Pennsylvania Tire & Auto of Haverford — Local services in Haverford Township

Went in for state inspection. They said rear rotors needed changing because of "rust". The year before they changed the front ones, I was suspicious then but in a rush and just had them do it. This time, I was like show me this rust (the car is only a few years old and not abused). Calvin and the mechanic pointed to a little surface rust that they know dam well has no effect on braking and would wear off quickly from the pads engaging with a little more driving, (the car had not been used for 4 weeks). So I took it to a reputable place that passed the state inspection without a peep about the brake rotors. I even asked them to specifically look at the rotors and they agreed they were totally fine. And guess what, that was over a year ago and now the car has passed a 2nd state inspection without any work on the breaks and driven over 15000 miles with no squeaks or problems at all. I waited all this time to review because I hate leaving negative reviews and know Calvin is not a bad guy and the auto repair business is tough sometimes. Rotors can last a very long time if not abused with racing or improper mountain driving or towing. One of the biggest scams in repair industry is changing them unnecessarily, it's a super easy job they can make a several $100 for the shop when times are slow. Along with the ridiculous 3000 mile oil change it is the most common way to get extra work. If you haven't worked on cars you will not know this and feel like you just need to trust them but don't! There's a good chance you're being taken advantage of at this place...

The other night I was out on an appointment 45 minutes from home when the radiator of my Acura TL suddenly gushed enough coolant to preclude my getting home without blowing the engine. Found a place to crash and looked for a garage close enough get to in the morning. I had little idea of where I was or what was available. Went online and found that this garage was just down the street and it had great reviews.

Kyle picked up my call and said he could work me in. Great. I used to write the technical service manuals for Subaru, and know a bit more than most about cars and mechanics. Kyle is an ace. The place is clean, well ordered, and customer satisfaction an obvious priority.

Pretty obvious it was the radiator. My undercarriage was just raining coolant (the hoses were new from a recent timing belt service). Ordered the parts and went over the estimate. Have to give a big compliment to the transparency of the cost of parts and labor. A textbook model of how it should be done. Parts are x, time of labor, y.

Bonus, instead of having to wait there through the day, Kyle got one of the guys to take me back to where I was staying and picked me back up when the car was ready. Work done, bill paid, I'm on my way. Outstanding.

So if you're reading this online from out of town and stuck like I was, hope this helps. And if you're a local, well, consider yourself in good hands should you...

Run, don't walk anywhere else. I scheduled a 10am inspection appointment weeks ago. I arrived on time and opted to wait in store. It took them over 2.5 hours to inspect my car. Upon inspection, they "found" issues that would cause me to fail my inspection. After reading other reviews, I wish I had left and gotten a second opinion because it appears that they are predatory, but after spending over 2.5 hours there, I wanted to be done. I was told it would take another hour to hour and a half to complete the work, I did not leave the store until after 3pm.

Upon the work being completed, the total cost was nearly a $100 more than I was quoted and authorized hours prior. Standard practice is to include the cost of labor in the price total they ask you to authorize. They did not do this. The man working the front desk was unprofessional, condescending and rude when I pointed out the discrepancy.

Horrible experience all around. I will...