I feel cheated in firestone. Need your suggestion

Asked by maheshcorolla Sep 06, 2010 at 03:12 AM about the 2001 Toyota Corolla LE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Hi,
I need your help/suggestion regarding my problem in the car. I bought a 2001 corolla 50 days ago from a private party. Before buying I did a full vehicle inspection for 20$ in firestone and got the report as everything good (brakes- 25% worn, tire- rank 8 with 10 being the highest). So I bought this car as everything seemed to be good.

After a month or so, I started hearing strange noises in the front of the car. So I took my car to the same firestone center and asked for full vehicle inspection report and this test was done by a different guy. Now their report said the lower control arm has worn out, brakes- 85% worn, tires were given rating 6 and 7 (with lot of cracks and cuppings) and I was said tires have to be changed as they can potentially cause a problem very soon. I checked my car in other mechanic shop and I confirmed that my car has above stated problems. So I had to fix control arm and brakes in firestone at another location as I lost my belief in the firestone where I did my first vehicle inspection and their repair estimate was too expensive. I will change the tires later.

Now my question is this- The time gap between first and second vehicle inspection is only 50 days and the car has run only in residential area and state highways and the number of miles I drove in this time period is less than 900 miles. So do you think it is possible for the control arm, brakes and tires to go bad only in the period of 50 days and less than 900 miles? I bought this car because of the first firestone report. Now I feel like I am cheated at the first firestone report as I think there is no way that brakes, control arm and tires can go bad in the short duration. Please let me know whether this could possibly happen in a car? Also please suggest me what can I do against firestone to get reimbursement on the repairs I had to perform in my car.

Firestone manager declined to offer any reimbursements on the repair work I have done.

P.S. : I am a decent driver. I never did any sudden acceleration or sudden brakes in my car while driving. I am a student and hence I dont have lot of money to bear all this.

Thanks a lot in advance for your suggestions and replies.

Regards,
Mana

4 Answers
645

David answered 14 years ago

get a lawyer lol its possible that some of that stuff could have worn out in that period of time but highly unlikely. especially the brakes have them pay for the repairs, but i would keep it because they are extremely reliable.

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17,065

Chase answered 14 years ago

control arms could have went but tires and brakes wearing that bad not possible.

1 people found this helpful.
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7,415

Jonathan answered 14 years ago

Sorry to have that happen to you, don't have any advice for you on that situation. Llearn to inspect your own vehicles or have a mechanic you know personally and trust inspect any vehicle you are considering buying.

3 people found this helpful.
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7,665

Kurt answered 14 years ago

this is why you need to search around and find a good mechanic that many of the neighbors, friends, and family go to, there are a lot of cheats out there, and when you go to the big franchise type repair shops, there is less quality in the repair because they usually hire cheaper help to maximize profit therefore the work is not as good. plus, many shops pay the techs. commission, so when a mechanic looks at a car, he over sells unnecessary repairs to get more money. another trick is to just not tell you problems, then you will buy the car, later needing repairs in which you will bring back to the place you had it inspected. Larger sized private owned repair shops are you best best, usually more honest, better customer service, and better techs.

3 people found this helpful.
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