Pep Boys

Way too many problems surrounding a tire purchase. My son purchased a tire in an emergency situation. I returned to buy the rest of the set but the company would not honor their discount for four tires. Understandable but disappointing. They also sold him an R rated tire to replace the W rated tire. The R tire is designed for very high speed, the W is correct for our car. You are not supposed to mix ratings. I don’t know if that was a mistake or a money grab. Either way, it is unacceptable.
They also I did not replace the emergency tire when they put on the new tire, and we’re apparently not very courteous to my son.
I will never buy anything from them again.

This place is always a two hour wait, with an appointment or not. I was told 2 hours when I brought my car in today. At the 2 hour and 15 min mark, I asked how much longer it would be. I was just now told another 45 more minutes. The man working said «I told you that when you brought it in», I said «no, you told me 2 hours, not 3 hours!!». Last time I’ll waste my day and time here!

I’d like to start off by saying I should probably have been smarter and took speeds a little slower this morning on some back country roads that I was on due to the overnight closure of 376W. I was cruising in my V8 Audi S4 just before 5 am enjoying the sound of the engine ripping through some winding roads. The out of nowhere (this being PA), I go around a corner and a deer is staring my right in the face. I immediately swerve left to avoid the deer and hit a small concrete lane divider destroying my front wheel and tire and blowing out my rear tire. Thank god I had a full size spare wheel in the trunk which I put on waiting for the tow truck because I was still down a tire in the rear.
Well, finally I called this PepBoys and they had my size tire in stock which was awesome. The tire service person (a female) possibly Stacy? Was very helpful even though I was not in a very good mood. She was willing to continue working with me and answering all my questions even though I could have been much nicer to her as far as not being such a jerkoff.
After a cooling off period, I apologized for being short and thanked her for her understanding and expertise during a difficult situation. They had my car up being worked on almost immediately which is almost unbelievable because some places take forever to get your car just even in the bay!
I can’t thank them enough for their professionalism and wish more people would do the same thing.

Oil change tire rotation new wipers they promised that would take an hour and a half. Which is way too long. But they only started it an hour and a half in and now its over 3 hours and still not done. just seems like this should be a 45 minute max time for job.

Edit: I called the corporate customer service line and the issue was escalated within the store. John and Chris corrected the issue and gave me a full refund for the oil change. Both were very helpful and apologetic. It’s unfortunate this happened, but it was really just a misunderstanding. It’s clear that they take customer satisfaction seriously and I appreciate that. No hard feelings.
Original Review:
I went to Pep Boys because I needed an oil change and tire rotation. My vehicle had 8085 miles at the time of service. It was due for its first tire rotation. The manager, Matthew, refused to rotate my tires. The fronts were measured at 9/​32″ and the rears at 10/​32″. I have a part-​time 4WD vehicle and it’s very important to have as little difference as possible between the front and rear tires due to the transfer case between the front and rear acting like a locked differential.
Pep Boys lied to me by not telling me that they didn’t rotate my tires. They handed me the receipt and said it was all done. I marked the tires before giving it to them and they did not move from their original location after the service was complete and I paid. I went back to ask them about it and they said that the rear tires already had more tread wear so they were not allowed to rotate them since «the good tires were already in the rear». I don’t want «the good tires» in the rear, I want the tire wear to be done evenly. Currently the front wheels are wearing faster due to steering and the engine weight over that axle. Pep Boys would rather have me increase the difference between the front and rear potentially causing long term damage to my 4WD system.
On top of being lied to, the manager was just plain wrong. He said it was company policy, but he doesn’t know the policy very well. It can be found here:
At the time of writing this it says, «Note: If the difference between the front tire tread depth and the rear tire tread depth is less than or equal to 2/​32″, a standard tire rotation may be performed. If the tread depth differential is greater than 2/​32, the two tires with the greatest amount of remaining tread must be placed on the rear axle.»
According to policy, I should have been able to get my tires rotated.
To summarize:
1) Lied and told me they rotated my tires when they did not.
2) Would not refund me any cost even though the service was not performed as advertised and their site notes that a tire rotation starts at $ 14.99. The manager lied and told me all customers can have a free tire rotation even without the oil change.
3) Would not perform the service that I paid for even after I double checked their work and found it to be lacking.
4) The manager, Matthew, caused a scene in front of all the customers in the whole store, increasingly becoming more and more vocal and loud as he insisted that he was right and I was wrong.

Everyone here is always friendly, knowledgeable and goes above and beyond! I seem to be here on a monthly basis, since my car is my work vehicle, and I put on at least 4k miles on my car per month. I drive a Volkswagen, and we all know how costly parts and the dealership can be, so I choose Pep Boys over my dealership. Chris in particular really helped out with an issue as well as Don the manager, and Jerry. Great guys! The service department is on stop of things as well.

I tried a dealership and another auto parts store… no help… I stopped at pep boys to get a brake switch, they didn’t have it. Chris went out to my car and squeezed into the front of my car and fixed the brake switch for me. They went above and beyond and totally saved me… or I would have a dead battery by now. Thank you Pep Boys!!!

For 10 beautiful years, the wonderful team of mechanics, led by service manager John Hatton, serviced my workhorse of a Toyota Camry from start to finish.
Two hundred fifty five thousand miles of adventures later, I needed to put my sweet, reliable car to rest. And let me tell you this… I love my new vehicle to absolute pieces, and the dealership service personnel are great; but NOTHING will EVER compare to the amazing service that I received from this PepBoys on Stuebenville Pike.
In a world where girly girls can be raked over the coals for manly things like car maintenance and repair, I felt so empowered to make good decisions based on the honesty and care of John Hatton and staff. When it came time to put my car to rest, he could have made a boatload of dinero for what was needed to pass the state inspection. Instead, he told me to get a new car. I just wanted to hug him. And cry! Because it meant a sad goodbye. :(
This review is long overdue. So what I want to say to John Hatton and team is thanks. Gracias. Merci beaucoup.
And if you’re a girly girl looking to make big decisions on your vehicle without calling your dad every five minutes, go to John Hatton. He will honestly care for your car. And oh, he was very nice to my dog. :)
THANK YOU, Pep Boys. xo

Now this is how service should be done, and how all Pep Boys should be. If you checked my review of the Pep Boys in Cranberry, PA, you saw what a crappy experience I had, topped off with the worst customer service I’ve ever encountered anywhere.
Now, I usually take my car to the Steubenville Pike Pep Boys, so the Cranberry thing was just a one-​off because at the time I thought it would be more convenient as I was in the area and figured the service was good at my usual location, so why not elsewhere? Won’t make that mistake again.
Anyway, last weekend I took my car in due to some rumbling noise in the rear which I thought was due to a bearing. Turned out I needed my struts replaced. So Bob, ace Pep Boy extraordinaire at this location told me he could take $ 100 off with some in store coupons to buffer a bit of the cost as I would also need an alignment, which goes hand in hand with this sort of job.
So I took my car back in today. They fixed the struts, but Bob informed me they found some other weird noise after that. I was a bit saddened by the news as this is a ’99 Camry I’m driving with over 200,000 miles on it. Great car, still drives excellently, but these little repairs can add up fast.
When I went to pick up my car and pay for the struts, Bob informed me that the other noise was being caused by the bushings, and that he just comped that for me, saying, «I just wanted to make sure it was 100% for you.» Awesome. Just, fantastic in every way. I also got the discount that he mentioned the week before. So all in all, I was a happy guy, fully vindicated after the disaster that was my previous trip to the Cranberry Store.
This is the Pep Boys you want to go to if you’re in the area. The staff is friendly, they know what they’re doing, and they’re not there to just punch in and out and pick up a paycheck. Bob went out of his way to make sure I got service above and beyond what I expected just because he’s Bob, and he’s awesome. So take note, corporate heads of Pep Boys, this is a stellar store and one all your others should be modeled after.
The Cranberry location can still eat it.

Plan on a long wait. When I got here they said one hour. There were no cars in front of me so I have no idea why it took so long. It is a simple oil change and I was here 2.5 hours. The one guy I talked to was nice but I will go to one of those quick oil change places next time.

Made an appointment for a state inspection. Made the appointment for 1pm on a Saturday. Asked how long it would take. Was told 1 hour over the phone. Arrived at 12:50pm and was told it would take 1 ½ to 2 hours. Well it took 3 hours and no apology at all. Plus the coffee machine in the waiting area was not working. Had several upset customers waiting. The customer service here stinks.

Oh man.
So for some back story: My dad is a mechanic. I’ve worked at his shop for 15 years — I really know when somebody is ripping me off when it comes to auto repair. That said, I rarely need assistance outside of my dear dad. This past week I did.
I car sat for my friend for 6 weeks while she was overseas. As I was returning her car to the airport (I was dropping it off in short term parking, so when she got in late that night, she could just go home), I ran over debris on the Parkway and shredded both tires on the driver’s side near the Settlers Ridge Shopping Center.
I was completely screwed (or so I thought). My friend only has one car. I really thought I was going to have to wait for her and her family at the airport, her flight was due in 8 hours from the time I ran over the debris — and I don’t live close, so I would have been waiting. I also thought I would have to drive all the way back to the city, I live an hour south, the following day to deal with car issue, since my friend wouldn’t be able to. Turns out I didn’t. Pep Boys had me covered.
I called Pep Boys 1 – 800 number for a tow to their Steubenville Pike location. I was towed and both tires were replaced with 4 hours — this happened at 4:30 pm on Thursday. I had no appointment, obviously. There were terrible storms going through the area too — they even lost power but kept doing what they could without it.
To me, that was impressive enough. Then I got the bill — $ 309.00 for the tow, labor, and two tires (they were low profiles — so not the cheapest tires out there). What? I was really expecting a 500+ bill. I have a TON of experience making automotive bills. These people were beyond fair. They could have easily tacked on fees for no appointment or charged me a higher hourly rate for emergency labor. Instead, they gave me a discount card that took 30 dollars off the bill. This is the kind of experience I would expect at my dad’s shop — with is small and caters to a small town — not a huge chain.
If you are considering the Pep Boys location, they seem to be the real deal. If I ever have an emergency like that again, I would definitely give Pep Boys another go!

I used to go to this location for 5 years for oil changes and tire purchases as well as my yearly safety/​emission stickers. I will forever judge all other pep boys by this location. I always had a very attentive person to deal with and no problems after-​wards, which we all know is the worst…
Even when towed in once (out of the blue because my battery died) I was given great service and was out of there with a new battery in my car in an hour and a half. Since I left PA I’ve been to 2 other pep boys locations that are awful here in CT. This one is GREAT compared to the others.