Ntb-National Tire & Battery

Dropped off my truck tire and rim to get a new tire, was told they don’t carry the tire to match the other 3 on my truck. Dropped it off at 10am and 8 ½ hours later still not ready. After this I will never shop here again.
Columbia, MD

Their team did a great job and didn’t try to push anything on me. In fact, they made sure I took advantage of an $ 80 rebate. Very friendly and presented sound opinions on maintaining my vehicle. I have been going to NTB for oil changes and tire rotations in the US for years. This was my first time in Columbia, MD and I am very satisfied.

They can make appointments, just can’t keep them. Scheduled for wheel alignment at 3:30. They didn’t take my car back into the shop until 4:00. At 4:30, when I asked the guy behind the counter how much longer, he said ‘they’re working on it’. When I commented that I wish they would have told me they couldn’t keep their appointment, the guy claimed they did keep it. I explained I arrived on time at 3:30, they took the car at 4:00, he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Yeh, it’s NTB and backed by the national brand, but this shop can’t keep an appointment and the staff doesn’t care.
Update: drove home after having the alignment done. Still pulls to one side and the steering wheel is still off center. Came in to fix 2 issues; both unresolved, can’t keep an appointment and staff that doesn’t care. Can I take my one star back?

I had an appointment at 2pm for a tire rotation. At 5:30 it was not ready. It’s very disappointing. Feel like a Seinfeld episode, they know how to take the reservation, just not hold the reservation.

If I could give zero stars I would. This place, my first time here, was absolutely atrocious. I went today, 7÷6÷15 around 245p EST. Called 4^th of July for an appointment, quoted $ 12 total a tire, and a 1h 15 min to be done after appointment time. Left my car for a 3p appointment and quoted $ 10 /​tire to put em on, $ 9.99 to balance per tire, for a total nearing $ 91. Fine, great. Then I deal with these folks here.
I get here and am quoted the latter above, with quite an attitude by who I found out was the SERVICE MANAGER (Dan)!!! Severely lacking professionalism. Got tons of attitude from the guy, disrespectful, etc. although his buddy mike lessened my bill by $ 30, he had to ask for it first, which is bullshit after the service manager stated he’d «take care of it», and didn’t. Eventually 20 was knocked off. When I asked this mike character for corporates number, he had no clue and pointed me to Philip, the store manager.
After talking to Philip, he couped me my bill and said he would personally take care of me should I come in again. VERY professional and polite. Said he’d talk to those goons inside (not quite his wording but you get the drift) later, because I shouldn’t feel that way coming to NTB.
We’ll see in the future, but it’s very very bleak on me ever giving them service again.

My low tire pressure light came on and when I pulled over sew a huge nail/​screw in my tire. I called the store immediately and they told me to bring my car right in. I had 2 toddlers with me and they quickly checked my car and called an hour later to tell me it was ready to be picked up. They were so helpful and timely which is so important with a busy day and schedule.

Sam Wu and the rest of the team went above and beyond the call of duty to help me
I was stuck in Columbia with a bad tire, they treated me like royalty
A real class act.
I wish I could give them more than five stars

Took car in for an alignment. I was in and out in 30 minutes and the alignment was perfect. With over 100,000 miles, I always get nervous that they will tell me I need tons of additional work. Not the case at NTB. Perfect service and extremely nice people.

Was a little leery about taking my car here to get new tires, mainly because it’s a chain, but I was desperate and needed to get it done. Set up an appointment with Sam. He was extremely knowledgeable about the various brands that would fit well with my car. I’m a Michelin girl, but I settled on some B.F. Goodrich tires-​same company-​and was pleased. They even had a little trouble with my tierods-​car is nearly 20 years old-​and they ordered and put on new ones. What I liked was they kept the old one for me to see how it was fused together. Not too keen on the upswell of other items like 5-​year alignment plan, but can’t fault a guy for doing his job. All in all a good experience and I would highly recommend using them. Make sure you talk to Sam, he’s «the man!»

NTB sets itself apart from other quick-​service oil change shops in that they will go the extra mile in addressing any issues you have with your vehicle. They offer many more services than just tires, batteries and oil changes. For example, the brakes on my 2005 Chevy Impala needed extensive work done, and NTB performed the work at a fair price. I prefer to go to this NTB for all of my automotive service needs. It gives me peace of mind to have only one trusted shop work on my car, so there are no surprises down the road. Philip Illori is the store manager and he takes the time to talk to customers about the status of their vehicle. All of the staff I have interacted with at this NTB were polite, knowledgeable and trustworthy. Customer service is outstanding.

Bought tires here a year or so ago, no problem. Made appointment showed up and they put them on. Price was as quoted and went smoothly, much easier than dealing with Costco (and the same price or cheaper). Appointment did take a little longer than they said, but wasn’t too bad.
Fast forward. These past few months I’ve had 2 tire leaks due to screws/​nails in my tires. I’ve gone back to NTB to have them patched and they fixed them two separate times for no charge — one time even having my tires rotated — no charge.
They did quote me a price on some recommended work that I thought was high and II refused, but there was no pressure.
My experience has been pretty good with these guys. Would recommend giving them a shot.

Car went in with an engine splash guard and left without one. Tried to resolve the issue with management with no luck. Their arguments was I have no proof that they took it off and put it back on — which is correct because I don’t have a security camera mounted under my hood…
This is on top of the fact that I took the car in hours early at their request only to wait several hours for a simple oil change to be completed. Luckily the place is walking distance to Frisco Taphouse (see my other review) so I was able to get lunch and not get stuck in the little waiting room for that long.

I brought in a flat tire taken off of the Mrs.’ car to be replaced, as it had a leak where the sidewall and tread meet. The manager, Philip, provided excellent customer service; he found the leak and showed it to me, they had the tire I wanted in stock, and I was back out the door in under 15 minutes. Granted, it was a fairly simple task and it was near closing, but Philip and his staff were friendly and professional, and the price wasn’t much more than you’d find elsewhere. Would go again.

I was in yesterday because I had a screw stuck in my tire. I only found the place by searching on Unilocal after the first place I found said it would be a four hour wait. I was happy I found it! Great customer service and they fixed it quickly for a reasonable price. And they told me about a great bar around the corner where I hung out while I waited.

This NTB is lucky to get one star here on Unilocal.At least they were nice enough each time to fix their issues.
Ok so here we go…
It all started sometime last month when I went in to NTB Columbia, MD off of Oak Hall Ln. I went there as I noticed that my 1999 Volkswagen GTI was making some noise everytime the car would bounce. The rear made some thumping and clanging. I brought it in for a routine shock/​strut fix, something that NTB specializes in. I first spoke with Danny at the front desk and he set me up an appointment for a Saturday at 1pm. I thought perfect, I should get my car by 4 or 5pm. Well that was not the case. I was told that my car would not be ready until the time that they closed…7pm. So… with that in mind I said ok, I will be there at 6:30pm and my car should be ready, if not close to being completed. Guess what… I was there until 8:30pm well after the time that they closed. Now explain to me how I set up an appointment at 1pm and I was the last customer done for the day. My entire day/​night wasted because they claimed to be «too busy». Maybe they should not take on such a heavy walk-​in load and worry about the customers who made appointments. Correct? Let’s just say that was the tip of the iceberg. I was already frustrated that my time was wasted but I took it in good stride and was happy to receive my car at the end of the day.
Second visit. Yep, a second visit was required. After my first visit my car made even more noise than you could imagine. The noise came from all over the car, but I realized the majority must be coming from the front of the car. My struts made those terrible thumping sounds. Wow… it was terrible. And it somehow messed with my brakes and when I barely pressed the brake pedal the car made a loud roar and the car vibrated. I recorded this sound and played it for the guys at NTB. Well, in short I got upset, but took it in good stride yet again, and returned the car to NTB for them to fix the issue. Do you know what was wrong? THE PARTS WERE NOT INSTALLED PROPERLY! So not only did they forget to lubricate the struts but the mounts were not tightened properly. I drove a car that could have been a death machine. They put my life at risk by not installing parts in the car correctly. That truly upsets me. Not only that, but not lubricating the part, each time the strut bounced up and down, would that not ruin the part that I just paid $ 1100 or so for? Not a happy camper. I am sure you can agree with me there. So they fixed the issue… so I thought.
Third visit. Again I had to return to the shop because I had a terrible rattle coming from the rear shocks. I was not excited about this as again, I had to waste my time going back to a place that should have had this job completed right the first time. In the Navy I learned that the First Time is Fast Enough. Maybe that philosophy should be incorporated in the NTB mantra. So I went back and talked to Sam Wu. I took him for a quick drive so he could hear the sound, so that they knew I was not lying. And I wanted to ensure that someone understood the issue. Well, taking Sam out was nice, even though he has no clue how to work on cars as he is not a technician. So he just told the techs what he heard I guess. I mentioned to Sam that not only do I hear sounds in the rear, but up front too and for them to check all four corners. When I went to pick my car up Sam brought me to the tech who worked on my car. He told me that the BOLTS WERE LOOSE IN THE REAR! What! Bolts are not going to just come loose after you just supposedly fixed the car less than a week prior! So this tells me that yet again, THE PARTS WERE INSTALLED INCORRECTLY! Putting my life and and any passengers life at risk. If something were to have happened I could have been in an accident. TWICE THE CAR WAS ACCIDENT PRONE. I do not appreciate that. I do not appreciate having to waste my time. Which leads me to…
FOURTH VISIT! Like holy cow, right? As I am running out of room here, lets sum it up real quick. In this visit they had to order a new quick strut for my car. They did not get it in timely and I did not get my car on Sunday as promised. I had to get a rental car just so I could get to work the next day. So now I have a completely different strut on the left side of the car. That can’t be good for the car with dampening and such. The struts most likely act differently. After some bickering I got Phil to agree to pay for my rental car that Sam said he would do for me. It is a mess.
I strongly encourage anyone who plans to come here, to not. Your time will be wasted. Your money as well. The people are generally nice, but if the service you get is this poor, nice people do nothing for you. We go to these places to get a car fixed. Not to be sweet talked.
Good luck!

I went there for an oil change at noon a couple of weeks ago, and had an hour blocked off on my schedule. About 45 minutes into my wait (1PM), one of the employees comes over to tell me that I need new rear brake pads. I’m not surprised, as the pads have about 30,000 miles on them. I OK the work, but tell them that I need to be on the road by 2:30 at the latest for a 3PM appointment, and go back to the waiting area. Fast-​forward another hour and fifteen minutes (it’s 2:15 at this point), and I go back to the front to inquire as to the state of my vehicle. The tech says «oh, we should have it done in 10 – 15 minutes.» Yeah, no. I didn’t get out of there till THREE TWENTY, and had to postpone my appointment. When I called them out on it, the response was «oh, it wasn’t that long!», and they laughed it off. I asked what the holdup was, and they mentioned that they were short-​staffed in the back. Now, I’ve worked in the service industry, so I understand how that is. However, I think that some communication with your clients isn’t unwarranted.
At this point, I think I’m going to go back to the $tealership for any further work that needs to be done… ugh!!!

The last time I went to get an oil change it took four and a half hours… I left for two and a half hours and then got dropped off at NTB thinking it would be done because they said that it would take two hours. I ended up waiting at NTB until 8:45pm. Waste of my time. If the car is going to take that much longer they should call and let their customers know. My friend also had to wait about four hours before as well. just ridiculous.

I went here after noticing a very fast leak in my front driver tire. Well, to my surprise not only was there a leak in my front tire, but my back 2 tires had nails in them. What the??? I don’t drive on country roads with nails in them, but perhaps that trip to rural VA this summer where everyone lives on dirt roads, was the culprit. Anyway… I used Unilocal to locate NTB and the reviews looked legit. Siri helped me find it hidden on Oak Hall Road and then the great service began. I was immediately greeted by the Manager and he looked at my truck immediately and told me that not only did I have one tire that was bad, but ALL 4 TIRES needed to be replaced. Well he worked up some numbers that I wasn’t prepared for, but was reasonable considering the task and the fact that I do have a SUV. He was able to get going on my truck immediately, which allowed me to get back to work within a couple of hours. The level of consulting that the Manager provided was great about other things that I should consider on my next visit, which none were a complete surprise to me. All in all, I am going to NTB in Columbia for the service and convenience!

I drive 30 miles just to get to this NTB, as the one in my neighborhood is quite shady. Always friendly service and there turn around time is usually accurate. If they say 1 hr, it’s 1 hr… if they say 3 hrs, it’s 3 — but at least they let me know so I can make others plans. Exceptional service and they’re never pushy about getting other elective services done.

After the Rockville MD NTB couldn’t break loose the jamnut on the inner tierod of my ’05 G35, I stopped by this NTB because it’s close to my office. The guy at the desk, Lloyd, claimed that he had one of the best alignment guys in the area and that breaking the nut free wouldn’t be a problem.
He claims to have gotten the nut free, but the car still pulls to the right. Not to mentions that the rear camber is uneven, despite my installing a camber kit to specifically target this problem.
Lloyd claims that the car pulls because of the tires. This is a crock, because I rotated the tires after the alignment and it still pulls. Pulling = a bad alignment, or a car that was in an accident. My car is accident free, so it is the former.
I wouldn’t bring a modified car to this shop. The NTB techs are basically drones that can’t really troubleshoot. They are willing to do the bare minimum to get the car within specs, rather than set alignment to the customer’s specs. I can’t blame them, as this is likely company policy.
The 3 year alignment deal is a great deal, but if you lower your car like I did, bring it to a performance shop for the alignment.