialized stuff that has to be done by the dealer
  
  
• For anything to do with tires we go to Discount Tire

Same here, to all the above.

I would never go to one of those chain store "quick lube"/"mechanic in a box" type of places. I'm familiar with the types of people they typically employ.

In the past year all the Discount Tires in these parts got alignment machines. $100 a crack.

I'm really fortunate to have a excellent independent mechanic I go to that does excellent work for a reasonable price and when you get an oil change he doesn't come back with a list of things he says need to get done but really don't. I use to go to Jiffy Lube until they failed to put the oil filter on correctly and oil leaked all over the manifold. I tried to do business with a place called Mavis but they screwed up the oil filter also and I ended up with oil all over my driveway. There's a shop less than a mile from my home that I use to use but I suspected he was ripping me off so I stopped doing business with him also. Tough and getting tougher to find reliable mechanics that are competent and affordable.

Stay away from those crooks

I used to take our vehicles to the local Firestone for oil changes because they had the best prices on synthetic.

Then the wait times started to increase little by little

What used to be 40 minutes turned into 2 hours the final time and I finally said that's that, I'm out.

The hard sell on everything was getting exhausting too

Finding a competent shop whether a dealer, a chain specialty shop or independent is a challenge.

While I retired from GM dealerships the last two vehicles I bought were Jeeps. The dealer group I worked for owned a couple FCA dealers and between that and the dealer I worked at everything got handled with no problems.

Fast forward to retirement. The group’s closest Jeep store was 25 miles away but there were two competing Jeep dealers within a ten mile radius from me. First one was ok but their sales department was non relenting with spam emails (which I ignored) phone calls and text messages and their ignoring multiple requests to stop.

Second dealer was real low key with sales, service was iffy. Did an air bag recall and nicked up the dash panel. Wrong oil two times in a row in my Wrangler (5w-20 instead of 5w-30) and argued both tiles when I asked them politely to drain and refill it with the correct weight. Wife’s Liberty had a leaking filter, no problem found (allegedly) cleaned it but still dripped. Took it elsewhere and had that corrected.

I have two tire dealers in my area, a Discount Tire and a Belle Tire, local chain. Of the two I’ve had my best experiences at the Belle Tire, We’ll just say that my Discount experiences haven’t been as good.

I now go to a friend’s shop for mechanical repairs, he may not be the cheapest around but at least I know it’s done right the first time.

I swear it’s Firestone policy to be a bunch of unforgivable pricks.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Finding a competent shop whether a dealer, a chain specialty shop or independent is a challenge.


I now go to a friend’s shop for mechanical repairs, he may not be the cheapest around but at least I know it’s done right the first time.

Competent AND honest is definitely a challenge. I don't mind paying a premium for paying for work that is actually needed and actually done. It's way less expensive than paying for work that isn't needed or actually done.

Only good thing about Firestone is that I can dump my used fluids there. I can do AutoZone for used motor oil but nothing exotic, which leaves me looking for alternative places to dump old coolant, manual transmission fluid, and gear oil for the diff.

Otherwise they're dead to me.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:

Finding a competent shop whether a dealer, a chain specialty shop or independent is a challenge.

And it's only going to get harder as all the old school mechanics retire out of the business and are replaced by "techs" who barely seem to know anything.

We have a local guy who is a mechanic, the old school dirty greasy hands type. He's extremely honest and will not fix anything that truly does not need fixing. He's also in his 60's and I'm dreading the day he hangs it up because he's a dying breed.

I have worked for some "chain" establishments, not Firestone, but similar. I was at odds with a a prospective one who wanted me to sell shocks & struts based on mileage, and an absurdly low one at that. I said, "If they've failed I will." I suspect that was a major reason why they didn't call me back.

quote:

We have a local guy who is a mechanic, the old school dirty greasy hands type. He's extremely honest and will not fix anything that truly does not need fixing. He's also in his 60's and I'm dreading the day he hangs it up because he's a dying breed.

Sounds familiar.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I have worked for some "chain" establishments, not Firestone, but similar. I was at odds with a a prospective one who wanted me to sell shocks & struts based on mileage, and an absurdly low one at that. I said, "If they've failed I will." I suspect that was a major reason why they didn't call me back.

quote:

We have a local guy who is a mechanic, the old school dirty greasy hands type. He's extremely honest and will not fix anything that truly does not need fixing. He's also in his 60's and I'm dreading the day he hangs it up because he's a dying breed.

Sounds familiar.

Neighbor in is the auto industry, serving dealers, said industry wide this is a big problem, they cannot find techs, not simply qualified but anyone to fill the positions,

Estimates that over 150,000 tech positions are open nationwide. Dealers are scrambling for them, imagine how short the independent market will be as people age out of the tech workforce.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Neighbor in is the auto industry, serving dealers, said industry wide this is a big problem, they cannot find techs, not simply qualified but anyone to fill the positions,

Estimates that over 150,000 tech positions are open nationwide. Dealers are scrambling for them, imagine how short the independent market will be as people age out of the tech workforce.[/QUOTE]


The VOTEC schools used to be able to teach automotive repair and theory. Now they have to teach basic hand skills, math, reading. They are teaching what the students should already know, not doable in two year terms. Parents have no interest (with some exceptions) turning wrenches on the modern cars, kids have no way of learning, unless they are lucky enough to grow up on an old fashioned farm. But they stay on the farm, rarely do you see them in dealerships.

I go to my trusted independent shop also, for what he charges me for a synthetic change vs me buying and doing myself is not worth the $18-20 difference. Plus he will install my brought in air filter for no additional up charge or he will blow it out if he thinks that’s all it needs. He always gives me an update on brake pads etc. I trust him and he’s actually probably saved me money vs going to the dealer or a chain. He’s getting older like me and hopefully he takes someone under his wing that’s as good and as honest as he is

Been doing business with Firestone (pretty much just one shop) for 35 years. For perhaps 30 of them, no problems..it was pretty well managed. But lately, it's just not the same. The old crews have left or retired. Last trip I asked for a synthetic oil change; it was on the ticket but not done because it wasn't at the X mileage (about 400 short). Previous trip the tires were not rotated on the other car; lug nuts were stripping. They don't appear to be. Adios.

I was in Colorado Springs a few weeks ago and went to Firestone for a wheel alignment on my 97 Suburban. As I sat there in the waiting area I noticed that every single one of the employees had a man bun. I guess it’s entirely staffed by Samurai warriors. I’ve never felt safer.

About the aging out of techs, same thing in many parts departments with counter personnel.

Nobody wants to get into that business. Can’t say that I blame them.

One big thing I’ve seen is a shift in attitudes within management. No longer is experience and knowledge a requirement, today it’s a smiley face and cheap wages.

Last manager I worked for used to many times say “You old (he was one too) guys are dinosaurs. Anybody can do your job with these electronic parts catalogs, it does most of the work for you.” Sure it does as long as it’s an easy request, wait until they get into a real trick bag which happens regularly. Also it doesn’t help when the dealer/owner says in a employee meeting “I don’t care about hiring experienced people,what I care about is fresh faces and enthusiasm, that’s all that matters. I want that over experience any day. If you don’t have enthusiasm we’re going to find you, change you or else.” What a way to inspire the troops!

After year two of the now annual employee meetings, if there was any hesitation on my part to retire that got quickly quashed, kind of like the meme “Aw geez, not this shit again”, four months later I called an end to forty seven years in the business, no regrets.

Hey, they can hire enthusiastic people now!

P.S., today’s typical part purchase story:
Customer: I need a 2 1/2” saddle muffler clamp.
Parts counterman: Make,model,and year please or do you have the last eight of the VIN?

quote:

I don’t care about hiring experienced people,what I care about is fresh faces and enthusiasm, that’s all that matters.

That lets me out of a lot of jobs.

quote:

I don’t care about hiring experienced people,what I care about is fresh faces and enthusiasm, that’s all that matters.

Seems like I recall a guy with a similar philosophy who built a sub to go to the Titanic. Didn’t work out too well for him.