Monro Muffler Brake & Service

After checking their reviews on Unilocal,I was hesitating to go there. But it is so conveniently located from me (down the road from my place), I decided to give them a try. I was greeted with a big smile and a welcome. Jimmy was super friendly and gave me different price options for the service. I paid a total of $ 43.33 including all taxes and service for synthetic oil change, tire rotation, brakes check and tire pressure.
The service was done before the estimated time.
Jimmy did not try to sell me any other services or products. In fact, he gave me suggestions for future attention needed on the car.
I am completely satisfied with their service. Try them out.

The manager, Ken, isn’t the most approachable guy but when I need to make an appointment I ask for Jimmy. I’ve only had great experiences with him.

I went to the Medford location to get an oil change for my car, and the associate I spoke to (I will not mention his name) tried to get me to spend $ 400 on extra repairs after he did the oil change. He told me I needed to get new brake pads and get the brake fluid flushed because it can become acidic. I thought that sounded unnecessary so I brought my car to my trusted mechanic, who is 45 minutes away from Medford, and he told me that there was nothing wrong with my car, I didn’t need any of those repairs done. The associate in Medford had also told me that my snow tires were an extra expense — he said I didn’t need them! I think that man is an idiot for telling me I don’t need snow tires. Snow tires have saved me in every storm we’ve had, especially in the last month’s brutal storms. Monro gave me a shitty oil change, too. Usually after an oil change my car accelerates much better than prior. This time it feels about the same. I will never go back to Monro Brake & Muffler, to any location, ever.

Please note: They do not test drive or check your vehicle after an alignment!
My car pulled more to the left after my 100 $ alignment, 4 tire balance, and rotation. I only found out the solution by troubleshooting/​rotating tires on my own on my street with my own jack. They had no clue.

As a female, going for any sort of car service is usually a less than enjoyable experience. At the majority of other shops I’ve been to, men have talked down to either me or the women around me and some have even tried to take advantage with pricing. Thankfully, this does not happen here. I went in twice for (oil change and then ceramic brakes). Jimmy was the best! He was extremely personable and polite. He even recognized me months later when I went back for the brakes. I had a very difficult schedule at the time as I was working full-​time and was also a full-​time graduate student. He made it very easy for me to schedule the brake change. All around great guy! I wish more places had customer service like this.

Wow Ken H. You’ve finally made it to Unilocal!Step 1: blame customers for your own shop’s sub-​par service. Please, tell me where you learned your PR skills so I can sign up for a class. Look — how about instead of blaming customers by telling us that we were upset when we came in, that you have no control over the status of your repair bays or that there was no way we could have left happy — how about you actually DO something and take some accountability to improve your servoce?
Go ahead, pull all the records you want — I have waited over an hour and what is probably NOT in your records is that I have made appointments, shown up, been told the wait was 2+ hours and left — do you keep records of all the business you lose when customers walk away?
Despite your grousing that customers «don’t read» the coupons, I did. I knew there would be additional taxes and fees but how can any customer know what all those taxes and fees will add up to? With coupons, I think most of my «$ 20» oil changes were between $ 24 – 28. Fair enough. If you look at my original review, you’ll see that I wasn’t concerned with price; I was concerned with your shop’s ability to keep an appointment and to not aggressively upsell me on work I don’t need. The Monro business plan seems to run on gimmicks: «$ 20 oil change,» (plus taxes and fees!), «free brakes for life» (but you have to pay for labor which we can totally overcharge you for because you want to get the most out of that free brakes deal!), etc. I don’t like gimmicks; I like honesty.
Since my review, I take our car to our wonderful regular mechanic (who has always done all our big repairs anyway), Koko at Foreign & Domestic Auto (which, by the way, gets a deserved 5-​star rating). I believe he charges $ 28 – 31 for an oil change but like I said in my original post, the few extra dollars are worth it for the professionalism.

UPDATE: I received a reply from the owner who claims they did not have my tires and that is the reason they sent me away. I think it is funny because they did not ask what I drive or look at my tires to check for a tire size. I have not thought of going back and will not. Would rather have gotten an apology message instead of a message excusing their employees actions.
I went in to replace 2 tires that were about to go. I went in at 5:40 before a closing time of 6. 2 guys are in there standing around, one guy waxing his own car. They take 5 minutes to come to the counter to tend to me. I explained the situation and the guy says… we close at 6.
I gladly leave and head further down RT 16 to Town Fair Tire, I figured there has got to be a better business that will take my money for service. I get there at 5:55 before a closing time of 6. They gladly helped me out. The people at Town Fair Tire were quick and very compassionate to my situation. Would gladly spend more for a company who value’s a customer.

Horrible, unless you want something terribly basic. Two visits. the first a couple years ago for a muffler, they didn’t have a clamp after the new muffler was already in place, and I had to go get one for them at the auto parts place or return the next day. At a muffler place that’s lame. When the new muffler failed, I returned to get a replacement. The guy ordered the wrong one, so I waited for another. Since I was waiting, I made the mistake of asking to have sensors replaced. After much banging and commotion in the garage, they gave me the story that the old ones were not the correct type (I think they were original) and had stripped the threads that hold them. I think the mechanic stripped threads trying to put in the wrong type. Anyway, they ordered different sensors, and still couldn’t get them in properly. And then I caught the mechanic kicking my truck seat trying to get it to move, when all I needed to do was move something out of the way. I think his approach to replacing parts was similar to his approach to the seat. I had to go to another shop for new threads, where they told me one of the sensors was still the wrong type. After several hundred dollars, the sensor problem wasn’t fixed.

I’m not sure about all of these comments and reviews below me, but I had a great experience with Jimmy. He took my car in very early on a Saturday (7am!) and got me out of there within an hour. He even gave me a $ 89 discount because I was quoted a lesser amount over the phone for break service, which wasnt that bad to begin with!
Everyone was very nice and very friendly and I would go back there and deal with Jimmy (Vincenzo) in a heartbeat! He was over the moon helpful and even saved me a few dollars.

Today was the fourth time I’ve visited a Monro location (the second at this location), and it was my best experience. I came before Thanksgiving last year, and they gave me the standard oil change and told me I should get new tires soon.
Flash forward too many months. My car is pulling to the left, and I can definitely see the top of good ol’ Abe’s head when I do the penny test. Having come of age in the early 21^st century, I dislike using the phone for mundane things like making appointments, but luckily, I can make an appointment online at Monro’s site. I request an appointment for Monday; less than two hours after I make this request, Jimmy gave me a call. «Can you come in today? We had a couple of cancellations.»
SOLD.
So I go in at 4pm. The place is quiet; one other woman is there having work done. She looked over at me and says that Jimmy was the best. I first thought that she was just saying that because he was in the room.
I told him what I was looking for in a tire, and he helped me choose the one that was right for my needs. I also needed an alignment, an oil change and new wiper blades, and he did what he could to make sure that I got the best deal on all of the items/​services I purchased today. When I go to get my car worked on or an oil change, I usually feel like I’m being taken advantage of; this was not the case today. I observed several interactions with other customers, and I felt he was very straightforward with all of them.
Jimmy gave some great advice, and by the end of this experience, I felt like I’d made a friend. I was in and out in a little over an hour. I will definitely be returning to this location in the future.
When I arrived at home, I checked the reviews for this place, and I was very confused. I had to double-​check to make sure that I had clicked on the right link. Perhaps others have had lackluster experiences, but I do feel that if you go in and work with Jimmy (or Vincenzo, as his card says), you’re going to have a better than average experience.

this shop is overpriced. 28 for patching a tire, while most places charge 10 – 20 max. they are somewhat dishonest about doing business. they advertise their oil change for 22 but when you get to the store, it’s like way more. last time they did an oil change for me, they put in too much oil which could have ruined the car had my dad not double check. will not go back again

If it were possible to give fewer than one star, I would.
I made an appointment for an oil change, since this shop is right near my office. I was given an appointment and told to call a half hour ahead of time to make sure they were running on time. I called and they were running on time so I headed over. It was my lunch break and I was concerned about time, so I was glad they could take me at mid-​day.
It turns out that «running on time» means running behind. I ended up waiting about a half hour before they could work on my car. When I got there, the guy behind the desk made fun of my car and said it makes people like him see dollar signs when it rolls in. I drive a ’96 Geo Prizm, which has over 100,000 miles. The Prizm of that era is actually a Corolla complete with Toyota engine and runs very well for its age. Needless to say, I was not amused.
Then he proceeded to ask me about the maintenance I have had done on the car. I’ve done a lot, and there isn’t anything obvious it needs done. But that didn’t stop him from suggesting a boatload (about $ 300 worth) of unnecessary maintenance, and explaining it to me as though I knew nothing about how a car works. Despite his telling me that the work could be done today while I wait, I declined. I just wanted an oil change.
Then they changed my oil. I paid and left this horrible place. The bill included 5 quarts of oil (the engine only takes 4, according to the manufacturer’s specifications). I was also billed a «miscellaneous fee» of about 5 dollars.
Long story short: overpriced and pushy. Stay away. Stay far away.

I have been coming here for oil changes and a couple other minor things for the past couple years. I have never had a problem here. Jimmy and Ken are both great— not only are they personable and friendly, but they always charge a fair price for the work done, and always check my car and let me know if there are any other problems or anything else I need to get fixed. They even let me know if something looks awesome (like today they told me that my car’s brakes look great!).
Jimmy remembers me every time I go in, which is really nice. I feel that I can trust him with my car and to be fair, and that’s always a plus when someone is working on piece of equipment that you need to get around in but also want to feel safe in, and not spend too much money!

We haven’t picked the car up yet, so I have no idea whether they did a good job or not. I’m sure it’ll be fine, or they’ll make it fine. They’re only getting one star because of what just happened.
We took the car in for some brake work. They called us, and I answered. The guy let me know it would be $ 660. I said I didn’t know about that, and passed the phone to my boyfriend. The guy told him the price was $ 560.
That’s just unbelievable.
UPDATE: I see Ken here from Monroe has responded with more sexism. I’m the one in our family who grew up around cars and knows and understands repairs. For this reason, my boyfriend, who is now my husband, lets me do the talking in repair shops and when we purchase a new car.
I appreciate that he makes it so obvious with the «I asked for your boyfriend» line, like I’m a silly, dumb girl who just couldn’t understand.

Living right up the street makes this location particularly convenient. Nonetheless, I’m always hesitant to work with mechanics or leave my car somewhere. We all know how it goes — 1 person tells you something, another place tells you something different, and each tells you that the other doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
First, let me address the first review about after market breaks. If it was that big of an issue, the company has a warranty that allows you to bring them back (which you’re supposed to anyways a week after service) and they will resolve the issue free of charge. Not to mention that driving style and care can have an impact on breaks. Before you knock a company, do your own due diligence. Now if you went back, had them fix it right away, and it continues to be a problem, then you should’ve mentioned that in your review.
These guys are good. I worked with Ken. He was straightforward and took care of everything I needed. There was an opportunity to run up some additional charges and he told me what needed to be done. Rather than pressure me into doing these things while my car was on the lift, he told me how long I could sneak by before needing to address these issues. I appreciate the honesty and the initial savings he afforded me. An «honest» mechanic is rare, so I really appreciate the quick service they provided and making the entire experience very pleasant.
Great experience. Great service. I’ll definitely go back.

The price was right on a brake job so I went here.
5 months later the brakes constantly squeal. I don’t plan on using aftermarket brakes anymore. Lesson learned.
Other than that, they were friendly and helpful.