Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Beware of Automotive Places like Sears!!!

I just wanted to talk about my recent experience with Sears Automotive. I needed new brakes for my truck. I knew this because you could hear some scrubbing and feel some shaking when you were stopping. It had just started, but I know all too well, the sooner you take care of something like this the better. Well, I have a credit card at Sears and they offer free break inspections at their shops. So I took it in and came out with an estimation of like $425. They said I needed new rotors and brake pads in the front and that the back drums needed resurfacing. So I was like Whoa...$425. I realize some of you people out there might not blink an eye at this or be like I used to be. I would rationalize ..well its gotta be done and they are the pros, they know what needs to be done. And sometimes we as people can just be plain lazy and say, well I have the car here now. So I might as well let them do it. Why should we have to worry about a big retailer like Sears trying to "take us for a ride" and to just squeeze money out of us? Well, now I have proof that we will just as quick as any other shop.

I decided to see if my cousin would help me change the brakes out. Its one of the easier jobs to do on a vehicle. So we pulled the front tires off and saw that the pads needed replacing--no problem those can run as low as $14.99! We took the rotors off and thought that we could just have them resurfaced rather than replaced like Sears had said.--by the way--I have the estimate printout listing everything that they said I needed.-- Well we went to O' Reilly's Auto parts and they determined that one could be turned(only $10) and one had to be replaced. So we did that and went home and replaced that the front brakes, rotors, and tires correctly. Then we went to the back tires to check things out. We took those tires off and the drum covers and determined that the pads and the drums were fine. They needed nothing done at this time. Unlike what Sears stated. Can you believe that?

Drum roll please........ I only spent $100.57 for parts and labor----I saved $325.00! And just as important I relearned a valuable lesson..be wary of places that can easily take your money. Dont be afraid to get a second estimate or find a friend or a relative that can either do the work or that you can help do the work and pay alot less and still not have to worry that things were fixed incorrectly!