Firestone Complete Auto Care

I should have read the reviews.
I’m giving it two stars because they ended up taking 20 dollars off my total, and during an inspection only found a light out that cost 14.00. Which they could have been sketchy, which they weren’t. Just super inconvenient, and really unapologetic. I mean I think the guy realized I’m that girl who isn’t going to stop complaining which is the ONLY reason he took 20 dollars off.
If you do not need your car back right away, or ever. Bring it here. scheduled an 11:00am appointment and dropped my car off for an oil change and NYS inspection. I understand things happen but at drop off they said nothing about being backed up. at 12:30 I called THEM, and they told me it hadn’t even been looked at yet. Okay. thanks for the phone call. An hour later they called me saying they were just finishing up and that a light was out. Okay sounds good, I approved the fix. an HOUR later I called them back and asked if ti was done, they said it was just finishing up.
Three and !/​2 hours for an oil change and inspection when nothing besides a light was wrong? I will never go back. They tried to tell me that it was like a Dr’s office, and that things happen. Sure, they do. So you call your customers, and let them know. You APOLOGIZE for the delay. People have things they need to do, and it’s helpful even if it’s going to take longer to plan for the day if you know it’s going to take 3 ½ hours to do a job that takes 45 minutes.

If you don’t want to read my long review here’s a short synopsis… DO NOT TAKE YOUR VEHICLE TO A FIRESTONE.
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I took my partners 06 subaru impreza in to firestone for a new alternator. The battery light and ABS lights were on indicating a problem. The battery wasn’t charging so they installed a new alternator at a cost of $ 589. Mind you, anyone can buy the new alternator on ebay or from a local parts store for around $ 100 total. The other $ 469 was labor and tax. Evidently, it’s super easy to install. The mechanic said he could do it in 15 minutes while I waited. I chose not to rush him and picked it up later that night.
The next evening my partner called me from latham saying the car died on his way home from work. I drove over to pick him up. I popped the hood to see if there was something wrong with our shiny new nearly $ 600 alternator. I noticed one of the 2 small wires had fallen out of the small green «pigtail» connector on top of the alternator. It was sparking as it touched the metal. I gently pulled on the other small wire and it too came right out of the connector with no effort.
Somehow, the mechanic (I use that term loosely) yanked the wires out of the connector while removing the old alternator. Instead of doing the job right and soldering the wires or getting a new pigtail or even a new wiring harness, he chose to strip a bit of covering off the end of each wire and simply push the wires back into the holes on the connector from where he’d yanked them out of! Knowing full well there was absolutely NOTHING holding them in the connector and they’d eventually wiggle out from vibration or a speed bump.
I called firestone that evening and told them what happened. Not wanting to spend $ 100 on a tow back to Troy firestone I was told I should take it to the latham firestone for free warranty repairs.
I drove my truck back to our dead car in Latham the next day with a small gas powered generator and a battery charger. I was able to get the battery charged enough to drive the car the 3 – 4 miles to firestone in latham. I explained the situation to the Latham guys and they said what Troy firestone mechanic had done was unacceptable and they’d fix it right… blah blah blah.
The next day they called and said that because they were a different firestone, I had to pay $ 165 for the repairs (I use that term loosely). When I drove away, the battery light and ABS light were on again but they assured me the battery was charging and the lights would go off on their own soon. If they don’t they told me to take it back to the troy store.
Well, the lights didn’t go off on their own so I took it right back to troy and left it there. They said they’d fix it and call me asap. They called a day later and said it was all set. I walked the mile or more from home to pick it up. I drove it back home and immediately popped the hood to see what they had done.
I noticed a severely frayed wire going into the green connector. It had about 15 tiny copper strands inside the covering. Literally, only 2 of these strands were making contact and the rest looked like a rats nest. Rather than take it back to those guys again (and walk home), I fixed the frayed wire myself and then tested the charging system using my black and decker battery charger. It showed no charge coming from the alternator! So, the frayed wire had obviously grounded itself out on my trip home and fried the alternator OR they didn’t install a second new alternator like they said they did.
Had I not checked their work and just assumed it was fixed like they said it was, my partner would have broken down again on his way home from work, and I’d have had to pick him up again and figure out how to get the broken down car back to firestone. That really makes me mad that I have to check the work of a «mechanic» that I just paid almost $ 600.
I was forced to take it back to the Troy firestone yet again. At this point I am livid. I expect to get a quality job when I pay almost $ 600 for a $ 100 alternator installation.
The manager assured me he’d fix it himself this time. I picked it up 2 – 3 days later and I am happy to say the alternator does work now and the wiring doesn’t look like a 5 year old kid fixed it.
The workers there are nice enough people but they are not «mechanics». Sure, they can install shocks and tires and brakes but don’t expect much more than that if you go there. You’d do better to buy your own parts and call one of those craigslist «come to your home» mechanics in the services section.
EDIT: Firestone contacted me and the district manager Shawn, has offered to refund the labor for the «repairs». I accepted and will be contacting the store for the refund soon. I still will never go back to a firestone though. They’ve lost all my trust.
EDIT: Firestone did refund the $ 154 labor but they made me go down to the store to make that happen.

1^st of all, they deserve negative stars for this one. I believe they are crooks. I’ll give you my account of what happened and you decide.
During a ~1000 mile road trip, while a top end acceleration (passing on the highway) I noticed a ‘slip’ in my engine and the engine light blinked 3 times. Nothing after that. When I got to my destination I had the transmission fluid drained, flushed, and filled. That was well over due.
When I got back home I floored it on the highway and the engine light blinked several times then stayed solid. No cut/​slip however…
I was due for a oil change, and at at 9+ years old/81,000 miles I decided to do a tune up. I also thought that the little engine cut may be the spark plugs or fuel injection and the tune up would solve the issue, and engine light would go off.
I explained all of this to the mechanic at Firestone (Troy) who told me there was no guarantee I that the tune up/​oil change would resolve the engine light. I acknowledged and signed off to proceed w/​tune up and oil change.
They gave me the car back in 2.5 hours in HORRIBLE condition. It seemed like the engine was about to cut at any moment, like it was running out of gas. I explained to them that it was in much worse shape than when I brought in and their story was that the problem may have been aggravated while changing the spark plugs… possible. Maybe a coil was internally faulty and was loosed more during the job. But the body language of the mechanic seemed fishy, and the manager didn’t seem at all upset that I went from a light on w/​no other noticeable problem to a car I was afraid to drive home in.
I took it to another mechanic. They ran a diagnostic (for 11% less than Firestone would have charged) and immediately found that cylinder 3 was misfiring. The mechanic at Firestone did not replace the coil wire.
Fail. Fail. Fail.
Now, either it was 1) done intentionally so I’d spend $ 99 on a diagnostic for them to find something was wrong w/​the ignition system then charge me for that, or 2) a mistake.
Either way, fail. If you saw the car when it came in, then saw it running after you did the job, you go back and check your work. You don’t return it to the customer.
I believe they thought I’d order the diagnostic and then they could tell me what ever they wanted was wrong with it.
The other mechanic didn’t charge to plug the coil wire back in. Told me that what ever was causing the engine light problem may still be broken, and told me to keep on eye on it.
I returned to Firestone, told the manager what had happened, and demanded a full refund for all the labor.
He complied apologetically and didn’t ask any questions or go and talk to the mechanic or foreman. Makes me think 1) he has absolutely no confidence in the work they do (which I don’t given what I’ll say in a minute) or 2) he knows he’s been caught being a crook, and doesn’t want a show/​escalation.
I believe it’s the latter. He tried to tell me that the guy who worked on my car was his ‘best’ mechanic. The guy can’t change a spark plug, or trouble shoot something that simple? Bullshit.
I got my refund, am writing this review for the good of the public, and will never return.

This Firestone does a good job — doesn’t take an abnormally long time to get anything done.
They do a decent job on the jobs you need as well. The only issue I ever take with them is that they tend to try to persuade you into services that you don’t need sometimes. It is one thing to tell you of things that must be done whether its to pass inspection or because your car is at risk in some way, but they can tend to tell you just anything and everything under the sun and it just comes off more like a ploy to get you to spend more. Other than that, for something simple, I take my car here.

So I don’t really like giving less encouraging review but this one deserves it.
I was first recommended Firestone from a roommate who had always had a good experience with them. As a new student there, I was looking for a place for some minor car issues i.e. fan belt). When I first when to them for a fan belt, I agreed; the mechanics were very nice and seemed really honest. And when my alternator of 9 years finally needed replacing, I went to them to get it fixed. Less than a year later, the alternator died again and I had to get it replaced. At that point I moved and went to my local mechanic whom is also a family friend. Come to find out that the alternator Firestone placed in my car is no longer made and has a bad reputation for quality. I called Firestone to figure out what to do and after explaining the situation, they refused to do anything unless I got the car there. I told the guy on the phone that I now live 4+ hours away and wasn’t able to do so. So instead of offering any other assistance they told me tough luck. I understand that it may be a company policy not to replace the alternator or anything until the car is there. But I felt that they could have helped with some of the towing because honestly if they didn’t replace my alternator with a crappy (and no longer made) one I wouldn’t have been in this position.
For minor issues, I think they’re fine. But for larger more costly fixes, I’d be hesitant to refer them to anyone.

I am not a big fan of chain stores, even auto repair ones, or oil change ones. However I am a stickler for service, and when credit is due, I give it.
On a snowy day, my beau, myself and our coonhound found ourselves in N. Troy with a subaru that had no brakes. Yes our brakes failed! We called over to Firestone in downtown troy on a saturday afternoon, came right in and the checked it out. Yeah we not only had bad brakes, we had possibly deadly breaks.
The diagnosed, fixed the front end and back end, rotors, pads and all, and did in a quick and timely manner, and did not take us for a ride with some unneccesary bullshit. I’m sold on firestone even though I perfer Michelin tires!
YAY!