[dykwfm]

My PepBoys story.

I needed new struts on my 95 Corolla w/ 236,000 miles. So I called around locally and got estimates of anywhere from $800 to $1200.

So I decided to call a PepBoys that is about an hour away. I ask for 4 Monroe struts w/ installation plus alignment. They give me w/ taxes $531.87 out the door. So I make an appointment for Saturday. I'll drive an hour away to save $300+.

I arrive at PepBoys at 10:00am. Now please note that once I arrive I also tell them to perform an oil change and my state's inspection. Those two things combined add an additional $57. Which should bring my total to $588.57.

So I go our for breakfast to kill some time and around noon they call me and inform me that I will also need to have my rear struts replaced. So I am like I told you from the get go that I wanted all 4 done. So he is like ok well let me add this to your order. About a minute passes and he is like "ok sir your new total will be $808.63. Do you want us to change the rear stuts?" So I say wait a minute I'll be right in.

So I arrive a few minutes later and after my brief explanation of the price I was quoted and the hour long drive I ask them why I was qouted $531 and now my bill is like $800. So the guy explains to me that the person that qouted me my price gave me the correct price on the struts. The correct price on the alignment. The correct price on front strut installation. But he gave me the pricing for rear SHOCKinstallation???? So I ask why ANYONE would give prices for 4 stuts but installation for 2 stuts and 2 shocks???

This isnt even the half of my story. I tell them to do the work. In addition I have a burnt tailight bulb and burnt license plate bulb. I have to pay them $9.99 labor to install these bulbs because they could not pass my state inspection unless they performed the work. So if I wanted to change these bulbs on my own they would fail my inspection and still charge me the $25 fee for state inspection. So then they explain I have a wiring issue with the taillight that is burnt out. So they re-wire it for me.

So anyway, I negotiate 20% everything and the oil change was done for free. Bringing my total to $704. That I suppose I can live with even thought it still burns my ass.

I wont explain the things that happened in detail over the next few hours. Lets jut say I didnt pay for this and leave PepBoys until 5:30pm. Over 7 hours to do this work!!!!

This story still isnt over. So the next night I go out to get milk and realize I have no interior lights or tailights. Turns out I am blowing fuses. I isolate the problem to the one tailight. The same tailight that they replaced the bulb and did some re-wiring. Turns out they installed incorrect bulbs.

I fix the issue after I buy the CORRECT bulbs and new fuses.

But I still wonder if I will run into this fuse issue in the future because of the re-wiring they did???

I was trying to save some money. I did what any other person would do.

Lesson Learned:
I will never EVER go to PepBoys again. At the very least not for work. Maybe an air freshener if that!!

I know it was a long story but it was defenatley worth telling.

PS: This was the PepBoys in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

 

[Flashmn]

This is so typical.. considering you have struts front and rear to begin with

oh btw... youtube search for jiffylube scam..

 

[dykwfm]

Yea I never understood why Toyota put struts on the back to begin with.

As far as the jiffylube scam, I had seen that before.

But really I didnt post this story to say it was a scam. The fact that the person quoted me for 4 struts, but installation for 2 struts and 2 shocks just tells me that they probably do that *mistaken quote* shit to get you in their garage. They have you by the balls because your car is in their already ripped apart.

Its just really irritating. I have a mechanic that my family has used for over 20 years locally and he was just more expensive. I was just trying to save some cash, just as anyone else would.

 

[toyotaholic]

I have a mechanic that my family has used for over 20 years locally and he was just more expensive. I was just trying to save some cash, just as anyone else would.

since you guys have been such a loyal customer i'm sure he would have lowered the price if you asked. I'm hesitant on going to places that service all manufacturers because they might get service mixed up between manufacturers.

 

[GTChink]

sorry to hear that happen. I went there yesterday to get some windshield washer fluid, but never had them touch my vehicles.

 

[toyomoho]

You did very well to negotiate the price down, most people would have just paid the full price.

Unfortunately it can be very difficult to find a well run shop that actually knows what they are doing.

 

[azcorolla]

yes, sadly it's not just Pep Boys. Even if the business is honestly run, the people working in auto repair these days are quite often not the finest or well trained. That's why I do my own work whenever possible - there's little chance that I'm going to do a worse job than the 'pros', I save money, and I may evan learn something.

 

[dykwfm]

That's why I do my own work whenever possible

Trust me. I do as well. But I wouldn't know the first thing about installing struts. It just goes to show that you try to save a buck and end up getting shafted. From now on there is zero doubt in my mind about who will do work on any of my cars from now on. That local mechanic that I have used NUMEROUS times before for this car, my MR2 and the 3 other Corollas/Camrys I have owned.

If I take one thing from this it's this........If you are lucky enough to find a mechanic that is legit and honest with you and they do good work.....Its worth the higher price tag.

Kinda self explains why they price higher to begin with. Why not charge more if you know your works good.

 

[Bitter]

if one place out of many is quoting wildly lower, theres a good reason for it. we get alot of 'pepboys had my car for a week and its still not right' or 'pepboys cost me $1000 and it still aint right'.

 

[dykwfm]

UPDATE:

I went out again tonight and the interior and taillights are out yet again.

I am on the phone with PepBoys customer service as we speak to see if I can take the car to the local Toyota dealership and have them (PepBoys) cover the bill.

Reasons why:
1. Its over an hour away
2. I overpaid the quote I was given.
3. The work took 8 hours
4. Lost all confidence in this PepBoys

The gentleman actually told me that they will probably grant me my wish of taking it to the local dealership. He said that the store will contact me within 48 hours and once they do I will refuse to have the work done by them at which point they will elevate the case to the executive level of the region. At that point he said they will grant me permission to have the work done elsewhere.

This is ridiculous!!!!!!!

 

[msrfrog]

pepboys

well, usually you get what you pay for. shops like pepboys and such rarely have good technicians working there. :thumbsdow

 

[cipher93]

Pepboys is alright for parts (biggest stock here by far), but I will not them near my vehicles after we took our Suzuki in for tires 2 years and they destroyed the lug nut covers because they used a prybar to bust them free and not a flat head screw driver (there is a certain way you do them and they screwed up BAD). I also needed a tire on my Corolla fixed because it had a screw in it, and given it was Sunday the local go-to guys locally for tires were closed, and they charged $36 to patch it!

 

[toysyoda]

garages around here charge less than 100 dollars to change out all four of them....

 

[dykwfm]

garages around here charge less than 100 dollars to change out all four of them....

Sorry dude but that just isnt even believable on any level.

If any garage installs 4 struts for less than $100 I would not expect anything less than the car to fall apart after driving it 15 feet...

 

[kevmac]

Alright I'll chime in. I have gone to Pep Boys for repairs. It was average for random shops. They took long and were very unconcerned, but that's typical of most places. As far as parts, a few weeks back I bought something, then a few weeks later I bought something else. I noticed a pattern. They hire getto trash. The girls at the register were rude and cold. I bought a wheel cylinder and the girl night manager (or should I say the one in charge with the key to lock up) at the counter gave me the wrong one. Then when I told her that I think the part might be wrong, she got pissy and started to get combative as though there was no chance she could be wrong. Then I walked home and realized I was right. When I returned to the store she saw me coming and disappeared. I used to love them for parts. When I was in highschool they were the best. Cheap and available. Nowdays they are behind the times. Autozone whips ass on them every time. I walk there because it is down the street and when I need something in a pinch and don't have wheels it's convenient. Their stuff is a ripoff 90% of the time though. Ebay, Autozone, and internet deal locators will cause the failure of this dying company. Your company will go belly up soon:thumbsdow thanks to our commander in chiefrder:

BTW: sorry, but if I travelled one hour to a deal that seemed hard to believe, I would confirm prices before coughing up my car.

 

[Piloter]

Some 'books' list the rear strut replacement as an 8-hour job or something ridiculous like that. The actual time it takes is around 2, if that. Although Dad's shop gets a fair amount of customers coming in to get the work done properly after PepBoys gets through with their car...

 

[dykwfm]

BTW: sorry, but if I travelled one hour to a deal that seemed hard to believe, I would confirm prices before coughing up my car.

I suppose I didnt mention it in the first post but I did. When I dropped my car off I told them I was quoted around $530. I showed him what I was quoted piece by piece and he entered the info in his computer plus the oil change and PA state inspection which added about $57. So with those two things added I should have been at about $600.

It wasnt until after they had my car for two hours and it was already half ripped apart that they called and told me it was now at $800.

 

[dykwfm]

PS:

I reported 2 days ago that I had an open compaint with the customer service and that I was to be contacted by the store within 48 hours. Well that 48 hours is about up and I havent heard a peep from the store.

So at that point customer service said my case would elevate and I would be told to take my car to the shop of my choice to have the work fixed and PepBoys will cover the costs.

So I will have it done at my local Toyota dealer and I will have confidence that the work is done right. Best part is that now I only have to drive 5 minutes.

 

[Justin727]

good luck

 

[dykwfm]

Just got done with customer service on the phone.

He said PepBoys would reimburse any work that I would have done. The catch obviously is that I have to pay up front.

So I tell him I dont like having to pay up front. So he reminds me that I could drive to the PepBoys store. So after a few minutes indicating the numerous reasons why I dont want to drive back to this store he puts me on hold.

When he comes back he says that they are offering that if I go back to the store and have them fix the problem free of charge they would then also reimburse me $100 back to my credit card.

I agreed to those conditions and have scheduled to go back on Monday morning. So after this whole decbacle I am going to end up paying $504. Actually $27 less than what I was quoted. I guess its worth it in the end aside from the 2 trips.

So I ended up having 4 struts installed, with alignment, plus an oil change and state inspection for $500. Not too bad..

PepBoys still sucks though!