Meineke Car Care Center — Local services in Burnsville

NEVER USE MEINEKE.

This is long but bear with me, this is terrible.

My car was running out of oil too fast so I thought i had a small oil leak. I had to change my oil every 2k miles or so. So, I started using full synthetic. That didnt solve the problem so I brought it into Meineke. They told me I had an oil leak in my power steering and my valve gasket cover and that it would be $1,000 to fix. I agreed. Got my car back "finished" a few days later they informed me my car was "still a little glitchy" and that they believed air had gotten into my power steering. They said "just drive about 200 miles and the air should work its way out". I walked outside and put the keys in my car i IMMEDIATELY knew something was wrong. My car was Idling terribly sputtering and shaking, the wheel would barely turn and often had to be yanked around, my car was misfiring and screeching weird noises. On my short drive home i could tell something was still very wrong. I called back when i got home and told them this needed to be fixed still. Brought it in the next day. All the while this is happening i work 2 jobs and had an 11 hour road trip that i needed to be on the following day. They had been aware of my trip and offered me a loaner in the meantime. Well when i showed up and dropped off my car they informed me that theyd actually already given away the loaner they told me theyd give me. The owner offered to drive me to work in my barely driveable car and drop me off... I declined and had someone come pick me up and i was late for work. They called me later that day and told me they found more wrong with my car but "it wasnt their fault they missed it in the original diagnostics because said i had an oil issue but this was a drive issue". I informed them I am no mechanic thats why i brought it to them to tell me whats wrong with it. So they said i had some bad spark plugs and they also bumped loose my timing belt and had to tighten it back. When i picked up my car the second time it seemed to be back to normal and i was happy. Normal lasted about 24 hours before it was back to screeching and poor turning. This time i called the corporate office and they said theyll get back to me in 2-3 days. I insisted i need help immediately because my 11 hour trip was the next day and i didnt have a vehicle. They said boo hoo, 2-3 days. So i had to rent a car. 3 days passed and no phone call back from customer service so i called again. This time i asked to speak to a supervisor, they said hes unavailable. They also said whoever told me 2-3 days was wrong and that it would be 6 days. 6 DAYS JUST TO CALL ME. Let alone remedy the situation. Well the 6th day rolls around and still no call. I called again and asked to speak to a supervisor, hes still busy. The best they can do is escalate the situstion and have a supervisor call me. I asked for a date and time to expect it and they said they couldnt give me one. I called back the next day and asked to speak to a supervisor, hes still busy. Surprise. I told them i wont hang up until a get a supervisor NOW. She said okay, took over 20 minutes on hold to get a supervisor. Supervisor apologized and said he couldnt do much but escalate the situation again. Meanwhile, i still work 2 jobs and need my car fixed. I brought it into a Nissan dealership who said Meineke failed to do their job and clamped my power steering hose shut instead of replacing the hose and that caused another oil leak. With everything fixed properly it would cost me an additional $1,600. Meanwhile, im racking up a weeks worth of rental car fees as well. FINALLY over a week after my first phone call to Meineke i get my first phone call back from corporate. They tell me they cant do anything for me and that the franchised store is the only place that can help me and if i went somewhere else to get the work done im SOL. I spent $3,000 on a fix that shouldve been half that or less. I'll be taking this to court and reporting them with the Better Business Bureau. Moral of the story:

NEVER, EVER...

I've been driving for 30 years and taking my vehicles in to darn near 100 service shops around the country, from Indiana to California. The Meineke service center at Burnsville was a very good experience for me and the two little children I was required to bring along who had a day off school.

I needed a full vehicle inspection and they did an incredibly thorough job, spending a valuable labor hour taking off all the wheels and poking around the engine, checking all electricals, and they found something I knew about but didn't expect them to detect. Much credit to their expert mechanic.

They have gone to lengths with a toy area and other distractions to ensure that parents can bring children for an extended time while retaining their sanity. This alone ensured three stars from me.

This is not my first rodeo so I expect that when I bring a vehicle in for service, the are going to look for legitimate opportunities to SELL me products and services. They did this and were very transparent about my actual needs.

The Meineke team including manager Mike were professional, courteous, timely, gave good advice, offered me a coupon on the spot to entice me to return, and charged me a bargain basement fee for the inspection. I'll definitely return to this shop when I need service on something I can't do myself. Maybe I'll need to update this review then.

As a car owner I feel it's my responsibility to do a little research and diagnosis and also to competitively quote expensive services. For example, it came as no surprise to me that Meineke's folks recommended I replace brake rotors and pads; I expected them to quote significant markups on those parts. I took their complete quote and researched prices and advice.

Not horrible markups -- about 35-40% above buying direct retail from an auto parts store. It also turns out that with most hybrids like mine, brakes last a very, very long time. Over 100k in many cases. My factory brakes were at 3mm with 115k miles. I know that 99% of shops will replace your rotors because even if they don't need it, too many uneducated customers b___h about vibration from "warped" rotors. It's just the safe bet.

I'll probably replace my own pads this month and keep the rotors, since they're still pristine, then take the vehicle to the dealer for bleeding the brakes when I'm done. I will visit this store next time I need scheduled maintenance other than oil and filter. I'm going to book them to replace my...

Edit to update another great experience. I don’t write reviews unless the place is really horrible or really great! This location exceeded my expectations again today 12/10/18. I called because my tire sensor said it was low once again so I assumed I had a slow leak. I called, they said come right on over. They quoted me $28 to fix it. I said great, I assumed it would be about that. In and out on 20ish minutes. The tech told me they didn’t have to take off the tire so it was only $15. Alright! They could have billed me the $28 and I wouldn’t have blinked an eye. I always have a good experience here.

I thought a hose was leaking from my car. I called Meineke twice to reschedule my appointment and they graciously told me to just bring it in when I could and they'd take a look. They were with my car for at least 20 minutes, topped off the oil and told me it was just a drain plug that wasn't tightened. I asked how much did I owe and they said nothing. NOTHING! I have never had such awesome service. I will definitely be bringing my car here for routine and (hopefully not too much) emergent maintenance. Thanks for the...