Sears Auto Center

07/30/11

They don't know what they're doing

by onjohns at Citysearch

If you want a new battery, Sears is fine. Otherwise, stay away.

My "check engine" light was on so I went to Sears. They told me I needed to replace my spark plugs and coil packs, and were ready to charge me $1100. I went to Mitchell's Garage, where they correctly diagnosed the problem. It had nothing to do with my spark plugs or coil packs. They fixed it for only $300.

The Sears "mechanics" obviously don't know what the heck they're doing if they can't even interpret the code on their "check engine" scanner. Awful.

06/15/10

ZERO STARS!!

by Miklann at Citysearch

My son's Explorer had a radiator hose break. I had had a great experience with this Sear's Automotive 10 years ago and thought, "Hey, they're close, open on Saturday, it's a small repair, why not tow it to Sear's so the car will be driveable on Monday?" BAD IDEA!! I don't know if it's a new owner or just bad mgt., but the repair was done wrong! On Monday (after the repair), the car overheated in the 1.5 mile drive to school. We took it back to Sear's. I stood in front of an employee at the service counter for more than 10 minutes before being acknowledged. He kept answering the phone which rang off the hook. It was annoying because he kept helping call-in customers (not asking them to hold) when a live person stood in front of him. Finally he asked what he could do for me and I explained the problem. He said it sounded like the car had a bad thermostat. I told him the thermostat was replaced in February (2010) by my regular mechanic so I doubted that was the problem. He became insistent that WAS the likely cause (even without examining the car) and said I should take the car to my regular mechanic and demand he fix my car since the original hose issue was probably related. I called my mechanic and he said the bottom radiator hose has NOTHING to do with replacing a thermostat and the overheating was probably caused by AIR in my coolant system. He said it can happen when the coolant system is improperly filled. That is exactly what was wrong! The mechanic apologized and said that sometimes air gets into the system when it's filled and can cause overheating. He also said "It looks like the machine shut off while filling because there was not enough coolant but there was no evidence of a coolant leak." The redo on the coolant system took two hours. When I asked for an invoice explaining what was done, I was told I couldn't have one. "We didn't charge you so you don't need one." I was insistent, but the employee refused. The next week, I went back again and was told no. I asked to speak to the manager. The employee came back and said the manager was busy. Since then, my son's car overheated again. I took it to my regular mechanic and was told there's exhaust gas (CO) in the coolant system and it looks like the heads are melted. I don't even know what "the heads" are, but my son's car needs a huge repair now! This service was unprofessional from start to finish. I can't speak for other Sear's Auto locations, but Provo's is awful!!

• Pros: OPen Saturdays
• Cons: Everything Else!!