What do we think of Pep Boys stores / auto repair, for the purpose of bringing the car in for a brake pad replacement?
I’m looking for good basic quality and fair prices, not the best work at the lowest prices. Plus, the nearest Pep Boys is within walking distance of a few things I need to do, so if the job is quick I may not need to arrange help and car sharing for the day.
If I Google “pep boys complaint”, “pep boys rip off”, and so forth, I find plenty, but I would expect to, because they’re a big chain and wouldn’t please everybody if they DID do everything right. Without some quantitative context, it’s hard to interpret. If the Doper’s replies are balanced, though, there’s context.
In general, I find it very hard to trust chain operations like this for auto repair. There are some good individual locations among them, but the business model for most involves selling, selling, and more selling. They tend to get entry-level help and train them to sell rather than to have good mechanical judgment. You’ll note that when various states’ attorneys general bring suit for auto repair rip-offs, it’s always against a chain and it’s always for overselling.
My fear is that while what you need is probably ONLY a set of brake pads (this is the case about 80% of the time, in my experience), what you will be TOLD you need is likely to include rotors, calipers, fluid flush, rear brake service, etc. – and the news will be delivered with a sense of urgency and impending doom worthy of an Oscar. If you don’t personally know enough about the mechanical details to properly evaluate what is needed vs. what is not, you’re rather at their mercy here, and I’m not sure they have any mercy.
It’s easier to learn how to find a competent and honorable auto repair shop than to learn enough mechanical knowledge to protect yourself from the oversellers.
The problem I would have with most of the big chains is that they seem to tend to employ very young, inexperienced mechanics, sort of like the discount hair-cutting parlors that use student staff. This tends to increase the chance of boneheaded mistakes on routine work.
Never tried to get brakes done at Pep Boys, but I soured on them after I gave them my truck (which had had the engine replaced by a different vendor a few months before) to do an oil change. As I drove away after completion of the job, I noticed clouds of oil smoke following me and almost had a heart attack. After some investigation, it turned out the kid who did the change had overfilled it by about two quarts. Fortunately no damage was done.
Husband just took our van into Pep Boys for a quote on brakes, oddly enough.
See above for exactly what happened. Unfortunately for Pep Boys, they didn’t know my husband used to BE a mechanic and could have done it himself, he’s just lazy. So our friend Klaus is going to do it. And we’ll buy the parts from AutoZone. So they kinda shot themselves in the foot there.
I’ll be up front about my bias: right now I work on the independent side of automotive repair.
With that in mind, I’ll let you know that we are not fans of Pep Boys or any of the other chains (VIP, Sullivan, Sears, etc.). Most of them don’t pay their techs well, so they tend to have young kids or simply bad techs. We oftentimes see shoddy work come out of them, but some locations within a chain do better than others.
The other problem is the compensation plan: most of those places are flat rate and the service writers are paid a percentage of the sales they make. This provides incentive to work, but also to really oversell.
I’d suggest finding a local independent shop in town - I’ve found that many more of those have much less turnover with help and rely on repeat business, causing them to be much more honest. YMMV of course.
Edit: Also, while it’s more expensive, I would suggest going for ceramic brake pads, as they are quieter and tend to last longer than the alternatives. At the very least go for semi-metallic pads - I would not suggest metallic, as they tend to howl like a banshee when braking.
I was under the impression (quite possibly incorrectly!) that ceramic brake pads required a different type of rotor. Was that just an upsell?
I was also under the impression that most folks can’t tell the difference, especially such sport cars as bog standard Honda Accords, Toyota Corollas, etc. Remember I’m cheap
I agree. Typically at the better quality independent shops you find people who want to fix cars. At the chains, I think it’s more typical to find people who want to make money.
What is a metallic pad that’s different from (i.e., not just another name for) a semi-metallic pad? I’ve been in the field for 35+ years, and neither I nor my parts suppliers have ever heard of these being different.
Never heard that one, either.
I strongly recommend premium grade brake pads, which nowadays are probably ceramic for most applications. (Note that I ask for premium pads, and let the brake parts engineers determine what they’re made of.) These pads typically brag mainly about being quiet, and generally eliminate the need to resurface or replace serviceable rotors just to keep them from squealing. In my experience they also stop better and last longer – often two or more times longer – than standard grade pads.
They are more expensive - by about 100% - but I think they are worth it and put them on my car. We put ceramics on about 85% or so of the cars and trucks that come through our shop. They do not require a different rotor; they are the same design, just a different material for the braking surface of the pad.
A consumer would realize one big difference with a ceramic pad: they are noticeably quieter. Metallic and semi-metallic can get noisy pretty easily as they generate a lot of dust. Moisture on those kinds of pads can cause quite a bit of noise. Ceramics don’t generate near as much dust, and are also better at heat dissipation, and while with many consumers may not notice this at first, it provides better braking and in turn extends the life of the pads and rotors.
Well metallics are bottom of the barrel brake pads, while the semi-metallic oftentimes have some of the characteristics of the ceramics by mixing in some of the same materials in the friction surface. Honestly, I don’t know exact materials, but semi-metallics have less “metal” in them, which makes them more in line with ceramics in terms of heat dissipation, noise, and dust generation.
Edit: Large trucks and vans are the only applications I can think of that I can still reliably find metallic brake pads for, and even then, semi-metallics, organics, or ceramics are generally the only brake pads available. Metallics are definitely dying off, but that’s a very good thing, as they are the worst of the brake pads still made these days.
Personally I like Manny–he’s the one who gets things done. Moe’s too much of wheeler-dealer, for me, always trying to get me to buy some car they have out back. And Jack? Well, what can you say? He’s just a pretty face for the office. I suppose he’s got to do something.
I’m an ASE Master Tech. I know what I’m doing. This is not common at PB.
It comes down to individuals. Some are good, some bad, some OK.
Protocol is they pull your pads and drums, measure the rotor thickness and drum diameter (where applicable), write it on the work order, and the service writer makes recommendations from there.
Tell the service writer/manager you want to see measurements and old parts. This way he knows he has to come up with valid info, not just make shit up to scam some old lady/ young kid/ what have you.
If you just need pads/shoes, a reputable shop will still turn the rotors or drums to give you a fresh, perfect surface on them. If they say it’s not necessary, walk away. If they tell you that you don’t have enough rotor/drum left to turn without replacing them, say “show me”. Maybe it’s true, maybe the writer or mechanic is trying to pad his sales.
The specs are stamped on the rotor or drum, and it only takes a moment to measure and show someone the micrometer. I never had a problem showing a customer what I said needed replacing or repair, because I was honest.
While I would always recommend a relationship with a local independent shop as a first choice, the truth is, Pep Boys has to stand behind their work and I found that the majority of work done was fair, reasonable, and done competently.
I’m with you until this part. I’d say a reputable, well-informed shop will not turn rotors as a matter of course. The fact is, rotor resurfacing is often not necessary. It was a routine part of a quality brake job in the past, when it was an important factor in avoiding brake noise, but things have changed. With modern premium pads, noise is hardly ever an issue.
Many (most?) vehicle manufacturers specifically instruct to NOT resurface or replace rotors UNLESS they have particular problems. For example, GM says to resurface ONLY if one or more of the following conditions is present:
-Groove depth of .060" or more
-Severe scoring of the rotor braking surface
-Corrosion or pitting that is deeper than the rotor braking surface
-Brake pulsation caused by excessive lateral runout or excessive rotor thickness variation
My experience is that reusing serviceable rotors without resurfacing in conjuntion with premium pads yields a fine result. As a bonus, rotor life is maximized by not cutting its surface, and break-in is super-quick because the rotor surface is already infused with pad material.
Leave the rotors be is a growing school of thought, and not necessarily wrong, but I often find that worn rotors have enough runout that they’ll pulsate, or due to perhaps a sticking caliper or unevenly wearing pad the inner and outer aren’t true to one another anymore. Sad, really.
Also, with more and more parts getting sourced from around the world, I’ve seen rotors from China, Mexico, and India. These things have been sitting in a metal shipping container for Og knows how long, getting hot, cooling in the ocean rain, and getting hot again for months at a time. Basically changing temps more times than my house does when my wife starts her annual thermostat fight with me.
That gives us a nice new rotor that I can put steel straightedge on and slip playing cards under. Just a leetle off the top, & we’re GTG.
Hmm. You know, there should be a great business opportunity out there, for a national chain of auto repair places that were competant, honest, and fair. All this chain would have to do is to carefully guard its reputation and not get lazy or greedy. Many of us think the biggest challenge in choosing mechanics is not getting ripped off. Why can’t somebody be the McDonalds of car shops? I mean, few people think of McDonalds as a special treat, but most of us trust them for the basics.
Well, anyway, I went ahead and did my homework and found a new mechanic - a smallish shop in a nearby smallish town. I’ll save Pep Boys for buying headlight bulbs and ice scrapers.
