Airport Road Auto Center Tire Pros — Local services in Hollymead

UPDATE... after several phone calls with the manager of Airport Auto, Chris Snead, he decided to issue a refund given my experience. This is absolutely unheard of; he went above and beyond any expectation I had for resolving the situation. My faith has been restored and not because I received money, rather, that this manager took the time to speak personally with me, sometimes at great length and genuinely cared about my satisfaction and well being. With Mr. Snead at the helm, I think you can be confident you'll be greeted with a level of courtesy and professionalism rarely seen these days... that any issues will be heard and resolved in a efficient, timely and fair manner... that your satisfaction is as great a concern to them as their company's reputation. Thank you, Mr. Snead. .............................................

Airport Auto has completely lost my trust and loyalty… I’ve used them for years and won’t go back and if you’re a senior woman, like me, you should think twice… I took my old car into Airport Auto to be thoroughly checked over; my AC quit working and in June 2021, when I had my car inspected (at Airport Auto), I was told my left ball joint wouldn’t pass inspection next year and definitely needed repair as soon as possible.

I was quoted 3.5k to include AC, the ball joint repair and other repairs, I left the car with them for 2 weeks. 2 days before I was to pick it up, I was told the left ball joint work was NOT included in the original quote and then told, it didn’t EVEN NEED repair, well, “not yet”. Additionally, I was told the woman who gave the original quote had “made a mistake, there was a miscommunication and she’s done this a couple times this week” and, he’d have to talk to her. What??? Besides not honoring the quote, throwing his co-worker under the bus did nothing but send big red flags… is he saying their people are poorly trained or are there certain employees I should avoid and, more importantly how do I trust any quote they give? A quote is a quote, ethical places honor their quotes and take up their employee “issues” on their own time, not mine.

Part of the work included a simple oil change and routine care… I typically go to other places for an oil change and must be spoiled, they vacuum and wash my windows, replace the filters and windshield wipers if needed… mine were definitely overdue and when I asked specifically about them they had not been done, not to mention the black fingerprints on my seats and dash. Here’s the thing, not to be finicky but, if they can’t meet expectations for a simple oil change it leaves me questioning all their services.

They did a good number of repairs, it’s an old car, and I don’t mind paying for repairs and they had the car for 2 weeks, no excuses for not completing a job. I feel they ignored the little things in lieu of bigger ticket items. Those little things are equally important and given the exchanges we had, especially about the ball joint, I’m not sure if the repairs they did were warranted or not? Bottom line, I can’t trust them. I was very clear about my expectations/requests, we communicated regularly and I understood the quote. For 3.5k I shouldn’t have to take my car to, yet, another repair place to check their work… that left ball joint that was in dire need of repair 2 months ago … save yourself the worry, go someplace with...

I’ve been a customer for about five years now and I’ll be moving on. I dropped off my vehicle for an oil change and tire rotation. Heather left a voicemail to call back and when I did she started listing off some things that were checked (other than oil and tires). I was confused and mentioned it sounded more like an inspection and she defensively informed me that it was part of their process to check those things (battery, oil, windshield wipers). That’s fine, I was just asking a question and I didn’t expect to be met with attitude. I declined those items nonetheless. I asked about the tire rotation and she told me they weren’t able to do it because they were mismatched. I had two replaced within the last year by them and thought I had all four replaced not long before that also by them (apparently I was wrong - all four were replaced in 2022 and two were replaced in 2024). I questioned what that meant (again confused, why would they put tires on my vehicle if they didn’t match the old ones and why does it even matter in the first place) and her already unpleasant attitude became worse. She had a snarky response of “because they don’t match” (which she had already said) and told me the numbers associated with them. Failing to give any detail of WHAT the significance of that is. In frustration with her attitude and lack of explanation I ended the conversation informing her I’ll take my vehicle elsewhere next time. Still confused, I spoke to my husband and he called in on my behalf to get some answers. Heather didn’t give him the time of day (again, less than friendly attitude) and transferred him to someone else. After all is said and done, my oil has been changed and the tires are rotated. If I need to spend my money somewhere, I’ll choose to spend it at a location that employs patient individuals that give customers the space to ask questions without being treated like an inconvenience.

All this to say - my complaint is with the customer service (over more than just this event) and not with the...

THEY LOOK GOOD ON GOOGLE. I USED TO LIKE THEM --- until a recent encounter.

Since I posted the story below on Nextdoor.com (a social media targeting local communities), there were 50+ replies for neighbors, sharing similar experience. People seemed to agree that since ownership changed, ARA was no longer it used to be. Read on.

-------- My org post: Lost faith in Airport Road Auto ----

Been using Airport Road Auto for inspections the last few years—just minor stuff like bulbs and wipers, no big repairs.

Two weeks ago, they failed me for worn rear rotors and quoted $500. I saw the grooves, but decided to replace the rotors and brakes myself.

I bring the car back for a second inspection, thinking it’s all good now. Nope. This time, they say the front brakes are shot. Mind you, these are the same front brakes they said were fine the first time around. And guess what? Another $500 repair offer.

When I went to get my keys, I got the cold shoulder. They asked where I was planning to take the car next, since my rejection sticker was about to expire. I politely asked if they could schedule a third inspection. They refused. Then I asked them to at least show me what’s supposedly wrong with the front brakes. They refused again.

At this point, I’m thinking they didn’t even bother looking at the car the second time around—just wanted me out of there after I didn’t take their repair offer the first time.

To be fair, Airport Road Auto has great Google reviews, and they seem to have a loyal following (I always see their shuttles running around). But here’s my takeaway: If you turn down their repair offer, you suddenly don’t matter anymore.

And to me, that’s a pretty big red flag for any shop.

pic 1: front brakes which they claimed bad. there's quite some life left pic2: my rejection "invoice" pic3/4: 50+ neighbors sharing similar...