Virginia Tire & Auto of Chantilly

Really great shop, attentive staff, I’ve never experienced «upcharging» or other shady practices. Safety & Emissions inspections don’t run as late as the shop and typically stop accepting vehicles 1hr before the inspection hours are done to allow time for the cars already in line. Inspection Hours are M-​F 1AM-​4PM Sat-​Sun 9AM-​5PM

I have been a loyal customer for a few years at the Chantilly location but the service is slowly going downhill. Tuesday morning one employee named Steven (the younger one) said I didn’t need an appointment for an oil change, I said I will be there a little after 9am. When I got there another guy also named Steven (the older one) said it would be a two hour wait and I should have made an appointment if I wanted to get out faster. I explained the younger Steven told me I didn’t need one. Older Steven said you do because other customers made appointments already and I would be worked in. So I said ok what time would I be able to make an appointment for and he said 2pm. So I said, «It would be two hours to wait with no appointment but if I made an appointment I have to return at 2pm?»
(Mind you it was only 9:20-ish!!) Older Steven then proceeded to pick up the phone because someone called but instead of asking if the person on the phone could wait he kept on talking. Needless to say I am done with this place. Other reviewers on here are spot on with their lack of proper management.

I used to go here all the time, based solely upon connivence of the location. I stopped coming because of a couple sketchy recommendations they told me were absolutely necessary for my car. (Upon receiving second opinions, I found out that wasn’t necessarily true. I don’t appreciated being taken advantage of because I’m a girl.)
Well I decided to come back yesterday to get an oil change while I was at the gym. I was given an estimated weight time of an hour and a half… The whole process took 4 HOURS because they lost and overbooked a bunch of appointments. Because of their inability to properly manage and its interference with my previously scheduled day, I had to wait until 9:00PM that night to take a midterm To top it all off, there was not one, not two, but THREE lights on my dashboard were lit when I picked my car up so I had to go back the next day to get them to correct their mistake. I should have gone with my first instinct and stayed away… The only reason I gave them 2 stars and not 1 is because they had enough sense not to charge me for the oil change.
**Update 10÷25÷15: I appreciate your company’s attempt to contact me and make it right. Your PR game is on point. However, I have decided not to respond to your phone call or email you as requested. As a full-​time teacher and a part-​time student, my time and money is incredibly valuable and I need service that I can depend on the first time. A family of mine whose daughter I teach owns a local car shop and I have decided to take my business there.

Took my utility trailer tire In to replace the valve stem. The staff and crew changed out my valve stem in 2 minutes flat and charged me zzip. I needed this tire done to haul some things down to Florida next week to move into our new home. The front desk guys couldn’t have been more helpful. Thanks to them, we will be on our way on time with a good tire. Highly recommended.

Update (08/​12/​2015) — I responded to Julie H with my Full name and contact number. There is not response yet.

This place is FANTASTIC!!! I went in to have them replace my alternator because Advance Auto Parts insisted the battery wasn’t bad. When I explained what happened, they recommended running a test before replacing the alternator to ensure that it wasn’t a simpler issue. Boy am I glad I took that advice!!! It turns out that it WAS the battery after all and NOT my alternator! After taking the results to and dealing with Advance Auto, I returned to Va Tire and Auto with a brand new battery which they happily installed for me. My only charge was the $ 60 for the test to see why it wasn’t starting… AMAZING!!! They saved us so much money and I couldn’t be more grateful! All of the front folks were pleasant and had good customer service skills, particularly Chris and Shea, who went above and beyond to understand my situation and ensure me that nothing would be done except the test without my authorization. The mechanic, Larry, that I talked to on the phone was wonderful as well… explained all the recommendations, urgency or not, and even told me about a part of the car that I didn’t know what it did, lol. Patience, caring, and complete understanding… I couldn’t be HAPPIER! Thank you for such WONDERFUL service!!! I will definitely take my car there in the future! :D

Before reading the review, the work itself has been fine. But it seems like along with the other negative reviews communication and customer service is lacking. It’s disappointing because based on work itself I would’ve rated higher, but even with good work getting extra/​unexpected charges and changes to the service without notification makes it hard for me to actually appreciate the work because I got something different from what I paid «extra» for.
I was getting my new tire installed and I asked for the existing tpms to be removed because I was planning on using it on a different set of wheels. After I paid for the service I received the sensor back with the stem of the valve sawed off, parts of the thread from the sensor was damaged as well. I was shocked that I was not asked if I wanted to leave the tpms on or saw off a $ 150 sensor. I was told by a associate, not the mechanic… the sensor would work if the rubber valve was pressed against it. I was speechless because the valve threads onto the tpms keeping it secure. I walked out with the incorrect service and a unusable $ 150 sensor.
Update:
*Manager called back to make things right to keep the customer client relation except no offer to replace the sensor has been made.

After about a week of allegedly having my car services, my TPMS (tire pressure) light came back on. Fearful of receiving more bad service, I went to the Tire and Auto branch in Centreville. I told them that I thing the patch applied by the Chantilly branch somehow came unfixed and would like it re-​repaired. The Centreville rep told me that he could not find any evidence of a patch ever being applied, and that there was not even a hole to patch, but a cracked tire pressure gauge. So, I felt irritated enough to add to my previous review, because apparently the Chantilly charged me for what amounted to a $ 32 tire inflation and led me to believe the problem was fixed, while no actual service was performed. On a lighter note, I was satisfied with the Centreville branch’s service. It has been a few weeks since then and there have not been any further problems.

The worker was user friendly. They recommend a couple extra service for me. I only did the oil change. But The engine light was on after that. Why?

I have had great luck here — very customer oriented and willing to negotiate/​match pricing. One time they even waived the cost of a (relatively small) item because while they verbally told of one item that had to be done, they forgot to add to the estimate therefore they didn’t charge me. To me that’s old-​fashioned ‘do right by your customer’. I’ve come here half dozen times and plan to continue!

I used to go to this location all the time, until I moved out to Gainesville. I had very poor experiences at the VA tire located there, but have never had anything but excellent customer service and work done at their location in Chantilly. This past weekend I went to Chantilly because I had some coupons for service. I was going to get my CV axle boots replaced because my dealer had recommended I get it done some time back. I called ahead and was given an estimate and was told the parts would be there.
Sure enough, 7 am on a Saturday I show up and they’re all ready for me. About 40 minutes after my car goes back, I get a call from the service department saying they took a look at the car and didn’t think there was anything that needed to be replaced or fixed. Luckily I was still in the waiting area, and they actually took me back into the garage and showed me exactly what the dealer had recommended I have done. They explained the condition those parts were in and that it would be a waste to have the work done. They cleaned some leaked grease off my axles at no charge and sent me on my way. In all, I saved over $ 600 from their honesty. They could just have easily replaced them and charged me, I wouldn’t have known the difference. Instead I was given an awesome customer service experience. I’ll go to this VA Tire location any chance I get.

They did exactly what I asked them to do and the time quote was correct. I appreciate all the recommendations. One thing I would recommend is to have the paper mats to protect customers floor mats from shop junk and plastic seat covers as well. The water bottle was a nice touch!

The service is like any other auto center.
«Super friendly Guy in a tie» service.
Like any other service center, your car is always in need of immediate 120 urgent repairs and if you don’t do them you might just stop somewhere.
Here’s a quote I got for mounting my own 4 new tires (with balance). $ 209!!! Apparently Infiniti G35 with sports tires requires extra skill and throw in the TPMS kit you are looking at around $ 50 a tire! Got the same set of tires installed (with balance) at TiresPlus for $ 103. They installed it with the same «skill» and my car hasn’t stopped so far. Also they quoted $ 99 for alignment and I got mine done (yes it was very accurate and the same one, if not better) for $ 79.
They have all these packages and «services» like most auto mechanics. Unless you don’t want to look elsewhere and have the money to pay for their coffee, snacks and shiny new office go someplace better.

«Went in for an oil change and to have them diagnose the check engine light. Turned out to be a minor issue and they did not charge me for the diagnostic. The technician I spoke with was very knowledgeable about my vehicle and engine and offered valuable advice. Thank you!»

Well… after posting this review, they called and apologized and offered us a credit for future service.
I am torn about this. It’s nice that they reacted to my post and turned a negative experience into something better, but it obviously shouldn’t take social media to get action.

It’s hard to get excited about a tire and service shop…
The lobby is bright and clean, free WiFi, coffee, etc… All the normal customer service stuff that you would expect. Good enough location, plenty of parking, as long as there is not a big event going on in the shopping center.
All in all, good local place for tires and general car service.

Really nice store front, good coffee, bottled water, a place for the kids to play, comfortable place to wait, but…
I went for a safety check, after waiting 90+ minutes (told me less than an hour) they told me all 4 wheel bearings were worn out and had to be replaced. The estimate was almost $ 840.
Since I had cleaned and repacked my bearings when I changed the drums and rotors a few months ago, I figured they were fishing for work, so I took it to my regular mechanic– and left his shop same day for just over $ 150, with my safety check, and they tightened, not replaced, my 2 front (perfectly good) bearings.
This is where some would say ‘you can’t blame ‘em for trying’ but for a nearly $ 700 difference, yeah, I can blame ‘em. Nice try.
GET A SECOND OPINION!

It really hurts when you have trust in someone, and they are unwilling to back up their own work when it fails. I had a timing belt, water pump, and tensioner replaced on my vehicle a couple of months ago at this location. I have been to this location several times before and know those that work here, so it was an obvious place to go to for something as important as this.
I purposefully wanted this repair for maintenance purposes only, because I did not want the timing belt falling off and damaging the engine. They fulfilled the repair for the lowest price from the quotes I gathered, and was very satisfied.
Unfortunately a couple months and a few thousand miles later, the timing belt slipped off, bent the engine valves, and rendered the vehicle useless. The original maintenance repair was warrantied for 24,000 miles/​24 months, so I expected this to be honored. I was told that it would NOT be covered, and that this problem occurred because of an idling pulley locking up, causing the timing belt to fall off. It now stands at $ 1000+ in repairs necessary to get the car working again.
You know, I wouldn’t want to think that these guys that I have trusted for so long are literally BSing me, but unfortunately, they were. They finally admitted that there was a large groove in the timing belt (characteristic of the timing belt falling off from improper installation), and that the pulleys were REMOVED when the previous repair was made, and then reattached, and «bolted tightly» by the mechanic Kenny. You don’t have to remove these pulleys, and they cannot be bolted too tightly, or they could lock. Despite these facts, and Kenny’s help in the matter, the manager Todd was of no help at all.
He stated that they would not honor the work that was previously done, and no negotiation was made. As it stands, this review will be updated if the situation changes, but for now, I WOULD NOT VISIT THIS SHOP IF I WERE YOU.
I’m assuming someone from the shop will post their typical comments below this review saying that they tried everything they could and that they offer «competitive services,» etc. I would not buy that for a second.

I took my car in for the state inspection and got a time quote of an hour to an hour and a half. That quote was spot on. Everyone was very friendly and never tried to push anything on me that I didn’t need for my car.

Go here for a great deal on an oil change.
It used to be that Jiffy Lube was a good deal; what happened?
Seems like every time I went they were jacking up their prices again and again.
All of a sudden I’m paying $ 45 bucks for an oil change. What’s up with that? Jacking up their customers to cover the big bucks to get their name on Dip Stick arena in Bristow?
Go to their web site and look under the heading of ‘Special Offers’. You get several discounts on a variety of services like inspections, tune ups, aligments and tire rotations.
I get the mid priced oil change for $ 32 bucks and change and a $ 5 tire rotation about every other oil change.
They will provide a car to drop you off or pick you up at work if needed.
They are realistic when they commit to a completition time and they call you when it’s done… really.
It’s in a decent area too, you can go check out the Lotte PanAsian market next door… the CostCo of Asian markets. You can get a haircut for $ 10 and eat fresh sushi for $ 5 bucks… what’;s not to like?