Centreville Tire & Auto

Reviews 3

DA

David Levenstam

Although I initially liked Centreville Tire and auto, Id begun to suspect that they were over-charging me for labor. It often seemed like their labor charges ended up being substantially higher than the estimate, especially a few weeks back when I took the car in for AC service, and decided to go ahead and have them do other work they said was either needed or recommended, including three extra hours apparently to get one bolt off the engine. After spending $1800 I found that the AC worked once and then died again. When I took my car back they wanted $1405, including $1100 in labor for 8 hours, to replace 4 parts on the AC system. Friends on Facebook told me that the repair should take no more than three hours. When I asked Mike, the nice phone guy, he said he would talk to Raoul, the nice manager, in the morning. When I spoke with Raul, he said it couldnt be done in less than 7 hours, and cut the price to $1187. Since Id done all the work of looking for other mechanics already, I took it to Newgate Auto Care-Sunoco down the street, and found out that I didnt need 3 of the 4 parts replaced--one isnt even part of the AC system--and that they could replace the blown compressor for a total of $630. Newgate Sunoco promised the work done before noon (even though I didnt need it that fast), and finished it by 11:50 AM for the promised $630. Again, the men at Centreville Tire are nice, but after spending $1800 on repairs when I really just wanted to fix my AC, I couldnt afford another $1405, or even $1187. What probably would have kept me at Centreville Tire as a customer would have been if Mike or Raoul had originally said that the regular price was $1405 but that since I was a loyal customer for 4 years and had just spent $1800 there, theyd cut off an hour of labor and give me the discount to bring the total to $1187. It would have helped further if theyd said that I didnt need the new ambient temperature sensor (that tells you the outside temperature) to make the AC work, and then told me how much I could have saved by not replacing that. I mean it still probably would have come out more than the $630 that Newgate Sunoco charged me, but if Id have been able to cut the price of $1405 to, say, $800 or even $900, I might just have left my car at Centreville Tire to have them do the service. Knowing that they could have charged me a couple of hundred less to start with, and charging me so much even with the discount, led me to find a new mechanic. Im grateful though because Im happy with the change in mechanics. [My Original Yelp Review Review: Ive used Centreville Tire and Auto twice--once for the state safety inspection, and once for the state emissions inspection--and theyve been fast and courteous both times. They also havent broken anything and tried to make me repair it to get my inspection sticker like one mechanic in Fairfax did, nor have they charge me for services not rendered or grind my break rotors past the safety point like Virginia Tire & Auto of Centreville did. Ive found my new mechanic! :-)]

ST

Stephen Jennings

This place won my family over with knowledgeable staff and amazing customer service! So heres the story: I dont know cars. Like, embarrassingly dont. I go where my dad tells me to go and try to follow the suggested maintenance schedule in the manual and thats it. We had been going to Centreville Tire and Auto on and off due to its proximity to our home. It was time for the oil change on my 09 Saturn and my dad wanted me to go to a larger chain competitor because of their well advertised service package. After I left it with this other place I was almost immediately called back and said the screw was completely stripped on a cover for the oil and they couldnt get it off. He went on about how he had the right star shaped bit but it just wasnt working. So they told me I had to take it back to the last place that used it and get them to fix it. and possibly replace the screw. The last place I went was Centreville Tire and Auto so I did just that while relaying the info to my dad about the change in plans. I walked in, and Raul remembered my name and car and after I explained the issue he said well immediately take a look. Once they pulled it around and hoisted it up Raul, who was familiar with my level of knowledge with cars, said we found no problem with it and then ASKED TO SHOW ME what the issue people were talking about. I had never been offered to be shown and I leapt on the opportunity to have a mechanic teach me about my vehicle. He took me back and showed me the screw and not only did this thing look like nothing was wrong with it, I was able to point our myself the markings where the other place was beginning to *actually* strip the screw by using the wrong bit. I called my dad and he immediately was grateful for them explaining the situation so well and said this is where Im going from now on. When I told that to Raul then proceeded to list every car my family owned (five) from memory and said hes happy they have been able to help us and would love to help us more often. So they did the maintenance I required and I also told them about an issue I was having with finding a rear wiper blade. (For some reason many blade finders online list my car as not having a rear blade.) Raul went back and found one online and said from now on they would keep one in stock just for me in case I needed it so I didnt have to hunt like I had been. Later in the day Mike picked up where Raul left off and there was no need to explain to him anything a second time. They had already communicated everything to each other so that I didnt have to re-tell him anything I had already spoken to Raul about! This place is amazing and my number one choice for my vehicles maintenance in the area. 5 stars and outstanding service

A

Anonymous User

I had dropped my car off to be fixed a few years back. It was my husband and my only car, and I used Centreville Tire and Auto because it was within walking distance to my apartment. They put this liquid in it to see if there were leaks coming from the engine. THEN, they left it running, keys in ignition, doors unlocked OUTSIDE of the garage for the liquid to run through the engine to see if it leaked. A heroin addict stole our car from their parking lot where it was sat running, and drove it to DC and did drugs in my car. We did get my car back. There were TONS of heroin needles in it. I had to get a rental car while the police looked for our car, paid CASH to get it out of impound, and go to court over this. The thief did get convicted. However, the thing that made me ANGRY was when I got my car back, they wanted me to PAY FOR THE WORK!!! After that day I have never gone back. I used Gemini Good Year down the road instead. They have a shuttle service. One of my friends had dated one of the mechanics, and when I told her what happened she said "Again? Thats like 3 times now!" I dont know if that is true, but it sure happened to me. An unsecured area for car work and expectations for customers to pay for the work they did that got it stolen! They lost a customer for LIFE.

Other organizations