Pep Boys

So I had all 4 rotors and sets of brake pads changed on my car 10 months ago and an oil change total was $ 710 now my car had started to bounce when I brake due to warped rotors which has caused uneven ware. I take it back to get looked at when i tell them i had them do my rotors and brakes 10 months ago they are booked for the day so I make an appointment for the following sat.
So I show up on Sat to drop my car off they didn’t even bother to pull me up on the computer to see what has been done. they call me back to let me know a list of things wrong with my car and don’t mention a thing about the warranty I have, when I tell them I had them replace all 4 rotors and sets of pads not even a yr ago I was told I could stay on the line or get called back in 4 min. 30 min later I call back to find out I will need to spend $ 600 to have them change 4 lightbulbs, fix a part for the steering that has come lose and pay for the labor to put on a new rotor and change the pads for my car.
I ask them to just do the rotor because Its under warranty and am told its $ 200+ for labor. not even a yr has passed since they put new rotors and pads on so I was told labor is only good for 6 months.
I’m going to have a friend put them on and ask him if the warped rotor could have caused the steering to come lose.
I will never use pep boys again!

The worst experience of my entire life. No, seriously. The worst experience of my entire life.
I drove to Colombus from Buffalo for a Rolling Stones concert for the night (saturday). I broke down, and got it towed to Pep Boys, since they were one of few mechanics open on Sunday, incase they couldnt get to it Saturday. I call prior to choosing it as my towing place, and the lady seemed very nice and assured me that if its an alternator problem, they can get me out of there Sunday.
Sunday comes, and I get a call saying that her mechanic looked at it and doesnt know whats wrong with it, so that I will need to wait until Monday when someone smarter comes in (they just have this one teenager that does oil changes on Sunday). Little did she know, I was sitting in my car in the parking lot when she called me to say it was looked at. They never looked at it, and she must have known that this kid cant handle any actual car problems, so she told me that.
This means, that when she assured me on Saturday that I would be able to get it fixed up, or AT LEAST checked out on Sunday, she knew then that she was lyjng through her teeth. I was stranded and had to sleep in my freezing car overnight.
Monday comes, and she tells me that she can get it looked at at 10am for sure. Its excuse after excuse on the delays. 4pm comes, and I finally get an estimate. $ 836 for an alternator and alternator tightening belt replacement, and they told me they wont be able to do it that day!
When I asked to see the problem, the mechanic was getting extremely frustrated and angry with my simple questions about why he thinks its the alternator. It was very obvious that everyone working there was incompetent and angry, so I got it towed to a different place (and the mechanic threw a hissy fit and refused to get my car out of the garage until the tow truck driver showed, very childish. The manager and staff also made sure to exchange nasty looks with me). Best decision I made regarding Pep Boys
FAST FORWARD, I get to the new mechanic, and he shows me that the alternator is fine, and that the catylitic converter is broken. He explained that the mechanic at pep Boys must have been beyond incompetant, because it took a 30 second voltage test to prove the alternator was fine. $ 836 I WOULD HAVE WASTED IF I LISTENED TO PEP BOYS!
Surprisingly, I cut out about half of the BS I went through with them, and I know this is a long review, but I cant reduce it more. They are the most DISHONEST, INCOMPETENT, NASTY, and just all around STUPID bunch of people I have ever witnessed concentrated in one area. In my entire life. It was like walking into a burger king and asking for a medical diagnosis.
Also, be smart about who the people are giving this place good reviews ;)

This place was great initially and over the last year or so. The quality of service has went completely down the drain. Over the years I got my routine maintenance completed at this location because of the ease and quickness of service. But, the last two times my experiences have been horrendous. I paid over $ 365 in March for an actuator replacement and had to wait over 2 weeks due to the lack of urgency of the shop to install it because they couldn’t order the part with my TPA before the cutoffs and in addition to I went to get my Oil Valve cover gasket replaced which cost nearly $ 1,000 and within 6 months it is leaking again. It originally took nearly 7 years for the gasket to leak and this time 6 months, which is obviously due to poor installation techniques by the shop. I called and told them of the issue and they stated that this particular repair only constitutes for a 90 day warranty, which I am sure someone stated at the shop it was covered for a year. I’ve been trying to contact the shop manager on how to resolve this issue and I have been pretty running in circles with no progress whatsoever. I suggest individuals to not go to this shop and go to a more reputable local mechanic than this national chain.

So this is a follow up to my earlier review. I had bought a shock for my truck cap but the shock they sold me was the wrong one and according to the manager it was defective when I brought it back. The wrong shock broke the glass on my truck cap. I wrote the review and had someone contact me about the issue. Then the manager Don called me saying he would take care of it and was sorry about how things happened. He even mentioned how the manager that told me the shock was defective treated me by not really caring it had happened. Don was unable unable to find the glass for my cap since it is no longer made. He was willing to spend $ 600.00 for glass if it would have been available. I followed up with him and he said that corporate had taken over the case. I did not hear anything and called him back and he said that they had now sent it back to him to file a case so I could get my truck cap. Now I received a letter from what I would assume is corporate office saying that they were not going to pay my loss. It would not have been so bad if Don the manager would have not agreed to at least fix the glass at his cost because he knew it was their issue that it happened. I just see this as a conflict between corporate office and the stores not communicating. If they cant communicate how can we expect them to treat customers when there is an issue. I read these reviews from this site and others and you can see there is an issue at this store. There are many other options out there that are better qualified than this Pep Boys and at better prices. I should have remembered the old saying
«The bitterness of poor quality and service is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory.»

I am completely annoyed and boycotting pep boys. At least this branch. I called at 8:20 pm for 20 minutes! After being put on hold multiple times I told the man I was on a family road trip, had a deer bone lauged in our tire and needed assistance. He said if I was 10 minutes away like I was, he wouldn’t have the time in 10 whole minutes to look at the tire and advice us. I then made the man realize that if he had picked up the phone 20 minutes ago, I would have been there sooner. Altogether, they were very unhelpful and very unprofessional. Thanks for nothing pep boys.

My boyfriend and I brought our Jeep here for an oil change and diagnostic on why it was overheating when the air conditioner was running. After waiting 4+ hours for someone to «get back from lunch» (which I will never do again) they finally gave us the low down: they claimed that an auxiliary fan was broken and needed to be replaced. They charged us nearly $ 400, and said we were good to go.
Less than an hour after this repair, we heard a grinding noise coming from the hood as we were driving home. We turned around to head back to Pep Boys, and while stopped at a red light, our jeep quit, mid-​traffic, and smoke began pouring from the hood. Two police officers helped us push our car from traffic, and we called for a tow.
When we arrived back at Pep Boys, my boyfriend and I were justifiably upset, but did not lose our tempers with the man at the front desk. Nonetheless, he had the audacity to make a joke about our situation (the car is our livelihood, and the only way my boyfriend can get to work) and chuckled, until he noticed our glares. He said they would look it over first thing in the morning because they were closing.
Flash forward to this morning; we beat them to the punch and took our keys back before they could touch our car. We called a neutral mobile mechanic (see my other reviews for a recommend) and discovered the following: we were charged 2 hours of labor for a job that the dealership says only takes 1, upon further repair and inspection, the «fan» that they charged us to replace was not in fact broken at all, and worked fine, a diagnostic mistake a reasonable mechanic should catch.
Too long, didn’t read?: I’m disappointed in the service they gave us, they essentially caused issues with our car in their effort to «repair it» and were callous to our emotions when we were stressed and upset. On top of it all, they wasted our time (4+ hours in a waiting room only to cause more problems!) and lied to us/​were seriously negligent in their service.

I’ve been to this Pep Boys a couple times in the past. Service has always been great, and cheaper than any other shop I’ve been to in Columbus.
The best part about this Pep Boys is that the front desk guys don’t try to haggle you into having more work done than your car actually needs (like other shops I’ve been to). They’re actually trying to HELP you take care of your car and your wallet. I just dropped my car off yesterday around noon to this Pep Boys. This time, the guy who helped us out, Dan, was very personable and helpful. We had a pleasant conversation about my ’95 Saturn SL-​1 vs. my girlfriend’s 2005 Honda Element (we were dropping off the element) while I was filling out the paper work. When I was done, I was skeptical about some of the paper work and explained to him that I just needed an oil change and 60 point check so our Element would be good to travel with. Dan confirmed that he understood all we wanted was a simple check up before traveling, and we were okay leaving our car with him.
I came back to get the Element around 6 pm and Dan was still there at the desk! He went out of his way to let me know he did all the standard checks he could and couldn’t find anything wrong with our Element, then went on to check a few more things just to double check. He complimented my girlfriend at how well she takes care of her car, which I chalked up to the manufacturer. Not only that, but he had the tires pressurized and made sure our element was in good shape to travel in. This routine car checkup turned out to be probably the best visit to an auto shop I’ve ever had, we talked for a few more minutes about the auto business before I was on my way.
If you’re looking for an auto shop to trust in Columbus, this Pep Boys is the best in terms of the price, the quality of their work and the quality of their people.

I’m a big fan of people trying to steal my coupons. … not! I’ll back up first. This place isnt so close to mine and I was having car issues, of course. I needed a new battery and had a 10% coupon which is why I chose this over priced dump. The guys working there were … lets just say dirty and not too nice. I know enough about cars to hold my own and I know when I’m being taken advantage of. I refused the more expensive boshe battery at $ 165, battery alone was $ 130 plus all the nickle and dimeing. The middle grade product was $ 109, still grossly over priced for a battery (last time I paid $ 80 for one) but after all the fees they loaded me with it came to $ 130+… RIP OFF!!! The reason I’m so pissed was that this place has a policy that they’ll test your battery for free, and install a new one for free. I did not get either of these options and was not told why not. I did, however, get a small discount because I noticed the prices did not add up. I can count. because of said discount (totaled $ 10) I was not aloud to use my coupon, which they then refused to give back to me. Total crap! 2 stars ONLY because I was able to watch the entire job and make sure they did it properly.

My car was making a crackling noise under the hood so I took my car to Pep Boys. I was told by Gary Vance that my swaybar had links that needed to be replaced. I guess these links have ball bearings in them and after time they wear out. Anyway, I was impressed with Gary’s personalized service and honestly. Some mechanics tell you that you have to buy this or buy that… Gary was honest and said my struts don’t necessary need to be replace but they are worn and don’t usually last 120,000 miles. So when I starting hearing a funny noice again it’s probably my struts and I will go back to Pep Boys off Morse Road and talk to Gary. thanks again! Shawn

Free to low cost diagnosis, unheard of! Best labor cost and parts cost I’ve seen!
I normally try to do my own maintenance on my cars, not only because it saves money but because it’s good knowledge to have. In the past two weeks I’ve been stumped and taken my car (’85 CJ7) and my wife’s car (’01 Tiburon) there. The Tiburon needed new bearings on both the front wheels and a new cv joint. They gave the diagnosis for $ 23 (steering evaluation)! I don’t care where you go, you won’t get any better work than that unless it’s free! Me being thrifty, I decided I’d call around and try to get a better estimate than what they gave me ($ 750 w/​out alignment). Meineke on Grandview Avenue came in with a verbal estimate at $ 700…I learned my mistake later when Meineke had my car in pieces and changed their estimate to $ 940 (including alignment) and gave me a story about verbal estimates not being accurate etc. So with an alignment from Pep Boys I would’ve been around $ 830 total. A $ 100 mistake in going to Meineke, lesson learned!
I took my 85 CJ7 to Pep Boys today because I have a mysterious phantom grinding noise that I haven’t been able to pinpoint. The noise could not be summoned in any way, it just randomly occurred at lower speeds. The shop mechanic at my place of employment had rode along with me and diagnosed the noise as my rear drum brakes. I agreed with him because his logic made sense and my parking brake is attached to the rear brakes and doesn’t work. The noise and the broken parking brake seemed to indicate there was something rattling around in the drum. Considering drum brakes are an enigma and out of my capabilities, I knew Pep Boys would be a good option. Pep Boys could not summon the noise and upon inspecting the brakes found no issues. In spite of the labor they invested, they didn’t charge me anything! They considered it a brake diagnosis and chalked it up as a free service! I have suspicions that the grinding could be coming from the differential, something they also confirmed as a possible cause. They told me transmissions and differentials were out of their scope and if I could pinpoint the noise to one of those I’d have to go somewhere else to get the work done. Although I’m disappointed I’ll still temporarily be haunted by the phantom noise, I’m glad I now have a place I can depend on to be straight with me on what my cars need and how much it will cost.

Pep boys is my last resort for an oil change. The waiting area isnt really set up for customers. They just expect you to drop of your car and come back I suppose.
They just have so much going on that you never seem to have anny personal interaction with the staff there. There is always someone new working as tech writer, and they just dont sem to care.

We’ve taken our car there several times (2001 Buick) they provide us a military discount (for my father). We have a rapport with them and they have done satisfactory work.
I saw some reviews said they were ripped off and they were incompetent. I feel your frustration. We’ve had previous mechanic (not Pep Boys) recommend repairs that weren’t necessary. It’s helpful to have CarMD to see what repairs you actually need. It saves money from them having to check on their computer.
Also, we did have problems with some repairs going array (–1), for example the spark plugs they replaced went bad, and a brake pad, too. They replaced it free of charge (plus labor) due to being in the warrant period. Check your paperwork because they do keep a history of the repairs they do in their computer, and many of them have a warranty period – if the part goes bad during that period they’ll give you another one for free and charge just the labor. We got new tires and rims with an extra warranty. Two days latter we got a nail in the tire they replaced it for free (no labor charge).
I also noticed that they don’t try to screw you too bad on the labor as other places try such as Firestone, the dealership, or Mr. Tire. They charge you an arm and a leg! We consider their labor charges fair – not too high and not too low.
As for elderly people or military people, DO request your discount. They will give it to you. Also to Mansor and Robert — if their representative seems «incompetent» or «going on a shopping spree» I would highly recommend to speak with the mechanic boss. They have one that is ahead of all of them. If you feel you’re being cheated that’s the best way to fix it. Also, if you run your CarMD report, you will know approximately how much the repair will cost before you even step into their store.

Convinced my elderly mother that she needed rotors when did not. Then she left her credit card on the reception desk (shes kinda senile), which an employee and his «homiez» went on a shopping spree with. She was robbed twice in one night! The police are looking into this, apparently whoever was in charge destroyed the security tape.

Last winter (and yeah, I’m just getting around to writing this review – don’t worry, the events leading up to this were so traumatic that I have a crystal clear memory of this experience), when the hood of our car decided to divorce the body while my husband was driving down the freeway, we had to buy a new car on the fly. We ended up getting a car that… well, needed a bit of work. It test-​drove okay, but we noticed it was having some issues (AFTER we bought it, of course). We suspected that the alternator had gone out on it. Being largely unfamiliar with Columbus mechanics, since my hubs was fairly new to town and I didn’t drive much while living here before, we took it to Pep Boys because it’s a chain that he trusted.
At first, we were annoyed because we were waiting a pretty long time to hear about the car. Then our mechanic, Dennis, came out and explained that, not only had our alternator gone out, the actual computer had corroded. I would have thought he was trying to take us for a ride (heh heh, car puns), but he brought out the computer from the car – sure enough, there was a good bit of corrosion around the prongs that connected the computer to the car. Although this was putting a considerably larger strain on our finances, we were glad as hell that he showed us that; as it turns out, the corroded computer was causing the alternator to burn out far faster than it naturally would have done. Had Dennis not gone into the works of the car to really diagnose the problem, we might have been replacing alternators right and left, if not completely ruining the engine. IIRC, replacing the alternator was about $ 400, so that would have been quite the ongoing expense if we burned through a few more.
The guys at Pep Boys also managed to find a used computer to put into the car, which saved us a considerable amount of money. I think the grand total for the work was about $ 1000, although it could have been double that with a brand-​new computer. The work was done within a couple of days; most of the wait was waiting for them to obtain the part.
As far as the mechanics at Pep Boys go, we only worked with Dennis; however, he was a straight-​shooter and very thorough. We know enough about cars to know that he wasn’t trying to tack on extra services that weren’t needed, and indeed, by bringing that to our attention, he saved us a lot of future expense and headache. Since then, we haven’t had any problems whatsoever with our alternator, our battery, or the computer. I guess this is one advantage to writing this review so late – I have been able to observe the car since then and know that the problem was actually repaired ^_^