United Tires and Wheels — Attraction in Chico

I have nothing but good things to say about United Tires and Wheels. Here’s why - and stick with me, I need to give a preface:

After a cross country move with my road warrior VW back in October, I really needed an oil change. I took my car to Chico VW to get a full synthetic service and paid the dealership price. No issues there, except that while they had my car, a guy from service very urgently called me and insisted that not only were my rear brake pads at 40%, but my rear wheels were bent “BADLY”. I asked if they straightened wheels there - “no we suggest buying brand new wheels, we don’t do that here.” I told them to get on with the oil change and I’ll address my wheels and breaks on a separate occasion. This was back in November-ish. Once I got my vehicle back from Chico VW, I immediately called around local shops to see if they did wheel straightening, because I did ram up a curb when I first arrived in town and therefore didn’t doubt the possibility that they could’ve been bent.

That’s where United Tires and Wheels first came into the picture. Again, sometime in November. I called and got Zan on the phone. I explained my situation to him and without hesitation, he told me to “bring it by, I’ll throw it up in the bay and see if your wheels are actually bent. If they are, I can straighten them out for you no problem.”

I got to their shop and he did exactly that. Threw it right up on the hydraulic lift and together, we looked very closely at my wheels. After a few funny and confused faces, he turned to me and said that he found a very slight bend that was so minute that it took us both some hard looking to confirm that it was even there. He went on to explain that down the road (pun intended) when I get my wheels rotated, I’ll really know whether or not they’re bent because the rear wheels would be in the front and I’d feel the vibration. Good deal. I went on my way, feeling relieved, remembering to come back in the future.

Fast forward to today, I decided it was time to get my brake pads replaced because my brakes have been feeling iffy. Again, back in the fall when I took my vehicle to the Chico VW dealership, they told me that the pads were on their way out.

Well, I brought my VW in and the guys in the shop threw it up on the lift and not even 10 mins later one of the mechanics (or owner?) came out and politely asked why I wanted to replace the pads. I explained and he said that the front were still nearly new, and the rear were at about 40% still. I told him that my braking still felt “off” to which he replied that my rotors were actually slightly misshapen, so that was probably why, but that they are still drivable and have a few months left in them. He brought me back and showed me what he was referring to which was helpful and appreciated.

“It would be a disservice to you to replace the pads because within weeks your new pads would wear down to the shape of your rotors. Let’s wait to replace the pads and give it a few months, at which point we will replace everything altogether.” Disservice - his use of that word really stuck with me. Talk about transparency and ethical business practices! I was impressed. Even then, they still went on to rotate my wheels (at my initial request with the pad replacement) as a courtesy! I’m seriously impressed with the way they operate at this local, independent shop.

In summary, all I really have left to say is that I trust United Tires and Wheels - as a VW driver, as a woman, as someone who cares about quality but also reasonable prices, and as a new member of the Chico community. I already had a good feeling about them after Zan kindly looked at my “bent” wheels 6 months ago, but after today they really sealed the deal. They have my loyalty, and I want to reiterate again just how appreciative I am of their courteous, transparent, knowledgeable, and straightforward business practices.

Thanks to the guys at United Tires and Wheels, I’ll see you in a few months and will spread the word to people I know. This is...

Horrible customer service. Not professional. Has no respect for customers. Horrible communication. Would never contact me. I always had to contact them. No solution was offered for problem. Argued with me in front of my 4 year old daughter and other customers. Not polite. Not good business. Not organized. He Lost receipts And asked for my copy. Not good workmanship. Did not finish the job. Overall rating would be no stars if that would be an option. Will file complaint with Better Business Bureau. The man in charge could of offered a reasonable solution. But did not. Not happy with how they do business. Do not bring your family. They have no respect. They just want your money and and then treat you horrible after they get what they want. Please Go elsewhere. Do not comer here. If you are unhappy with something. They will not offer any solution to solve the issue. They will just argue with you and not be reasonable. I just wanted the issue solved. Simple as that.

And to reply to the owners reply. It was not about GAP guards. You are a liar and full of it your self. And still full of it and still unprofessional. It was about not finishing the job. My bumper is still not straight. You didn’t give me any papers to prove you did my alignment. You lost my receipt And asked to use mine. You also would never contact me. I would always have to ask about my truck. GAP guards are Available from your supplier by the way. You just are lazy and didn’t want to deal with it. If you really wanted to do it you would of done it and I would of paid for it.

Also if you would of made things right and fixed my bumper. We wouldn’t be in this situation. Even if you had to use your own parts I would of paid you for any additional work. But from the beginning you insisted that if any modifications were needed to make things right. Then you would take pictures and text them to me. But you didn’t. Modifications are needed to fix the bumper and you told me that. But you still refused to make things right. You did not offer to make my bumper straight. U refused to be wrong. You say you do this stuff all day long. Well make my truck right. Make me happy. I’m the customer. All I wanted was my truck to be right. How am I suppose to write a good review if I’m leaving your place of business with a crooked bumper. And yeah your messed up for Putting me and my family in that situation. You were out Of line in front of my daughter. Not a good example to children or the other customer that saw this all go Down. I told him not to do business with you. Expect Better...

I took my Lexus 330 to United to have my new tires rotated and balanced because it was driving wonky at highway speeds.I explained this to the owner and was told to have a seat in the waiting area and they would take care of it. A few moments later the owner comes to me and tells me that my tires are fine, 2 were in balance and the other 2 were only a fraction out of balance. He began to explain to me that whoever I had bought my new tires from were careless in putting them on and had nt put the lug nuts on like they should have therefore they had stripped out the holes from round to oblong and that was what was causing my tires to wobble and the wonky sensation when driving. He said hes seen it plenty of times and that I needed new rims and to take it back to where I bought the tires they were responsible. I said I bought them in Live Oak He then says but dont tell the guy there I told you that cause I know the guy, tell him Les Schwab told you. So he charged me 40$ for rotation and balance. Had my car checked out by a reputable shop to find out my wheels sit on a center hub and the lugnuts werent causing the wobbling, and that the balancing hadnt been done. I took my car back to United to either get my money back or have the work done right. The owner argued with me trying to make me feel bad cause he only charged me 40$ saying Id get that price nowhere else in town....but finally agreed to do the work while I watched. Now mind you he claimed my tires were balanced the first time but while I watched all four of my tires were out of balance and the technician had to place weights on them for balance. When the owner came out I questioned him as to why this was and he said everytime you take a tire off it has to be rebalanced, theq old weights we just put on scraped off and new ones put on. I said he didnt scrape any off but each tire needed new ones. He said hey we did the job the first time were not like that but we did it again just so youll be satisfied. I feel they looked at my rims and assumed that was the problem and didnt bother to balance my tires in the first place cause after they were rotated and balanced the second time around my car no longer wobbles or drives wonky. I'm not usually one for leaving bad business reviews but in this case I cant recommend United Tires and Wheels for...