Express Tire Auto Service Centers

So it happened. I was across the street in the car wash googling what type of replacement car battery I would need since the battery light just came on. Then my car wouldn’t start hehe. Luckily express tires were across the street and went above and beyond to help me out. Calen Leyko helped me push my car out of the wash and went back and forth to check, jump start, and reinstall my new battery thank you so much!!!

Got here and asked if they had my tires in stock and they said they did. Then when I’m inside they tell me that they are being sent from another store and should be there in a little bit. I’ve been here over 2 hours sitting and trying to be sold up on $ 2000 worth of garbage I don’t need. So the «we have the tires» wasn’t true because I waited over 2 hours for them to be delivered from 10 miles away in Escondido. Had to listen to Doctor Oz on the TV the whole time and I had to watch the fake ficus gather dust on the dilapidated water cooler. After everything they said they needed to order a windshield blade from Escondido again. I left. Save yourself, please.

$ 120 to check engine diagnostics! They explained that they run a full engine check and the guy was cool about it, but seriously $ 120. Just let me use your basic engine check reader

Do yourself a favor and go to discount tire. This place is overpriced and they only care about making money. They’re like salesman. I don’t trust them. They’re online prices differ from their prices in store.
Also they wouldn’t give my car an oil change when I was running low on oil. You lost a customer and I’m telling everyone I know not to come here! Discount tires professionalism and prices blow express tire out of the park.

Went here to get a flat fixed. The guy came out and told me that he had some good news and bad news… Of course. I figured my tire would have to be replaced not repaired due to location of the nail in my tire. They took me out to my car which was on the rack and proceeded to show me a bunch of white markings on all my tires which looked like someone just randomly marked on the tires. Based on these Markings the guy said my shocks and struts on my Avalon needed to be replaced. He also said my original tires with the nail in it had TWO nails (I only saw one). They said for 1500 dollars they would do the replacement of shocks and struts. I told them I just wanted to replace my tire with the nail in it. The guy agreed, however 5 minutes later another guy came out and attempted to get me to replace all my tires along with my struts and shocks despite my previous request to replace the ONE tire. This guy proceed to sit down next to me, while almost begging me to complete all the repairs. They also attempted to get me to sign up for a credit card to make payments. I noticed a trend while waiting. It seemed that every costumer waiting had some sort of unexpected repair that needed to be done. The guys at the front desk just seemed to be sleazy in their approach to get the customers to spend more money. Following my replacement of my tires my car started making a loud thumping sound. I took it to my mechanic and they said someone may have tampered with the emergency brake which was causing the loud noise. Now I’m not saying that express tires did this as this is a serious allegation, but I think it’s weird that it happened after they replaced my tire and wouldn’t complete the other repairs. I was also told by my mechanic to never get tires replaced at places like this because the mechanics don’t make any money for replacing tires. The real money is on the major maintenance (shocks and struts)… Anyway, just be cautious when you take your car here.

I went to Express for über inspection and 4 new tires, that i knew i needed. my car passed inspection. They gave me a list of items that were about due for replacment (shocks etc] and
cost to do. No pressure, no dire predictions.
My guess about previous bad reviews is that there has been some turnover in management/​employees ??

It was my first experience here and most likely I’ll be back. A young man named Julian helped me that day. He offered me many options and prices to choose from which was very helpful since I had really no clue what to do. Everyone including the front desk people were friendly. They get pretty busy so I would suggest to call in to see how long the wait would be. I was really satisfied with the price of my new tires. Especially that they gave me the promotion they were having without me even knowing about it. Thanks guys.

The staff here is extremely friendly, honest, and go above and beyond for each customer, while doing great mechanical work.
I went in just to have a simple Über inspection and they helped me find a part I can get straight from the dealer at no cost after calling to verify my warranty for me.
This is definitely where I plan on giving my business to when in need.

I am writing an update because now I am more logical and not emotional. I am hoping some people reading this review can learn from it.
There were two mishaps that resulted in nearly 4 thousand dollars of repairs from me.
The first mishap was the guy selling me front brakes when I didn’t need any. Priuses only use their front brakes from 5 mph to 0 mph. They are typically replaced at a 140K miles plus. Mine were sold to me to pass my über inspection at 80k miles. This was unethical behavior on their part to make the sales quota and it would have been fine except for the second mishap: they didn’t bleed the brake system correctly. (they need a scanner for the computer connected to the actuator in the braking system) There was too much air in the brake system and it broke my actuator. You need a scanner to bleed the brakes correctly on a Prius. They didn’t have one. If you are going to make the sale, do it right. This sequence of two mishaps cost me thousands.
So because of these two events I had to buy a new actuator which is a 3.4 thousand dollar repair. This is after spending 280 on the aftermarket brakes, 250 at toyota to bleed them correctly, and 100 on a mechanic I trust to clean all the braking parts. All to work for über.
I normally go to my mechanic but they said «replace your front brakes and we will pass you right now.» I take full responsibility for getting ripped off. Most of the guys there are good guys just trying to survive. They just don’t have the technology or the knowledge to truly fix your car. The mechanics aren’t paid much and are most likely driven by sales commission just to be able to make a decent pay check. The manager probably has conference calls about sales numbers and motivating employees from his district manager on a weekly basis. The end result of focus on the numbers? A forced sale on a service that couldn’t be done correctly on a customer’s car costing the customer 4 thousand dollars.
As an update when I brought it in with my broken actuator there was a friendly guy there who told them to repair my tire for free. They repaired the tire and also cleaned all my brake parts. But by this time, it was too late. The actuator was broken. The guy who sold me the brakes initially and the sales manager were avoiding eye contact and sullen.
Hopefully someone getting their car inspected for UBER can learn from this situation. Going there with a Prius cost me 4K. Bottom line. Have a normal not-​so-​high-​tech car? Maybe their services will do you just fine. They will still try to sell you stuff you don’t need.

Unbelievable. Took my car in for an Über inspection last week and they told me I had a bad control arm bushing and I needed to replace 2 tires, about $ 450.00 in repairs and tires before I would pass the inspection. They wanted to do the repairs there but I said I wanted to have my regular guy look at the car. You should have seen the panic on the guys face. I new something was up. Sure enough, my guy said everything was a ok. I went to another location of Express Tire and I passed the inspection without a hitch. Be careful. I definitely won’t be going back there and will never recommend this location.

So called ahead after Costco said they would have to special order my tires. One of the fellas said they could get them in a couple hours at Express. Like many of us, I have one day to get everything done in the week. When I left my car, I got a call 10 min later saying I may need 4 instead of 2 tires… yeah I know. always the upsell. I told them I would get the 2^nd pair in a couple of weeks. Mike offered a great deal (@$ 150 less than Costco), and I said go for it.
They removed the other 2 tires to find they had already began to seperate. Upon review of the tires, it was splitting. I drive 90 miles round trip each day, and who knows how long they would last…1…2 days!!! Also with the Hyundai Veloster, there is no spare. so this saved me. Thanks Mike and team. much appreciated. (try to have someone pick you up, since they are a bit busy on Sunday afternoons. .)

This place likes to take advantage that they are one of the few tire places open on a Sunday. They overcharge and than try to justify their prices. Avoid!

Brand new front shop team great attitude and fantastic back shop technicians. My new place for my vehicles. Mike, Tom and Alex rock.

Bottom Line Upfront: This shop is everything you could want out of your mechanic!
This past two weeks has been a car nightmare for our family. Our Rav-​4 died and needed a new engine. The shop I had it towed to quoted us a decent price. We held off to weigh our options (junk it, repair, etc).
One week later my honda engine starts to misfire. I took the honda in to ET San Marcos as it is close to me. They looked at the vehicle and diligently troubleshot the issue, eventually taking care of it. While I was at the shop, I mentioned my Rav-​4 issue. They told me they could beat the quote I was given and to bring the Rav-​4 in as well.
Not only did the replace the engine for almost 1K cheaper, but after much research, Manager Mike C. was able to find me an engine with 50k less miles than what my original engine had.
Also their customer service is awesome! At first I was wary of this as a tactic that shops use to squeeze money out of people. After dealing with them for the past few weeks, I realized, for them its not about money, it is about building relationships which ultimately build business.
Alex was awesome and took care of me. Communication was great start to finish. Manager Mike Courtney was stellar and ensured they stayed within the already awesome quote they gave me.

STAY AWAY
Brought my car in for tires and they noticed a leak. If I did the repairs right away they would discount it $ 150 andthe cost would only be $ 2200 for a new radiator, belt and hoses. However I decided to get a second opinion and Iit was a leaky O ring which was fixed for $ 69 and the problem solved.
In addition the quote for the new tires was misleading as it did not include the cost to install them which was an extra $ 60 plus. I looked at my previous tire bill from them from a few years ago and there was no charge to put them on.

I showed up 30 minutes before they closed and they got me in right away! Although it was not the friendliest service I’ve ever received, I very pleased with the speed and efficiency of my flat tire repair! Also they did not charge me a penny

Had a flat tire on vacation. My hotel called this place and they were able to get me in right away. They fixed my tire and I was able to get back on the road!

2 hour wait for balance and rotation? Bad tired not covered by tire insurance because their insurance doesn’t cover non-​repairable damage? I’ll stick with Discount Tires in the future for all my tire needs… This place is awful

Took my car to this place to check my suspension. They wanted to charge me 700 $ to fix suspension. I decided to check prices at other places .Was able to find shop which fixed suspension for 300 $ .
P. S. they broke door handle, promised to fix it, but did not keep promise. Contacted them 2 times, every time they promised that manager would contact me to take care of broken door handle, but manager never called me back.
Before taking your car to this place, check other shops, i am sure you will be able to find cheaper price

Boy, things have changed here. I didn’t recognize anyone except for Clint. He has been here a while, and from what I gather from other Unilocaler’s, he’s the manager.
In the past (and I’ve been here several times), I was greeted the instant I parked my car. They usually made small talk with me but I was in and out quickly. I’ve never been spoken down to there (and we know mechanics do that to women!), and things have always been explained to me in great detail. Once, they even pulled my tired BACK OFF the car to show me exactly what they were talking about. They always paid attention to details, referring to me by my first name, making sure I knew my car was ready, pulling the car up to the office door, and literally handing me the keys.
This time was different. When I parked my car, I was practically in the office before anyone approached me. The rep (Joey) repeatedly misstated the model of my car (even after being corrected) and also listed it incorrectly on the paperwork. My last name is mispelled (he didn’t copy it correctly from their system). Then, he tries to sell me an oil change that is twice the cost of what I really want. He quotes me an hour then I signed the form that said 11:50pm pick up– mind you, I pulled up at 10:35, so I left the office at 10:50. Yes, it took 15 minutes to check in. I don’t know about you, but that seems like a lot of wasted time. Then he says to me.“If we find something that needs to be fixed besides the oil change, should we call you or someone else?”. What a weird question and honestly, it came off a bit sexist. It’s my car. I know what needs to be fixed.
I returned back at 11:30 and knew I had another 20 minutes. Ok… no problem. Jason comes over to me at 11:44, tells me the car will be ready in 5 minutes– «he’s just torquing the tires».
In those 5 minutes, my kid watched two youtube videos totaling 12 minutes before the car was actually ready. After paying, Jason never handed me my keys and i kept waiting for them to pull the car up. He did hand me the paperwork with a list of ‘recommendations’ but never actually told me…“Here’s what we recommended”. Yeah, good luck reading that writing. In the past, they have verbally told me what needed to be done in addition to writing it down.
I swear, no lie… it was a good ten minutes before I left from this point. I walked over to my car (thinking they left the keys in the ignition), nope. back to the office, Jason’s on the phone… and there is no one else around to help me.
Finally, he’s off the phone and I said.“I need my keys. I can’t leave here. I feel like I’ve been here way longer than necessary for an oil change”.
And he says.“It hasn’t been that long”…and then sheepishly apologizes. Really? I was promised the car by 11:50 and it was 12:10. It’s not just the time, it’s everything else. The car wasn’t pulled up, I was never given my keys, they actually never even told me the car was done. If I wasn’t watching, I could’ve sat there for 30 minutes waiting.
Will I return? I have 3000 miles to figure it out.