| rev:text
| - I was traveling through this area when my car wouldn't start. It just so happen to be close by in the Harris Teeter parking lot. One of their customers recommended this Firestone. Since it was close and the tow truck wouldn't have to go far, I reluctantly chose to come here which I regret now.
First of all, I consider myself a mechanic too but being out of state with no tools and no machine to read the codes to tell me why my car wouldn't start, I trusted this place.
They stated they would have to do diagnostic test and said it would be $59. However, the service advisor came back later and said it would be $99 for a full diagnostic test.
Troubleshooting the problem: After a couple hours, they called me to the desk and said i would need the following:
Starter
Battery
Fuel Pump
Fuel Filter
Vacuum Line
I thought to my self, there's no way all those auto parts went bad at the same time on my car. They gave me a price of $229 for the battery. I told them I can buy it at Advance Auto Parts for $169. So, I bought it at Advance and brought it back and put it in myself. However, I had someone else to check battery and they said all it needed was a slow charge. The mechanic said that my starter was "fried" which the manager agreed was not very professional words used by the mechanic. I didn't believe anything was wrong with my starter. So, I told them to just put the fuel pump, fuel filter and vacuum line on and we will see if it will start up afterwards. For these 3 parts and labor they gave a price of over $1204.
My investigation: I called up a neighbor Firestone in Fort Mill and the woman gave a me price of $584.87 for the fuel pump, fuel filter and labor. Why is the price so far apart in difference. I questioned the manager about the call I made to Fort Mill Firestone and told him the woman gave me a price of $584.87. He said " can't be". I repeated myself and said I just called them and that's the price she gave me. Again, he says "can't be" while shaking his head. I felt like he just called me a liar. I also called up some other repair shops and they were a lot cheaper too. Most prices were in the upper $550 to $590 range including a Firestone in Cleveland, Mississippi.
Another price difference: I called up Advance Auto Parts and they gave me a price of $269 for the fuel pump which has the fuel filter with it included. Yet, this Firestone want to charge me about $450 just for that fuel pump. This is not a parts house. They buy their parts from places like Advance, Autozone and etc then add a markup to that price.
Final Thoughts: Yes, I know I helped their profit here big time. I trusted them. I will never use any Firestone in the Carolinas again. I just feel like I was done wrong. I didn't need no starter. It cranked up fine after they put the fuel pump on. And I didn't need no battery either.
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