MandoTL

Hey guys,
I just wanted to share that earlier today I went to Pepboys to get a Power steering flush. I supplied them with Genuine Honda Power Steering fluid, 5 bottles. Anyways waited close to an hour to get it done, when the service manager told me it would take no more than 30mins. LIAR!

I own a 2005 TL for those who want to know. Fast forward an hour later and they hand me my keys, but felt something was wrong since I have read online about these auto service places forgetting to put caps, bolts, oil filters back on.

Well I decided to check under hood to see the power steering fluid level, and right when I lifted the hood, I noticed my passenger engine bay panel was cracked on the upper right corner and along with all the other tabs.

Before I left I went straight back into the service department stating what I noticed in front of a good size crowd getting their cars serviced. The manager came out and noticed it, than stating that it was not on purpose.

I know it wasn't done deliberately but it wasnt broken before I sent it in either, you can clearly see that it was just cracked and tabs missing. Manager wrote the part # down. Well we went back inside, he called their Honda parts partner and said "its an Acura part so you need to call them".

Sorry for the long post. Result, new panel is being ordered and will come in tomorrow. I maybe over exaggerating since its a piece of plastic but they broke it and didn't tell me.

Have any of you, gone through similar situation when dealing with Pepboys, this was ALSO MY FIRST TIME getting serviced there, but usually I do things on my own.
PHOTOS BELOW:

phee

iTrader: (5)

im not even going to read the post. you deserve what ever happened for trusting pep boys with your car

VQPower37

i would've done the same ... its good they took care of it

ttribe

Rule #1 - unless you own an '84 Corolla, or a '75 Pinto, NEVER, EVER let Pep Boys touch your car. Ever.

Rule #2 - See Rule #1.

Rule #3 - In case you violate Rules #1 or #2, self-flagellate until you consider Rules #1 and #2 to be sacred text for which you would sacrifice your life.

That is all.

MandoTL

Well since I don't know how to properly switch out the old fluid and replace the new PS fluid. I wasn't going to mess with spills and all that even with the DIY.
But thanks for that obvious comment. I will not return to that place, lesson learned I'd rather take it to a reputable Honda indie shop.

Yes, glad they agreed to replace it with a new part so plan to pick up the part tomorrow morning. I had to just ask after the manager's phone call as to where the part was ordered since he spoke in a low voice, he told me the part was ordered straight from the local Acura dealer.
He apologized and stated "should be in around 10:30am if not we'll give you a call". So hope its in tomorrow.

ttribe

BTW, I should mention, I learned this lesson the hard way about Pep Boys. Back when I was in my early 20s, I took my '91 Integra there to get a new battery. That battery later exploded...literally. They refused to take responsibility for it. Being rather naive at the time, I didn't put up a big enough fight. No more Pep Boys.

MandoTL

Wow, that's horrible my mother took her 2003 GMC Envoy XL to JiffyLube for an oil change, she left and noticed they forgot to put the new filter on. Same experience with my dad's 99 Tacoma TRD. JiffyLube pretty much blamed my parents and they are not held responsible, well she contact the BBB and spoke to regional manager's and they got a free oil change.

They both told me don't EVER take it to JiffyLube, so since I really needed to get my PS changed decided to head over to Pepboys. Guess all general auto service shops are the same compared to specific indie shops, if I am unsure about a certain maintenance repair, I will take it to a Honda indie shop, a few around here have received positive reviews.

neuronbob

Sage advice here. Follow it!

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

what's the old saying? you pay for what you get. at a minimum i would only consider a trusted honda dealer. however considering i have trust issues with the auto service industry....i find that the only people i can mostly trust would be my dealer. i know...i pay out the ear for it too! price to pay for peace of mind.

MandoTL

Hey TLtrigirl,
I was debating to get it done at my local dealer, but wouldn't be scheduled until Friday, my power steering fluid was low and needed to use my car for the week. Called Pepboys in advance and they would take me in no problem. I'll stick with either Dealer or a Honda indie shop.
Plan to get an ATF change also. Probably go with the Honda fluid.
Will call next week to see how much and when they can schedule me since I get paid this week.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Lesson learned. Next time take it to the dealership or find a reputable mechanic.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

you could have just topped off the fluid until you were able to get it flushed.

doopstr

Don't worry, many of us have made the same mistake of going to a pep boys or some kind of quick lube. Just be happy that they are taking care of it and move along.

MandoTL

Most definitely, most likely pay more at the Dealership, but my local one doesn't have the best reputation and the next closest one does, but its much further than I'd like.
So if anything I will try find a reputable mechanic or indie shop.

True, but both local honda service rep. & parts rep., pepboys, and my mechanic uncle said just go get it flushed, dont top off. So I believed them.
I try to DIY as much as possible, but this kind of job was too big/scary for me to attempt alone.

Yes, I am happy they did the right thing and ordered a new part for me. Yay! new engine cover panel.

SpiderX1016

It's not that bad...

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Hope you learned. I wouldn't trust pepboys with a bicycle.
BTW you don't need a power steering flush. You need to read more. You already bought the fluid. It would have taken all of 20 minutes to disconnect the power steering hose off the reservoir & drain it, start the engine to activate the pump for a sec & fill it back up.

Ken1997TL

Never be cheap with your cars. Get a TRUSTED mechanic to do your work.

There are plenty of good shops out there who do excellent work for a fair price. Look for one and give them your hard-earned cash.

MandoTL

It seems foolish, but like I said I exaggerated this experience but I like to keep my car's body panels from having any cracks, leaks, dents etc. It looked ugly with the crack and they were dishonest.

I have seen the threads in the Garage, but I just can't pull myself to do it even though it looked very easy. I trust my uncle to help me with this but he didn't have a flush machine. I told him well the Honda service said you can drain it or flush it, but he said just go get it flushed at pepboys or jiffylube.
He is family, thought he would help me but recommended to go someplace else. He has always done a quality job on every family vehicle that have gone to his shop so this was a surprise for me.

I will not take it there anymore or any auto industry chain store. Will start asking family who the recommend other than my uncle. Most who own Honda car's recommend the local Honda indie shop who have reasonable prices and quality work(need to make appt. though). I guess I got impatient with my local dealer who could schedule me on Friday, but I really wanted to get it done, so I paid the price.

MaxMike93

My friend had a bad experience with PepBoys too, but it wasn't really all that serious. He needed new tires for his truck ('94 Ford Ranger Sport) and he wanted 31-inch tires instead of the stock 27-inch size. He got there, and asked the guys to just put a tire next to the truck to see how it would look. They put it up, and they immediately say it would be too big and all the guys in the shop started to laugh at him for thinking that tire would fit. So he got pissed, left, then went to a new PepBoys location a few weeks later since he got a good price for the tires/mounting/balancing/alignment there. No more Hackensack, NJ PepBoys for him. I just go to the closest PepBoys by me for when I need some car wash soap or something along those lines, and its a quick in-and-out experience. No way in hell will I ever leave my car at that specific place, especially since its the PepBoys in Paterson

PyroDave

next time, for tires go across the street to costco lol. it'll probably be cheaper and they arent known for fucking up. i've been to the pepboys in hackensack, and the autozone right there too. way too sketchy for me hahaha. nor would i ever trust my car at any of those types of places

dallison

lesson learned

CCColtsicehockey

I didn't even need to read the first line since you put Pepboys in the title however I read the first line and when I realized you actually went there for service and not just to buy oil, fuses, or car cleaning products I instantly thought . You brought this all on yourself.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Glad it (somewhat) worked out.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, as soon as I read the title, I knew there would be trouble. I wouldn't even trust them with a blinker fluid flush nevermind a power steering flush.

Really though, doesn't seem that bad and they appear to have taken care of you. So chalk it up to lesson learned...

d-townhakuzo

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

Found a twitter account dedicated to hating Pep boys

https://twitter.com/#!/pepboyssucks

Mr Marco

=

Moog-Type-S

could have been worse....consider yourself lucky

MandoTL

QUICK UPDATE:

Got the new part in, the Pepboys rep. looked pissed when he gave it to me, idk if its work related or me getting a replacement part on their dime.

MandoTL

I usually buy the Mobil 1: EP oil and filter there, but I switched to Redline 5w-30 this time around. but that's usually pretty much it. So that's a BIG mistake to go there. I will get an ATF change at the dealer or local honda indie shop.

Me too!! new parts are always nice to have lol wow my engine covers are dirty.
I guess I should have done research on here from members who have dealt with them. I just called different place to get info on cost and scheduling. They had positive reviews on their service department, but guess I am the few that had a negative, even though it was something minor but could've been worse.
I am glad they did the right thing and ordered a new replacement.
Will add that to my lesson learned chart.

WdnUlik2no

First mistake: Going to Pep Boys.

I was around your age, maybe a couple of years older when I realized taking a car to Pep Boys for ANYTHING is trouble. For me, they botched a brake job and kept giving me the run around telling me some B.S. that brake jobs needed a break in period. I don't feel like going into much detail, but I eventually I ended up having to replace a lot more than brake pads at another shop because of Pep Boys shoddy work. In the end I got my original money back that Pep Boys charged for their service after contacting the district manager when the store manager refused to do anything. I'm still out the money I had to pay another shop to fix Pep Boy's mistake, but I take it is a lesson learned to never trust my car to Manny, Moe, Jack (aka Larry, Curly, and Moe) ever again.

i avoid them like the plague and every time I drive by one and see people going there, I just shake my head. Heck I don't even go in there for the auto accessories they sell in their store.

But hey looks like your learned your lesson and we hope you will never go to Pep Boys ever again.


My guess would be the latter. When I got my money back from Pep Boys back in 2000 or 2001, the Store manager looked very pissed she had to give me my money back.

At first she refused to give me anything, but then I went over her head and contacted the district manager that ordered her to refund my money.

When I went back into the store to get my refund, I was so glad that same manager that refused to do anything was working that day, I was very tempted to rub it in her face, but her expression was enough for me.

dallison

looks great.

jchan2

Costco and Sam's I've discovered are the best places to get tires. I've gone to Sam's for multiple sets of tires and it's always worked out great.

SpiderX1016

Discount tires does a great job too. I mount/balance my own tires but I usually recommend them to others.

Hapa DC5

x2 for Discount Tires.

subinf

Dealers, chain shops, independent shops...rule is the same. Find one you like and trust. Dealers do as much dumb shit as any other shop. Just charge you more for it.

Rockstar21

iTrader: (1)

SAMs drove my car off the ramps and ruined my front lip that I just bought an had to repaint to match ($600)

It took them nearly a month to cut me a check. They tried to blame me bc my car was lowered.

Legend2TL

I won't even trust them with a '71 Pinto or any Corolla

Legend2TL

Glad this had a happy ending, learn your lesson and move on

SwervinCL

Took my car to Midas for an oil change and they put in the wrong drain plug. Wanted to charge me around +/- $1000.00 for a new oil pan because they said that the drain plug hole was stripped.

Jiffy lube did the original prior oil change, so I took it back over there. They took one look at it and said that Midas put in the wrong drain plug and that nothing was stripped at all..

Lesson here, no place is going to be perfect.. But with that said, I would never/have never taken a car to Pep Boys for any kind of service.