Firestone Complete Auto Care in Santa Cruz

I brought my jeep in to switch from my winter wheels to my summer wheels,the summer wheels use a different size lug than the stock wheels and acorn lugs.I presented the special lugs to the worker and specificly asked that they be used and not the stock acorn lugs.They were not used .Instead they forced the stock oversized lugs on my summer wheels,causing damage to the wheels.Also upon removing and replacing (two times) a wheel stud was carelessly stripped .The cross threading damaged the stud to yhw point the lug was not able to be installed,leaving the front wheel with 4 lugs not the five that it's meant to.

TLDR: Don't take your vehicle here. Under qualified, no accountability from their service manager Adrian, who tries and makes it seem like you're the issue - hoping you don't have any experience working on vehicles. Long version: They had two attempts to get a basic alignment correct and failed both. The service manager takes no accountability, and instead shifts blame to the customer. First alignment attempt yielded a crooked steering wheel. After leaving, I promptly returned and asked why the steering wheel wasn't straight. Tech: "How crooked?" Uhh - it's crooked, any amount of it not being straight means the job wasn't performed to spec. Mr. No Accountability Service Manager: "there wasn't enough fuel in the vehicle for my tech to take a test ride, so we couldn't check if your alignment was straight." Okay, mistakes happen but that's odd - I have never had a crooked steering wheel before as a result of an alignment being done. I put gas in, brought it back and they put it back up on the alignment rack and complete the job in about another 45 minutes (I'm in total of 3 hours at this point). Alignment complete, tech TAKES IT FOR A TEST DRIVE. I thank the tech, tech said "uh-huh." I drive away. And guess what? Same issue, steering wheel still isn't straight. It's one of the simplest tasks a tech can do (I learned this in my second year of high school auto tech....) I called Mr. No Accountability Service Manager on my way home and here was his reply: "How crooked?" "Well your vehicle has aftermarket suspension so it will take more times to get it done properly, and we don't warranty our work on vehicle with aftermarket suspension." Really? I have an SUV with a 2 inch lift, and adjustable arms (just about every one) - making it EASIER to adjust the alignment. In fact, previous alignments have gone flawlessly. Your tech didn't notice that the steering wheel was crooked on his test drive? Lol. Where was the paperwork, and disclaimer before work began that there wasn't enough fuel in the vehicle and the suspension was going to take multiple tries because it's "aftermarket"? This is just nonsense by the way. No Accountability Service Manager offered a third time to "correct" the issue. No chance, I am seeking a refund. FIRESTONE -- please do not reply to this review, I've already contacted corporate. Edit: for clarity, I only took my vehicle here because it was convenient. Also noteworthy, the showroom/office is a pig sty - looks super run down.

If there was a zero star selection, I would give it that. After bringing it in I the morning at 1100am. Around there. I got my car back at 6pm. They did not do a complete auto care condition package nor a complete oil change. The power steering fluid was DRY!!! And it needed a more than a quart of oil. From there repair estimate I was given there were many other items that were suggested I repair. Unknown whether or not I need them. Because it looks to me like they expected to do more work and it was not approved so they stopped everything and put the car in the repaired line. There was no mention that they accidentally cut the window washer fluid line in half or that one of the fog lights was not working. If there is any recourse I can take without having to return with my vehicle I would do that. First I am going to get a second opinion

They do not honor warranties, raise prices after the repair is done, falsify documents, don't do work they say they have done, use low quality parts and do terrible work. Don't believe me? Go buy tires from them and ask if they attach the lug nuts to the manufacturers torque specifications. They will say yes. Now go home and check the lug nuts. They will be so tight you risk breaking them getting them off. Ask them if they use OEM quality parts and they will say yes. Then look up the part from your invoice and you will see they use low quality parts. Check your original quote for the work against you final invoice and see the price increase with no explanation but don't believe the explanation/lies they tell you. This place is a total scam with mechanics just out of school or bottom of their class and the managers there are crafty little weasels who will do and say anything to get your money and stay out of trouble with their corporate managers. It's like a bunch of grade school kids cheating on a test when the teacher leaves the room. I can not warn you enough or say enough bad things about them. Don't get ripped off. Pay a few more dollars and go to Chandlers or Bobby's Pit stop where the guys are actual mechanics and not kids playing with tools. Update. The company replied to this review as you can see below. I emailed them at the address they listed and the result? You guessed it, no response from them. At this point I'm done dealing with firestone and filing a case with BAR, a complaint to the BBB.and bringing them to small claims court. They have been doing this stuff for far too long to way to many people and I can't stop it but I can get my money back and put another mark on their record. With the number of bbb and bar complaints they have already it wont do any good unless people read this, research with BAR and BBb and take to heart the 100s of bad reviews this store has and go elsewhere. If you are still tempted to go to them contact me first. Ill do better work, treat you like a person with a brain and tell you im ripping you off straight with no lame excuses or lies and i wont take 2 days to do so. One last point before I go throw up reading the 4 and 5 star reviews. Look at the work the reviewer had done. Changing windshield wipers, oil change, repair flat tire, etc... Mt 14 year old daughter can do that. A brake job or any actual repair is way beyond their skill set. I'll smile and be nice to you while I'm stealing your money too. And I'll charge less. Update After emailing and calling the corperate head quarters i got nowhere so i filed a bAr complaint. My bAr representative represented and now firestone is going to honor the warranty. Since wheel works is owned by the same company im going to Los gatos wheel works to get the work done and im going to stand there, watch and give pointwrs to the tech the entire time. After reading reviews of all local firestone and wheel works shops id be terrified to leave my car parked on the same block much less let them do unsupervised work. Lesson learned. This corperation is a joke and should not be ASE certified.

Drove in a Honda Element with squeaky brakes while on vacation in Santa Cruz. Was assured by the staff I'd get the car back in a few hours. End of day comes, no word. I have to call in to learn it's a much larger issue. But luckily they could rush order the part and have their specialist fix it 9am next day, Sunday. Noon rolls around.... no word. 1pm I call in, ready to head home from vacation. Still in the shop... please hold tight. 4pm rolls by, again I call in for an update. Now I learn another issue has sprung up — master mechanic is needed and is only around Monday morning. Monday comes and go.... no word. I call in end of day to learn of a third issue. They need to special order yet another part and do another $1k worth of work. It'll be ready "within a week". Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. There's no transparency in the process. No calls or updates at any point. No prices given until *after* the service is done — they've already run your card at that point.

Bought new tires here and when they installed them, they came back and handed me a destroyed wheel lock key and said "You should probably replace this." They clearly just stuck an impact wrench on it and destroyed it and now I have to get someone else to remove them because the key doesn't work. I never leave reviews for bad service but this was ridiculous.

I recently had a tire replaced at this store, only to discover that the labor cost matched the price of the tire itself. At no point was an estimate provided or reviewed with me. Instead, I was informed of the total cost only after the work was completed, leaving me obligated to pay the full amount. What’s most disappointing is the lack of transparency regarding the pricing. Had I known, I would have taken my business to a more reputable establishment like Big-O Tires or Costco, where clearer communication is standard practice. This experience felt like a classic bait-and-switch, and I want to caution others to be vigilant when dealing with this store. Transparency and trust are essential, and no customer should have to face unexpected charges like this.

The service was fantastic the technicians were so friendly and taught me about my 4Runner. Callie was so kind and on point she runs this place like a BOSS. I got 5 new tires installed and an oil change and alignment. Make sure you get the lifetime alignment. You can get it serviced at any Firestone nationwide. I posted before and after photos.