American Tire Depot: never again!!!

[CodaMan]

My wife was given a free alignment certificate for the local American Tire Depot, so I took my 75,000 mile '06 F-250 there to have my new (less than 3,000 miles) BFG KO2's rotated and have the alignment checked. Big mistake! They told me that all 4 ball joints were bad and that the front shocks were shot. They also said that those bad parts caused the two front tires to separate and needed to be replaced, but since the suspension was the cause there would be no warranty. I called BS!

I took the PU to my local shop which I have been using for 30 years. I 100% trust them and have never had an issue with them over-selling me on anything. 3 guys, 2 underneath and one at the tire with a huge lever, checked all the ball joints and said that there was slight movement in the right side upper ball joint and that the others had zero movement. They also said the tires were fine and that the shocks were OK.

I asked them about replacing the one ball joint, but when I told them that the '06 F-250 only has 75,000 miles on it and is only used for towing, they said not to replace it and that it'll last another 75,000 miles without problems.

The shocks do have 75,000 miles on them so I'll replace them with some Rancho RS5000X shocks just because I can.

And BTW, the alignment was spot on.

Moral to the story — a mechanic is like a woman, find one you love and trust, then never let go of them.

 

[glwood]

American Tire Depot must have quite a pair of 'big ones'. I wonder how shops like that are still open for business.

 

[CodaMan]

American Tire Depot must have quite a pair of 'big ones'. I wonder how shops like that are still open for business.

A lot of people just take the word of the "experts" and are afraid to question them or get second opinions.

 

[glwood]

A lot of people just take the word of the "experts" and are afraid to question them or get second opinions.

Yup. A local Honda dealership tried pulling that on my wife. Twice. She'd take it in for an oil change, and bring home a list of 'needed repairs' that was ridiculous, and expensive. We don't take it there anymore.

 

[lowranger]

A call to the BBB might be in order if you wanted to go that route.

 

[Chris]

Leave them a bad Yelp and Google review too. That will hit em where it hurts.

You're right though. You find a mechanic you can trust and you stick with them, just like a woman.

 

[The Real Lxxtsy]

This is the reason why I became my own mechanic from learning to work on car's in auto class in high school, lol. I don't trust other shops or stealerships.

 

[Chris]

This is the reason why I became my own mechanic from learning to work on car's in auto class in high school, lol. I don't trust other shops or stealerships.

So true, and same with me. It's very, very, very hard to find a good mechanic who won't lie to you just to take you to the cleaners.

 

[CodaMan]

This is the reason why I became my own mechanic from learning to work on car's in auto class in high school, lol. I don't trust other shops or stealerships.

I do 100% of the Jeep work myself, but the F-250 diesel is just a beast. I do absolutely everything I can to it, but sometimes I just don't have the equipment for her

 

[CodaMan]

Leave them a bad Yelp and Google review too. That will hit em where it hurts...

Already did both

 

[Kiwi TJ]

We have a site over here called 'no cowboys' its a place where you can post things just like what you said at the beginning of the thread. Its for all trades builders ,sparky's, painters and mechanics..Most people check the site out first before calling the trade of their choice.( and tradies want there name on in there)

 

[glwood]

We have a site over here called 'no cowboys' its a place where you can post things just like what you said at the beginning of the thread. Its for all trades builders ,sparky's, painters and mechanics..Most people check the site out first before calling the trade of their choice.( and no tradies want there name on in there) lol

So...why 'no cowboys'...?

 

[Kiwi TJ]

So...why 'no cowboys'...?

Sorry I should have said Tradies 'want' their names on there. As the site is used to praise good work, however it has also been used to point out the bad companies too.
A cowboy is a nick name used to point out a tradesman who does crap work or tries to rip people off etc.

 

[glwood]

Sorry I should have said Tradies 'want' their names on there. As the site is used to praise good work, however it has also been used to point out the bad companies too.
A cowboy is a nick name used to point out a tradesman who does crap work or tries to rip people off etc.

See what you learn from people on the other side of the world? That's a new one on me, thanks.

 

[Kiwi TJ]

See what you learn from people on the other side of the world? That's a new one on me, thanks.

You welcome lol...Its also used in the UK as well.

 

[CodaMan]

Well here, Cowboys is the name of the worst football team in the U.S.

 

[Mike_H]

Yeah, I hate them...they are the worst.

 

[Kiwi TJ]

Well here, Cowboys is the name of the worst football team in the U.S.

hahaha Ahhh so 'cowboys' mean the same there as well there as it does here then....lol

 

[JMT]

Well here, Cowboys is the name of the worst football team in the U.S.

Hey man, what's up with that? You're hurt in my feelers. Cowboys one of the best all time football teams in the US.

Frankly though, I don't watch football, so I don't know how they are doing these days. I prefer College ball, but really don't watch hardly any sports. I'd prefer to be outside doing anything other than watching TV.

 

[ac_]

Sounds like they bit themselves in the foot. Had they just said you need one ball joint, and recommended replacing the second because they were there, you probably would have done it, but after adding all of the other stuff that was not necessary they threw up some red flags. I am glad you didn't condone that behavior, and I would do what Chris suggested and at least post a review on the BBB. Sounds like they might need to drain the swamp.