Complaint Review: Firestone Master Care

93 Pontiac Grand Am shaking violently as I slowed down and came to a stop. Vehicle would stall after coming to a stop. I would drive it a short distance and then the shaking would occur again. It felt like the motor was going to come right through the dashboard. The shaking was so violent that I was afraid to drive it. Had the vehicle towed to Firestone in Scotia, NY. Described the symptoms and the service manager kept focusing on the stalling. I kept emphasizing the shaking that had me concerned and how I was frightened to drive it. I was called later on that evening and was told that my brakes all the way around were extememly bad. Was told that the back brakes had been installed upside-down, that the calipers were hung up and the system was contaminated. Also advised that I have new spark plug wires installed. Even though my brakes were not giving me any problems, and because i was afraid to drive this car, I gave the go ahead to do the work.

One week later, my car experienced the same symptoms again. Had it towed back to Firestone, Scotia NY since it was near my place of work. Called me later that evening and told me it was an arcing spark plug wire. Even though I'm female, I disagreed and told them that now I was getting angry. I was told "lets not go jumping off any bridges now"; we'll look into it further. Meanwhile that night I visited various car forums on the internet. I called Firestone the next day and asked them to check different things; like all the work on the brakes that they had performed, front axle, bearings, and also the torque converter. I was told that they already checked all those things and that they could not fix my vehicle unless they could duplicate the symptom. I told them to keep the car as long as they needed and to drive it as much as they needed. The car never left the lot. I know this because I could see it from my place of employment. Brought my car to a friend's mechanic who immediately diagnosed it as the torque converter.

He replaced the torque converter for $300.00 Meanwhile I am out $1200.00 for brakes and spark plug wires. I made a complaint with the corporate office via the internet. I was re-imbursed the $300.00 that was spent to fix the torque converter, but am still not happy. FORGET the BBB. I have filed a complaint with NY State's Attorney General's Office. They are looking into it and so far I haven't had any recourse other than to let everyone I know to stay away from any and all FIRESTONE businesses.

Roberta
Central Bridge, New York
U.S.A.

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