NTA of Westgate Shell

Ridiculous. I needed my serpentine belt replaced. I don’t have all the necessary tools and didn’t feel like doing it. I took it here to get a quote. They wanted a little over $ 200 dollars to replace the belt.
Went down the street to Valvoline and got it done for $ 93 out the door. Took them ten minutes.

I went there to get a tire I bought for my car, well they put the tire on inside out. My car has directional tires and they put them on the wrong side I didn’t notice I felt so happy to have gotten things accomplished the fellas were nice but now I gotta go back first thing in the morning because I have to work at9:00 am!!!

You have probably had one of those experiences with a quick oil-​change place, where you go in for a $ 20 service and the next thing you know they are trying to convince you that your car is in dire need of flushes, fills, and filters.
It’s part of the deal. You get a cheap oil change and they try to upsell you into a bunch of stuff you don’t need. It’s how they make their money — the $ 10 movie theatre popcorn of the automotive industry.
The problem with this Shell station is that they do the same thing, only instead of giving you the benefit of a loss leader oil change, they coerce you by failing your inspection then (surprise!) tell you they just so happen to offer the services you need to get back on the road. It’s unethical and should be investigated.
Take a look at the other reviews of this place. What I experienced isn’t an aberration or my faulty perception. This is the way they run their shop.
For the second year in a row my car «failed» inspection. Last year it was because I «needed» new brakes. This year, I have new everything, so the best they could do was say my emergency brake wasn’t engaging properly (lol). BUT WAIT! THEY CAN FIX THAT! FOR ONLY $ 92!
Of course, they said, it COULD be mechanical, in which case it will cost a lot more — at which point I told them I already have a place that does brakes. As soon as I said that if that were the case I would go somewhere else, they suddenly dropped that whole «mechanical» probability. Weird, right?
And it would take about a half hour, they said.
Eight minutes later, they had miraculously fixed the problem. So they only charged me a half hour’s worth of labor. How kind!
As another reviewer said, it’s my own fault for returning to this place. It’s close to my house and I am a creature of habit. However, today was the last time I will spend a penny at an NTA.
I would love to hear from all the people who have had similar experiences at this station (lots of other reviewers seem to have the same thing happen to them). A friend of mine just shared with me that last fall this NTA told her 75-​year-​old grandmother that she needed to have her car «winterized» — for SIX. HUNDRED. DOLLARS.
It is completely unethical to maintain a business model where you take advantage of a Virginia-​mandated inspection to hold people hostage. Shame on you.

Awesome job ! People are so friendly specially both Brian. Before starting they show me details and gave me option what to choose. Perfect place for auto… thanks guys.

This place is a shark den. My teenage daughter went there to get her car inspected and they slapped a rejection sticker on it. Then proceeded to give her a long list of estimated charges totaling over $ 800. One of the charges was a simple fix that cost us $ 4 at Auto Zone which Shell wanted $ 90 to fix in the shop. We took the car to a trusted mechanic and the total including inspection came to $ 85. Don’t ever let these guys swindle you. It’s OK to get a second opinion.

Great customer service! They squeezed me in at the end of the day and completed my repair while I waited. They also price matched my coupon from the Dealer :-) The new GM rotates between stores and just happened to be there when I went in. New rear brake pads and rotors (dealer coupon), groupon for an oil change, and NO labor charged for install of a bulb and air filter! Thanks guys!

Thank god this place is under new management — Brian the new manager took good care of me. I had an issue that started from the old manager and was very frustrated but when I came back and talked to Brian he took care of everything without blinking and was very impressed — will be bringing all my cars here from now on.

I had a nail in my tire. First I went to Sears auto to get it fixed. They wanted me to buy a whole new tire, I refused & drove across the street to NTB Shell. Quick, easy, painless. They removed the nail, plugged the hole, & sent me on my way. I couldn’t be happier. They even entertained my 3 year old with paper airplanes while we waited. Will definitely go back for future service.

My boyfriend came with me to get my car inspected here. When I drove up someone walked over to my car and the first thing he said was; «Should I give this to you or him since you’re going to have him do it anyway?» Needless to say, what an insult! Do you think I don’t know the basic information on my car? Whenever talking about my car they looked at him. Am I not capable of buying a nice car and understanding what you’re talking about?! When it came time to pay he joked that it would be $ 1000; then looked at my boyfriend pretending to be me and said, «baby?!» in a long drawn out whiny voice. Really?! I probably have more in the bank and a nicer car than this creep. Extremely rude and degrading. I will never bring my car here again. My boyfriend has his own review to add on this place. He was recently insulted as well by the same guy. We think he is the manager. He’s really tanking the place; we feel sorry for his mechanics. For credibility look at my other reviews. Mostly I give 4 or 5 stars. This place is truly the worst.

I’m not entirely sure why I continue to go to this particular Shell.
The mechanics who work there seem to be nice enough and the gas prices are pretty comparable to their competition.
But I guess the reason for the 1 star review is the inspection.
I’ve had numerous issues with them and their «attitudes» toward their customer that displeases me.
I’ll have to remind myself that just because they are close to my house the convenience isn’t worth the hassle.
2 years ago I brought a car I owned (it was a very cheap car purchases simply to go back and forth to the train station) for inspection. Well turns out it was a bad purchase on my part as the place I got it from fudged the inspection so it passed and when I had to get it inspected it was going to cost me like $ 3k to get the vehicle road worthy for the next year. Considering that was more than I paid for the beater, I decided the best course of action was to get rid of the vehicle. So I told Shell to forget it I didn’t want to get the work done, which they tried to barter with me on things they could throw in with the price if I went ahead with the repair and such.
They didn’t want to take no for an answer when I told them I didn’t want to get the work done.
Now that wasn’t too big of a deal, but I brought my replacement car back this year just recently for a safety inspection.
So I passed inspection aside from a light bulb that was out (don’t let them replace the bulb and think of it as a convenience fee. what I thought would cost me $ 15ish for bulb plus time cost me $ 30! I would have replaced it myself it I thought of that (or had bothered asking the cost I suppose)).
However, they also told me that my transmission fluid should be changed (as the car had just passed the 60k mark and it should be changed every 30k miles). That said I’ve got cars with WAY more miles than my current car that never had the transmission fluid changed and there was no particular reason to assume this was necessary outside of it’s a paycheck for a service place (look it up, most websites even argue 100k+).
They also told me that my power steering fluid needed to be changed out as there was debris in it (I checked at home as that’s something I have done before and there wasn’t ANY debris in it).
They then asked if they should go ahead and do it? I told them no, I’ll take care of it.
To which the manager of the service area said, «Well how do you do it?» (this being stated in response to changing the transmission fluid)
What business is it of yours to ask me how to change the transmission fluid? I said No thanks to having your service center do it. Leave it at that!
Sure perhaps I didn’t know at the time exactly how I would go about changing the transmission fluid, but I’ve got a father who’s worked as a mechanic for YEARS that was more than capable of teaching me and helping me get it done. I don’t need to be insulted because I didn’t feel like throwing hundreds to Shell.
The manager of the service part is as sleezy as sleezy comes. So much so that if you see him you’ll just assume he’s scummy. Don’t waste your time with inspections or any service at this place! The manager is just a scum bag, which is a shame as his mechanics (at least the ones I’ve interacted with) actually seem like nice people.

Fantastic staff that is very open in communicating problems with the vehicle. Caught problems with my car that had not been diagnosed in almost a year. (Previous shop replaced oil but didn’t identify the leak cause) NTA found it and helped me out.

Is there any way that I can give this shop a NEGATIVE 5?! I HATE THIS SHOP WITH A PASSION. I went for the first time on ⁸⁄₂₉ to do my state inspection and they FAILED ME telling me that my power steering fluid was leaking badly and that my emergency brake was not holding. They quickly quoted me $ 1,900 bucks! Never have I had problems with my car and I do oil changes when I need to do them. My car drives FINE so I was extremely confused, but I knew better than to take their word for it. I took it to another repair shop in Manassas, VA and to my surprise, he checked what was so called wrong with my car and my emergency brake was PERFECTLY FINE and my power steering fluid was not leaking puddles like JOHN LOPEZ LIED AND TOLD ME. I am in the process of filing a report and contacting the owner of this Shell and I also plan on notifying the VA State Trooper. IT IS NOT RIGHT WHAT THEY ARE DOING. While I was waiting for my inspection, I overheard them telling another female customer that there were issues with her car. These counterfeit mechanics prey on female customers and customers who lack vehicle knowledge and LIE to them just to get their money. It’s wrong… VERY WRONG. I DO NOT PLAN ON LETTING THIS GO AND I AM EXPECTING A REFUND OF MY MONEY!!! THIS GAS STATION WILL NOT RECEIVE A DIME OF MY HARD EARNED MONEY EVER AGAIN IN LIFE. SHOPS LIKE THESE MAKE IT HARD FOR HONEST MECHANICS. JOHN LOPEZ AND HIS CREW ARE CROOKS! I’M NOT DUMB… OF COURSE I WAS GONNA GET A SECOND OPINION. BEWARE OF JOHN LOPEZ AND HIS CREW. JOHN LOPEZ CONTACT INFORMATION (ANY CASE ANY OF YALL HAVE BEEN A VICTIM AND WANT A REFUND): 703−361−6888

We’ve been there twice. They did pass the car both times. The first time, a couple of years ago, the inspector passed the car but recommended about $ 500 worth of repairs. We took it to our regular mechanic and he said the car was fine and didn’t need them. We figured it was just an over-​enthusiastic sales person or a fluke, so a couple of days ago, we took the car to get its inspection. This time they said we needed $ 1500 worth of repairs, but if we did them right away, they would only charge $ 950. They also claimed we needed an oil change. Since we had gotten the oil changed on the way to the inspection, we knew that was bogus, so again, we took the car to our regular mechanic. Again, he told us that the needed repairs were bogus. So it isn’t a fluke but rather their normal business practice.

I have always come here to have my cars inspected and have always liked the staff. Last year I noticed that it was a bit different, realizing that owners have changed but since I am a creature of habit came here like always for car inspection.
I was floored by what they told me. Said I had a valve cover leak. Showed me the engine but honestly could not tell if it was old oil or not. Then they tried to scare me by telling me the oil is spraying all over the engine and hitting the exhaust which could lead to car setting fire and it was not safe to drive. Cost for this? $ 1800! Oh, but wait… they will cut me a deal and knock it down to $ 1400. Oh, wait there is more… they will give me a loaner car to run my errands and they will have my car finished by the end of the day. Oh… and they will give me a free oil change! Seriously? I told them to just give me my car.
Drove home… car did not catch of fire, whew! Checked the oil level. It was fine. There are also no spots where the car is parked every day so that shows no signs of oil leaking.
I would give them a minus 1 star if I could. Shame of them for what they are doing. Places like this give mechanics a bad name. I will never go there again. Oh, and they did fail my car’s inspection. Said one of my headlights in not in alignment. I did not let them adjust it. I am willing to pay the full 16 bucks to get it inspected elsewhere and if it needs adjusting they can do it.

We drove out of our way to get to a Shell station for gas. My husband used cash to purchase a $ 100 Shell gas gift card and was then charged the credit card price for gas. When the attendant was questioned, he replied «That’s just the way it is.» This isn’t the typical Shell.

I’ve used these Westgate Shell for about 2 years, but I won’t use them again. They used to do tuneups and repairs for my wife’s and my car. But two out of the last 3 visits went very bad.
My Saturn ion was running very poorly. They fixed with minimal cost, but after I drove it away my check engine light went on. I took it to them and they knew immediately the catalytic converter went bad because the fuel build up in the system caused the cc to overheat. They wanted $ 1,600 to replace it. Why didn’t they tell me that BEFORE I drove off? Wasn’t there anything they could have done to prevent the problem?
The second visit was for a flat tire. The guy fixed it on the spot and didn’t charge me. Really a nice guy.
So I took my car in for another flat tire. I went in to talk to the manager and he said he had no one to fix it because the guy that does had to leave early. This was at 5:30 PM. They advertise they are open until 7 pm. He tells me this while there are two techs standing in one of the repair bays with their hands in their pocket. I said what about one of those two guys? He said no, they are getting ready to go home. I said what about you? He said he didn’t know how to repair flats. I asked him how long he was in the car repair business. He said 13 years. I made a special trip based on the hours they advertised, and he refused to repair my flat.
I’ll take my business elsewhere.
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Update 11÷1÷2014: Got a call from the «new» GM of NTA. He read my Unilocal review and agreed with my assessment. He asked to get my business back and I agreed. I haven’t gone back yet, but any company that calls a customer and recognizes the value of customer service is A-​OK by me. Depending on how things go, I’ll raise it again. I need an alignment and two tires for my 2006 Mustang.

Go anywhere else. They tried to fail me for dirty trams fluid when I put a brand new trans in a few weeks ago. Then they told me the headlights need adjustment. They failed my last truck for a head gasket leak that did not exist according to my regular mechanic. I only go there when I have no choice.

Don’t go here! They will lie and say anything to get a quick buck!
They told me I had a nail in my tire, funny thing is I checked my tires before bringing it in there and there was no nail. Plus the nail looked as though someone place it there not in the middle and embedded. They told me I needed to replace the tire and it couldn’t be patched. «needed a new a tire» Refused took it to my Honda dealership they removed the nail said it didn’t need to be replaced or patched bc it didn’t pierce the inner lube. Stay clear of this place! So basically this a Shell on Westgate lied about me needing a new tire and it couldn’t be patched. Funny thing is I was sitting beside an elderly lady who was conversing with me and she was baffled about how she kept getting nails in her tires. She said it was the 3^rd time, she even asked them about it and if they knew why she kept getting nails. Shame on you, shame on you. Stay clear of this place.

Overpriced by $ 450 on brake work.
I would have paid Four Hundred & Fifty Dollars MORE compared to what J&J Automotive Services charged.
(I’m so happy we went with them instead, we saved so much– about to give them a great review)
By the way, I seriously don’t like when people treat me like as if they are a stereo typical car dealer, slick and at the ready.
I don’t appreciate someone coming at me w/​a clip board, a cocked head and a concerned look on their face when discussing pricing.
They started me out at $ 800, played with the numbers after I was astonished & gave me $ 666. Told them I was calling my husband, and he ‘called his boss’ and got it down to $ 600.
Not cool, guys.

This review only pertains to the auto shop.
Ever since I got my license, I’ve always had taken my vehicles to this gas station because it was within a mile of my home. I would only come here to get my safety and/​or emissions inspection. I decided not to come here anymore due to the fact that they penalize you for the littlest thing and in my opinion, downright lie about defects your vehicle may have.
The last time I went to get my safety inspection done was this past November for my work van. They ended up failing me for one headlight being dimmer than the other… I then went to another place later that week, did NOT do the «repair» and it passed. The ironic thing is I took it to a different shell gas station. The sad thing is this wasn’t the first time they had done this to me. I’ll never go here again, not even to get gas. It’s the principle… I don’t see their point in lying about a repair that wasn’t necessary. I had told the mechanic they failed me for my headlight and he checked the intensity with some reader and it was fine.
They got my brother too, he restored a BMW 740il and took it there. They failed him for bad wipers… little did they know he literally replaced them a day before and showed them the receipt. They STILL didn’t pass him and refused to talk to him. This shop runs a complete scam. They just lie to the customer in hopes that they get you to authorize the repairs…
Do yourself a favor and get your inspection done somewhere else…