LENTZ AUTOMOTIVE

Horribly. My 83-year-old mother went to them complaining of a shimmy on the front driver's - side wheel. They told her that she needed a complete system including calipers, rotors, pads, brake hoses. She had Lentz perform service on her brakes on two occasions in the 9 previous months, and she was supposed to be under warranty. However, initially they didn't honor the warranty at all. They charged her $80 to discard her old parts, and a similar charge for a piece of rubber hose that connects the caliper to the brake system (after checking, this is usually included with a new caliper and costs less than a dollar at any auto parts store). I intervened on my mothers behalf. The manager said she was given a fair price and that if I got estimates from his competitors - Midas, GM dealer, Tuffy - he would consider adjusting if there was a difference. I did what he asked and the highest price I could get was $975; all comparisons were in writing from the respective service managers. It was only the GM dealer who was that high; everyone else was way under $900. The manager was unwilling to respond to the lower more reasonable prices. I ended up contacting Mr. Lentz directly, and he set up a meeting with my mother with several other administrative personnel, in which they threatened my mother with lengthy court litigation if she dared to take them to court over this. Finally, emotionally beaten down, she accepted a small concession that still didn't get her near a reasonable price. In summary, I talked to the service managers at all of the competitors I surveyed; they all said it was nearly unheard of to have all 4 calipers go at the same time on a regularly used vehicle. Additionally, she had been responsible in keeping up with regular maintenance, so this wasn't the case of a car that hadn't been serviced in years. What it was, was unscrupulous, ethically bankrupt business people taking advantage of an elderly lady who was at their mercy. After this was all over, I called the same store and talked to the assistant manager as if I were a prospective customer; I was told they never charge to discard old parts, and the most my brakes could cost if they replaced everything was $850 or thereabouts. NEVER GO TO LENTZ. They are predators and they preyed upon my mother.