So I picked up an old van from my mom. I had just gotten in to an accident and it was free. I had my wife take it to get inspected at monroe muffler (the only place local that had the time). She called me from work and said " The monroe muffler guy says the radiator needs to be flushed and the windshield wipers dont work". The van had been sitting for 2 years so I expected something to be wrong, w/e it was a temp situation. $300 later....
So the next day my wife noticed the windshield wipers set position was in the middle of the windshield and there was a pool of water and coolant under the van. I told her to take it back and have them fix their fuck up. she calls me back an hour later saying they want to charge us another $350, I told her to wait there and I will be there asap.
They told me that since the van had sat for so long the water pump seal had rotted out and when they flushed the radiator it blew the seal. the windshield wipers had a sensor issue elsewhere that was unrelated to the work they did the day before (he also said "I saw that they looked weird and i figured you would come back about it ?!?!?!?!?).
BUT he topped all this off with showing me the paperwork my wife signed allowing them to do this work. So I payed him again and had him get some parts from the yard to fix it.....
fast forward two months, the van has barely been driven and I had no issues thus far. I live in Middleport and yesterday I drove it to Buffalo to pick up an engine from flatblak (Thank you very much btw) and today my wife drove to NF. On her way back she called me crying saying the van stalled and its smoking, she cant see anything and it was making a lound "chattering noise". So I drove out with my dad's truck and some jugs of water, drove the van back stopping every 5 miles to fill it with water lol. when I got home I noticed it was leaking from the gasket. I'm willing to bet that they reused the old gasket......ugh!!!! The heat killed the sensor and the gauge was shot, she didnt notice the smoke driving 55 mph and it didnt stall until she got to the stop light. The chatter should have grabbed her attention but.......w/e. BTW the radiator was full of shit and rusty lol
I know I was an idiot for sending my wife to monroe and I figured I learned my lesson with the $800 bill lol. BUT I thought it was done! What should I do now? cut my losses? call them and bitch? FUCK
My mom made the mistake of buying one of those “lifetime warranty” exhausts from them, and of course that warranty only covers the muffler. When one pipe rotted out 1.5 years later they wanted almost $400 to replace it. For a '95 Windstar. Luckily she asked me first and I kept her from going back. I think her mechanic replaced the pipe for under $50 labor included the next time she had the van in for service. It was the one on Camp rd.
The one in EA (always scammin’!) somehow managed to replace the oil filter incorrectly on my dad’s Accord. Someone noticed the trail of oil and followed it to the bank around the corner where he had stopped. They did a new oil change in the bank parking lot and gave him free oil changes for a year. He never took them up on that offer.
I knew someone who worked there and he hooked me up a few times so I went there for little shit but no more lol.
to be honest I have always been more of an auto enthusiast only recently have I started to get into the mechanical side lol but I cant afford this shit. Im 21 and I have a wife, kids and a mortgage :suicide:
All the bigger chain shops (pep boys, firebone, goodyear, dunn tire, monroe, cole muffler,midas, valvoline, fast track oil change) are all out to scam people.
You almost always better going to a smaller independently owned repair shop. You might have to schedule an appointment, but most of the time they won’t overcharge you or perform unnecessary repairs.
Those are some of the most honest hardworking people there are.
Unless you know someone at the aforementioned shops, they will try to screw you. It’s what they are trained to do.
if it was sitting for a few years there is a good chance monro didnt do anything wrong. they probably did flush the system but if there was lots of sediment in the engine/radiator it may have been mixed up while driving it since.
seals do dry out after not using them, and wiper motors do get dead spots on them. what do you expect for a 15 year old van?
I am not defending monro, it could be their fault, but take the vehicles prior history into consideration. by all means try to get them to atleast help out somehow, but dont expect much.
/\ true and thats why I expected something to be wrong but it wasnt the seal it was the gasket the seal was replaced with the newish water pump. they never got a new gasket for it.
right now im focused on getting something for my wife to drive. I’m not at the point to get a another payment yet but I dont want to get into another 300 to start 1000 to run car lol.
even though the car she wants is only 2Gs lol i hate being poor lol
A buddy of mine wanted a muffler replaced and he said he had one already and just wanted it installed…
Monroe workers reply, “this ain’t no fucking steak buffet. You either buy a muffler from us and have us install it, or get the fuck out of my store”.
BTW the muffler from them was $578+Labor
Buddy paid $122 from the Dealer, ended up installing it himself.
The one in EA tried to get me. During an inspection they told me that “the last shop put my brakes on backwards” and “everything broke,” but luckily they were doing a “brake sale.”
I took the car home and pulled the wheels and the brakes were fine.
ugh,Cole Muffler tried the same BS with me when I needed a cat back,they wanted to soak me $4xx.Took the beast to Mufflerman and $130 later and ~20 mins I was out the door.
these complaints have less to do with the name on the building than who’s running/working there. Monro has an 1-800 complaint number their head quarters are in Rochester. call it aand explain the situation, i’ve never had them not try to make things right.
4.3L are the same as 350s pretty much, and you can get new water pumps with new seals for <$30.
You can also find a new Radiator on ebay for $75 shipped.
My girlfriend went to a Monroe in Hamburg for an inspection years ago and they said her jeep wouldn’t pass because the rear breaks needed to be replaced. The funny thing was I replaces them the weekend before because I knew they were on their way out.
If I were you I’d cut the loss, buy new stuff and install it yourself. Call their 1-800 number and tell them what happened. Maybe they will cut you a check or give you something free.