Firestone Complete Auto Care

Extremely angry and will no longer have my car serviced at any Firestone or TiresPlus chain, ever again, after the treatment I received at the
10 761 E Colonial Dr, Orlando FL Firestone Complete Auto Care branch.
1. Went in at around 12:15pm to have a «grinding» noise, that I initially believed to be a mechanical failure, diagnosed. The first customer service associate, Matt, told me that they would diagnose the vehicle within an hour, so I dropped my keys off and walked to a retail store within the plaza. 15 minutes later, I received a voice mail message from Matt, wherein he notified me that one of the shop floor mechanics BROKE the door handle of my 2001 Toyota Corolla, then, he OFFERED to have it repaired at a cost of $ 184. That’s correct, a technician at this branch, BROKE my door handle, then I was told that it would cost ME $ 184 to fix it, if I decided to have it fixed (I am keeping the voicemail recording for proof). I respectfully declined the offer and told him that I would simply repair it myself. I returned to the shop and pondered about this a bit more, then realized that my response was a bit too passive, so, I spoke with another sales associate, Ricky, and detailed to him the bizarre offer that was made to me, and he apologized and assured me that the repair would be on the house, as it should have been initially.
2. Ricky, another technician, and I walked over to my vehicle as it was suspended in the air to observe the proposed diagnosis of the «grinding» noise that I heard from my car. The technician pointed to one of my axles that sat flatly on top of an intersecting axle, and, he also lifted the hood of the car to show me where the strut had been completely dislocated from the upper joint, which held that axle suspended. I figured that it made sense, two iron rods up against each other, that would surely produce the grinding, rotary, noise that I kept hearing, so after a bit of price haggling, I agreed to a $ 400+ axle/​strut repair.
3. At around 4:20pm, I received a phone call from Matt, he claimed that my car was «ready», so I paid half of the cost in cash, and had the other half transferred to my Firestone credit card, then left. While I drove out of the plaza, what do you think I heard coming from under my car? Correct, the same grinding noise that I paid $ 400, 10 seconds prior, to have resolved. I turned my car around and returned it to the shop, and the technician that worked on my car came out to greet me. He asked to come into the vehicle and we took it for a spin around the shop so he could hear what I heard, sure enough, the grinding noise returned, but this time, the diagnosis was different, the technician told me immediately that the issue, this time, was due to a leak, I believe around the transaxle area, which reproduced a sound similar to that of grinding gears, however, it was actually the sound of the air rapidly exiting the pneumatic chamber, as explained to me by the technician. When I asked whether or not the leak could be fixed, Matt told me that, due to the nature of the welded joints that connected the transaxle/​transmission/​catback, the job could not be done at this shop.
So, the next question that came to my mind was; If the technician knew what the real issue behind the grinding noise was, why did he work on an unrelated, expensive, issue that I would not have asked to have repaired that day? To pad their pockets, of course! Harvey would be ashamed to see his slogan of honesty trampled underneath the feet of these swindlers! But it doesn’t end there…
4. Remember my broken door handle? Well, out of the kindness of my heart, I gave the technician a spare, driver-​side, door handle that I had in my car. While I sat in the waiting area, I saw the technician working on the passenger-​side door, when the driver-​side door was clearly broken, and the replacement door-​handle was clearly contoured for the driver-​side door, so, after about 15 minutes of watching him dismantle the incorrect door, after having explained to him the correct door to be fixed, I walked over to him and told him that he was working on the wrong door, naturally, he claimed that he was working on the right door, so I took the door handle and placed it over the driver-​side door handle and made him understand that he was incorrect. He said that he would complete the job promptly. Thirty minutes later, Matt drove my vehicle to the front of the entrance, and what do you think I saw? A broken driver-​side door handle. Matt attempted to correct me in saying that the passenger side door was broken, and, that the handle was for the passenger side door, so, again, I took the door handle from him, PLACED IT OVER THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR HANDLE THAT WAS BROKEN, and made him understand that the driver-​side door handle was indeed for the driver-​side door. So, he drove the vehicle, BACK INTO THE SHOP and made the same, incompetent technician work on it again. Lost $ 400, and the noise is still in the vehicle. ⁰⁄₁₀.

I take good care of my car cause without it I’d be screwed. I don’t ever miss an oil change, tire rotation, fix a part if it’s broken, take care of my tune ups etc. etc. Well, I’ve taken my car to three different Firestones in Orlando based on my current convenient location.
First, at this particular location they told me an oil change would take 30−40mins. After waiting 30mins and to see my car hadn’t even been taken back yet, I started to make a stink because I had some place to be afterwards. If it’s going to take an hour, tell me that so I’m not wondering why it’s taking so long. It took almost an hour an half to get my car finished. I watched the auto mechanics and saw some of them working on my car talking and taking a chill break in between which what took even longer to be done.
Finally when my car was ready they started recommending fuel induction service, I had done just 2 months ago AT ANOTHER FIRESTONE LOCATION! I needed to change my tires because they were wearing, I replaced all of them this year because of two flat tires, I needed to change my O2 sensor which was replaced 4 months ago. The total for all these repairs coming out to almost 500 $. I know what my car needs, I’m not a stupid Barbie doll to be taken advantage of. They try to up sell you on BS. He was taken aback my my responses like «oh well your loss if something happens to your car» yeah sure thing bud, I’ve had my car for 10 years I know when every repair was done what was done down to the type of oil brand and number specification that was used. On top of that when I got in the car they dirtied the entire rug with oil marks in my car rug. Didn’t even use protective paper for it. These people at this Firestone is boloni sandwich.

The entire experience was great. The staff was very helpful, especially Dan. I never once felt like I was being taken advantage of. He was very willing to offer solutions, without making me feel obligated to purchase any extra service.

I am very leary of auto service places. However, I was very pleasantly surprised with how friendly and helpful all the men were here. I made an appointment the day before, I got checked in and was explained everything thoroughly. After about 30 minutes they came back to explain their suggestions for what I needed to repair– all of which I expected. They even took me out to my vehicle to show it all to me. Then walked me through an estimate and showed me all the deals they had going on. In no way did they try to upsell me a thing or talk me into extra services. Since I had break pads and rotors to be replaced on top of new tires I imagined it would take forever, however they got it all done in about 3 hours from start to finish!
I highly reccomend them! They just earned a loyal customer!

I’ve had a lot of car trouble in my days and have had some pretty miserable cars. The fact is, when you have a serious car issue, your first step is to get it diagnosed (properly — by either the dealer or a reputable shop) and your second step is to do research to find the best price. Sometimes the dealer is surprisingly your best (and least expensive) option, while other times the dealer is outrageously overpriced. Same goes with chains such as Firestone. As with most chains, they pull you in with cheap oil changes and remind you to get pricey preventative work frequently. If you use your brain and do your pricing research, you will never get duped. This location will frequently offer price matches and offers great coupons, like $ 19.99 oil changes with free tire rotation. They also have kick-​butt specials like lifetime alignments for $ 179.99 that sometimes go on sale for a lower price. They additionally have great deals on brake jobs ranging from $ 80-​$ 100 including labor and «lifetime» pads.
Overall, I have been to this location several times and have been pleased with my service each time. I rarely have a long wait, and I get treated with respect by each employee. This location has done the honest thing of telling me that a screw in my tire could be repaired — despite me coming in saying that I thought I needed a new tire. They have told me my wheel bearings were fine even when I thought one of them was going bad. They aren’t here to dupe you, but yes, they may try to get you to get preventative maintenance earlier than you may need/​want it. Just be smart — getting shocks at a chain like this can cost double than what a well-​rated local shop nearby costs, and getting something like a timing belt and water pump for my ’03 Honda Civic costs $ 100 more than what Holler Honda charges. Remember, use coupons and always call around :).

Took a vehicle there for new tires & repairs only to have the repairs redone two weeks later by another shop.
Strangely enough, a consultant at Firestone recommended the other shop.
We will never take a vehicle to Firestone for tires & repairs. Its worse than Pep Boys.
Also, isnt Firestone a TIRE specialist? How did they not catch the super low tread on a tire?