Wallingford Tire Auto / Wallingford, Connecticut

Rating: ★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Auto Oil & Lube, Tire Dealers

Address: 400 N Colony St, Wallingford

Postal code: 6492

Phone: (203) 269-1417

E-mail: service@wallingfordtireandauto.com

I will say at the get-go that for the past two years, up until this point, I have had nothing but good experiences with this shop. The staff is very nice and they make you feel respected; they easily gain your trust. Unfortunately, they didn`t deserve mine. In February, I made my oil change appointment, and when I went to pick the car up after it was finished I was told that my car was not firing on all cylinder... view mores. I made an appointment and brought it back. In the middle of the day, the owner, John Bonini, called me and told me he had bad news for me: I needed all of my engine mounts replaced. He told me that there were five of them, that they were all broken, and that the parts alone would cost about $800. All told, the job would cost me about $1500. I asked him if he was serious. He said he was. He told me that I could take the car for now because he would have to order the parts to do the work. When I asked if there was any way to reduce the cost of the work, he said he would look into whether the parts would be cheaper ""after market"" and get back to me. He never did. I was so upset about the news that I got a second opinion. That mechanic was taken aback by the price, too, and informed me that there are only three engine mounts in my car. To make matters worse, only one engine mount was actually broken. One was in fine shape. The last was wearing/cracked, but will absolutely last long enough for me to be able to wait on having it replaced. Obviously this is not what I was told. To make matters even worse, I discovered that the parts -- even assuming WT&A purchased all of the mounts for installation into my car -- would have cost only about $400. The one engine mount I needed cost me $60. I understand that they need to make a profit, but to charge me double the cost of the parts is completely excessive. Finally, after the other mechanic completed the work, I was told that the job took only two hours. It appears that the six-hour labor quote was way off base. I imagine that WT&A charges around $85/hour for labor. We`ll round up and say $90. The part used in my car cost $60, but we`ll call it $100. WT&A could have done this job for me for $180 in labor and $100 in parts cost and still made a killing of a profit on me. That is one fifth what they quoted me. That is offensive. I have also had the ""misfire"" diagnosed (which, of course, the staff at WT&A entirely ignored in favor of the engine mount debacle); it turns out my car just needed a good tune-up, which cost me under $450. All told, I`ve spent $550 to entirely fix my car, which is about a third of what WT&A wanted to charge me for just the engine mount work (most of which was entirely unnecessary). I won`t be back. If you are going to WT&A for something aside from simple maintenance, be very careful, and get a second opinion.

TiffS / 3/21/2012

John is deceptively likable. After talking with him, I signed on for over $1000 worth of services, break and tire work plus a package maintenance deal of over $90, which included window wipers, airfilter and oil change. I rented a car at my expense of $30 through John after dropping off my the car at 9AM on Friday morning. To make the story short, at 4 PM on Friday, John calls me and says I desperately need ano... view morether $500 worth of break service work and needed the answer right away. I could not afford it, so I refused. After I picked up the car, I noticed that the back wiper blade was not changed. John asked me to come back. When I went to see John, he did not have a wiper blade in stock. He told me to come back. When asked why he did not change the blade in the first place, he said ""we did not talk about it"". Needless to say, I do not have the time to keep going back, as most people who work don`t. When I asked him if he changed the oil filter, he said no. This was also not changed because and I quote John ""we did not talk about it"". You get the gist of it. I went to Wallingford Tire and Auto because I thought they specialize in tires. John says he does less than 20% of Tire work. I went to Wallingford Tire and Auto because I read the review on this site. I did not have the same experience. I am a middle aged woman. Unhappy customer

alison77777 / 2/20/2010

Over the years I have tried many repair garages, including dealerships and have never experienced the honesty and quality like I have at Wallingford Tire and Auto. They are friendly, give me estimates before they do any work and have never given me a reason to not trust them. There work is great and this is the first place I have ever been that garantees their work for 2 years. I have been coming here for 4 or 5 year... view mores now and recommend them to everybody

JW Lentini / 12/17/2009

I have been a customer since 1992 and will be forever. John, his borther Mike, his mom and his guys are always courteous and helpful. They always call me with a quote before they fix my car and are never over the quote when I pick it up. It is refreshing to do business with a place that has always been fair and honest and has never let me down. I recommend them to all of my friends and family, and recommend you give ... view morethem a try.

wow400 / 10/3/2009

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