Very Disappointed with my Pep Boys Visit

Earlier tonight, I took my friend’s 2006 Prius to the Pep Boys Service Center in East San Jose, CA, for four new tires, a rebuild of the TPMS valve stems (one of them was leaking profusely, so I went ahead and requested that all four be rebuilt), an alignment and a routine oil change. I chose this location since the service writer I talked to on the phone was the most knowledgeable of all the Pep Boys locations I called. When I arrived, the service writer had already left for the day. However, he was nice enough to have already written up the work order. As I looked over the work order, I noticed two unusual service fees.

First, they wanted to charge $20 for a “Hybrid Vehicle Service Charge.” According to the work order, this charge covers the labor to disconnect the high-voltage system prior to servicing the vehicle and the labor to reconnect to the high-voltage system after the service. Second, there was a $10 fee for a “Proguard extended labor warranty.” There was not a description for this particular item.

I am not aware of a need to disable the high-voltage system in order to perform routine maintenance. Therefore, I asked the service manager for an explanation of the $20 fee. The service manager said that he did not want his technicians to be electrocuted, so it was the store’s policy to disable the high-voltage system prior to performing maintenance on hybrids, hence the additional charge. I explained to him that his technicians would not be in danger of electrocuting themselves while performing a routine oil change on this car, so his concern was unfounded. I further explained to him that as long as his technicians did not tamper with the orange-colored high-voltage cables, there was nothing to worry about.

The service manager did not have a rebuttal to offer, but simply restated that it was the store’s policy to charge the additional fee for all hybrids. At that point, he realized that I wasn’t going anywhere, so he decided to remove the $20 fee with one caveat—he will not be able to perform the oil change on the vehicle. I agreed, and at the same time, he removed the charge for the $10 extended labor warranty without any further explanation.

After the work order was approved, I walked out to the garage to watch the techs perform the tire work. It was at that point did I notice that the tech was not using all of the components included with the TPMS rebuild kit—the tech was only replacing the valve stem core and the rubber dust cap. (For those of you who are not familiar with a TPMS rebuild kit, the kit includes a new metal crush washer, rubber grommet/seal, metal valve stem and rubber dust cap.) I immediately stopped the tech and asked why he was not performing a complete TPMS rebuild as I had requested. He summoned his manager, the same one I had spoken to earlier, who then explained to me that they were afraid that if the sensor was unbolted from the wheel to replace the metal crush washer and the rubber grommet, the TPMS light will stay on and cannot be reset without the factory scan tool.

Again, I explained to the service manager that since his tech was not installing a new sensor, no scan tool would be necessary. In addition, I said that there is a TPMS reset button under dash, which was something that both the service manager and the tech were not aware of. The service manager relented and gave the tech permission to perform a complete TPMS rebuild with all components included with the kit. The manager did say to me that he could not be held responsible if the TPMS light stayed illuminated.

While the rest of the visit was a bit less confrontational, it was still disappointing. I requested that the tire pressure be set to 40F/38R, which the tech agreed to, but a check of the tire pressures prior to leaving the shop showed the tires to be inflated to 35 psi, 36 psi, 33 psi, 34 psi in the LF, RF, LR and RR positions, respectively. And even though the TPMS light was not illuminated, they did not push the TPMS reset button until I pointed it out.

In addition, the two techs who performed the alignment did not set up the rack properly as the initial readings obtained were absolutely erroneous. What was more troubling though, is that they did not use a steering wheel holder while making the adjustments (they instead had a tech hold the steering wheel ) and no test drive was done after the alignment. Of course, they failed to perform a thorough inspection of the suspension prior to perform the alignment-- which is something that any decent shop should do. But after all this, perhaps I am asking too much?

As you folks can sense, I am extremely disappointed with my visit to Pep Boys. The reason why I chose Pep Boys was because they had a fantastic price on the Cooper CS4 Touring tires and also because I have had great experiences with their stores in Sacramento. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with this store and I suggest that other PriusChat members carefully review their work order and keep an eye on their vehicle if they choose to use this particular Pep Boys location.

 

So, apparently the $20 hybrid fee is a Pep Boys corporate policy. Supposedly they've had problems with Prius-es starting without warning and causing problems. Whatever. Sounds more like mechanic error to me.

On the other hand, mounting four tires and performing a basic two-wheel alignment on a Prius is no different than aligning say, a F-150. There's nothing special about the work I requested. Was it too much for me to ask that they perform it right the first time?

 

Not all chain shops are bad though. For example, I took the Prius to the local Midas today for an oil change. $21, no hassle, no overfill, no BS, nothing.

As a side note, on the drive home to the shop, I noticed that the steering wheel is clocked a good 15 degrees to the right. FML.