Bob Sumerel Tire & Service - Florence

This will be a very long review. This is the first time I ever went to a Bob Sumeral. It will be the last time in my life with no exceptions that I ever step foot inside one. My car stopped running Saturday. I had it narrowed down to either a MAF sensor or something with the coolant. I wasn't completely sure and needing a fix fast I called AAA because I have a membership. They get it there Saturday night. I knew they weren't open on Sunday so I waited until Monday. I call around 11am and the guy starts out by giving me like a 2 page long list of stuff. He then proceeds to tell me it will cost me $.2,600.00. I told him no. I told him I didn't have very much money and I just wanted the core problem fixed to get it running. I call him back 2 hours later and He gives me still a 2 page long list of what is "wrong" and says that is what it will take to be road ready. I told him I wanted just the core problem fixed but he kept insisting the 2 page long list were the problems. They cut the price down to $1,300 00. It was still waaay to much but I said go ahead because I don't have time to deal with this. Things on the list included caps like a gas cap and an oil change. Stuff I can do myself. Stuff that didn't need to be fixed. I am pretty sure it was only the thermostat housing and a sensor that needed to be done. It was an extensive list of little nothings that had no need for it to run. I finally get the money for it and they tell me it would be done end of day Monday at 6pm. 5 pm rolls around and I call back and they say "No, sorry it will be Tomorrow (Tuesday) probably by noon." I get a ride to go pay for it at 9am Tuesday and they tell me "It will be done by 3pm." I call 2 pm and again they tell me nope it will be end of day. Finally at 530pm It is "done". They call a Lyft for me and the first Lyft cancels. I don't get there until almost 7pm. I get my car back home and figured I would see the state of it. I look down by my driver door and there is a wire unplugged that had never been like that before, My A/C unit no longer cools, and upon lifting the hood I find another random wire unplugged that I never seen like that before. The coolant wasn't topped off and it wasn't leaking either. I had to add 2 bottles of water to balance it out. The oil also wasn't as full as it should have been either. I have pictures and documents of this all. The only discount from my AAA membership I received was $63.00. I am not normally one to be really ****** and write reviews that are negative but you guys deserve this. The only part about this I am satisfied with is the tow and the woman who stayed extra after the shop closed to give me the key to my car. I will never in my life recommend you and I will warn people the rest of my life never to go to one of you ever. I came out feeling really ripped off on purchases that did NOT need to be purchased. $40 for a gas cap, $20 for a radiator cap, Almost $50 for an oil change that I can do myself for half the cost and not to mention you charging me $400.00 in labor on a part that is only 100.00. My tires did not need rotating they were all new from like a month ago. If I had $2,600.00 on me I would have just bought a new car and not worried about salvaging a 2013. You guys even gave me a recipt with $1,300 00 more stuff that does not need fixed that you want me to come in and get done. Uhhh, no. A technician should be able to pin point the problem that is causing it to not start and fix that. Reason I picked this place is because I had moved out here a year ago and the mechanic that was able to do that was out of the 25 mile limit. I can't describe how ****** I am right now. I am even out more money now to buy all the refrigerant they took out because I have to buy more if I want an A/C. The only way I ever come back is if something you fixed broke because it has a warranty of 24k miles. Other than that this place will never exist to me. I usually only go on to write good reviews but people have to be warned about this place. I also have a really bad problem when people tell me they will have something done in a timely fashion. The first time I was fine with it but the second and third time is unacceptable because I have never dealt with a mechanic that has ever delayed on me more than once. I also would have been happier if upon getting my car back I didn't face more problems. Do not go here or waste any money here. Trade with them at your own risk they will get you for every little tiny thing and charge you way too much for labor.

The repair was done on time, at the quoted cost and was satisfactorily done. Neal is the mechanic I ask for. I have been going to them for about 25 years for tires and general repair.

Don't even think about taking your vehicle to this place! Took our brand new Lincoln Aviator there simply to have a slow leak in our tire checked out. Unbelievably they punctured our oil pan while hoisting it up on their lift! Their employees are clearly not trained appropriately to even use their lift, let alone repair anything correctly I must assume. They turned us over to their insurance company, Travelers, to deal with us. Haven't seen our car in nearly four months and have no idea when we will because there are no spare oil pans made by Ford yet. That isn't something Bob Sumerel can help, but this is 100% their responsibility and all Traveler's has done is to rent us a used vehicle less than a third the value of our vehicle Sumerel rendered completely inoperable. When calling Sumerel for assistance to compensate us fairly, they didn't even return our call, just sent a message directly to Traveler's to deal with us.

They ruined my 2008 Acura TL's engine. I had them replace my timing belt around 100k miles, which is what you're supposed to do. Unfortunately, the belt tensioner was not installed correctly and suddenly popped off while I was driving it days later. This caused the water pump to stop working, causing the engine to overheat, which then caused a head gasket to blow. Ironically, this means that I now had a ruined engine because I had brought it in and paid $1007.60 in preventative maintenance so that it would NOT be ruined. I brought it back to the shop and asked them to diagnose what exactly was going on with the constant overheating, suspecting it was a blown head gasket. They confirmed that this was the issue and recommended I get the engine replaced. When I called back to settle the diagnostic service, everything had been 'erased' and I no longer owed anything. This was their way of brushing everything under the rug and not owning up to the fact that they are responsible to pay for the engine's replacement. Note that I had been going to them for years, but at this point, I HIGHLY recommend NOT doing business with them. My car is ruined and I still owe on it. What am I supposed to do?!

Although their appointment system consists of a notebook page, once I arrived, I waited only a few minutes and they didn't try to upsell me on anything.  Super easy.

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I had previously bought tires from BSTS so when I had problems with one tire I took it to them and they repaired the rim. We discussed new tires and we agreed on a good quality tire and an excellent price. Fred and his team do a great job and I highly recommend them for their professional service and good service.

I had a flat tire and took it to the Florence, Mall Road location whee I bought the tires. They took the car right in, checked the tire and reported that they repaired it and in less than 25 minutes I was on my way, They put the spare tire, jack and all the tools I used to change the tire back in the trunk in their proper places. The repair was part of the warantee service. Their service from "Hello" to "Your car is ready" was outstanding. Very professional.

OK

I have used them for years and the manager always takes very good care of me.

Overall, went very well. I called a day ahead of time and they got the tires I needed from their warehouse. I got there as soon as they opened on a Saturday morning. They got me in and out in about 45 minutes. The whole process went very smooth. They did suggest a less expensive tire which would've brought the cost down to about $320. But I already knew I wanted a certain tire so I paid a little more.