Firestone Complete Auto Care — Attraction in Elmwood Park

I am not one to write bad reviews on any bad situation. There are times the truth needs to be said. Here is one.

Today, I went to purchase some tires. I needed two for the front. I shopped online the last few days and settled on this company. I was lied to by Antonio, about a store policy and other issues with the purchase. I went for some inexpensive tires for my jeep. Only because I wanted to have something, before I make a decision on which way I will go with the vehicle. I had setup an appointment for tires I wanted. Never showed on the screen. I came in before my appointment and explained that I wanted inexpensive tires. I drive less than 100 miles a week. I was offered $96 Bridgestone Destination tires. Since BF Goodridge had issues, I will not be buying Bridgestone Firestone tires. When I explained that I wanted cheap tires, I was told I cannot mix and match tires on my jeep... But, if I have 4 Nexen tires on my jeep, wouldn't the Destination tires be a mix and match? That is when I told him, I am a mechanic and that was pear BS. Then he told me, that I would have to match all my tires because I have a four wheel drive vehicle and that it is company policy. I was getting very annoyed. I explained to him, that that was BS. I called corporate and asked them. As they stated that policy applies to AWD (full time All Wheel Drive) SUVs. Like the Acura MDX AWD. Finally, I got the tires I needed, after having the tires shipped from Saddle Brook. I could have driven the few minute drive over there. Took 45 minutes. I get the tires, told them I had a lock for the lug nuts. All was good. I get my jeep back and was never told the key was twisted when they were working on it. Antonio looked me dead in the face. No one mention of it. I get to my jeep, they never placed the new tires on the rear, as they company display said. I was never given a wheel alignment check, as company policy said. I had to file a damage report for the key. I have to go back for the free wheel alignment and to have the tires rotated.

This has been, by far, a horrible experience. I would not recommend this location to anyone. If you do, please do the following. Remove locking lugs (if you can), ensure that everything is spelled out on the paperwork. Know what the company offers. Ensure there aren't damages to your vehicle and before you leave, make sure the job is...

I entered the facility and had to stand with no acknowledgement. Once a sales person acknowledged me (the one furthest from me by about six feet), he did not stand up and come to the counter. There were no markings for social distancing and no barriers, so perhaps that was why. Nonetheless, I had to yell my needs out to him so he could hear me. He did not take any detailed information or ask any questions. I specifically told him I had concerns about my alternator and that it had been replaced twice. He later called me and said the issue was that my battery was leaking. I approved the repair but NO OTHER RECOMMENDED REPAIRS WERE MENTIONED BY HIM DURING THE CALL. I asked about repair of my headlights, for which one is noticeably more dim than the other and I asked for that to be repaired. When I returned to pick up my car, no repair had been done on the headlights. No one explained the work that was done and no one told me anything about any recommended services that I allegedly had declined. A serviceman signed for my debit card on the atm card reader without my consent and handed me the invoice thereafter with no explanation - which I assumed was a COVID precaution but still questioned the legality of that. I rode home and after starting to run errands thinking the car was repaired, it stalled out and I could not start it. I then read the invoice seeking to call to complain and noticed a "declined work" note relating to my alternator belts. This repair was never offered on the two calls I had with the shop, nor mentioned when I picked up the car and I specifically informed the shop of concerns about my alternator. There also was a notation on the invoice stating that I had approved an increase in price. I had only approved an increase in price for the work related to my headlights which was not done. I would never send someone here ever. I would love to know what executive order allows them to sign for debit and credit cards on behalf of customers without their consent. Their COVID-19 safety practices are lacking. They wasted my time and money and I wonder now if my battery actually had any issue because there was no battery check light on. EVER. This was the worst experience I have had with a repair shop...

Came in for an alignment and wheel balancing because I recently rebuilt my front end. I replaced both lower control arms, struts, and ball joints. Didn't replace the tie rods or sway bar links because they were fine. If I had an alignment rack and tire balancer at my house I would have done that too, but I don't so I took a chance here. That was a huge mistake. They pulled my car in then proceeded to tell me they couldn't do the alignment because one of my tie rods was frozen solid. They said I needed 2 inner tie rods which would be $150 each and $200 each for labor. I said no thanks, just balance the tires. While I waited I pulled up Rock Auto and found out that even the most expensive inner tie rods were less than $20 each. I also know I could change out both myself in less than an hour. First thing I did when I got home was sprayed a little penetrating oil on each of them and they both loosened up with minimal effort. That was also on the ground on jack stands with a lot less torque then you would have had with the car in the air on a lift. Even if penetrating oil wasn't enough, every shop in the world has a torch to heat up stuck fasteners. I literally used to do alignments for a living and that's standard practice to loosen stuck tie rods. They did get me for $70 to balance the wheels, but they could have made an easy $130 by just aligning the car like I asked. Instead they tried to be greedy with a $700 estimate for completely unnecessary work. This is exactly why I left auto mechanics as a career. I was sick of being pushed to sell customers unnecessary work. If they tried this nonsense on me knowing I was a mechanic l can only imagine how badly they hose people who know nothing about cars. I understand trying to upsell, but to try and charge someone $700 for parts that are in good condition and don't need to be replaced...