AAA - South Square

Reviews 3

ME

Melissa K

I just want to give a big shout out to all that helped fix my car yesterday evening! I would also like to give a BIG THANK YOU to Justin at the Westgate Drive AAA location. I recently starting having car issues Tuesday afternoon when I was trying to leave work - my car wouldnt crank. I had to get it jumped off, then I went to an Advance Auto in Cary and got the battery tested. The employee that assisted me stated that the battery was "good" and that it will take 2 or 3 more jumps before it will run properly. This was not accurate information. That night my step-father messed around with the battery and started tapping the starter and it cranked, but still he thought it was a battery issue even though the Advance employee told me the battery was good. Anyways, yesterday morning, luckily my car cranked after a little hesitation, but when I went out to my car during lunch it wouldnt. This is when drama started. I called my step-father to give him an update about my car troubles and he said that he would come to my work parking lot and see what he can do. He got here about a hour and a half later with a battery tester and new battery. He changed the battery (which the one that was "good" was actually super dead. He connects the battery cables and I go to crank my car and nothing. We had to push it out of the parking spot to try to jump it off with his truck - nothing. I have been a AAA for over 5 years and I HIGHLY recommend the service. The coverage for towing alone is worth it! I called the AAA car care number on the back of my car and explained to them what was going on so they transferred me to the road-side assistance number. The woman that answered was most helpful. I explained to her my situation and she said that someone should be in route in about an hour. Soon after I got off the phone with her (not even 10 minutes) the tow truck driver called and said he was in route. I got to me within 5 minutes of calling me and had my car up on the truck and ready to tow within in less than 1 minute! I have never seen a tow truck pick up a car that fast! He towed my car to the AAA located on Westgate and my step-father and I followed in his truck. When we got to the shop the tow truck driver (TJ or JT with Dave’s) walked with us inside and handed us off to Justin who helped me. He took my information and said that he would give me a call to update the status of my car. Around 5 o’clock or so I followed up with him because I knew they closed at 6 and just wanted to make sure that I didn’t need to come back by for any reason to pay and/or anything else. When I spoke with him, he stated that the starter was not getting any power and that I needed either a new one or a remanufactured starter. I went with the latter (and he said that he would have suggested that anyways because it’s a little cheaper and under the same warranty as the brand new one). When he gave me the total I didn’t even care about the cost, I just wanted my car back. He ended up talking to his shop manager and seeing if this repair could even be done tonight….the manager agreed and he said, “just be here at 6:10pm and it will be ready.” I was in shock! I was prepared to not have a car today, which I was fine with. I got to the shop at 6:11pm and paid and picked up my car! I am so grateful to be a AAA member and would suggest anyone to go to this location for their car repairs/issues. I know that I will be going here from now on! (I needed an oil change too, but didn’t ask to get that completed as well – I figured one task was enough. I will be scheduling this shortly). Thank you ALL again who helped fix my car!!!!

MA

Matthew Edwards

This place is a joke. I cannot believe they are still in business and people trust them to be honest. My father was a mechanic for 40 years so I no a decent bit about cars. I only went in for a state inspection as neither I nor my normal shop can do those. I was there for over an hour and a half, which is fair given the need to perform the below. The first little gotcha was needing new wiper blades to pass inspection, fine no big deal, except of course this costs $50! $22 for the blades and $28 for what was quite literally 2.5 minutes of labor. I know because I watched the mechanic do it. What a joke. My normal mechanic charges $20 for the SAME wiper blades from NAPA - but that $20 INCLUDES installation. Is the AAA shop rate $600/hr? But then of course they also need to sell me on stuff I dont need or is ridiculously priced. The service writer comes to me with a list of things that are not required for an inspection but need to be done. The prices for these services are, like with the wiper blades, outrageous. Replace four spark plugs $150. Unreal. The Iridium OEM plugs for my vehicle are $35 on Amazon, and I assume they can get a better deal, but they wanted ~$75 for parts. and then another ~$75 for labor, which on a 4 cylinder car to change 4 plugs is a 20 minute job for a DIYer let alone a trained mechanic. At least the shop rate is down to $300/hr now, hah. There were a couple of other items but the WORST part of it was something they have done before and is the reason I no longer go there regularly. They straight-up LIE. The service writer tells me your brake fluid is corroded and in bad shape, you need to replace it. $100. I just smiled. My normal mechanic literally did a flush less than two weeks ago. Complete, proper flush and I saw it with my own eyes. The fluid is as clean as it can be. They did the EXACT same thing to me 4.5 years ago when I had another brake job done at another shop. In for an inspection and they told me I needed a brake flush as it was dirty and dangerous. I do not know how these people sleep at night. This is AAA, and I have been a member for over a decade. They are supposed to be all about service. Is it service to lie to your customers and charge them outrageous prices? Did you guys even open the fluid reservoir and look or just assume that I dont know diddly squat? I will NEVER take my car to a AAA again. My normal mechanic plans to add on a state inspection station soon, and thank God because he is someone I can trust.

JU

Julie Newberry

I had my car towed to this AAA facility three times for the same problem in about a week. The first two times they came up with expensive repairs to do, in addition to charging me both times for their roughly $110 diagnostics service. The third time, I said I could not pay them anymore, and they agreed not to charge for further repairs. Mysteriously, this time they found nothing to fix! I took my car elsewhere, and it turned out that the real problem was something that AAAs own diagnostics had flagged as a possible issue *the first time I came in*. They never fixed that part at all but instead fixed a similar-sounding part the second time I brought it in. The part they replaced cost more to install, and its not entirely clear that it was needed. When I called to confront them about this, AAA tried to get me to come back to have them re-fix my car, allegedly for free this time--but at that point, I just wanted a safe and reliable car again, so I stuck with the new mechanic. Worst of all is that AAA sent me out with a broken car three times, potentially putting me and others at risk (the problem was such that it could have caused an accident). Whether this poor service was just a series of mistakes or whether it was a case of intentionally taking advantage of me, I dont know for sure -- they were friendly enough, and I hope that all of this was unintentional. But I certainly will not be returning to this facility in the future. [Update 9.27.17 - The manager called me and agreed not to charge me for the second diagnostics test and refund that and a little other money. He maintains that the parts they replaced were all needed. This is not clear from their own notes on the receipts they gave me, but it is possible that it is true and was not clearly indicated on the receipts as it should have been. What is clear is that the part that was needed, which their diagnostics did indicate the first time I went in, was not replaced till I went elsewhere. They have been polite throughout, so I will give them that at least, but its been a bit stressful navigating this.]

Other organizations