Pep Boys

I was going to give this place a 1star or zero !! But, they recovered with great customer service. Without going into the entire story. I was unhappy with the service I received there. Jesse was very professional and helpful. Albert the service manager tried his best to help me and when I still wasn’t satisfied, he elevated my issue to Ben, the store manager. Ben was very professional and listened to my complaints and in the end, did the right thing and satisfied me as a customer. On a final note! Richard, should be FIRED I would not want him to represent my company. His poor customer service, rude behavior and condescending attitude would not last a day if I were his boss. I hope they take care of that problem or they will surely have customer service issues in the future.

I’m a regular at this store (speed shop) for my street rod parts. Cecil (the speed shop manager) always goes out of his way to meet my needs, even when things get a little complicated. He really takes care of his customers. Ask for Cecil!

I stopped by Les Schwab recently for an estimate on a brake job. The tech had me look over the estimate review sheet and I saw that he wanted to replace nearly every component of my braking system, including all four rotors, calipers, pads, bolts, nuts, etc. The cost of all of this? $ 777.78! I laughed at this and told the tech there was no way I’d be paying that. He assured me that it was all necessary for ‘safe’ operation of my vehicle, and to ensure it would be covered by the Les Schwab labor warranty. He told me he could squeeze me in the following afternoon after I got off of work and that I could finance the work with a high-​interest Les Schwab credit card. Yeah, okay.
I signed Les Schwab’s forms indicating I «refused» their «service» and cruised over to the Pep Boys on Planz Road where Herkan, who has nearly 30 years of ASE Certified mechanical experience (per the numerous certificates on the walls of the service area waiting room) determined I simply needed my front brake pads replaced, and that the rear pads had over 50% of their service life left. I was in and out in less than two hours, and with a coupon I was charged $ 142 out the door.
Herkan has changed shocks on my ’66 Polara and later replaced the radiator on my Ram Truck. I trust him for all of my automotive needs.

Pep Boys screwed everything up.
Then they bent over backwards to help me fix it.
My car overheated just outside Bakersfield on my way home from LA to SF and they said I could get in that night and I couldn’t so they towed me to another Pep Boys that was still open and they stayed late to help me get back on the road.
So at first they sucked. Then they were my heroes.

One star is too much for these guys. I made an appointment for 2pm for an oil change and brake pads but when I got there the more than unpleasant clerk told me I should’ve called ahead. For an appointment? He continued to tell me I had no appointment but they MAY be able to get to my truck around 4pm IF I just leave it. I attempted to show him my email confirmation for my appointment that he didn’t want to see and told me they were busy yet they only had one guy in the garage going doing anything. I asked for the manager who was named Raul that was less pleasant than the original clerk. I will never spend my money at any pep boys again and neither will my family.

These guys are awesome. We had a flat on the way to LA and all places for tires were closed except here. They stayed open late to help us replace all our tires and get us on our way. A+ service would definitely recommend going to them for emergency tire needs.

I am amending my review for this location after 4 weeks and many calls the very nice store manager called and gave me my money back for the diagnostic they made. I do appreciate that they did listen to my complaint and decided to refund my money.

I was having issues with my car with what I thought was a starter or alternator issue. It was actually a water pump issue which costs less to fix. Still it was a bit pricey but I am happy it wasn’t more.

Not happy with the experience. They quoted me the highest price for something as simple as changing the broken tyre-​stud. Everywhere else the estimate was $ 80-​$ 100 less than what these guys estimated.

My tire was flat went in there to talk to someone about it and the Men in the front of the Store just ignored me as if I wasn’t there. Finally some one looked up and ask me quote «What did I want» really? Looked at him and said you know Sir NOTHING now! Never go back in there again worst service!

My car overheated while going through Bakersfield and I had no choice but to bring it here to get it checked out. I had to cruise the car inch by inch into the parking lot because every time I gave it a tiny amount of gas, it violently shook and sounded like it was about to explode. So although I’m no car expert, I knew something was seriously wrong.
They looked at it the next day, and said they couldn’t get it to overheat and thought the issue had resolved itself. I asked if they’d actually tried putting it on the road, because I was flabbergasted that there seemed to be no problem whatsoever after what I’d experienced. They insisted they drove it around the block and couldn’t find any issues, but that they would have a «specialist» look at it again the following day to be sure.
They called me back saying a second technician had done everything he possibly could to get the car to overheat, and found absolutely nothing wrong. He said it probably overheated because «Bakersfield has a hot climate.» The car was supposedly fine to be picked up with no repairs needed.
Since I’m not from Bakersfield, I had to call a friend in the area (a mechanic himself) to go get the car and hang onto it for me, and BIG SURPRISE… as soon as he drove off the lot, the car overheated and was not drive-​able. My friend had it towed to another shop, which just quoted me $ 1100 in repairs.
So in the end, this Pep Boys did nothing but store my car for a few days and give me false hope that my car problems were simply due to the unfortunate fact that I had to drive through town at the hottest time of year.

There will never ever be enough kind words to describe my exact appreciation and gratitude for the manager working this 4^th of July 2014. I was having a terrible afternoon as I got in my car to go enjoy in the 4^th festivities and realized my battery seemed like it was going to die. Without hesitation I went to Sears by my house and after standing in their auto center for 20 min and never being helped I got frustrated and called this Pep Boys on Planz not even thinking there was a chance they were open. To my surprise they were and I went down there parked my car and went inside where I was still a bit frustrated and not sure of what I needed to ask. A gentleman by the name of Albert approached me and asked if I needed help I explained my situation to him and he without hesitation said yes we can replace your battery however we are really busy right now but if it’s an easy job I will help you. He then followed me outside to where my car was (all in 100 degrees of heat and hot) looked at my battery and said yes I can do this for you. He then took my old battery out himself and we went inside so that I could purchase a new one. At this point I was in disbelief that this man would go to these extremes to help me, but even more speechless that it was a holiday and I asked him how long he worked and he said he was getting off shortly. I am a 32 year old mom and wife and I have never ever, ever had someone go to these extremes to be so kind. After I purchased the battery he then went back outside with me where in the beating hot sun he put my new battery in for me, shook my hand and said he was glad he could make my day better. There are literally not enough words to describe Albert Millan and just what the random act of kindness that he showed to me meant. I will forever be grateful for what he did for me on this not just any day, but a holiday non the less. Thank you Albert, my husband and I are blessed you were working today. Melissa

I am very please with the service. The staff try very hard to please even when they are very overwhelmed. I was there on one hot Sunday before they closed, they were short of staff but still came through!

Update: although I was unhappy with their accuracy and quality of service. I decided I would change my rating. This was due to receiving a call from the manager Jose. He apologized for their misdiagnosis and offered me a refund for the original diagnostic. Aside from the mistakes I can’t help but appreciate that level of customer service.

I was on a time crunch and wanted to multi task by having an oil change while I was doing laundry on the other side of the strip mall. Went in there and the guy said I would have to take my car to Toyota first because he couldn’t pop the hood. He even showed me that he was pulling the tab under my steering wheel but the hood wasn’t opening up. He said that something was wrong with the cables.
I never had a problem with the hood and I don’t think the Pepboys guys down in LA had either (I just moved to town), as I’ve always had my car regularly checked. So I felt like I had no choice and move my other errands to pencil in a trip to the dealership.
Went to lunch first with the boyfriend and told him what happened. When we got into my car, he said he’ll see if he could figure out what’s wrong before I drive all the way out to Toyota. And guess what?! THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT! He pulled the tab under the steering wheel, just like how the Pepboys guy did, and grabbed something under the hood, and lifted it open. He said that that’s how it’s usually done. He’s like, «Well, what did the guy expect — for the hood to completely pop open when you pull the latch?!»
Whatever. I didn’t care for the specific engineering. That’s why I leave my car care to the professionals. However, if the guy doesn’t even know how to open the hood, then I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t know how to do a proper oil change.
PS: I took it to another Pepboys, and guess what? They had no problem popping the hood either! After I paid, I told them the story. They couldn’t believe it. Too bad I didn’t get the guy’s name.

Wish I could give this place negative 5 stars. This place is absolutely horrible. Car broke down in the middle of nowhere last Friday. Finally got it towed there because it was the closest place and it was still open. They couldn’t look at the car that night and I had work in Orange County the next day so I had to get a rental car. One of the employees called me back Sunday and told me there was a cylinder misfire but nothing was wrong and I could drive it. So I came back to get my car and sure enough right as I try to climb the grapevine it breaks down again. The steering and brakes went out! Talk about terrifying. So now I’m spending more money and wasted time having to get a hotel for the night as well as get someone who knows what the hell they are actually doing to fix my car. NEVER BRING YOUR CAR HERE! You’ll absolutely regret it. $ 1400 later and I’m pissed. All they had to do was replace a spark plug and ignition coil.

Albert and missy where great! We where looking for electric scooters Albert was very helpful he Checked numerous stores and found 3 I felt that he went out of his way to help

Just wanted to give a shout out to Jose. Great customer service. Watched him diffuse and help an angry customer with great patience and skill. Only negative is it sounded like he got reamed out by a manager on the phone because he reported the incident.

I am left with mixed feelings about this place. I needed to get my low bean light bulb replaced on my car, and I had original planned on doing it myself so I purchased the bulb, then realized I may have to remove the battery to reach the bulb. My coworker recommended this place. They estimated a cost of $ 15-​$ 60 depending on the difficulty. When I got there the attendant at the counter asked one of the mechanics to take a look at my car to see how difficult it would be to replace the bulb. The mechanic just checked to see if indeed the light bulb was out. I thought to myself, I think I know if it is out or not, I didn’t come here to have that confirmed. The counter attendant then went to check himself. He proceeded to see if he could reach the bulb with out removing the battery. He was able to do it, and took care of it at that moment. Since I already had the bulb, I left free of charge. Interesting experience but I am very appreciative.

These jerks assume that because I’m a girl I don’t know anything about my car! I know the difference between manual and automatic sir, I also know that I don’t need new transmission fluid or a new oil filter! Changed them two months ago jerk.