Sears Auto Center

On 10/20/17 I brought my 1998 Toyota Rav4 in for an alignment at Sears, Idaho Falls since I have a lifetime alignment contract with Sears. After the car was on the rack about twenty minutes, Carl Jang (sp), who was working on my car, came in to tell me that one of the nut on the rear camber bolt had been stripped, so he couldn’t loosen the nut with his wrench. He took me out to the service bay to show me the nut on the right camber bolt and how it was stripped on the outside. He said that there was no way that he could do the alignment on the rear wheels because of this. I explained that I had just had the camber bolts and sleeves replaced a couple of weeks before since the original ones had seized. I bought them from Toyota and had them installed in Jackson by David Able of Able Auto, the mechanic that I had used for the last eight to nine years. So I couldn’t understand how the nut, which is part of the camber sleeve, could have been stripped on the outside unless it had been stripped when Carl attempted to loosen it. Carl, however, insisted that he didn’t strip the nut; it had been like that when he started to work on the car. Later while I was still in waiting room. Carl came in to tell me that he wouldn’t be able to align the front wheels either because the nut on the right tie rod was frozen, or “seized.” Again he brought me out to the service bay to show me that he couldn’t loosen the nut. He had the nut in an end wrench and held the tie rod with a plumber’s “monkey” wrench. I’ve never seen a mechanic use a “monkey” wrench on any part of a car since it will scar the metal, much like the scarring on the nut that was stripped. Carl then told me that it would probably be necessary to replace both tie rods because the tie rod would likely snap if he tried break loose the lock nut. I was later given an estimate of $385 to replace both tie rods. The next day I went under the car to look at the nut with a magnifying glass and a light, and I could see that the stripping had been made in a counter clockwise direction which would have only happened if the nut were turned counter clockwise to loosen it. With a camber bolt assembly like this, you don’t loosen the nut; you loosen the bolt. The nut is only turned to adjust the camber of the wheel. If this were only a lock nut, I wouldn’t be concerned, but as I said, the nut is part of the sleeve that goes through a part of the rears suspension on the car. The part only runs $16 + the cost of shipping from the Toyota dealership; however, it must be installed by a mechanic, which will cost $140. The total cost of the repair will be about $160. The following Wednesday, 10/25/17, I took my car in, so he could check the sleeve nut, and the first thing he asked when he saw it was “Who did that?” I asked if the nut was like that when he finished installing the Camber bolts, and he said it looked brand new, just like the one on the left side. He also asked, “How did they do that?” This confirmed what I originally thought; Carl had stripped the nut and lied about it to avoid responsibility, thinking I wouldn’t know the difference. But I know quite a bit about the camber bolt assembly. I looked at them very carefully after I bought them to see if I could install them myself. But I figured it would be far too difficult. I wanted Sears to reimburse me for the cost of repairing the camber bolt assembly, but they never responded to my complaint.
1 7 years ago (09-02-2018)

I had been going to Sears for over a year. I bought 4 new tires on a Monday and then while driving on the interstate Sunday a tire went flat. We didn't run anything over so I didn't think it would be an issue to take it back in and have them replace it for no cost. It seemed like we had just got a lemon tire. So I take it in and they won't replace it because it's not covered under warranty and I didn't buy the road hazard warranty that would cover flats. I understand that if I would have ran over a nail it would have been my loss. But it was 6 days old and we didn't run over anything. Talked to another mechanic and he said it must of been gradually leaking through the seal when they put it on. So it lost air and got so low that it destroyed the tire. Still after talking to Sears 3 times they stuck to their speech and wouldn't do anything about it. If you want people who care about their customers and are reasonable, understanding individuals go somewhere else. They lost a lifelong customer over a lemon tire.
2 12 years ago (30-05-2013)