Today I went to the wal mart tire center to see if they could patch my tire since I picked up a small nail. I trust them with that low level work because its easy.

anyways

As the girl was filling out the car info( because she couldn't scan a barcode for a VIN on my old tank) I started it so I could park it before they would work on it( 90 minute wait... pfft). She was up front and commented, "Your engine is knocking really bad, how long has it been doing it?"

me: "well, ever since I started putting diesel in the tank it started knocking and making tons of black smoke at WOT"

her: " you shouldn't put diesel in it"

me: - laughing my ass off as I drive away and decide to take it to the goodyear tire center across the street.

Yep, they sure find the best help they can there huh?

I've gone so far as to put a POS on jackstands in their parking lot, and take the tires off myself...


~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Its not only WalMart

__________________
1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

I had a white kid wearing a polo shirt tell me yesterday I was about to really mess up and put diesel in a car, that only trucks took diesel. I told him the car was a diesel and he said they don't make diesel cars. I told him I would take my chances. When I filled up ($125--ran all of SVO out before taking to indie), I backed the car up near the window so he could see the trunk badge that says Turbodiesel, and walked inside (to buy beer). I pointed out the trunk badge and he said, "whatever, its your car man."

I had a BAD experience at the Wal Mart Auto Center about ten years ago with my wifes car. We bought a battery and they were going to install it. We were waiting in the service lounge that looks out into their garage area. All of a sudden, under the hood of OUR car I see them dumping MANY boxes of baking soda!!!! I rush out and yell WTF are you idiots doing to our car! The service manager tells me that I can't use profanity or he'll call the police. I ignore him, and ask what they think they are doing to our car? He explains, that they broke a side post off the battery and there is acid POURING down into god knows where under my car and they are using the baking soda to neutralize it. I told him his insurance company would soon own that car because I didn't want it anymore! That's what happened! My insurance company told their insurance company to buy the car. IDIOTS!

DON'T GO TO WALMART AUTO CENTER!

Par for the course, at least they "kinda" made you whole again...

When they'd snap a stud off, they'll just tell the customer that "you old stud broke, it happens all the time, and we cant replace it"

They'd just send the car half a mile down the road to us, where we'd fix it, and let them know that walmart broke it, and will break more in the future...

~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

I avoid Goodyear like the plague! Many moons ago when I had my Suzuki Samurai (first car, still have find memories of it), I took it to a Goodyear near my house to diagnose an intermittent starting problem. It turned out I needed a new starter, which I had figured. They said they will need to get one and that I could leave the car there. I think I ended up leaving the car there for a few days, longer than I expected. One night (after closing time) I went past the place to see where my car was, and through the windows of the garage I could see my beloved car up on the hoist (high, I might add). For some reason that irked me having them leave my car up like that (maybe because this is California, earthquake country). After a few days they called and said my car is ready. I go pick it up, pay, and drive off. Then not long after the same start-up problem comes back, if not worse. I took it back, and they said leave it here and we'll fix it (still under warranty). Again, a few more days of waiting and I get the car back. I asked what was the problem with the replacement starter. Check this out, the service guy told me that it turned out that the delivery (or was it their service) guy had dropped the starter, yet they decided to use it anyway! I was too nice and naive at the time to voice any displeasure. I was just happy that my car was back.

At another Goodyear, I took my 190E to get new tires, which included balancing. Well, when all was done, I drove home and learned that one of the front wheels' balance tabs fell off. I took it right back and told them what happened. They quickly rebalanced the tire. Went home, and again the balance tab fell off! It was too late to go back since it was near closing time, so tomorrow morning I would have to take it in. This time I was a bit pissed. Next day came and this time I expressed my displeasure and my time wasted (this Goodyear was a bit farther from my house, in a better city, so I though maybe a bit better service). I asked to see the manager and he offered free oil change. Yeah, right! I declined and said I just want this darn thing fixed, how hard can it be? The manager then said that he'll do it himself. Rather than putting it on a hoist because it was just the front tire, he decided to use a jack. Now check this out. He proceeds to position the jack right under the front of the car, below the belly pan! I told him that's not the jacking point, to which he got offended because he said he knew what he was doing and that he didn't appreciate me telling him how to do his job. What? I was just pointing something out to him! He finally placed the jack in the proper location, took out the tire, balanced it, and when it was time to put it back on, he was getting me worried because he could not seem to stabilize the tire so that he could put on the bolts. Anyhow, it ws done eventually, and as I was leaving one of his guys felt it mature to say to me as I was driving off "get a proper haircut." I think eventually my M-B indie replaced the front tire with a proper tab, so it might have fallen off again.

Bottom line is those stores are staffed by 1 smart guy and a bunch of numb nuts. Don't expect more.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

What do you expect? They hire the best highschool drop outs they can get for min wage.

I refuse to do any business with Walmart.

I remember when I took my SDL to Sears to get an estimate for tires on the VW, they thought I wanted to get tires for the SDL. I was like you guys don't get to touch that car. They were like we can do MB's. I said you can do mine when you get more training and a job at a MB dealer. Of course some dealers are numb nuts to.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The only way they could think such a thing is if the SDL was there previously and in their database.............

Or, they are clairvoyant............

I don't think it's always a case of them being dumb, so much as it is of them just not caring. They just don't care. They get paid for their labor, they go home, who cares if it was done perfectly, or even right? Some people take pride in their work, others don't. I find places like Wal-Mart, Sears, Goodyear don't tend to attract employees who take pride in their work. But that's not always true ... my local Goodyear has been staffed by good people for as long as I can remember. The guy who used to own it was a real nice guy, and since he retired a couple years ago the place has basically upheld his standards (I think they've had the same manager for a long time). I still take my car to my MB-specialist indy for anything major, but I feel fine getting tires or an alignment at the Goodyear shop. I guess it helps that they're in a small (kind of upscale) town ... helps add a personal feel.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

You need to e patching your own tires. This solves the entire problem. Buy a plug kit. It takes 5 minutes to plug a tire, also it seems to really impress girls when you can save them the hassle of a trip to the tire store.

I have a kit just for that. Same as my ATVs. They carry a kit each.

I don't care about impressing the girls though. At least not unless it leads to something "extra" for me. Quid Pro Quo. I plug up the hole in your tire and you let me plug up..........

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

When I go to Walmart, Burger King, Mcdonalds or any other in and out discount chain I expect to deal with morons, that way I am pleasantly surprised when i deal with smart folks.

Lets recap the 5 years I worked for Sears 2 decades ago and the fun I witnessed:
- Isuzu Impulse came in for new wheels & tires. Left rear wheel & tire made it to the highway. The Impulse didn't.
- Lincoln Town Car nearly got 5 GALLONS of oil instead of 5 QUARTS. "Timmy" thought the jug was a quart....
- A2 Jetta was lifted by the add-on side skirt instead of the chassis. car made it 3 feet off the ground before it came crashing down.
- "Timmy" fried the clutch of a Fiero because he thought the parking brake lever was broken. Anyone with a C4 Vette knows how the parking brake release works.
- Ruined a trans on a MINT 76 Seville.
- Engine on a Buick Le Sabre
- no oil added during the oil CHANGE
- A car or two (being generous) falling off the lift

__________________
Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???