Big O Tires — Local services in La Mesa

The owner (Eddy) of this location is the exact reason people come to hate and lack trust in mechanics. I have been here before and received good service from a manager that was not the owner but even then, had to discuss pricing BEFORE anything gets done to my car. I have visited other Big O Tire locations and they honor the same nationwide coupons on their website. I have paid $60-$75 throughout the years for a full synthetic oil change. Obviously prices over the years have continually gone up.

Today, I made the mistake of not asking prices BEFORE having my car taken care of. But while in the shop I even added a service to my bill. When going to checkout, the bill seemed high. To which I discovered my oil change was $97. I make a comment but nothing is changed. I get in my car, check my receipt from my previous visit and see it was $77. Thinking maybe the price has skyrocketed because of our current administration, I call my old Big O location and ask what the price would be with the coupon and I am told $70 and some change.

I walk back into the shop and before I can say a word, the owner says “you paid $77 last time.” Which CLEARLY leads me to believe he knew this while charging me $97 the first time. When I explain the situation and proceed to say “look I don’t mind but…” I get cutoff and he responds with “clearly you do because you came back in.” He then tries to follow up with “if given the chance, I would’ve POSSIBLY matched the price too. But $20 isn’t worth losing a customer over. But you do realize the price isn’t gonna be $70 forever.”

This location still does everything via paper when you get services and this leads me to believe it is so they can move prices around without the system. Normally I wouldn’t have this skepticism but after this visit today…. Wouldn’t put it past this location to be moving prices around. No other Big O Tire location I have visited has this archaic system of 3 layer pages for transactions...

I went to this shop to get an alignment on a 2.5" lifted vehicle. After confirming twice (Once before dropping the vehicle off, and once after leaving the shop before the vehicle was picked up) that they would adjust all components on my lifted truck to achieve alignment and that they knew the Upper Control Arms were adjustable, the shop told me that they could not get my camber to spec. After giving them $180 dollars Eddy sent me out with a truck with a camber 2.5 degrees off they say they couldn't fix. They recommended that I rotate the tires frequently to prevent uneven wearing...

I brought the truck back and pointed out that the adjust UCAs were not properly aligned. The technician didn't believe that was the case so I offered to send him information on the part. I emailed the store directions on how to properly setup the UCAs, even including a video, and they never responded.

I then took the truck down the street to Nan's alignment shop who quickly got my truck in spec for $80 dollars. I would not take your vehicle to this shop if you have had any modifications done. I won't be going back for. anything as I don't think they're honest, motivated, or educated. A quick google search could have shown these guys how to properly work this equipment - it's not very difficult to understand. Very disappointing but they did get my money - only...

I went to this shop because of all the positive reviews and how close it was to home. I have to say that this place lives up to it's reputation! I was looking to get new tires on a very expensive brand as well as brakes. Eddie, the owner quoted me on the tires via phone and was $400 less than what I had previously been charged by my usual "go to". I was ecstatic! I told him about the noise coming from my tires and he wanted me to stop by for a quick check before making an appointment the next day. Eddie was VERY honest and told me right away that I did not need the tires for another few months. The next day he ran a diagnostic on my car and test drove it to see where the noise was coming from. I told him the brakes but after about an hour, I received a call saying that the car drove great, the brakes had thick pads, the bearings and rotors were in great condition, but that it was the transaxle and the car needed to be taken to the dealership. Not only did he uphold integrity by not selling me new break pads, he shuttled me to and from my home, diagnosed the problem, didn't sell me tires that I didn't yet need, but he charged me NOTHING. I have never met a mechanic or crew like this one. I will be returning to this shop every time for all my auto needs... if I can! Thank you Eddie, Mario,...