Replacing axles...terrible story - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Life2 · 10-01-2007, 04:17 PM

Ok so after spending sometime shopping around and getting the best estimate, I found out pep boys was the most affordable (by about $80!) options I had of places to get my front axles replaced. I figure, alright, I'll go drop it off (on 9/26) and pick it up the next day after school or something. Wrong, much to my dismay, they called me up just 3 hours of dropping the car off saying it was done and I could go get it. My initial thought was..that can't be right...the other places I got estimates from said it'd take at least 2 hours for each side. Either way, I was glad to be able to go back and have my car in awesome condition. I get to pep boys, pay for everything, get to my car and turn it on. This is about where my life turns to s***. I notice the ABS light was on. That's weird. I keep driving in the parking lot a bit to see if it'll go away. It didn't. I hit the brakes and they made a really weird sound and even vibrated a bit on my foot. I go back inside to tell the mechanic what was up. He told me to take the car out onto the road and go over 15mph so the ABS light resets itself and turns off. Did that to no avail. I go back and tell them it did nothing and they tell me they'll have someone check it out tomorrow morning. No calls. Friday rolls around and I decided to go up to pep boys with my friend to see whats going on because I really wanted my car for that night. Turns out my car was still in the spot I left it at pep boys. Didn't even move at all. I get in, warm it up, drive around a bit and guess what, it sounds WORSE. The brakes were just total shit now and every time i tapped them they would just feel very weird like I was slamming them or something. The axles sounded horrible when I turned. I just parked the car again and left. I get a call saturday night telling me that they need to order a part for the car to fix it which won't be in until monday. In addition, they say I can pick up the car and drive it if I need. As much as I needed it, I didn't bother as I knew it wouldn't be safe at all. Now it's monday and I have gotten no calls back. I'm really wondering if my car will ever be the same again which is a real shame because I took meticulous care of this car and for pep boys to ruin it like this just kills me. I realize I could get the law on my side but it's still that total disrespect of my car that hurts.

Lesson Learned-F*** pep boys.

Den · 10-01-2007, 04:51 PM

well.. i thought my drive axle seal leaks, but it ended up was the distributor seal. I am glad that I can fix it for $40. I have quoted the price for changing the seals; The labor is expensive, especially the passenger side. It will take lots of work to just detach the axle. Anyway, that's a sad story. I guess you can get your problem solve, is just that you have to pay up $$$.

bigbird · 10-01-2007, 05:38 PM

first of all u need to go down there and speak to a supervisor or hell, the store manager and make him awre of the situation, he will be the only person there who cares at all. id be good if u also had another shop look at the car if they give u any guff. next reguardless of what happens u need to report them to the better buisness beauro.

never take ur car to a franchise or chain shop again if u really care about it or personally trust the mechanics.

marc780 · 10-01-2007, 07:33 PM

Pep jerks botch it more often than not. I cant speak for everyone of course (depends on the mechanic) but most of the ones i have been to (and then only when forced to) have done sloppy, poor work.

That said - since your brakes were fine going in there (werent they) they screwed them up when they reassembled. (The calipers, torque plate and rotor come off to get at the CV's.) The brakes on most Camrys are super easy as far as brakes go, so sounds to me like a real knuckle-dragger worked on your car this time.

Have the idiots fix it this time (i'd be nice and place no blame, personally) and then run (or drive) like Hell from this establishment forevermore.

95PimpingCamry · 10-01-2007, 10:06 PM

Yea, NEVER let pepboys touch your car! As far as getting it fixed, call the store and ask when the store manager is in next and what his name is. Then go down there and ask the store manager what the phone number is for the corporate headquarters. Once he sees that you want to contact corporate (he hates corporate) he will do anything and everything to stop you, including fixing your car. If they can't fix it, force them to agree to foot the bill for a local independant shop to fix it. Remember, corporate is you friend and their enemy.

louie1086 · 10-01-2007, 10:30 PM

Dude, here's what I would do: take the car from pep boys (denying any further service for it, and denying any extra payments) and take it to a local mechanic. As bigbird said, never take your car to a franchise for mechanical work; tires is another story.

As for looking for a local mechanic, ask your friends, family members, etc about who they've always gone to, who they know, etc. Then go to that shop and talk to the people (just don't get suckered in) and see how you feel about their attitudes. If they talk like sales people, then leave. If they give you straight forward answers, then trust your gut. Never go to a place where you gotta deal with a sales clerk. Places like that pay their mechanics shit, and mechanics do a likewise job. They don't like their jobs, they just do it to put food on the table, so chances are, most of them won't care about your car. Just get 'em and out.

Now, I'm not saying all mechanics are bad. I've come across a few good ones, but you gotta ask around.

xtremeskier97 · 10-01-2007, 10:35 PM

Axles are not hard to replace...just take some time. Id NEVER let a shop do work on my car!

95PimpingCamry · 10-01-2007, 10:36 PM

Go to http://www.cartalk.com/ to find a local mechanic. People, not a company, post their reviews of mechanics and shops.

Novice_cardude · 10-02-2007, 12:03 AM

Sounds like they screwed up one or more ABS sensors or wires. Also seems they mighta forgot something putting the brakes together. Sucks, but it's thier responsibility now. You're not gonna pay any extra, and they're gonna make it drive like new.

But I would have Pep Boys pay the repair bill for a better mechanic to fix thier mistakes.

***ASG14*** · 10-02-2007, 12:06 AM

They snapped either 1 or 2 of your ABS wires, OR, they put in a non ABS Axle. I snapped my drivers ABS cable changing the axle, so I now how that goes, haha. EITHER WAY, They fucked it up. It;s 1 of those 2 issues.

camry man68 · 10-02-2007, 07:30 PM

I would never take my car to any of these places-
1.pepboys
2.meineke
3.strauss
4.autozone

Find yourself a good and reliable mechanic that you can actually trust, but do most of your tune-ups yourself. Ex: change your own brake pads and rotate your own tires

200th POST!!

***ASG14*** · 10-02-2007, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camry man68

I would never take my car to any of these places-
1.pepboys
2.meineke
3.strauss
4.autozone

Find yourself a good and reliable mechanic that you can actually trust, but do most of your tune-ups yourself. Ex: change your own brake pads and rotate your own tires

200th POST!!

5.Sears

camry man68 · 10-02-2007, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASG14

5.Sears

Oh yea good one

renmike · 10-02-2007, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camry man68

I would never take my car to any of these places-
1.pepboys
2.meineke
3.strauss
4.autozone

Find yourself a good and reliable mechanic that you can actually trust, but do most of your tune-ups yourself. Ex: change your own brake pads and rotate your own tires

200th POST!!

Well, unless it's some dude doing some work out behind the building, autozone doesn't do mechanic work. While some of the guys there are morons, I'll give you that

some of the older ones actually know a thing or two about what they're selling.

I personally would only trust a place to do my tires and alignment. I can pretty much do the rest myself if need-be. I just saved myself 400 bucks a few weeks ago when a local shop wouldn't touch an exhaust y-pipe replacement on my camry because they were afraid they'd break off bolts that would need to be drilled and retapped (so? I'm giving you money

do the damn work!!!) Anyways, I found a Firestone place around here that has a couple of good ASE certified mechanics and that's where I send people who want me to work on their car and I don't have the time or don't want to fool with the hassles (timing belt on a geo metro, screw that)

Black95Cam · 10-04-2007, 12:22 AM

My brother got hired there a few days ago and today was his first day working there, at Pep Boys. He got a few ASE certificates under his belt.. such as engine performance, suspension, breaks, (cant remember the rest). Instead of letting him repairing cars, they made him into a lube tech. Bare in mind, there are 4 bays at that pep boys and those 4 bay are ONLY allow for the ONE "master" tech. so after his shift was over, packed all his tools and bounces out.. Now that I know how they operates, NEVER gonna take my car there... just my two cents...