Ntb-National Tire & Battery

I came in here early in the morning at 7:30 the time they opened I was the second person there and they told me the wait would be an hour and a half to have two tires changed an hour and a half! I couldn’t believe how long it would take them to change 2 tires so I I told them to go ahead and then after waiting for about 15 minutes I changed my mind and told them I would go somewhere else I went to the tire man on on Manchaca and Ben White right behind Dan’s hamburgers they had my tires put on in less than 15 minutes also I would like to add that the guy that put my truck in told me that I didn’t have any breaks and I’m not saying someone messed with my car but I had breaks before I pulled into NTB I think they have poor service and I’m very unsatisfied I will never pull in to NTB ever again

I have been taking my trucks and cars here for the last 3 – 4 years. I usually do my own mechanic work, but there’s some stuff that you just have to source out, like tire balancing, mounting, and alignments. I used to use Discount and Firestone, but NTB earned my business when the other shops could not figure out an alignment issue with my main truck. Since then, Jessie and his staff have recieved all of my business when I don’t want to do the work myself. The prices are just as low as the other guys and you can also schedule your appointments to better manage your time.

I have used them a few times for simple work like damaged tire and oil change. I have always found them to be friendly and fast. I have gone during the week in the morning and don’t have to wait long. The waiting area is nice and bright. They recommended work I should have done, but didn’t give me a hard sell. I will go again if I need any work.

I waited in line for 15 minutes, only to find out it was a two-​hour wait to patch my tire. Waste of time, I went somewhere else and waited less than 45 minutes. If you like waiting over twice as long as it should take for service, NTB is your place!

I was really leery about going here because of all the negative reviews.
Sunday, just after 1, and the place is packed!
I was greeted by Alex, who super friendly.
He checked out (and took out) the screw in my tire. He let me know there was no leak, and sent me on my way with a smile!
He didn’t try to sell me anything I didn’t need, nor did he charge me a cent!
Thanks again, Alex!

I’ve been a loyal customer for 5+ years. For the first 4 it was OK. Then I assume they got new management. I will not be going back again.
Ok… so a few years ago they changed their alignment machine… my car wouldn’t fit on the new one. Whatever… I paid for their 3 year package, I got to use it once… total rip off, and the refused to refund my money, just told me to go to another shop. I should have listened.
Then I went in for an oil change, asked them to test my battery, and found out about 3 days later that they put my Battery Cover on crooked and it fell down between the engine and heat shield… plastic melted all over my engine. A year later my car still smells like burning plastic. No reimbursement was offered, they just said, «Oh, sorry… it’ll burn off.»
Recently they destroyed the Engine Splash Shield during an oil change and literally wired it on with like really crappy wire (like a coat hanger maybe or bailing wire) and duct tape. It didn’t even make it home and I heard plastic dragging. I asked them why they didn’t tell me they broke it, and they totally denied that they had done it. Really? Who put the duct tape on it?!
No clue why I kept going back, except they’d been good guys in the past.
SHADY. Do not trust these guys now.

In late December when I purchased my tires I was let down by the fact they forgot about changing my oil. After hours of wasted time I wasn’t going to wait around for them to finally change my oil too. Here it is June and one of those tires is flat. They didn’t warranty out the remaining tread which turns out was worth a 100 bucks. They instead tried selling me a new set of tired! What? Why? If I already need new tires then you owe them to me for being faulty!
Will never be back!

I’ve been here many times over the last few years. The staff is helpful, and the work is completed in a timely manner. There are two pet peeves of mine that happen here though. The first is when employees take phone calls while I’m standing there in person. I think the priority of who to help should be with the LIVE person, not the phone caller. The second pet peeve is the gross men’s restroom in the waiting room.

First off, if after reading this review and still go to this NTB you get what you deserve. Let me start out by saying I’m an idiot for going back here. I have been to this location four or five times in the fifteen years that I have lived in the area and each time they have underwhelmed me and this time was no different. I stopped in at NTB to have my wheels balanced and rotated. My service advisor later called me and said the front end was out of alignment. He convinced me (though I didn’t think I needed one) and when I picked my truck up and drove it a bit I realized that it was worse than before. The steering wheel was not centered and off to the left in the orientation and it was pulling to the right. I took it back to let them correct the error and was assured it was corrected but it was the same so I went back a third time and got a refund and took it to the guy’s at Klingemann’s and they corrected what NTB couldn’t. I also contacted NTB customer support and was told that the area manager would call me but he never did. I really don’t blame him as he probably get’s tons of these complaints every day. STAY AWAY these guy’s are friendly enough they just lack the knowledge to work on your car

Maybe I just need to look closer at the work being done here, but my experience has been pretty consistent — in a good way — at this location.
I am here about every 7 months or so, and so far I have not had any instances of the hard sell nor the upsell.
My MO is this; I bring my vehicle in, have the oil changed/​tires rotated (using a coupon cuz I’m frugal like that) and BAM! I’m outta there!
The Service technicians here are consistently courteous, helpful and don’t seem to be interested in selling me other services — unless it is called for based on the Manufacturer’s mileage charts. If they recommend something I am not interested in, I just politely decline. No harm, no foul.
If there is a wait, then I usually don’t mind it because they have a comfortable waiting room with TV and free WiFi you can soak up all you can! With the recent re-​do of their Customer Management/​IT systems and showroom (as of Spring 2014) — it is now even bettah!
For me, this is my go-​to place in SW Austin for oil changes/​tire rotation!

Jesse really knows customer service. Had battery concerns. He explained «cold cranking». So I left confident I wouldn’t have battery issues.

Don’t ever go here! Shady and unreliable! At first I liked this place. Looked clean staff was nice and normally had quick service. But every time I came in they tried to tell me something was wrong with my car when it had been running just fine. The first time I came in to get two new tires which by the way they said they only had the most expensive ones! They also told me that a belt was run down a lot and it would break any time and I needed to replace it immediately. So I said ok well go ahead and replace it but can I see the old belt before throwing it away so I can see what your talking about? «Oh ya sure thing» an hour later and 600 dollars later! I was checking out and asked If I could see the belt and they said whoops I already threw it away it will take me a while to find it again. So I just dropped it paid my bill and left. The second time I went back to seal a leak in my tire they came in and told me my inspection was out (which it was) I really don’t notice those things. So I asked them to do it. And he said oh it wouldn’t pass you have a power steering leak. He quoted me another 600 to 700 dollars to replace it! They were trying to get me to order the part right then. My car had been steering just fine an I hadn’t been leaving leaks anywhere in my drive way work or anything so I was shocked. I told him I was just going to buy the part on my own an have my dad replace it cause he’s an engineer way more educated then them. He got frustrated and came at me aggressive like oh your dad’s an auto tech now cause he’s an engineer? And I was like ya he’s rebuilt my Honda before. I came home and looked under my car and none the less my car was leaking something. I looked in the container that holds power steering and it was COMPLETELY full! So I kept driving on it and after that day my car had quit leaking. My dad told me the next day it looked like they pored power steering fluid on top on it to make it appear it was leaking cause there was fluid all on the cap and the top of container. I drove to the beach from Austin, Beaumont, north Austin every where! And the container was still full and my car never leaked again! So I took it to another car shop close to my house to get an inspection and my car passed. I made sure to ask so there’s no leak in my power steering? He said nope your car isn’t leaking anywhere it’s in good shape. I’m sooo upset about this cause this ntb has ripped me off a few hundred dollars! And after reading the reviews I see they have done similar things to other people! I’m calling the B.B.B and reporting them! This is unacceptable! Woman watch out don’t go here! And if anyone does watch them work and check the parts they are replacing! Shady business! I’m going up there and talking to there manager to. But I’m sure he’s in on it to.

Wow is all I can say! Ok maybe not, my wife went by NTB to get a tire balanced and they said she should have it checked out for any problems. And oh boy they tried to take her to the cleaners. She had a list a mile long up to $ 6000 of repairs. One of the things they said was a evap problem but there’s no check engine light and it just passed the safety and emissions test yesterday. I messed with cars all my life there’s nothing on this car that needs to be fixed now! Women be careful !

Took my truck in to get a tire plugged. Two cars in the bay and it took 2 ½ hours to plug. When they finally brought my truck out, I got in and the passenger seat was reclined to its furthest back position as if someone was taking a nap. WTF? Of course they pulled and Obama and no one knew anything about it. Lucas (the manager) pretty much said that I did it, but one other than me has been in my truck for weeks, until them.
Don’t trust that shit! I don’t think I will use them again.

Had a battery die and took it here for replacement. They’re right next to our office so the convenience is worth a shot with them. No problems with their service, no upsell attempts. Did have to wait, but wasn’t an issue so we just left the car for an hour or so. I will try them again when I need an oil change and safety inspection.

Unless you’re pushing your car avoid this place — see if you can have someone help you push it further down the road to a place that really knows about auto and customer service (There are two places that I can think of further west on 290W, one on each side of the highway). The service that I have received here was poor (I could do as well with a motor repair manual). The service is unbelievably slow; there is a huge wait each time I’ve gone here (not sure why). Finally, had had an alignment contract on an old car — they couldn’t find it in their system. Only after I was able to produce the contract was I told «Oh, I see now, this was in the old computer system…».
Thanks, NTB, I’ll pay more down the street if I have to…

So I should start off by saying that most of the time if I have a minor repair, I do it myself. I’m probably never going to take my car anywhere for a battery, alternator, or pump replacement. I don’t want to pay the labor so I do it myself.
When I do feel like paying the labor/​shop fees for brakes, rotors, the starter that I can’t quite reach, tires, etc… I bring my car (or a loose tire) here.
I generally know what’s going on with my car when I bring it in and have never had them try to sell me an unneeded service. In fact, when I brought my car in to have a new starter installed it wouldn’t not start. They told me that they couldn’t tell me that it needed to be replaced since it kept starting. I told them to go ahead and replace it anyway since my car wouldn’t start about 80% of the time. They installed it (for an average labor charge) and I haven’t had a problem since.
They always tell me if something doesn’t need to be replaced right away.
I take in my tires (usually loose, okay almost always loose) and have them fix the tire then put them back on my car myself. I don’t purchase the warranty on the tires because I buy cheap tires and after the insurance and however much would end up being prorated, I would probably end up paying the same amount in the end (if not more).
When I call ahead, I usually ask what the time frame is to have whatever I need done, done. I also ask when the best time to come in would be there are naturally going to be some times when things take less or more time.
I have taken my car to places where they charge less for labor and to places where they charge more for labor. The quality of the work done here is on par with the places who have charged more (and timeliness is much better) and way above the places I have been which charge less.
My only complaint (and it’s not really a complaint so much as a minor negative observation) is that they pretty much never look for other things that are wrong. They tend to not check fluid levels, etc…
Overall, this place is great (and convenient). All the guys who work here have always been super nice as well.

Brought my car in for an oil change — they were supposed to check the fluids and rotate the tires too. When I went to pick up my car, I noticed that they had not rotated the tires, so I said something, and they said «oh, I guess we missed that» — Really!!! A tire place just forgot to rotate the tires even though it was on the work order?
Then, a couple of days later I notice a whining noise in my power steering, so I stopped and checked the fluid — it was almost empty. Now I’m doubting that they even changed the oil… BEWARE of this place!

This place is great, as long as you plan on never having a flat tire.
I ordered tires from Tire Rack like several other Unilocalers, and based on Tire Rack’s recommendation and pricing, I had them shipped to NTB for installation. And that installation went well, without taking more than an hour past the completion time promised. OK. I am fairly satisfied.
Fast forward approximately 7500 miles. Now it is time for a tire rotation and brake check, which I prefer to do at home. Except one lug nut was frozen on the shaft (or cross-​threaded by NTB during installation). I take it back to NTB where they shear off two shafts, replace them, and replace five lug nuts, for no charge other than 3 hours of my precious time.
Take it home. Try to take same tire off. Spend three hours loosening three lugs that NTB must have used every impact wrench in the business to fasten. Crap!
Summary: Don’t let any mechanic use an impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts on your wheels and tires. BUT, if you like to know that your wheel will NEVER come off, go to NTB. They’ll make sure of that.

My battery started to choke and die at a seriously inconvenient time, so I moseyed over to my local NTB to get it checked out. Three hours and $ 600 bucks later I got out of there, not a happy camper.
The reason I prefer my locally run mechanic for most repairs is accountability — they don’t want to hurt their reputation with me and other customers by selling me bogus, over priced products or unnecessary services. This is why I repeatedly kick myself in the head when I end up at a national chain for convenience sake. And such was the case last week.
Note to self: a huge repair bay with maybe one or two people visibly working in it is not a good sign.
They tested my battery and said it was dead, and would take TWO HOURS to replace because there were two people ahead of me, and apparently 2 people working. (But about five sales guys. Because that makes lots of sense) Then they told me my tires were bald (which they most likely were) and tried to sell me lots of overpriced tires. And a warranty for all service on the tires — as if I would ever return there.
I hate it when a customer service agent — who is supposed to be helping me fix my problem in the best way possible so I will return and speak well of them — tries to sell me a bunch of crap I don’t need. I won’t be returning.