Firestone Car Care-Opinions

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
It doesn't take an idiot.
It just takes a guy trying to earn a living and having to turn tickets as fast as he can when the shop is busy.
You want great work and service out of any shop?
Just ask them when they aren't busy.
Bring your car in during the slack periods that most shops have and you'll get much better work.
The techs will take their time and really gold-plate the job just to have something to do when there isn't enough traffic to keep them busy.
You just have to know the system well enough to game it.


OMG you nailed it!

Especially front end alignments.

Also better if you drop your car off for the day.

I worked at a tire shop and we had a huge plate glass window between the bays and customer waiting area. Some customers thought if they watched us like fish in a bowl we'd do better work.

Some stuff just needs hammering, torching, or other persuasion.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

One of the local Firestone Complete Auto Care centers around here has a bad review because someone's frame rotted out. They had their car serviced and the frame rotted out right where the oil drips during an oil change. Apparently, firestone letting the oil drip on the frame caused it to rust there ....


Originally Posted By: fdcg27
It doesn't take an idiot.
It just takes a guy trying to earn a living and having to turn tickets as fast as he can when the shop is busy.
You want great work and service out of any shop?
Just ask them when they aren't busy.
Bring your car in during the slack periods that most shops have and you'll get much better work.
The techs will take their time and really gold-plate the job just to have something to do when there isn't enough traffic to keep them busy.
You just have to know the system well enough to game it.


Because I have two vehicles, whenever I have to drop off one of my vehicles at the indie mechanic, I let him know that it's not a priority and if something more important comes up to work on that first.

 

[kschachn]

Wow, that's about the dumbest thing I have ever read. The areas on my cars where oil happens to leak a bit are the most pristine areas on the car. I wish I had more leaks

The Firestone shop in my town is a pretty good place to go. So far they have never lied to me nor have they ever tried to do so. They have never pushed to do any maintenance that wasn't necessary, and through the phone conversations I have overheard in their waiting room they don't try and push stuff on others either. Their prices are good and they work well with me when I buy tires online (which I almost always do).

Originally Posted By: Miller88
One of the local Firestone Complete Auto Care centers around here has a bad review because someone's frame rotted out. They had their car serviced and the frame rotted out right where the oil drips during an oil change. Apparently, firestone letting the oil drip on the frame caused it to rust there ....

 

[stephen9666]

I think the multiple claims made in this thread about Firestone Auto Care being independently owned franchises are wrong. This claim came up in another thread and I did some googling and found nothing saying that Firestone Complete Auto Care are franchises. I would be interested in seeing some proof of the franchise claim.

Perhaps the people making that claim are confused. There are many independent Firestone tire dealers and many independen repair shops that are also Firestone dealers. But I think all the Firestone Compele Auto Care locations are company owned.

That doesn't mean every company owned store is the same quality. But Firestone and the Firestone-owned chain Expert Tire are my preferred local tire places. They aren't perfect, but they've been pretty good for me when it comes to large tire chains.

 

[antonmnster]

The shop in DT Minneapolis is staffed by morons. They called to tell me my work was done. When I went to pick it up they hadn't started it. They said they needed info from me. When I asked them why could they call to tell me something was done when it hadn't been started but they couldn't call with a question, I was met with silence. Overhear them trying to upsell alignments by saying that "they're required at least 3 or 4 times a year" made me realize I wandered into BITOG purgatory.

 

[stephen9666]

Here's more about how Firestone Complete Auto Care locations are company owned.

Bridgestone Retail Operations is the parent of Firestone Compete Auto Care and other chains.
http://www.bsro.com/

Quote:
Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC. (BSRO) operates the world’s largest chain of company-owned auto care centers. Through its 2,200 Firestone Complete Auto Care™, Tires Plus™, Expert Tire and Wheel Works retail locations across the United States, BSRO owned stores address the needs of today’s consumers.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Wow, that's about the dumbest thing I have ever read. The areas on my cars where oil happens to leak a bit are the most pristine areas on the car. I wish I had more leaks

The Firestone shop in my town is a pretty good place to go. So far they have never lied to me nor have they ever tried to do so. They have never pushed to do any maintenance that wasn't necessary, and through the phone conversations I have overheard in their waiting room they don't try and push stuff on others either. Their prices are good and they work well with me when I buy tires online (which I almost always do).

Originally Posted By: Miller88
One of the local Firestone Complete Auto Care centers around here has a bad review because someone's frame rotted out. They had their car serviced and the frame rotted out right where the oil drips during an oil change. Apparently, firestone letting the oil drip on the frame caused it to rust there ....


I spray oil everywhere for that reason! Maybe I should stop as it's causing my vehicles to rust?

 

[CErnst]

I use them solely for buying decent tires, lifetime balances, and lifetime alignments. I make them align my outlander every 7.5k miles after I change the oil. The tires are lasting a long time.

I had the truck in getting a state inspection. They tried to sell me a complete brake and rotor job for $425 because "your front pads are down to 1mm". told them thanks for the info, I'll pick up a set of front pads for $30 and do that myself.

I had my Outlander in there last year for an alignment. I told them only do an alignment, please do not check the air filter. the air filter is an insane biotch to get back together and I didn't trust them to put it back together correctly. They checked, and of course didn't get it back together correctly. I made the tech stand out in the rain and get it put back together while I watched. Good thing too...dumb SOB had put the filter in backwards.

We used to go to a location a few miles away when they had a great shop years ago. Management and staff changed and the shop went downhill. Last straw was when they tried to pull one over on my wife and I went ballistic. I called up corporate and left a survey. District manager called me the next day to notify that this was the shop manager's last day and that we should look at going to another shop that is a little closer that they've been working on to improve service there. Service is better than the other, but still have to watch them. Not sure if that is my anxiety or par for the course.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: CErnst
Not sure if that is my anxiety or par for the course.


You are not over concerned without reason, the number of good shops are few and far inbetween.

 

[babbittd]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
each one is independantly owned so it depends on the owner and how much the service writer pushes


As has already been pointed out, they are not independently owned.

Quote:
Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC employs over 22,000 teammates in North America and operates more than 2,200 company-owned stores. The store locations include Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Expert Tire, and Wheel Works.


They don't even call them service writers. HR calls them Retail Sales Teammmates. And to the OP, attempt to sell is what they do. https://firestonecompleteautocare-bridgestone.icims.com/jobs/29952/retail-sales-teammate/job

Which doesn't mean that one shouldn't patronize them, but it helps to know what to expect going in.

 

[Merkava_4]

I prefer independently owned shops that have been in business for decades.

 

[JustinH]

Never had a problem with firestone auto center.

For oil changes and tires, nothing else.

They run specials for oil change with filter and tire rotation for 19 dollars.

Kendall oil and a firestone house filter. Good enough for my toyota every 5k miles.

I can not buy oil at walmart for 20 dollars with a filter.

They run some decent deals on tires, the buy 3 get one free deals are usually decent.