Advanced Auto Service & Tire Centers

Review: In October of last year, I brought my 1994 Toyota Pickup to their shop to do a coolant flush, for which I paid $112.75. In June of this year, I brought the truck back to their shop for a routine inspection, which noted that all hoses passed the inspection.

In August I took the truck to [redacted], where the mechanic working on it noticed that the radiator was very low on coolant. Further investigation revealed that the heater hose clamp had not been re-clamped in its proper place. As a result, my truck, with 225K miles, could have suffered engine failure. Furthermore, I had to spend an additional $100.19 ($90.20 in labor and $9.99 for lost coolant) to re-pressurize the system, top off the coolant, and re-test the entire truck.

Prior to [redacted] inspection on August 21, 2013, the truck had no work done on the cooling system since October 2012 except for Advanced Auto's coolant exchange and your AAA inspection. Therefore, it is clear that Advanced Auto's mechanics were negligent in not re-attaching the heater hose clamp after the coolant fluid flush, and then doubly negligent in not catching their mistake when they performed the AAA safety inspection.

Since Advanced Auto worked on the truck two times in the last year, their negligence can be inferred. No one else worked on the cooling system in the meantime; only in August 2013 did [redacted] notice the mistake. Because of this negligence, I believe that Advanced Auto should not only refund me the $112.75 for the faulty coolant flush, but also the additional $100.19 that I had to pay to [redacted] to remediate the problem.Desired Settlement: I am expecting a check from them in the amount of $212.94.

Business

Response:

On October 23 2012 we performed a cooling system flush on Mr... [redacted]'s 1994 Toyota pick-up. We used our Wynn's "Powerflush" cooling system flush machine, and Valvoline VPS coolant flush kit that includes a pre-cleaner, and a coolant conditioner. The machine uses aluminum adaptors to attach to the vehicles upper radiator hose. The coolant is drawn out, and replaced via the upper radiator hose only when using this machine. As you can imagine, there would be no reason for a heater hose clamp to be removed during a cooling system flush. Furthermore, the Wynn's cooling system flush machine has an electric pump as part of its system that creates pressure in the machine, as well as the vehicles cooling system, including the heater hoses. This pressure would have most certainly shown a leak if there was one at the time of service. All vehicle cooling systems are pressurized, most at an average of between 12-16 psi. This pressure will also show a leak if there is one. At the time of the service, no leak was noted. It has been over 10 months, and almost 5000 miles until Mr. [redacted]'s coolant leak was brought to his attention.

Recently Advanced Auto serviced, and conducted a Radiator hose repair, on our 2004 Hyndai Accent. On March 2nd 2015. Prior to this repair Advanced replaced an alternator, around April 5. The alternator was replaced three times. Failure to test the repair, afterwards led to the infamous excite wire needing replaced. Furthermore, a second attempt resulted in the return wire not being properly installed. This resulted in multiple trips, events, and involvement of an outside qualified auto technician. When given a chance to repair a leaking thermostat and radiator hose, Advanced damaged the Ignition coil wiring directly above the radiator hoses which were replaced. This resulted in multiple hours spent diagnosing and repairing damage done by a careless technician employed by Advanced Auto. The service is OK, the ability to perform repairs is deplorable. More training is needed for employees of this Advanced Auto location.

I called this business to inquire about getting 2 front shocks and front brakes.I asked for a "ball park "figure understanding that it is hard to give quotes over the phone.The gentleman said. around 400 dollars.I set up an appointment for the next day,and after discussing the work with the service manager,I understood that if the rotors were bad and needed replacement there would be an extra charge.He said this would bring the total to around 650 dollars.I said go ahead and do the work.When all was said and done,I was told that I owed 987 dollars.Totally unacceptable,and after some arguing ,I settled for 716 dollars.They added services to the bill that I was unaware of and did not authorize.They will never get my business again,and I will do everything to discourage others from patronizing this business.

Review: First off a year ago I had my car taken here to be fixed and they said they were capable of fixing it, then discovered they were incapable of fixing the issue -- yet still charged me over $500. So I had to have the car towed to a dealer after all that money in repairs with no resolve of the issue like they originally had said, they could have told me they were incapable of fixing my car and to go straight to the dealer before making me pay the money for no change in the issue. I had to have it towed after paying them; The dealership fixed it like they had said.

Today (11/13/2015) I paid $109 for them to treat me rudely and to not even do a full dianostic by their own description of the word. Telling me I need to have the entire part replaced before knowing the extent of the issue.

I literally watched my car sit outside not entering the garage (in fact it was so briefly glanced over that I didn't even see them do anything (besides the OBD2) as soon as I gave them my keys like 5 minutes after I said I wanted to take it to another place, so even though they didn't diagnose the problem completely as told, they still took my $110 without fully diagnosing the extent of my issue. I asked what the diagnostic was and they said it's getting inside the engine to find out exactly what the issue is, which they didn't with any kind of certainty, all they said was the observation they made. They didn't get inside the engine to figure how bad the issue was like they told me they would. The only thing they gave me was their observation, not being able to explain the full extent of the issue.

They also tried telling me that without even fully diagnosing the engine that I needed to replace the same thing they attempted to fix a year ago immediately based on again, observations. So they told me I needed to replace something that they didn't even fully look at. I asked what's wrong and they couldn't tell me the extent of the issue, just that it needed to be replaced, because they didnt look at it in detail like I had been told they would for the diagnostic.. That's what I paid for but I didn't recieve what I was told and expecting.Desired Settlement: I did not recieve what I was told, not a diagnostic by their own description of the word, but an observation quickly made in the few minutes they had before I said I wanted to take it somewhere else. So It makes no sense to have charged me for a diagnostic that wasn't a diagnostic again by their own description of what they said it would be.

Business

Response:

After reviewing [redacted]'s complaint and investigating the situation we decided to reimburse him the cost of the diagnostic service. In addition we are sending [redacted] a gift certificate to allow him to use us again at any location so he can experience the great service we have been known for as part of our culture for 26 years![redacted] accepted our offer stated he was satisfied and we are considering the complaint closed as soon as he receives his reimbursement.Thanks for your help in this matter. [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I consider the case closed.

Regards,

Review: On 10/21/2014 I took my truck to Advanced Auto Repair for an oil change and tire rotation. After they were finished with this the service writer then showed me some problems that need to be taken care of and gave me an estimate of $845.46 for the repairs, basically all the steering components needed to be replaced he told me. I knew that something was wrong because of the way the tires were wearing. Then on the following Monday I had a leak in a tire so I took it to [redacted] in [redacted] and had them look at it and their response was that it only needed an alignment. So now since I had two entirely different stories about what needed to be done to told me my truck I took it to a third repair facility, [redacted] and [redacted] in [redacted]. After checking out my truck and what was going on they also told me that it only needed an alignment and charged me $50.00 for that and sent me down the road. This is about $800.00 less than Advanced Auto quoted me.

I then told my story to my story to two other people and both of them had similar stories about this facility. One of them is [redacted], her # is ###-###-####. The other person is [redacted] and her # is ###-###-####.

I can send you a copy of the estimate that they gave me if you would like.Desired Settlement: I believe that what they are doing borders on criminal and the [redacted] office also needs to look into this business.

Business

Response:

On October 21st of this year Mr. [redacted] was escorted into our shop where our service manager pointed out the damage to the pitman arm and idler arm as well as demonstrating the looseness of the front end of his vehicle. He was also shown the condition of his tireswhich where bald with the inner cords showing through the rubber. We issued a written quote at that time. On Mr. [redacted] previous visit on August 8th 2013 he had new tires with 12/32nds of tread on his vehicle and had 192,955 miles at that time. During that inspection it was discovered that these same components were beginning to fail and Mr. [redacted] was made aware of this. At his most recent visit his vehicle had 203,740 miles, a difference of only 10,785 miles and these tires had cords showing on the inside edge. This edge wear demonstrates the extreme condition of Mr. [redacted] front end problem. Since receiving this complaint I have called and spoken with [redacted] at the [redacted] in [redacted] Valley as well as an unidentified person at [redacted] at [redacted] confirmed that Mr. [redacted] had come to their shop on the 27th of October for a free inspection. She explained that during that inspection they did not lift the front end nor did they check for loose components. This she confirmed from their file notes. They did however recommend 2 new tires and an alignment based on bad inside tire wear only. They also performed a flat repair at that time. The representative from [redacted] would not look up the customers file but did state that they usually inspect the car but could not be certain in every instance. Our store policy is to show every customer their failing parts and explain the causes of these failures as well as any possible repairs available. As far as the other customers Mr. [redacted] mentioned in his complaint one of them has never been to our shop and the other one has been here one time for an oil change several years ago. I would invite Mr. [redacted] to return to our shop so we can re-inspect his vehicle and show him the failing components once again. If he is interested in making an appointment he can feel free to call me directly [redacted]Store ManagerAdvanced Auto Service and Tire Centers

Review: On 2/12/14, I was at Advance Auto to get maintenance/ repairs on my vehicle. Once I ran my debit card they claimed they were having issues with their card reader and had to run my card again charging my account $1,194.40 each time. Advance Auto stated they would be in contact with me to issue a refund or inform me of how they would resolve the issue. On 2/20/14, the debited my account for a third time for the same dollar amount. I have now paid a total of $3,583.20 and have not received any kind of refund with more then a week of time. They in fact claimed they never received their money. I feel as a loyal customer and the proof I was able to provide showing the charges cleared my account they should have refunded me my money and handled whatever issues they had with their system on their end. I was told on 2/22/14 that they have had a check sitting at their store since the 14th but did not want to give it to me until they figured out what was going on with their merchant system.Their was no reason I had to be the one waiting for a refund for their system errors.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund of the 2 additional charges and any additional overdraft fees I have accrued as a result of the extra charges. For being a loyal customers for more then 3 years, I feel I deserve some sort of compensation for the time and inconvenience this has caused.

Business

Response:

We truly regret the circumstances that created this inconvenience. It started as a credit card machine electronic error. In our efforts to resolve it with the processing company their representative made a human error adding to the problem. At this time we have refunded Ms. [redacted] for the overcharges and have given her a $25 gift card for future service. Again we truly regret the inconvenience it created and sincerely apologize.