Pep Boys

After the service in May, the moment I drove off the lot, the "Check Engine" light came on again; I assumed they'd simply forgotten to reset it, and so ignored it. Not the case. Unrelated to that, though, the car began stalling out and dying last week (in January 2014), so Iand mdash;with some luckand mdash;drove it despite its dying and having to be restarted (a bunch of times) back to Pep Boys. It turned out that the "Check Engine" light had come on, according to the code, because of the knock sensor (one or both). For one thing, it's always a bit suspicious when something *completely new* goes wrong IMMEDIATELY after a mechanical service. Right? The service-desk guy at Pep Boys asked for my permission to replace the knock sensors, and quoted me $1,000 to do it. That was all he offered. But on doing a very quick search on the Internet myself, I discovered that knock sensors have *nothing* to do with a car stalling out. When I called back and talked to the service-desk guy at Pep Boys again, he admitted that to be true...so...he apparently *knew* that the $1,000 wasn't even going to touch the actual problem. I also discovered that it's not all that important to replace the knock sensors. The guy at Pep Boys conceded that point, as well. Lastly, I discoveredand mdash;again, on a *very* quick Internet search on my own, and I don't know cars or enginesand mdash;that if you simply unplug and ground the car battery, oftentimes the "Check Engine" code will reset and it will turn out that it was A FALSE ALARM. That's what I had them do, andand mdash;sure enoughand mdash;the light has NOT come back on, suggesting that it was, indeed, a false alarm. So I saved myself an unnecessary $1,000 cost...BUT WHY DIDN'T THEY DO THIS *FOR* ME?and mdash;that is, why didn't they tell me the truth before asking my permission to do the work and charge me the $1,000? If they really didn't know, then yikes: why am I taking my vehicles to them? Now the punchline: after all that, I asked again: why is my car dying and can it be fixed? The answer: the distributor cap they'd put in last May was faulty. So they owed me a free one (was under warranty)! The second punchline: they replaced the faulty distributor cap last week...AND NOW MY 2004 NISSAN EXPEDITION WON'T START AGAIN. It's sitting in my driveway, with me trying to figure what to do next and how to get it to a mechanic, any mechanic. Seriously: what's going on at Pep Boys??? UPDATE: my auto insurance company towed my Expedition back to Pep Boys for free (we have roadside assistance coverage). Pep Boys found that the new distributor assembly they'd installed back in May was defectiveand mdash;that is, not just the cap was defective, as they'd said last week when they replaced the cap, but the whole thing was defective, which they didn't find last week...but probably could and should have found, and thus spared me being stranded and having to call for a tow, having to wait for the NEW repair, etc. At first, they wanted Pep Boys to pay for the replacement part, as it was still under warranty, *but charge me for labor,* because the 3-month labor warranty had run out. That didn't seem fair to me; luckily, a manager agreed to throw in the labor costs, so everything is finally repaired (again) at no cost to me. That's good. But a long road trip coming up next week; fingers crossed that the repair and replacement parts are somehow different and not defective this time. I'm keeping the "Price" grade on this review at "D" because of the $1,000 that Pep Boys would have cost me had I not diligently searched the Internet on my own and challenged their first recommendation re: the knock sensors. They seem like really nice guys, but could be doing A LOT more, I think, to prevent their customers unnecessary costs and inconvenience.

We had a very positive experience with these guys this past weekend. As with all things car-repair-related, the verdict stays out for a few months, and only time will tell the final story. But for the moment, it seems like they did fantastic work on both of our vehicles. They drive pretty much like new again. Special shout-out to Chris, the guy who helped us at the counter. He stayed closely in contact with us by phone throughout the day, made recommendations but was honest about which recommendations were should-haves and which were nice-to-haves, and went out of his way to find us discounts. Credible ones, not the mark it up then mark down kind. Just really great customer service. Really fast, too. VERY much appreciated these guys this past weekend.

Brought my car in for a "grinding" front brake. They later informed me that all four need replacement. I agreed, but when I picked up the car it had the same "grinding" . I returned the car and they replaced the front brakes again. This time they were better, but still strange noises now and then. I think they use the cheapest product available. This is an example of "getting what you pay for".

We ended up having to fix the pump again later. They were nice enough, they were cheap enough but the work didn't last. It was under warranty, but we didn't feel like going back.

They are so accommodating. They provide such a prompt and quick service. I know that if I am ever having car trouble that they will take care of me. They will honor their competitors ads in the penny saver. They provide a very fair price.