Christian Brothers Automotive Firestone Blvd — Local services in Firestone

I really hate to write this post and I wasn't going to because I felt like in the end of the initial visit everything was fixed as it should have been and the price ended up being fair I guess but then further problems happened after my initial visit with the Firestone location. I have been going to Christian Brothers for years at the Westminster location and Firestone location. Their service in the beginning was great, was my go to car place. Over the last several visits we have ran into multiple problems especially with the Firestone location, I have no qualms with the Westminster location. It seems every time I happen to take my vehicle there, there is always a $4K problem. The most recent instance, I took it in for an oil change at the Westminster location and they explained I had an oil leak, did the dye process and took it back and they said I had a $700 issue with a valve cover gasket replacement, which was the same issue that Firestone fixed a year or so prior should have been covered under warranty. No biggie, picked it up from Westminster, called Firestone explained the situation and they said they would look at it. That was a Thursday evening. Friday evening before they closed I had not heard from them so I called them and they said oh we need to keep it until Monday. I said okay no worries. Monday I received a text stating it would be a $4K repair and I am like how did a $700 (should be covered under warranty) repair become a $4K repair.....Was told that they needed to keep it longer, got both locations involved and both managers of each location finally called me to come up with a solution with a reduction in price because of the inconvenience of communication between the two locations and the fact they had now had my car for about a week. Was told the repair would be done on the following Thursday which would have been a week since I had dropped it off. Called on Thursday evening and the tech was still looking at it advised I could pick it up on Friday. Called Friday and they said they would prefer to drive it more than 4 miles to test out the vehicle. Okay, no problem it was the weekend no big deal. Picked the car up on the following Monday and the car had only been driven 4 miles total so there was no further driving for testing as I was told there was going to be. A week following the "repair" driving down I-25 my car started running hot. Got a tow to my home and lifted the hood and my coolant hose was not connected to my engine so they had not connected it back properly. Dropped it off and they refused to take accountability they had not put it back together properly or securely. Was thinking about since they made everything "right" with a negotiated repair that I would continue taking it to them without a negative review but after the way we were dismissed today that they were not taking accountability for the person that fixed it, I am just going to resort back to the dealership or find another local repair shop in the area. While the manager of each location tried to make it right, their service person JD is terrible at follow up and customer service.

Update to response from Monty. Monty, thanks for the response but you called once and left a message. Hardly multiple times to rectify this situation. What is the point of calling back? Are you all going to give me my evening back of sitting on I25 waiting for a tow truck for two hours? Are you going to refund my entire repair due to your service folks lack of detail to put my coolant hose back on? Are you going to go back and have JD not lie about needing my car for an extra day to put more than 4 miles in test driving it when you didn't actually. Probably not. I have wasted enough of my time and money with your location to know calling you back at this point is worthless. I hope that others find the positive experience I used to have about 4 years ago at your location and for your locations sake hoping that you find someone to replace JD. Maybe have the Westminster location train your folks on customer...

It pains me to write this review. As a fellow Christian, Veteran and local business owner, I've had the absolute worst experiences than I've ever had, asides from the welcoming Christian atmosphere.

First, communication, honesty, and integrity are the values any business should strive for to gain the trust of their customers. Those values slightly lacked less on each encounter. I sadly look at the negative reviews and see others have expressed similar experiences.

Two years ago I dropped my vehicle off and they diagnosed that my engine needs replaced. So, I had scheduled a week or two in advance due to military training. I dropped it off with them for two weeks, upon my return, they had not finished. I received a called a few days later for completion while I was working in Estes Park. I had to fight for them to deliver it to my wife and four children. While my wife was pulling from out from our community she broke down on the side of the road. Told them that something wasn't right and they need to come pick it up. At first, they wanted me to pay for towing, and I said absolutely not. They agreed to come get it and that's when they inform me my transmission went out, they had it for another week. Two weeks for a 10-20 hour engine replacement and a week for a transmission replacement, also 10-20 hours.

Fast forward to the past two weeks: we noticed a noise coming from underneath the vehicle. Still under warranty, I dropped it off. A few days went by, which was expected, before I received any updates. Unfortunately, I had to call them. They stated that they had finally brought it into the shop, taken it apart, found the issue, and ordered the part (Monday). That's when everything went downhill. JD told me that if my wife needed the vehicle, she could pick it up and drive it without causing any further issues. However, there was an issue with the torque converter, specifically the flex plate and found a new issue in the transfer case. I googled what he told me and driving it could have caused more problems, resulted in costly repairs, and potentially led to a loss of power to the wheels, increasing the risk of an accident. At this point, I started to get frustrated. On Wednesday, they supposedly encountered issues and ordered additional parts, which arrived later that night. I called around 11 the next day (Thursday), and JD said they were still working on it and that it would take a few more hours. I was dropped off later that day, but it still wasn't finished. It took an entire workweek for what should have been a 10-hour job at most and blame it on the delivery of parts. Then, Monday rolls around for me to pick the vehicle up. I went out to drive it, smoke was coming out from under the vehicle and the check engine light was on, the interior panel and screws was left in the floor board. They corrected everything but the residue underneath causing smoke. Afterwards, I was so livid, I wanted to leave. I literally drove it out of the parking lot and made it to the first red light where my drive shaft fell completely off my vehicle.

Seeing how frustrated I was, JD ensure everything broke was replaced and everything was cleaned up and repaired. Which should've happened at the beginning.

I took my vehicle to an actual honest mechanic. He stated there was nothing wrong with the flex plate, the starter was going out and rubbing up against the flex plate causing the noise. He informed me that they never really fixed the issue.

It was extremely difficult and quite costly renting a vehicle with no communication regarding the return of my vehicle.

Due to the first experience I had, I recorded all phone calls and conversations for my personal quality assurance and records. Needless to say, I'm concerned regarding the skill level and honesty of their mechanics. I don't think they have the ability to make complex repairs. In addition, I'm concerned about their values, specifically the lack thereof. I wouldn’t recommend this...

Update 12/12/2022: After I updated my review, I was contacted by Monty. He asked if I would bring the vehicle back in. I thought it was very nice that Monty reached out to me. My car has been a huge stressor for me this year. Well... it turns out everything but what the other shop told me was leaking, was leaking. I was so frustrated, how do you know who to listen too? What the other shop told me was leaking, sounded legitimate. Christian Brother's Automotive put my mind at ease. They worked with the warranty company on the cost of repairs; they took care of everything. I am so grateful for everything that they did for me. Monty and JD, you were both wonderful to work with. Thank you so much; to have a reliable vehicle is such a gift. Plus, it's like driving a brand new vehicle!

Update 11/2022: I initially had a great experience with this shop. My car was under warranty and the turbo went out. The repair was done quickly and the guy working with the warranty company was fantastic (sorry I don't remember his name). When the work was being done on the turbo, I asked them to change the oil as well. A couple months later my oil engine light was on again. I was very concerned because I had just had a very costly repair done, and it was not time for an oil change. I immediately made an appointment, and they did a diagnostic on the car. When it was done, I spoke to the guy on the phone, and he exclaimed I hadn't had an oil change in 11,000 miles! My car had been in this shop less than 2 months earlier for the turbo to be replaced and the oil was supposed to be changed. I drive around 40 miles each day, I had put around 1600 miles on the car since, what I though was, the last oil change. When I questioned it, he then proceeded to state that, oh yeah, they had actually changed the oil and then made it sound like something must really be wrong with my car. When I came in to pick up my car, I was made to feel like I had no idea that my oil had to be changed and was told I should get oil changes more frequently than 3,000 miles. My car takes full synthetic oil and the manufacturer recommends changing it every 7,500-10,000 miles, I've been changing it at 5,000. I was also asked to take pictures of the dip stick each time I put gas in the car. I was then charged over $300 to top off the oil and the diagnostic fee. I was worried something was really wrong, so I took pictures for almost two months, but nothing ever changed. The oil just now needed to be changed, and I had concerns, so I took my car to another shop. Come to find out, the oil filter housing gasket is bad and the turbo feed line is leaking. They said it has been leaking for a while. How was that missed? The other shop found that during an oil change; you all put in a new turbo, did an oil change, ran a diagnostic on my car and missed it? And when I brought it back in, instead of fixing it I was made to feel like I didn’t know that cars have oil in them and had not kept up with the repairs? I now have to find the money for another $2000 repair because they have take apart the entire front end to replace parts that cost $150. The turbo cost over $5,000, $1600 of it out of pocket, plus the $300 “top off” on oil. I am so disappointed that I put my trust in this shop. There's nothing honest about how any of this was handled and it has cost me so much money. It is...