Monro Muffler Brake & Service

These people don’t know what they’re doing. Came to get a quote to simply weld on my factory muffler and the guy said he needed to drop my whole rear piping so he can do the job. My car is a 1999 and he didn’t even mention I’ll need a new exhaust gasket after they drop it until I mentioned it. I’m sure it’ll be toast once they removed it. Anyway from how they acted, and the way they lifted my car it took them 30mins to figure it out –_​– I figured I needed to go somewhere else and I did. I went to Hi-​Flo in Manassas and they did job for half the price monroe offered and didn’t drop my pipe!

I got 2 rear calipers replaced here 4 months ago ($ 126 per caliper x 2, $ 131 labor, $ 110 for rear brake pads, $ 39 shop supply fee). 4 months later I was getting new tires at a different place when the technician called me out to my car and showed me how rusty both calipers were, that something was wrong with one of them, and recommended that I at least have the broken one replaced to be safe.
What the heck. They were supposedly new. I know almost nothing about cars or calipers, but they surely looked pretty rusty for being 4 months old. It’s been a dry summer in DC and it’s rained maybe 3 – 4 times since they were installed.

Not such a great service and the people out here are not welcoming. it’s okay. Will try to avoid this center in future

Yes, their parts are expensive. Aren’t most shops charging incredible markups on their parts?
I go here exclusively because Tom takes his time with my vehicles, shows me in-​person what is wrong, explains it to me, charges a realistic amount of time, and will install parts that I bring in. I trust his and his team’s knowledge and rely on their practical advice.

So I needed rear brakes and I knew it was expensive to get a full brake job anywhere. I called Monro’s and spoke to Tom. He advised I get ceramic semi metallic gold brake pads and a good hardware kit. Tom told me he drives the same make of car as me. Thought great to myself, they should know how to service it.
I got the parts and brought them in. The rear brake pads come in 4s, and the hardware kit came in a full set inside a bag. I got there and Yi the mechanic was able to pull the car in and start working on it immediately. All in all I got it back in an hour.
Tom quoted me $ 145 on the phone, and when I got there he was quoting me $ 212. I spoke up, and he brought it down to $ 169 because of «shop fees.» After the work was done Tom decided to charge me $ 155. I paid, it was done in an hour, took me in right away since they were not busy. I also got my rotors machine by their ‘diamond cutter.’ Good stuff.
I can’t see them using all the hardware in the hardware kit I got but they kept it. All in all, I have no idea what brakes were put on my car. They were nice to check my fluids and tell me how many miles I had until I needed to replace power steering fluid and brake fluid.
It was a good experience and glad to have gotten my brakes replaced and rotors machined. I would have liked them to honor the price quote on the phone, and to have given me my parts back. I guess Tom will use them on his car instead.
Would I go back? Yes I would. I guess I would like them to be more up front. Considering how many car shops operate, I can’t say they were too bad, but definite room for improvement. I think any business should keep customers in mind and how they feel and to simply ask if they want to keep their spare parts, or offer to buy them. And, honor their price quote and not jack it up when they get there.
Update: Spoke to Alex a mechanic and he informed me the extra charge of $ 15 was the use of their car lift. And the extra parts they kept is typical when someone brings their own parts. Although I could have kept them for my front brakes later.
2^nd Update: Spoke to Tom, and he informed me the entire hardware kit consisting of 10 – 15 clips were used on my rear brakes. I informed him the brakes do not feel like new as I have to press down ½ way to feel any braking action. He suggested I bring it back to check, as he thinks it might be air in the brakes?
3^rd Update:
Tom and Yi checked out the breaks and Yi said the brakes were fine. I am good to go.

Leaving another comment on some recent experiences. I think this has gone under new management at the beginning of 2013 and I’m not impressed at all. I’ve been there a few times to get my oil changed and every time I go there I’m pressured into buying things I don’t need. If you can’t say ‘NO’ don’t go here! I do not like the new owner, Tom, he makes women feel inferior and that they dont know anything! He tried to make me replace an air filter for $ 40! Gosh, at advanced auto it was only $ 14 and took less than 30 sec to install. He is not helpful, he just wants money.

Please do not go here. Their parts have over 100% mark-​up, before labor. When I went to get an estimate for an exhaust replacement, they told me a catalytic converter was $ 600.00 for a economy-​sized vehicle. At Firestone, for the same parts I was charged $ 145.00 and labor was less! Thank goodness I did not pay anything for the free estimate. That’s about all that is free here. Thank you but NO thank you!

People are friendly in here. Price are reasonable. I did my brake change in here.