Help! Unauthorized Courtesy Check by Firestone in RI

[Mrs_Lop]

Evening All,
I am so baffled, I don't know what to think! First let me state that I just bought my 1997 Toyota Camry LE 4cyl 5SFE on May 25th. I don't know anything about the newer Toyotas, as I had a 1987 Japan Made Toyota Corolla (which died)

I went to have an alignment done at the Firestone in East Providence today, as tirerack.com had them highly recommended. While they had the car for the alignment they did a courtesy check. I never authorized anything other than a four wheel alignment!

They put the car up on a lift (and presented me with my invoice stating their recommendations and that I declined their service that) I DON"T HAVE A
FLEX PIPE -JUST A STRAIGHT PIPE!

They presented me with this:
Recommended: Oil Leak Detection APD Oil & Fuel Dye Recommended Exhaust :
Remove and Replace Catalytic Converter Front N.A. Catalytic Converter/Flex Pipe.
System Failure -Required
Total Extended Price: $897.92

They never showed me anything or pointed out anything and I never authorized this, it says so on the invoice. I told them that I had my own mechanic when they asked if I wanted any other service besides the alignment.

My question is: Can they get me in trouble with the State of Rhode Island by forwarding this information, even though it was not agreed to by me?
My current inspection sticker doesn't expire until 6-12,
can they send this information to the state and have my inspection sticker revoked?

I am beside myself with real concern. I am up to my eyeballs in money spent on repair work and more that still needs to be done. I had to wonder, if this was just bogus stuff. Why wouldn't they call me to the actual service area and show me what they found when they found it? My own mechanic never said anything about any of this when he had the car on the lift just last week.

The man at Firestone said that the straight pipe would crack and not hold up.

I don't have a service manual for this car -yet. If I need a flex pipe, how expensive will this be /or is it an all or nothing proposition - the whole exhaust replaced? (Not that I can afford it now, anyway.) My first instinct was just to ignore these people at Firestone. I do have a good mechanic who I just started with and does do State Inspections. I think that he will work with me to get the important safety issues done like my brakes and rotors. I knew that I would have to spend some money to get this car in good safe driving condition, but I am not rich and I can't do it all at once.

I guess you have figured out by now that I am seeing red!

Any suggestions, experiences of this kind or advice would be much appreciated.
Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[ycartf]

If your present mechanic does state inspections (and knows what to look for) I would not worry about what Firestone said at all. Another fireman I work with works part time as a manager at a local, reputable, family-owned tire store (where I get all our tires now). He said that he has had guys (now working with him) tell him horror stories of how they were trained (by Firestone) to manipulate the customer and scare them into paying for unnecessary work. One example was to tell the customer that their brake pads were "worn" and ask if they would like them replaced (foreseeably along with other services for things they would "find"). They did not tell the customer that they were only 10% worn, or 30% worn, etc. - just "worn."

I had my wife get tires at a similar place right after we got married and she called me (almost in tears) saying that they told her she was lucky she made in it and that the ball joints were about to go out at any time. I told her to get the tires and nothing else, then had my mechanic at the time (I was only 21 and knew little about cars compared to now) check them. They were fine. A lot of places like Firestone use scare tactics and (I believe) especially with women. They also advertise tires on their "by the road" sign with ridiculously low prices, then tell you when you stop in about how the tires have to be installed by them (no cash and carry). By the time you finish paying all of their extra fees, you could have went to a reputable place and gotten as good of a deal or better. Sorry if there are any folks out there who love Firestone, but all I have heard is bad.

Hope this helps,

EDIT - Also, I looked back in my records, and found that I only paid $132 for a new flexpipe to be installed on our 1990 V6 Camry by a local (non-chain) muffler shop. This was 5 years ago and in SE Alabama, but that is still quite a price difference.

[hill8570]

Standard chain shop procedure -- try to upsell as much as possble. Just give the Firestone folks the ol' "thanks but no thanks", and move on -- you've already got a mechanic you've got a good working relationship with.

If you really do have a straight pipe rather than a flex, yeah, that needs to be fixed. Any decent muffler shop can chop it out and weld in a flex. Less than $200...maybe quite a bit less. Hopefully one of the guys who has had this done recently can chime in.

Can't answer the R.I.-specific questions, but I doubt they'd report anything -- they're just doing what the boss tells 'em to do -- sell additional services...the guys who don't upsell get fired.

[slavie]

I suggest you ignore them.

Even if you are indeed missing a flex pipe (which is a little hard to believe), that type of repair does not cost anywhere near that price.

I had my flex pipe in a 99 Camry replaced for $150 a few years ago, and that's in NYC. I've seen people here who had flex pipe replaced for as low as $80 (the pipe itself costs $20; $60+ for welding and installation).

Thank them for the alignment (if they at least done it properly) and forget that place exists.

EDIT: About the inspection: I highly, highly doubt they can do anything about you registration/inspection even if they wanted to.

[rusty9]

Just say no thank you to their recommended repairs, and thank you for looking at my car for free?

[projektvertx]

900$ for a flex pipe is bogus!!!!! Either way, even if the price was more reasonable, I would let a tire shop touch my exhaust

A few years ago right after I inherited my car, my mom borrowed my car in the winter and returned it with a hole in the flew pipe since she hit a hard chuck of ice She took care of the repair since she felt bad, but IIRC, to cut of the flex pipe and weld on a new one cost 110 Canadian dollars. I would go to a local shop that is more reasonable

I would just do as slavie said, say thank you, walk away and get it done elsewhere. I don't think they are going to report you to the state or anything

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Lop

My question is: Can they get me in trouble with the State of Rhode Island by forwarding this information, even though it was not agreed to by me?
My current inspection sticker doesn't expire until 6-12,
can they send this information to the state and have my inspection sticker revoked?

I'm not sure we can give Mrs_Lop the correct advice unless we know RI law. I can only assume that the required safety inspection on sticker renewal allows a grace period so that she is not highjacked by this service center. I will also bet that she is not required to pay any estimate unless she authorized the work, and even then the final bill would have to be within a certain % of the original estimate. First I would say don't commit to any service work with this garage - run, then just call your regular mechanic and consult with him, he will be familiar with safety inspections and state law. You could also phone the consumer affairs department with your State's Attorney General's office and seek advice on your situation, even the DMV would be helpful. There are consumer protections for auto repair in each state and you should get a copy if possible.

[Mrs_Lop]

Tracy,

Thank you so much for the insight into how these people operate. The cost seemed so very high, I just wanted to spit, which is about as angry as I can get. I was so angry, confused and upset.

You were very reassuring.
Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Mrs_Lop]

hill8570,

Upsell is an understatement, after reading some of the posts with real world prices. I am so happy that I declined. I don't think I will ever go to another Firestone again! They had me really upset.

Thanks for your reassurance. Glad that I walked away when I did.
Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Mrs_Lop]

slavie,

Thank you for your input. The posts all seem to point to ignoring their recommendations.
Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Mrs_Lop]

rusty9,

Thank you -very funny! Wish I had thought to say that while I was there.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Mrs_Lop]

projektvertx,

Thanks for adding your story and price information.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Mrs_Lop]

Stillrunning,

Thank you for adding to the concensus of not dealing with this so called Service Center.

You gave me some great advice about how to proceed from here. My regular mechanic is a straight shooter and will tell me the truth. If he has any stories about his experiences, I'm sure that he will let me know. He most likely will know what the probable outcome will be.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[96ToyoCam164K]

Firestone user here:

I have bought 3 full sets of tires from them and they are reliable and the cheapest out of Wal-Mart, Goodyear and Michelin.

I'm on my 2nd set for this same car. I also have free lifetime alignments from over 3 years ago. Some days I feel bad for walking out with free rotations and alignments LOL.

I wouldn't take their recommendations as 'unauthorized' but rather just a 'courtesy check' but I would get more opinions. However, since I've been using them for rotations, alignments and tires for years they have only tried to upsell me once with a timing belt (by saying, "when was the last time your timing belt was changed) before I went on a roadtrip.

Even if you did need the repair, Firestone is just too expensive for us 90s car owners. I complained about them before on here because they seemed to charge me too much for a rotor turning and drum cleaning. $160.

I went to Toyota and they quoted me $3,000 for exhaust leaks. At the time I was in Texas which has inspections. They said I wouldn't pass.

But I pass by the smog tester every week and my car's health says, 'GOOD'

Next time you go to a tire shop to have an alignment...opt out of courtesy checks. Tell him don't even open the hood! They can sell and scare all they want but they can't MAKE you do anything you can't do.

Originally Posted by Mrs_Lop

Stillrunning,

Thank you for adding to the concensus of not dealing with this so called Service Center.

You gave me some great advice about how to proceed from here. My regular mechanic is a straight shooter and will tell me the truth. If he has any stories about his experiences, I'm sure that he will let me know. He most likely will know what the probable outcome will be.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

I know it's comforting to feel you have a mechanic you can trust with your car...but in my experience of living in different states and going to different mechanics and trusting them, you can only trust them as much as a few other opinions.

Personally, I don't trust ANY mechanic. I simply let them do their job, but I don't 'trust' them. I've had 2 or 3 trusty mechanics eventually scam me somehow. Matter of fact, I believe when you get too comfortable with them it makes it even easier to scam you. Because they know they can sell you any lie and you'll believe it because you trust them. 1 never changed the waterpump, one of them stole my compressor calling it defective. The only way to really be at ease is to go to about 3 or 4 mechanics for opinions and then the decision you make is the majority.

Hopefully it doesn't cost you to have them look at it, but since most times it does...ya may just have to take 1 or 2 people's word. Plus if they worked on your car repeatedly then it helps to keep up with repairs and if they fucked up you know where to go back to.

[carsrus]

Firestone has for the most part the right to inspect your vehicle. Especially since they had it on a lift. Many times they will find a loose tie rod or balljoint and it will be a legitimate problem. In order to keep them out of the liability hole they have to tell the customer. Its just common sense.

If you have a straight pip where the flex pipe goes it will crack. New flex pipe welded in at a corner exhaust shop should be 100$ or so. I got mine done for 80$. Go to a exhaust only place, theyre experts since flex pipe is most common exhaust issue.

The 900$ seems crazy, but the whole pipe with the flex pipe includes the cat and is 350$. Throw labor in and its easily a 500$ job.