Merchant’s Tire & Auto Centers

Dishonest and deceitful practices here. Avoid this place. I was charged for an oil change but never got one. Outrageous price on tire replacement. When it was discovered that we knew there was no oil change, we were told to come in the following day so they could repair a so-​called «oil leak» at no charge. This took longer than promised and impacted a planned business trip. I am totally disgusted and will never come here again. Should get ZERO stars!

I would rate them zero stars but I don’t know how to do that. The people are nice enough but they constantly try to sell things that I didn’t need. I got an estimate for $ 668 on Wednesday, go in on Friday morning and the new manager says «Oh wait. We have to do alignment in order to get this offer.» Then adds $ 145 to the price. I needed a single tire valve stem repaired and they insisted that I needed 4 tires for my SUV. They wanted to change me to reset my TPMS. I asked «why do I have to pay when you’re the ones who are messing with it? It works fine now.»
If you have other options please use them. This merchants is more about up selling than giving the customer what they need.
They continued to insist that I needed 4 new tires even though I kept telling them that the two this in the from of the car were new.
Needless to say I took my business elsewhere. Got the valve stem installed for $ 25, at the tire repair spot on Lanham Severn across from the 7-​Eleven. Took 30 minutes.

esterday, around 3pm I found out that my car would not start. Come to find out it was just the battery and Merchants was close by and said as long as I was there before 8 pm that they could change it out for me. I waited for my roadside assistant guy (unaffiliated with Merchant’s) and he was supposed to come around 6:20. He did not arrive until 7:40 leaving me no time what so ever to get to the store. Luckily for me my mom was already there and purchased the battery. It was around 7:58 and they said that I could still come in. I was so grateful that they stayed until 930 pm to change my battery! (I have a VW beetle and it is very complicated to change the battery. I know this for a fact. Everything on this car is complicated)
TLDR; I was very VERY appreciative that these guys took the time to stay super late to change the battery on my baby! The employees, Jose, Charlies and Tim were outstanding and turned a crappy day into a great one!

Wow wish I would have checked Unilocal first like another person mentioned. Arrived at 930am and was told to make an appointment. Okay so I made an appointment for 2pm. Dropped my car off on time and was told to come back in an hour. I came back at 430pm just to be told there was an Avalon still on there. Like WTH so if I would have waited would that have a made a difference probably not. In any case I took my keys and bounced making sure to grab a business card so I contact the regional offices and file a complaint. Something has to be done.

This place needs to be shut down or go on an hiring spree. How do you have 1 mechanic yes you read correctly ONE mechanic working. Dropped the car off for tire installation about 2:30 and here we are at 5:43 and no movement. While having one Mechanic he’s out talking like there’s no one waiting for their vehicle. Come on people you must do better. Now I feel like it will be piss poor because your going to try to rush now that we are sitting here watching you. All the money you put out for satisfactory work and it’s piss poor. Cooperate will be contacted. This is crazy. Now I’m stuck and I have to rely on someone else to pick up my child and take her to school. This receives ZERO stars in reality.

Will never ever return to this place, they are the worst, they have no value for repeat customers, they don’t want to retain business, I bought 4 tires in January, 3 days ago, right front tire got busted and I had to take it back to replace it. They wanted to charge too much for insallation, the tire cost me 149, with installation and balancing they wanted to charge me about 190, $ 40 to install a tire on a vehicle, for a 10 min job, I didn’t know Mechanics got paid that much, Going to a big name store, people assume you got better customer service and cheaper price then other stores. But this particular location is horrible, for any minor thing you go there for repair, it takes close to about 3 hrs before you can get out of that place.
Don’t go to this store, the staff is horrible, take your money and business some place else.

Never been to a car repair shop so unorganized and staff so unknowledgeable about cars. I tires bought from tire rack and brought them to the shop to be put on. Long story short they put my tires on wrong. Small tires in the back and larger tires in the front. Along with that much attitude about what I should of told them. I could tell the whole story but not worth my time. Never going back again. Ever. If I could rate a zero I would. Don’t take your car there. Please!

When I came in there were not any cars on the alignment machine. They said they would take my car back right away. Needless to say I waited two hours for an alignment. This place is always slow. It’s always a problem and it takes a long time.

I had a brake problem with my rear brakes, which they fixed, but they also replaced perfectly good front brake pads. The other time I had tires replaced, the work was fine.

First off… should have checked Unilocal first but I figured I would merchants a chance and I paid for it… came in for a basic oil change to end up waiting a hour and a half to find out they only had 1 filter and not 2 which was needed for my car. I forgot to mention I was in the merchants the entire time… If this place does not take the time to inform someone about missing parts for an oil change… I can’t imagine what would happen for a major job

Without a doubt this is the most miserable place in the world to get your car serviced. We purchased new tires from there just over a year ago. My wife went back there because we purchased the road hazard protection for all four new tires and she found a nail in one of her tires. Instead of a warranty replacement or repair she was offered TWO tires to replace the one that needed to be fixed (for additional cost) They claimed the tires we purchased were no longer available and we needed a more expensive model. By the way we had a second defective tire we were not aware of and it would have been a safety issue to not replace it, according to them. I was out of town at the time but spoke with the sales person over the phone. He was extremely rude and I did not feel comfortable allowing my wife to leave after they had taken the car in the back to inspect it. Against our better judgement, we allowed them to replace both tires and we agreed to never go there again. You shouldn’t go there either. I would give this place a –1 if it existed.

Never again! I made an appointment to go in at 11 am. I arrived and they said I didn’t have an appointment. I dropped my car off and didn’t get it back until around 7:30. But now I have to go back because when I brake. It makes this clicking noise. So I definitely won’t be going back to that location ever again.

Believe the other reviews, this place is not worth your business. I went in for the oil change package. When I go to a new place I always mark my oil filter and my tires to make sure they actually do it. They were supposed to change the oil, the filter, rotate the tires, and balance the tires. I should’ve checked when I was in the parking lot, but I was in a hurry so I didn’t check till I got home.
I checked my tires, and the marks were on the tires as I had left them — they never rotated the tires. So I checked the oil filter, and sure enough there was my mark again. I called and was told it was their mistake and that I could bring it in again and the manager would personally oversee the service.
Too late I give these places one chance to earn future business. At least they refunded my money.

Visit 1– ordered special set of tires and made an appointment over the phone. Arrived and they did not have my tires or appointment. Desk guy made a few calls and job was finished next day.
Visit 2– arrived at 3. Told 5:30. Now 7:20. Gave up on half the job (tire balance/​rotation).
Will not be back.

They filled my tires for free.

I’m here waiting for my tire to get patched. Service was rude (she didn’t give me her name, but she’s got a lip ring). I was not greeted, she seemed to be annoyed that I’m here. Was told it would be 45 mins… 2 hours later, I’m still here and waiting. So are all the people who were here before me. No wi-fi’s not helping, either.
Assuming that the repair is perfect (got my fingers crossed) this place would get 1.5 stars. Given that I can’t rate it 1.5 stars, and doubting perfection, I’m going with 1.

I’ll second the first review that this place is not worth your business. I did not check Unilocal before going here for my second service.
The first service was an oil change and I believe an alignment. I selected them because they are near my work so I could drop it off and walk back to the office minimizing the impact on my life since I live in the district and taking time off for an oil change isn’t worth the sacrifice of my life!
Anyhow, first service was fine. Unmemorable.
For Christmas this year we were driving to Michigan and the car was ready for an oil change so I figured it was good to take in to make sure all was working well before the 12 hour drive (one way).
For some reason the folks up front are never quick at dealing with you or what they are doing. You expect something if you are standing there… with no one else in the building… something like «I’ll be right with you… I need a couple of minutes to finish the previous customer, etc…» but instead nothing but uncomfortable silence. If this was all it wouldn’t be a big deal.
So I ask for an oil change for a high mileage car. He told me they could do it and have it ready at 2PM. Worked great for me since I needed to leave work by 3:30PM.
Ready for it? 2PM comes and goes. I decided if I hadn’t heard from them by 3 I would call. 2:55PM he calls to tell me they did an analysis of my fluids and everything needed to be changed, plus the alignment needed to be repeated, air filter and a light bulb on my license plate. All told it would be close to $ 700! I was already thinking your crazy but hadn’t said anything so the guy continued recommending a sub set of those things (conveniently the easiest ones where they pour a bottle of something into your oil or transmission fluid etc). So you are recommending two different things? Obviously you didn’t believe your first recommendation because then you recommended less. I remember my dad (always worried about getting ripped off) told me about unscrupulous mechanics that wouldn’t even change out the oil filter because it saved them money and most people wouldn’t check (me included… of course now I’m worried about that but have no way to confirm). I told the guy on the phone no and I’ll be over to pick it up.
I got the car and paid the originally agreed to amount and left. Don’t we all wish that was the end of it?
Yeah… no…
In doing their comprehensive analysis of all my fluids they seemed to miss that my wiper fluid was empty. This made me highly doubt they checked anything! The next day on my way out of town we checked the tire pressure. They were all at ¹⁄₃ of their rating (now the fact they are low is my fault). So they «checked» my alignment and did a complete analysis of the car and missed these two cheap almost free things?
Definitely go somewhere else… they even have me considering a return to using dealers, which I was brought up to avoid at all costs!

if are a woman, DO NOT GO HERE.
if you are a man, DO NOT GO HERE.
if you own a car, DO NOT GO HERE.
DO NOT PATRONIZE THIS ESTABLISHMENT. THEY ARE CROOKS.
this is what happens when you go somewhere for service b/​c:
a) you are in a pinch and need it now
b) you saw it on the side of the road and are in a pinch and need it now
c) you can’t reach any of your friends who could recommend something — ANYTHING — better, you saw it on the side of the road and are in a pinch and need it now
d) A, B, and C + you haven’t discovered Unilocal yet
e) ALL OF THE ABOVE
so…clearly, my answer was E. and i roll on up to merchants, hoping for the best [but forgetting to plan for/​expect the worst]. mistake #1. or #6 if you count A through E. this was the situation:
i have a 17-​year old, but in good condition car that i saved when i bought my newish car that i now drive. i saved the old[er] car b/​c i figured i could give it to the offspring when he was of age and responsibility. it’s a very good, safe car, and i figured it’d be a great first car for the boy. (and really, what FREE and RUNNING car isn’t a great first car for a teenager, right?!) after over a year of neglect and sitting out in the elements, i decide it’s time to give old girl a little TLC even though it’s still not time for the boy to drive her yet.
we start with a jump. okay, several jumps. after the 5^th or 6^th one, we manage to drive the car futher than ½ block w/​o it dying. eventually we get it running enough to drive around the neighborhood. we drive around the neighbohood for most of the afternoon and decide we will go get some basics (new wipers, fuel injector, oil change, etc) the next day — sunday — so my neice can drive it while she’s here. it sounded like a good plan, especially since she had some important stuff to do monday and tuesday. like, job interviews important.
well…who knew so many auto places are closed on sundays? i really had no idea. i thought sunday was THE car repair day. but maybe that’s just for people who do it in their front yards/​driveways. so, after a few more jumps, bravely setting out onto the main roads, and 4 or 5 failed attempts at getting some service for old girl, we pass merchants and — hallelujah! — they are open and can take us right then. that should’ve been a clue. you know, like when you walk into an otherwise busy salon and there is one stylist w/​o any clients, happy to take you for a wash, cut and blowout that winds up a disaster? yeah, like that. but i didn’t connect the dots. *sigh*
i go back and forth with the mediocre but friendly intake guy at the front desk — him explaining all the levels of service to me and trying to upsell me with every explanation, me explaining to him that this is an old clunker and i just want to give it a little TLC/​get it back up to driveable, not pimp my ride. we settle on the 2^nd to cheapest service level and i tell him that there is a possibility it might need to be jumped to move it into the service bay if they don’t get to it before too long. «that’s fine,» says mr. mediocre, and neice and i leave with their promises to call us in a few hours when it’s ready.
imagine my surprise when my cell phone rings only 20 minutes later. and i need another word, much stonger than ‘surprise’, to describe my feelings about what happened next. the caller was not mr. mediocre, but a mechanic from the back, who started telling me how much the battery they were going to add to my service ticket would be. WHAT! EXCUSE ME? i am not getting a battery, i’m getting an oil change and a couple other smal things. «oh, but your car won’t start and we need to put a battery in it to get it into the service bay.» the hell you do. you’re an AUTO CENTER. jump my car. «sorry, we can’t do that. you’ll have to buy a battery.» really? REALLY? you’re an auto center who can’t jump a car? i find that hard to believe b/​c my non-​car-​knowing self and my itsy bitsy neice jumped the car to get it there. and mr. mediocre from your front desk said it was fine. and i’m not as stupid as you may think i am, mr. mechanic, and i’m DEFINITELY not buying a $ 200 battery for an 17-​year-​old car!
he continued on, trying to smooth-​talk me into the battery and explaining the other things they were «thinking of adding» to my service. oh, hells no! i ripped him a new one and told him not to lay a single grubby finger on my automobile and that i would be there within MINUTES to pick it up. and i was. and i let mr. front desk know what his back shop men were up to. then neice and i went out to the car and jumped it, while mr. mechanic, sneering at us, watched. the car started right up and we took off, never to return. freaking crooks. pfftt!