PEP BOYS SUCKS

[socialdefect0r]

i decided to have the front shocks on my 1993 olds cutlass supreme replaced to improve drivability they are a very simple job not worth paying several hundred dollars to be replaced. ($ 300 + ) they can be done with the car still on the ground. this W body GM model has "Strut cartridges" you take of the top plate under the hood remove the top nut, two rubber bump stops and then remove the cap on the cartridge housing. After they were replaced I noticed a Loud Knocking coming from the passenger side strut. I returned the next morning to the Pep boys I had install the cartridges and waited 3 hours before I finally asked what was going on and if they were even working on my car and then was shown by the service rep the the cap on the housing was completely striped out.

 

The service manager was clueless as to how to remedy the problem. saying that it was most likely the age of the strut housing. and which time i asked why they would have continued to install new cartridges the day before if they knew the housing was no good? if i had been told this i would have been happy to pay a diagnostic fee, and left the old cartridges in the car.

 

now i had already spent $ 300 plus dollars on cartridges that will do me no good, as the performance of the side with the striped cap was poor. what a waste of my money. he and other service managers kept scratching there heads trying to figure out where they could get another cap, i came to find out later that new caps come in the box with the new struts. not that it would have made any difference seeing as the strut housing tube threads were also striped out serverly.

 

i was told at this time by Pual the service manager that i would have to get a whole new Spring assembly from a junk yard that had good threads inside the tube and he would do me the favor of installing the spring assembly for only 100$ even though the list was 200$ for the labor of this type which includes removing the ball joint and outer tie rods as well as swapping the wheel bearings feeling as though now i had now choice if i wanted to safely drive my car at this point i spent many hours locating a spring assembly at a local junk yard. i found out that there are over 10 different spring rates of these types of assembles and there was no chance of find the exactly same springs. indeed the spring was a stiffer one. i came back to paul two weeks later. i get paid bi weekly . and the car had been sitting in my drive way for two weeks with out being driving. causing me to find alternative transportation to work.

 

after paying 75$ for the new spring assembly and dropping it off with paul with the car. I instructed him to reuse the original spring. he said no problem. i came back two hours later and found that the original spring and assembly was on the shop floor in pieces. And the junk yard strut already installed. i asked the mechanic working on the car Jason if he had swapped the springs and he said yes. and that the original strut assembly fell apart when he tried to take it out. that is a lie the only way the spring could have come apart is if he had incorrectly removed the top nut. which doesn't need to be removed to take out the assbemly. after raising the car in this fashion the spring would have indeed shot out from under the wheel well and caused unknown damage to the other suspension parts as it has a large amount of force. i saw the new strut cartridge i had purchased two week prior sitting on his work table and asked him if he had planed on putting that back in to the car seeing as i just paid them 300$ for the cartridges. At which time he acted unsure as though he had never been told to put it back in and said he would need to ask Paul the service manager. IM sure if i hadn't been there it never would have put back in. i watched him put in the new cartridge and check the strut assembly i had them put in to make sure that the threads were in perfect condition which they were. and with original OEM struts as though the cap had never been taken off before. he went into to parts area and got a new housing cap. and installed the new strut and new cap on the perfect condition used spring assembly. Cost 100$ for pep boys labor and 75$ for the part.

 

 

seemed like the nightmare was finally over. after returning home i checked the old parts that i still have because i requested to keep them. only to find that the spring was the original spring that was on my car and it had never been swapped. i now had two unmatched spring rates in the front. feeling disgusted at all this. i now had to go back to the junk yard and get the matching spring assembly and i have it put in on the drivers side and needless to say i didn't bother having Pep boys do it. i am still scared to even drive the car as now the cartridge pep boys put into the SECOND spring assembly is KNOCKING again as though the cap is striped again. i have come to the conclusion the the IMPACT WRENCH that was used by both mechanics at pep boys is why the cap was stripped out twice.The repair Manual i have recommends use a Hand Ratchet to secure the cap.

 

i called paul today to ask him what in the world im going to do now because i have to GET ANOTHER spring assembly from a junk yard and have THE SPRING SWAPPED THIS TIME and start all over! AND who is going to pay for all this???!!! He said that since i have had another place work on the car that he wouldnt work on it now . HOWEVER they did not touch anything on the passenger side so the doesnt even apply.He told me that i was not a priority because he has to many customers and discouraged me from watching them take the housing apart. saying he doesn't have the time to deal with this.

 

i would like the car to be repaired CORRECTLY with no cost to me PROMPTLY! or be refuneded the cost of have the spring assembly put in. i have talked to Pep boys Customer service and i am attempting to contact you, the regional manager to resolve this lack of workmanship.

 

If this is not resolved i will be filing complaints with the Connecticut Department Of Motor Vehicles, Better business bureau, and as many web site forums and news papers, and potential future customs as i can.

 

 

 

 

COMPLETELY UNSTATISFIYED CUSTOMER

[joey b]

I had a problem with pepboys and their poor quotes and slow service 5 years back. They are horrible, untrustworthy, and will rape you. I have had my car in a shop since then, but I will never again go back to pepboys.

THEY SUCK

[92 GP]

you described the steps on how to install stuff, why not do it yourself?

 

Saves you SHIT LOADS of cash

SHIT LOADS of stress

and when people say "hey nice ride", knowing YOU installed it...goddamn it's such a good feeling!

[19Cutlass94]

Thats why up at NAPA, we only sell the parts

 

But at least you know not to go back there anymore

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

This is exactly why I just did them myself...

 

Tool from Autozone...costs ~$80 to rent and you get it all back if nothing is broken (prorated if you do)

 

Monroe Gasmatics are ~$56/pair...i feel that they are much better than the stock struts...have not driven a car with the KYB GR2's but i can say these perform well.

 

Took me about 2 hours to change them from start to finish...I've gone a couple thousand miles already and they are great. Not bad for $56!

 

That's the best part about these cars...the struts are super easy to change (front or rear)...I've done 1 set of fronts and 3 sets of rears (the rears were all different cars), and it really has been easy.

 

The only thing I have ever paid someone to do on this car is change out the multi-function switch because I didn't want to mess with the air bag and didn't have the lock plate remover, or the time to mess with it.

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

Also, another note is that the threaded piece that holds the cartrage in needs a spanner tool....they probably didn't have the right tool for the job.

[Brian P]

call the 1-800 number again. Have you told them everything you said in this post?

[Pabz]

You dont need an impact tool to install these or anything for that matter!! I only use impacts to dissasemble stuff. Do PEP BOYS know how to use a torque wrench?? I have done this many times, Never stripped nothing, thats why there are torque specs for all cars.

[GutlessSupreme]

I hate Pepboys. they've screwed over a good handful of people I know.. fortunetly I can do all my own work so I don't have to deal with these idiots they have in the garages

[Canada]

Just think.....if you would of taken it to a GM dealership, it would of been done right.

[White93z34]

Just think.....if you would of taken it to a GM dealership, it would of been done right.

 

very very true, i would trust a dealership tech far before the highschool dropouts that work at pepboys.

 

that said, it sounds as if you know the process on how to change the struts, so why not have done it yourself in the first place. one of my cars has only ONCE graced pepboys garage, and that was to repair a nail in my tire on the camaro, i sat and watched and fliped shit on the kid that went to lift the car by the pinch weld on the rocker. when i did my time at a shop there was not a single time where i ever did that.

 

also its a VERY VERY rare occasion that someone else aside of me does work to my car i think i can count twice in 4-5 years now. fact is certin cars require specific procesures to get things done, and oh so many times a "tech" dosen't have a single clue on how to do it.

[Smoke1991]

i work at pepboys...

 

im a service writer, i got 2 good techs, and the rest of them suck... if this job came to my store it would of been done right, it just sucks when people that dont know shit have a important job like this, it ruins all of our good names.

 

yes it is imbarising to tell people, yah im in the auto repair business, yah.... at pepboys.... people dont take them seriously. hell i dont, it just pays the bills.

[gp90se]

My suggestion, this is where you need to play dirty. Start by going back in with a quote from a DELCO certified mechanic (dealer or mechanic) to have everything repaired correctly, but go in yelling and screaming. Demand to see a manager, district manager, whoever holds the most power around there. The car is no longer drivable due to their shotty work, why would you let them attempt to fix it again? Threaten lawsuit, see if there is a video record of the work done to your car. I had a breaker bar and 3' extension pipe when I tightened mine and didn't strip it out, so air gun is the only way that the tube would be stripped out.

 

You are going to be in for a good fight, but you will win. Keep going up and up in the corporate chain until you hear "we will pay to have your car fixed" and its PUT IN WRITING!

 

Best of luck man, next time you need work done 2 the car, put up a post and offer a 30 rack, I'm sure someone local 2 ya will come out and help ya out.

[Hairdo12]

:withstupid:

Get it in writing from another shop that they screwed up and then sue the fuck out of them. Thats how you pay for their mistake. Chances are they will settle and will pay for repairs. Keep all your records. I hate pep boys period. No offence to the guy here working at Pep Boys, but I wouldnt trust them to pump up my bike tire. Add the IQ up of the guys who work at the Hamburg store and you might equal 1 point higher than mentally retarded.