Skander Tire & Auto Service — Local services in Forward Township

Ok. So I went with my mother yesterday so she could get her car aligned. The tires were wearing indicating a need for alignment. We went to Skander Tire in Evans City PA. For reference, I've utilized them for many years - and recommended them to many. Car was back there an awful long time, finally the guy comes out and tells us the upper control arms on the rear are seized up and we'd need to replace them to align the rear. Ok, I believe it. They were probably the originals, and living in the rust belt - it's not far fetched. He asks about writing up an estimate. Ok, sure. He goes, I look up the parts (do businesses realize we carry smartphones today?). I can get them locally, order them online, etc., and they're reasonably priced - even locally. Hell, even Auto-Zone has them. Ok about 20 minutes passes and he comes back - tells us he tried 7 different places and turns out these upper control arms are a dealer only item. He can have them tomorrow, but the cost will be $1,300.00 for the pair, plus the cam bolts ($252.00) (I don't believe the upper arms get cam bolts - the arm is adjustable already) bringing the job to around $1,800.00. I stared at him like he was speaking some foreign language and didn't say a word. I finally just said - so as to not get into any arguments or allow him the opportunity to rework his estimate (because now I don't trust you at all) we'll let you know, we'll just take the car for now.

For reference - the parts are absolutely not "dealer only" parts, I can get them at most parts stores for around $103.00 apeice, or get them online for as little as about $83.00 for the pair, and around $21.00 per cam bolt - I need 2 if I do actually need cam bolts. I have noticed that there's not a single complaint about Skander Tire anywhere - so I assume most of their customers just don't know any better, and likely just think they're being honest with them. As we were in the waiting room for nearly 4 hours, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Every customer that came in, save for maybe 1 who may have just not had enough air in a tire, was confronted with extra expenses well above and beyond what they had initially brought their cars in for - and most of them just said "Oh, ok". I've been working on vehicles for a long time, and I've pretty much never encountered a suspension component that was a "dealer only" item, save for cars with new models that are so new the parts haven't made it to the aftermarket yet. So to tell me an upper control arm on a near 20 year old SUV is dealer only really raises a red flag for me - especially when I've already looked up the parts. I expect a markup on price at a shop - that's how it works. I don't expect you to try to mark up a part between 631% and 1,566%. Even directly from Honda (I picked the first actual Honda, conicellihondaparts), the right rear upper control arm is $92.71 and the left is $76.00. As to the "Response from the owner" talking about how they called Autozone who confirmed that the item is indeed "dealer only" - please see the picture in the replies - there's one there that clearly shows an upper control arm, a single one - if you open that picture - that's from Auto Zone - and I'll add another, as I stopped in and talked to an Auto Zone manager just last night about this exact part: Specialty Products Company Control Arm 67290. It's available over the counter. It's $103.99. It's in stock, and I can have it next day if I so choose to order it from them. I can also order a right and left side pair online for about $83.00. Yes, both for under $100.00. So, I'm just going to come out and say it - you aren't taking responsibility for what you're doing - you're doubling down on "dealer only part" and it is NOT. I have added a pic of 1 of the pair I just bought for under $100.00, and not...

My friends and family have been going to Skander for a long time. Mainly for automotive tires but partly agricultural tires as well. We have never had a bad thing to say until recently. It seems like the quality has gone way down. I recently took refinished wheels to Skander with tires I had bought off Tire Rack. Normally, when I had brought tires in previously, it was 12 dollars to get them mounted, per tire. Front desk had asked me if my tires have been on the wheels before and if they were new. I answered, no, they have not been on the wheels before because they are new tires. Once the bay was ready for me to pull in, I brought my car around and we started unloading my wheels and tires. Once everything was out of the car, one of the employees informed me that since I did not purchase the tires at Skander, it was going to be 35 dollars per tire rather than the usual 12 per tire. It would've been much better to have been told this up front at the desk, rather than once everything was already out of the car.

At that point, I said sure, go ahead with mounting the tires. Not knowing the true price was annoying but I will chalk that off as something I was just not aware of. No big deal, it happens.

The part where things get ugly is when they hand the newly refinished wheels back to me after mounting the tires. all four wheels are completely covered in dirt and grime. The usual tire mounting lubrication was on as well, but that is something that will happen anywhere. It is completely unacceptable to take completely clean, new wheels from someone, and pass them back to the customer covered in dirt and grime on every inch. Not to mention, there was paint damage on 3 / 4 wheels. Once I spotted the damage, I immediately took pictures and called back. Alex, the manager, was friendly on the phone and was helpful in trying to get things sorted out, I do not want to discredit him there.

Once he reviewed the photos and his security camera footage (of which I never saw), he claimed that everything on their end looked fine and that they had not done anything out of the ordinary to damage the wheels. Attached are the photos of the wheels with the damage and the grime that they left on them. Alex said that they believe the tire bead had rubbed on the wheel while mounting and took off the paint because of a possibility of the paint not being fully cured. Because of this, they will not be covering any damages.

4 layers of 2 part clear coat that has sat in a heated warehouse for a full week is certainly cured. You can very clearly see drag marks that dig into the clear coat and down to the bare metal of the wheel. That doesn't "just happen" while mounting a wheel with a bad clear coat. That is mishandling by the techs, with a poor coverup by management.

My family members who were all long time customers of Skander are all very disappointed in how they handled this and we have decided to find a new tire shop elsewhere, with better...

I purchased my own tires and selected to have them installed at Skander Tire Service, Inc. As a repeat customer, who has purchased tires from them in the past, I valued the convenience of the hours and easy scheduling. (This is why I am giving two stars instead of one.) After driving into the bay and sitting down to wait, I was informed that I would have to pay "a premium" to have the old tires taken off and my own new tires installed. The reason I was given was akin to "bringing your own steak to a restaurant." Huh?

Anyway, I decided to utilize Skander Tire Service, Inc. for the tire swap. In all, I had to pay nearly $170.00 to have my own tires put-on the vehicle, as well as old tires taken off. After reading some of the reviews, and others' similar experiences, I can understand the rationale behind the steak analogy, but really ... how much time does it take to do the work to swap-out tires? Even if the charge was $20-25 per-tire, one would still be paying-out about $100 for less than 15 minutes of work. That is a lot of money for what would be done. Charging nearly $175.00 for ~15 minutes of work is not what a tireman with a "conscious" would charge, is it?

And, if the business is making money exclusively from tire sales (as has been stated in replies to other reviews), and not service, how much more are people being charged for tires, compared to the competition? I wonder this, especially if charging a standard fee for a service (tires swap) is not "enough," and customers in such situations, with their own tires, are charged an exorbitant rate, when compared to every other business that does similar work, in similar circumstances (including car dealerships--who by the way, are in the business of selling cars, but are doing a "service" for their repeat, loyal customers).

In the end, I hope it was worth losing a potential life-long customer, as well as family members, friends, and by extension, potential word-of-mouth...