Nicholas DePrimo

Review of PEP BOYS AUTO PARTS

Brought my 10 year old Passat in for maintenance (...

Brought my 10 year old Passat in for maintenance (belts, oil change). 3 weeks later the serpentine belt is SCREECHING. Brought it back and had them check the check engine light (on for a few days before I brought it in) - replaced the belt without explaining why it was squealing, and said that the check engine light was a camshaft issue (checked it myself using a friend's code reader - it was a vacuum leak, meaning the gas cap wasn't fully tightened - FIRST LIE). They said I needed to have a $90 diagnostic just to FIGURE OUT WHAT THE ISSUE WAS (pre-repair cost). I said no, and they said I wouldn't pass emissions in July (when inspection was due).

The light went off the day after I got gas (and fully tightened the cap), and I got my inspection done... at Meineke... without ANY ISSUES.

Pepboys workers have enough time to work on your car, so they'll find ANYTHING wrong with it, just to 1) Give their mechanics something to do and 2) to bleed you dry of money.

Lesson learned - stick to smaller shops that do what they need to do, and ONLY what they need to do.