Complaint Review: firestone complete auto care southwest plaza - roanoke Virginia

I went to a Firestone store in pa for an inspection,they told me I needed new shocks,so I said throw them on.After the guy takes my truck in the guy at the counter comes and get me and says the mechanic wants to see me,so I go out to the garage and he says,do you know that all of your lugs are stripped on this one wheel.Besides the fact that I do all of my own work,I also torque my wheels to 100 pounds and never use an air gun.So yes,these people are thieves.Also Steve,unless they will pay the dealer to do the work you need to stay away from there.
Hope everything works out for you and God Bless.

Marty

I received an interesting phone call this morning. A former employee of Firestone called to tell me he was working the day I brought my car in for maintenance work. My vehicle was taken down from the lift and started with no oil on the engine. After realizing his mistake he placed oil in the engine but the damage was done.  My bearing end cap was turned and my car ruined. I did everything I possibly could to work with Firestone. They would not stand behind their work and fix  what they broke. They would not be held accountable.  Everyone who takes their car to  Southwest Plaza Firestone Complete  Auto Care Center at 2048 Electric Road in Roanoke Virginia should be aware of one important fact. If they make a mistake on your car they will not be held responsible. Let the consumer beware.

I'm doing all I can to not let Firestone get away with this. So far I've contacted my bank and visa to  dispute the $985.49 charge for the maintenance work. I've also filed a complaint with the  BBB against  Firestone to try to get the maintenance charge reimbursed.  I've talked to an attorney who is in the process of firing off a letter to Firestone and I'm working on obtaining an expert witness for when I go to court.  I will update as the process continues. Firestone will not stand behind their work and I'm unwilling to stand being screwed over.    Steve

Steve,



Don't let Firestone "spin" this as being a pre-existing condition.



Common sense alone would dictate that if you had an engine problem like a bearing cap, it would have been evident when you first pulled in, and/or would have been found during that initial phase of service.



I suggest going to an investigative news channel with your story, and/or local news, etc. Also write letters to the corporate offices of Firestone, by certified mail, return reciept requested.



Furthermore, as an individual with extensive mechanical experience, I can tell you that the service that was performed was NOT 30,000 mile interval service, so I have to ask....did YOU ask for all of these services up front, or were you "sold" on these services??



I ask this as it will go to the integrity of the shop if you get this in front of a judge and/or jury.



The best thing you could do right now is to turn up the heat real hot on them in a public spotlight. Gather all of your evidence of damages and losses, etc and go file a small claims court case. Do this today. It's very inexpensive and easy to do. Usually less than $100 to file.



Don't let these fraudsters get away with this crap.

.. obviously there is no more factory warranty and neither party wants to take responsibility. I highly doubt the dealership is going to be of much if any help in this case. You might just have to eat this unless you really feel you have a case against Firestone. I would imagine you could file a small claims suit against them and it would not cost you much out of pocket but you are going to need more then "knowledgeable friends" to testify on your behalf as expert witnesses.

Do you know anyone who has any credentials in the field that would be an expert witness and testify on your behalf against Firestone? If so you may stand a chance. If not, I would imagine Firestone has some experts that will destroy the case. Granted there is a chance they will settle if there is any doubt that they could be found liable so maybe you should take some action. Now do NOT bluff. If you call them and threaten a lawsuit no employee will even talk to you after that point. But maybe if you have a lawyer send a letter it will convince them to take action just to get this over with and not tarnish their reputation.

However if they firmly believe they are not at fault in any way, they may decide to go to court if need be so you have to be prepared to take this all the way, or not even bother.

the Subaru dealership and firestone have been in touch with each other on two separate occasions. Subaru told Firestone it was a reasonable request on my part to ask them to put a used engine in the car at no cost to me.  Subaru also told Firestone that they could not 100 percent conclusively say that Firestone was at fault.  My oil light never came on. When I left Firestone and drove 4 miles and came back, the engine light was the only light to come on. This happened as I pulled back into Firestones  parking lot. The car had 150,000 miles not 30,000 miles. Obviously my car was not ruined by any fault of mine. It was running fine when I brought it to Firestone but was not when I left.

Okay so the Subaru is 6 years old and has 30,000 miles. Is it still under any kind of power train warranty?

Now no one here can prove or disprove if Firestone caused any damage. All the services you had performed would not cause a turned bearing.  Now when Firestone told you they needed to replace the oil pan gasket due to a leak that is a decent size job and most cars do not require that after only 30,000 miles. So did the vehicle actually have an oil leak? If it did then there is a chance you were running it low on oil. 

As stated if this was the case you should of had some kind of a warning light come on. As far as if they ever put too much oil in the engine I do not know at this point how that could be proved. I do know that you state you were talking to some " knowledgeable friends"... that does not mean anything. I would however suggest you get Firestone in touch with the dealership to figure out who if anyone is liable.

Was the oil pressure warning light on?  That would tell you if the oil is VERY low. 

As I stated my Subaru was a 2006 outback making it  6 years old and not twelve years old. It was in perfect running order when I brought it to Firestone. The car has 150,000 miles. This was a 30,000 interval maintenance service.  Because Firestone wiped everything clean and  made it appear the had done nothing wrong, the Subaru dealership could not 100 percent conclusively tell me that Firestone was at  fault. The Subaru dealership did say that the only possible way a bearing end cap could be turned was if their was to much or to little oil in the car.  Who changed the oil? Firestone. Who serviced the car? Firestone. Who drove the car for 6 years with no problems whatsoever? Me. The Subaru dealership also stated that they felt it was a reasonable request on my part to ask Firestone to put a used engine in the car

..that would cause a bearing to turn?  It seems they found a leak and Subaru themselves admits and states it could be caused by too much or too little oil. Well if Firestone found a leak then perhaps that could have caused too little oil (yes LEAKS cause that) and you really should be putting you energies towards Subaru being responsible and not Firestone. (Unless it is out of warranty then you are SCREWED).

Also you state this was a "30,000" maintenance service....so does this 12 year old Subaru only have 30,000 miles on it total?..or is this just an "interval" of a series of 30K services?