Meineke Car Care Center

Reviews 3

CA

Carol Haseltine-Ernst

DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING THEY SAY ABOUT YOUR CAR!! If I could give Meineke zero or less stars I would. I brought my car in for front brakes last year and they, of course, told me my rear brakes were worse off than my front so I had to have all four replaced. I paid to have it done. Flash to a year later, 20k miles on the car and my rear brakes start squealing. I bring it back to them (under warranty) and they tell me that my rotors need replacing, my calipers are leaking AND my rear brakes are completely gone. They are happy to replace the warrantied pads but its going to be $1200. for the rest. When I indicate that I find this very hard to believe Chris, the manager, tells me that if I had brought my car in to them for oil changes, they would have caught it, but "those other guys" just dont do the job they do. Then he tells me that it was probably the way I drive. Then he tells me that its because I commute (which I do not). When I ask him how my brake pads can be completely gone he tells me that it is because I was driving for a long time with leaking calipers. I look up symptoms for leaking calipers and it says I would see brake fluid leaking spots where I park and if they were stuck (which is why the brakes would be so worn) I would also feel the car pulling, which I didnt. I ask him about this and he says that they probably started leaking the moment my brakes started squealing and I drove so much on them leaking that it wore the brakes down. I said that didnt make sense since I only drove it to them, period and brakes start squeaking only once they are worn to the piece of metal designed to tell you your brakes are gone. Then he explained that the calipers got debris in them and it acted like a virus and destroyed my calipers and there was no way for me or anyone to know that they were going to leak. Now my car has a cold. Then he sends me pictures of brakes with fluid on them... which I later found out brakes get fluid on them when you bleed the lines. That picture meant nothing. Then he says that this just happened to his car and now he understands why... and the same day another lady brought her car in with the exact same problem! What are the odds?? Wow! Then he says that It would be against the law for him to do anything but the full repair. I asked him if he had read the YELP page (I wish I had before ever going to this company!) and he said that he had only been at Meinike for 5 days and he was brought in to, "Clean up their reputation"... and that the other manager only left because he bought a dealership of his own...(??). Which is it? Needless to say he sounded so much like a salesman trying to sell me something I took my car to another company. Guess what? There is nothing wrong with my calipers or rotors. The brakes are worn because the wrong kind were put in my car. They were so cheap my car went right through them, so much so the mechanic told me that he had never seen any brakes EVER worn that much in that short amount of time. It is possible used brake pads were put into my car last year... or they were never changed at all? In any case, it will be $300. to replace the pads that are under warranty at Meinike. I would rather pay a reputable company to do it right and report Meineke to the BBB and Bureau of Automotive Repair. I called Chris after leaving the new mechanic and told him what I had found out. He got very defensive, and in a very heated voice told me, " his mechanic told him that the calipers, rotors and brakes need replacing and he had given me a fair estimate." I said that if he reimbursed me for the work that they maybe did last year I would reconsider reporting him and he yelled, "Why are you reporting me??" I reminded him that he was trying to charge me $1200. to replace brakes that were under warranty. Then he said, "well I have pictures so go ahead!" So there you have it. I highly recommend anyone getting work done at Meineke get a second opinion. Theres a very good chance that there is nothing wrong with your car.

AB

Abby Waterman

I first came to the Santa Rosa Ave. Meineke like so many others, with a coupon for an oil change. Im new in town and intend to replace my old car next year, so Im not really looking a regular mechanic at this point, as I just want to try and nurse my old (New) Beetle until spring. Unfortunately its at that stage where it seems to be one thing after another, and as anyone with a VW knows, the parts aint cheap. So I was fine enough with the earlier service to take it back to Meineke when I noticed a strong gasoline smell in the car just after filling the tank, and my Check Engine light came on. Turns out I needed a new fuel pump, the cost of which was painful. They showed me the actual part cost, and because I had brought a coupon for $50 off $500 or more, Jason, the shop manager, actually gave me $100 off, as my bill totaled over 1K. I wouldnt have expected that, and felt it was a nice gesture, as that was a big cost for me. But heres the 5-star for me: I work from home and so dont drive a lot, thus, I sometimes only fill up once every couple weeks...car seemed fine until a week after I got it back, filled up, and the Check Engine light and gas smell returned. I called, they told me to get it right back to them, and because it was under their service guarantee, they literally dropped everything to scan the code and fix the leak (it was another part that hooked up to the new fuel pump that didnt connect well). I was in and out quickly with no additional charges. So I just filled it up again this morning and that light came on, and the gas smell was back. I just returned from the shop, where once again, they dropped everything for me, and ordered a new seal-- the new one that had come with the fuel pump was faulty--and replaced it immediately. Once again, no charge for parts or labor, the apologies were profuse and genuine. Again last week my light came on again. At this point I dont top off the tank, so there was no smell of gas. I called them and they ordered a "gasket kit" this time, trying to get it right. They replaced the part a couple days ago. Well see how it works. For now Check Engine light is off again. And again, no charge for anything. Now, in a perfect world, none of this stuff wouldve happened. I dont know everything that goes on behind the scenes, but Ive been driving a lot of years now, have dealt with many a mechanic and garage, and I think these guys are OK. Theyve certainly treated me with respect and responded immediately to ensure my car is safe to drive.

NI

Niklaus Halvorson

First I had a $1200 brake job done and LANCE AND JEFF were excellent in terms of customer service. They do go by the book when it comes to # of hours though. ie: an hour for brake pads an hour for this ,2 hour for that, etc... However Lance took off about 2- 3hours in labor due to the fact they were doing multiple things in the same area.. However my car broke down 3 weeks later (brakes locking up/smoking) I had it towed back to Meineke because it had just been in being worked on for $1200.they threw in two new brake line hoses on the house ($15 value) then heres they would get 3.5 STARS if I could:they concluded from their free inspection that I needed a new master brake cylinder .Their invoice quoted me at $250.just for the part $450 total. About the part for 6 under $60

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