Firestone Complete Auto Care

was in and out of Firestone within a half hour for emission testing. it’s right down town off state. everyone i saw and came into contact with seemed to be really friendly and in a good mood. !!!
have always gone elsewhere but firestone is closer, quicker, nicer, and they pay new haven taxes. not much more you i can say. :)
oh but i can… had trouble with dmv recognizing that my emissions had been tested (they update only on sunday, something NOT on their site) and called to ask Firestone if they’d messed up. they hadn’t. but offered to help as best they could to make sure dmv got my records and were super kind in the process. they have my business forever. :)

My family and I have been going to Firestone locations in New York and Connecticut for years for our auto service and tire needs. I took my car to Firestone in New Haven, CT because I was hearing a grinding noise as I drove. I had been having the problem for a while and took the car there once before, but I wasn’t able to give them the proper amount of time to figure out the issue. Once I was able to afford more time, they were able to figure out that cupping of the tires was causing the problem. All 4 tires were under warranty, so they replaced them at no cost. They also did a free alignment (of course, I have a lifetime alignment with Firestone) and threw in installation and taxes for no charge! I walked away with four new high quality tires for free! And the car now drives like it’s floating on air.
You can’t find this level of consideration, honesty, and service anywhere else. Sure, things go wrong from time to time. And it can get expensive. But I trust the technicians at Firestone are being honest with me. I appreciate the consistently high level of courtesy and professionalism from the staff at the New Haven, CT Firestone. They have earned my trust. They make sure that I have the peace of mind that my family is safe. And that’s beyond valuable to me.

Stay far FAR away from this place!
I live close by and I’ve finally learned my lesson. Today, I needed to get my emissions test done so I called and the guy said to swing by and that they could do it; when I pulled into the lot I saw that there were three open bays. As I was getting out of my car, I was approached by one one of the workers and he asked what I needed and as soon as I told him that I needed an emissions test, he told me that their machine had been hooked up to a truck for the last 45 minutes and he was not sure if their machine even worked. When I looked at the truck in question, I noticed it was not even running and when I pointed this out to the gentleman, he told me that I could wait around until he figured out if the machine was actually working or I could come back tomorrow. Since it was then very clear to me that he did not want to take up a bay or the time by doing a simple emissions tests, I informed him that I would never ever be back, to which he replied by shrugging his shoulders. In the past, they have been rude to me, they have tried to charge me for a Firestone Diagnostic Check (a complete scam-​do not ever agree to have them do one of these, NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY-​UNLESS YOU’VE GOT 100.00 BUCKS TO WASTE!) when all I needed was a new battery and as a general rule: if they say the job will only take 60 minutes-​in reality it will take longer than 120 minutes and if they give you an estimate of $ 100.00, you will probably end up with a bill in the range of $ 175.00. These guys really do give mechanics a bad name.
Stay far FAR away from this place!!!

I have taken both my cars to this location and not pleased with service. Most recent experience– had my car in for wheel alignment– simple enough right? Wrong! After I was charged was advised car will continue to pull to right due to bushings need to be changed. Drove away and car still had same issue. Took car to dealership no problems with bushings and alignment done correctly. I had been their customer on & off for about 6 yrs. No more! Pay the extra somewhere else.

I have had nothing but awesome service from these guys, which I realize sounds nuts given that Firestone is infamous for not being that great. I went the first time out of necessity when my muffler gave out, and have been going back since. I had tried new haven independent places (SKF auto) but I could never shake the feeling that I was getting taken advantage of– given that SKF had recently replaced my entire exhaust that Firestone ended up repairing, I suppose I was right. So I’m not sure what to tell the other commenters. Maybe there is new management? The current manager Greg is seriously great.

Zero stars, and I lived across the street. Once I went in, gave them 4 days to change my oil, rotate and balance tires. When i picked it up my car wouldn’t start. They told me the battery was dead and i needed to buy a new one. Clearly these jackholes left the lights on. Again, out of necessity, i went back. Was told it needed new tie rods. no thanks, just change the oil and fix the tire. Drove with a vibratio b/​c the tire wasn’t mounted right, which i fixed at a buddy’s house. I took it to ANOTHER FIRESTONE and was told the tie rods were completely fine, there was no issue whatsoever with them. They’re the worst. I now take mine all the way to Bridgeport.

I should have given them 0 star… I sent my car in for a complete inspection. When I drove out of the parking lot into the street, my rear wheel on the driver’s side was coming off… All screws were gone. Two of them were found on the street. I was shocked. I was driving very slowly, it could have been lot worse. The mechanics fixed it and sent me home, they claimed it was because I left the car in their parking lot overnight, someone was trying to steal the wheel, didn’t make it but only loosened the screws (I was speechless). I was angry and scared. You tell me if anybody should go to this store and have his/​her car fixed there.

Have been here many times over the past 5 years — I’ve never had a bad experience — and a few times, I’ve had shockingly great experiences where their honesty & insight saved me money when they could’ve ripped me off. Their standard pricing maybe a few bucks higher than other places, but if the location works, they do very decent.

We have used them three times. Each time, they were great. We have always worked with Kent, who is fab. I see the negative reviews, but my experience is great.

Due to convenience of location, I’ve had to use these guys a number of times in a pinch (flat tire, dead battery, new tires, light fixes). I strongly feel that they need a management change to improve their approach to customer service and how they do business. With numerous employees I have had conflicting estimates (of how much time or cost or what was wrong), and they are hardly ever apologetic about anything, tending to act as if talking to you is bothersome or inconvenient. They always take about twice as long to do simple jobs as one would expect, like repairing a tire, and, in comparison with other auto shops like SKF nearby, you get the feeling that you’re paying more for everything than you should. Do they always find random things that may or may not be wrong with your car but now need repairing? Seems like it.
I’ve also had to call them repeatedly to check in on when my car would be ready — a common complaint among other reviewers — as they are terrible about telling you accurate times and don’t check in regularly enough with customers. I was told one time my repairs would take about an hour and they’d start working on it right away, but then 3 hours later they hadn’t called back. Just not good customer service.
Like I said, I don’t blame one person who works there. I’m sure they work hard. But there needs to be better leadership at this place to instill a change in how they do business. It’s unfortunate that such a great location for an auto shop in downtown NH is such a let-​down. You’ve been warned.

First and last time I’ll go there. Didn’t get what I paid for, went back, was told that since it was on my receipt, I must have gotten it. Only when I proved it did they acknowledge, but they blamed it on faulty products. Whatever.

Been here a couple times, mostly for oil changes, but just had tires done about a month ago.
Oil changes have always been good, and they haven’t screwed anything up, so thats a plus.
Tires that I ordered were out of stock, so they upgraded me to a better tire, another plus. I dropped off my car at 9:30am, and told them I get out of work at 5, but that I could be flexible a bit, and if they needed more time, call me so I could make arrangements.
At 5pm i still hadn’t heard from them, and when I called they said it wouldn’t be ready until 7pm… ridiculously inconvenient.

I can only really rate based on one issue with my car– the brakes. I’ve taken it back here 3 times because they insured everything and did the work again for free. My brakes WORK, but not quite the way they should and they squeak BAD. They’re quick and very friendly at this location, have thrown in a few extras like an oil change here and there, but I just don’t have time to keep going back.

I had left my car there overnight after being towed with the keys and a phone number. They called me first thing the following morning for some history. Within an hour they called me back with a diagnosis and all the options. When I decided that ultimately my car wasn’t worth salvaging, they let me keep the car on the premises without any cost for an entire week. I also called probably 10 different times for more information and the guys always demonstrated patience and professionalism.

I appreciated the quickness in bringing in my car,
and it’s close to East Rock, so I didn’t drive far.
They showed me the parts that needed to be replaced,
it was nice to be involved– there’s no run-​around at this place!
They have free wi-​fi so I worked while I waited,
and they guaranteed my parts, which isn’t overrated.
And on their website, I found an oil change coup–
so check it out before you come to save you some loot!

We stopped here on a Friday afternoon on an interstate weekend trip because one of my tires was low. I had used a garage in New York two days before to remove my snow tires and put on my regular tires. They did such a bad job I eventually had to have three of them re-​sealed.
At this point in the trip, only one tire looked really bad. Firestone took us right away and did a great job resealing the tire. They have a comfortable waiting area and we were very glad to find them, otherwise the tire problems could have stopped our whole trip.

People are nice. Sadly the place don’t really do appointments for oil changes. So show up early. It seems they do it as a first come first served basis. So expect waits.

I took my car in here to replace a flat tire and asked them to do a full tune-​up on the car. The price was expensive, but I went ahead because it was convenient. After that, pretty much every aspect of the transaction was frustrating:
* No one called me to tell me the car was ready. After two days of calling, I finally found a person who would comment on my car’s status.
* He listed everything wrong with my car in total jargon. It turns out after a 15 minute conversation that nothing is acutally wrong with the car — it’s just old.
* The original service I requested was to rotate and align the tires and change the oil. Turns out they don’t align the tires because it’s an extra fee. They only check the alignment and then tell you if they need to be re-​aligned.
More than $ 350 later, I still haven’t had my car tuned up properly.
I will never use another Firestone Tire.

Not happy with this place. This morning I noticed that one of my tires looked low. Since I knew it was time for an oil change, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I’d previously taken my car to Valvoline for oil changes, but the location most convenient for me has unfortunately closed. I was really busy at work, but did a quick Unilocal search and stupidly ignored the bad reviews.
So I took my car in. By the time I got help at the counter I’d forgotten to ask if they check tire pressure as part of the oil change. When I realized this later, I didn’t worry about it. I thought it was pretty standard for an oil change, and if not, I could always stop on my way home.
They called me over within the time quoted. As I was paying, I asked if they’d put air in the tires. «Oh, everything looked good,» was the response I got. I asked for clarification– it looked before or after they serviced the vehicle?- and let him know I’d realized it was low earlier that day. «No now, now it’s good. You should be all set.» Great.
So I went out to the dimly lit parking lot where I couldn’t see anything. Trusted that what he’d told me was true. Got home and guess what? The tire’s low!
Now that I’m home and have more time to research, it looks like a tire check isn’t part of their oil change. That’s fine if it’s not, just tell me it’s not! Don’t lie to me!

This Firestone is amazing! The managers are so trustworthy. I’ve never had a better experience with a car mechanic. Let me illustrate with a little story–
I went to a Firestone in Milford on Boston Post Road (next to Uno) when the engine light on my 2002 Toyota Highlander came on. That bad Firestone charged me $ 190 to inspect my car and told me that they would have to spend 3 hours working to replace a faulty wire connection. I was in a rush so I went back to New Haven.
A few days later I went to the Good Firestone (this one in New Haven). They took my car over night and examined it. The ran the same diagnostic check. When I picked up the car, I was told that the original diagnosis was wrong and that they just needed to tweak a tube connected to the exhaust. This good Firestone charged me NOTHING! They didn’t charge me for the work and they didn’t charge me for the new diagnosis test. I was amazed.
I trust this Firestone, take my car there, and suggest that you do, too!!!