University Tire & Auto Center - Seminole

Reviews 4

A

Anonymous User

I have been here twice in the last two months, and am going in again to finish out my round of new tires. Total money spent there in last two months - $1200. Price is same as all the others. Sams Club has some cheaper off-brand tires, but oranges to oranges University matches up with price. I bought Dayton tires, great workhorses for a price less than Goodyear and Michelin. Overall, the merchandise they sell is great quality. I checked the tire dates, and they were manufactured less than 3 months ago, which is good. That being said, like any other shop there are a few apples that spoil the bunch. This second trip for new tires with my wifes truck, shortly after leaving one of my tires threw a lead weight off the wheel. Having done tires myself 15 years ago, it takes some serious dedication to not crimp down the weights. When I went back in immediately to get it fixed, I ended up waiting over an hour. For screw-up repairs like this, a manager should have been riding that mechanic to get it done right and quickly. Also, Jason in sales needs some training. When I first called looking for tires in a particular size for my 4x4, he said they had 7 in stock. When I arrive, not only did they not have them in stock or at the quoted price (verbal quote), that size is not even made by the brand I had requested. As I was dealing with this issue, another customer at the desk beside me also had an issue with a Jason quote. He had quoted her one price over the phone, and then that size and price wasnt available when she came in. I worked with Chuck after this, and he is fantastic! Chuck definitely was focused on keeping my business and making sure everything was made right. Kudos to him. Because of Chuck I continue to purchase tires there at UTA. Interestingly, as I just called to secure two more tires for my 4x4 (remember, weird size) I spoke with Jason. I asked for him to look up my profile since I did not know my tire size off the top of my head, he said no problem, they had the tires. But he had not looked them up. I will say after coaching him to look up my profile, get my tire and brand, then look up the inventory, I got accurate info. But I am not sure I as a customer need to coach the sales staff. Overall, I give UTA a B. Price and quality of tires is an A. Chuck gets an A+. Jason gets a C-. Managers on duty when my tire threw a weight get a D, since they should have jumped on this. So, understanding the tire weight was a rare occurence, overall I would give them a B.

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A

Anonymous User

Were relatively new to Charlottesville--moved here about a year ago. We have several complaints about University Tire, some more serious than others. We were overcharged for an oil change. And they tried to really rip us off on a major repair that was unnecessary (see below). Weve had our oil changed here a couple of times. In our second oil change we explicitly asked for and paid for a particular higher-end oil to be used, and found out after the oil change was completed (from the invoice) that they had used their standard, regular-grade oil but billed us for the higher-priced stuff. This wasnt a huge deal and they fixed it when confronted. More recently, I had my car towed there because it wouldnt start or run and I suspected the alternator was shot. We had just replaced the battery 5 months prior. I got quotes over the phone from 4 places, including University Tire. University Tire quoted me "around $300" but said they would have to see the vehicle. Others quoted in the $400-480 range. The last one, a mechanic I trust completely from where I used to live, said he would charge $375. Once University Tire looked at the car, they quoted me $950, including $330 for the alternator itself, not including labor. A suitable alternator is available from AutoZone for $120 and this was almost as high as the entire job from my former mechanic. They wanted to replace the battery (and charge me $80 labor to do it, on top of the battery cost), the alternator, the AC belt and the alternator belt. I took it to a different shop, where the battery was under warranty. They replaced the battery (basically free of charge, given the warranty), but that didnt fix it. I was still convinced it was the alternator. They said they thought it might be the cable connectors to the battery and theyd try that next. Sure enough, that was it--no new alternator was needed and I was out the door with a $35 bill. No problems since then--this even fixed a long-standing problem with my cars dashboard lights flickering occasionally. $950 and an unnecessary alternator replacement versus a $35 fix. We wont go back to University Tire as a result of this.

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Jennifer Kaplan

I took my car here to get an inspection. I know that the car is older, and could potentially have trouble passing inspection, so I stressed that they call if anything came up. Several hours after dropping the car off, I got a call telling me that the car was ready to be picked up. When I came in to get the car, I first had to wait ~10 minutes until anybody could help me. Finally, someone took my name, and then informed me that I owed $969. I was of course taken aback by this, and he started to list all of the individual costs that added up to this huge amount. From the way he was listing them, and since I had been told the car was ready to be picked up, I assumed that all of these had been done without my consent. He disappeared, and brought someone else to talk to me. This person claimed that they had called and left a message (which never happened). He then told me that the car failed inspection, and there was a long list of things that needed to be done in order for it to pass, making it clear that nothing had actually been done to the car. I dont have any idea how someone could call me to tell me the car was done and ready to be picked up, when in actuality it had failed inspection, and they needed to get permission to do a lot of things. Since the car is 17 years old, and clearly not worth $1000, I decided against getting anything done. If I did decide to have the car fixed in order to pass inspection, there is NO WAY I would have let them do it. There was no communication prior to me getting to the center. The guy at the register was ready to charge me for something that hadnt even been done yet. I have been to several other car centers within Charlottesville, and I have NEVER had an experience like this. I tried going to several other places before coming here, but they werent taking any more cars for state inspections. Now its clear why there was no line here. DONT EVER BRING YOUR CAR HERE.

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Jane Gargett

I just spent three very wasted hours waiting for my car at University Tire and Auto in the Seminole shopping center. I went in for a State inspection - $16 and came out with a $49 bill. They told me it would take an hour, hour and a half max (quote when I signed in) and I was there just under three hours. I even left with my four year old and walked her clear across the shopping center for a long lunch and came back over an hour later and they hadnt even moved my car into the garage yet. There was actually another patron in the waiting room sleeping hed been waiting for so long - longer than Id been there. They offered to put my new plates on for me and charged me $18 for the trouble - ridiculous. I could have done it myself while I was waiting if Id known the cost. They told me they wouldnt scrape any of the stickers off my windshield - I asked specifically - then proceeded to do it anyway then got huffy when I asked for my stickers back. I understand now that its a State law, but then be honest about it when I ask. I would have asked for them to be careful and save them for me - it wouldnt have been a big deal, but I dont appreciate being misled. They said a light above my plates was out and needed replacing to pass inspection - another $13. Who knows if this was true - I just had an inspection in March before moving to VA - passed without incident - but you have to trust them when they have your car hostage. Trusting them led to an over inflated bill and a totally unreasonable wait time. Did I mention they were surely and rude as well? Will never EVER go here again or any of their other locations.

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