Pep Boys Auto Parts & Service

Have been giving Pep Boys second chances way too long.
My husband and I have had a total of 4 oil changes and 1 inspections done here in the past 9 months. Their oil changes are reasonably priced, but take twice as long as they say they will. The service man told me 30 – 45 minutes for the oil change, and all 4 of them took at least an hour (longest one was 1 hour and 40 minutes).
In July I went in to get my husband’s car inspected on my day off, and waited 2.5 hours for a basic inspection, which was said to take 1 – 1.5 hours with their current workload.
I went in again for my inspection and waited an hour before they even took it in the shop… then was told it would be another 1 – 1.5 hours. Needless to say I took my key back and walked out.

I can hardly believe the reviews for Pep Boys are for the SAME Pep Boys where I got my car fixed yesterday. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere and had no option of where to go — so we practically pushed our car to Pep Boys. It was a Sunday and they were not only open, but Kyle came out and read our codes in less than five minutes.
Since we arrived at 4 p.m., we had to wait overnight. In the morning, our car was assessed and FIXED in 2 hours. They charged us only the diagnostic fee (which would have been applied to repairs if we’d needed them) and charged us nothing to reconnect what was essentially just a loose connection. They could have gouged us for the time it took, or charged us for something that didn’t exist, but they were absolute professionals.
Pep Boys got the job done fast AND cheap.
Kyle Clymire (hope I spelled that right), the service manager, was a gem. He was kind, prompt, professional, helpful and thorough. In spite of what was obviously a busy day, he never wavered from his positive demeanor. He took at least 3 phone calls from me and my family and he was consistently wonderful.
If I hadn’t double-​checked the address, I wouldn’t have believed these Unilocal reviews. Maybe Kyle is new management, since some of these reviews are years old. Either way, we couldn’t have been more pleased. And if (god forbid) we ever find ourselves stranded in State College again, we will happily go back to Pep Boys.

This is not a review for their service, but for their shop. I have been able to find car things there often when other auto shops don’t have the items (e.g., flares, bumper guards, etc.). the folks in the store side are helpful enough, good enough anyhow that I would not have thought to mention it either direction, which is probably pretty good.

Just wanted to update my Pepboys review from a few days ago… Although I did not have a pleasant experience there the other day, they were able to right their wrong. A member of the management called me – Chris, to be specific– to apologize for my experience with them. Apparently he had seen my Unilocal review. He was very sincere and his effort to improve the situation was a kind gesture. I believe they’re genuinely trying to improve their service, and for that reason, I would be willing to visit the store again.

Was supposed to have my car fixed yesterday and they didn’t do it. At 10 am this morning after being on the phone entirely too long, they said it would take an hour and a half. It is 12:15 and I am still sitting here waiting to start my vacation! To say i am annoyed is an understatement!

You know that feeling that you’re probably paying too much for car repair that may not be done right? That’s how I felt walking out of this place.
I had gotten my fan belts tightened because they were starting to squeal when I hit the accelerator. I paid about $ 30 to get them tightened and three weeks later they were squealing again. I didn’t bother checking under the hood after the repair but I did after they started making noise again and lo and behold, the bolt that holds the belt tension-​thing taut was missing! When I replaced my air filter several months before the repair, it was still there as it has been for the past 7 years. Now I dont know if they just forgot to put it back on, or if it wasn’t put on tight enough that it unscrewed itself (unlikely) but their lack of attention to that kind of thing is not what I paid for.

I’m a city girl with zero car-​repair expertise – which is why I needed to visit a Pep Boys just to have my low beam light replaced – but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell when I’m being taken advantage of. In the past, the Pep Boys near my home in the Philly area has made this replacement for around $ 15 – $ 5 for parts and $ 10 for labor. I should have known something was up when this Pep Boys charged me double ($ 20 labor for changing a bulb!), but since I can’t do it myself, I didn’t protest.
Last week, and two months after my initial visit, the same bulb went out. I immediately raised my eyebrows at my dashboard (well, after banging it a few times in anger), but decided to take my car to a different place in town – Midas, up N. Atherton, where I’ll be taking my car from now on – to have it checked out. Turns out that this Pep Boys failed to reconnect the wires properly to my light. So not only did I get ripped off, they didn’t even take the time to fix my car! No thank you, Pep Boys.