NTB

Probably the worst auto experience of my life. I took my car into get the tire patched cause I got a nail in my driver side rear tire that I had purchased from there 3 weeks prior. I also asked about getting an oil change for my car while it was in. I wanted to use synthetic blend cause I normally put mobile one in my car and always heard that u can’t switch to non synthetic once u use it in your car. Simple enough right? So they take my car into change the oil and patch my tire. An hour later they come to me holding half my tire stud and lug nut telling me that it broke when they tried to take it off and that whoever put the tire on last must of cross threaded it. I told them they were the last ones to mess with it when they out tires on it. They told me they could fix it for 30 mins of labor plus parts. These guys charge 105 dollars an hour for labor! So it would roughly be 60 – 65 dollars parts and labor. I said it’s fine I’ll just do it myself and forget the oil change. How are u going to break something and then charge me to fix it? Anyways they say they already started the oil change. Ok I said that’s fine. It was 46 bucks and some change. Cause i found a coupon on line. Anyways so they said I will need to take the tire off myself and bring it back in. So that’s what I did. I had no problems removing the lugs other than they said they torque them to «spec» and I’m 240 lbs and could barely break them loose with my 4 way. So they just impacted the hell out of them. So anyways my oil change is done and I pay them. They say sorry and I go about my business and head home. I look up at my tag of where they changed the oil and they had marked down high mileage «which isn’t the synthetic blend like I asked but oh well.» So 2 days later they do a follow up curtesy call and ask about my service so I them. No big deal. I decide to check my oil to see if they even changed it. When i did that I saw that the oil level was half way up the dip stick. My car takes 3.2 quarts. They put in 5. This is extremely bad for your vehicle and can blow out all your seals. So good thing I didn’t trust them and checked it myself. Then I get a call from the store manager and tell him al about it. He said bring it in and we will make everything right. Against my better judgement I decided to let them redeem themselves. So I drop it off and they got it done earlier than I thought they would. I show up to pick up my car the manager greets me and shakes my hand and tells me thanks for letting us make things right. No problems. He is happy I’m sorta happy. So i go get in my car and see that they now have conventional oil marked down on the sticker in the window. This is now a down graded oil from what I originally paid for. 19.99 oil change if you look online. So I go back in and explain to them again about the talk we had about the oil. He said he must of missed that part of the conversation. Ok honest mistake. But why would u still charge me the 46 dollars then down grade my oil even more and then give me a 20 dollar oil change. Why should i pay for double the money using less oil and a down graded oil. So at the end of the day I got my stud fixed, the right amount of oil added but just the wrong kind and they gave me 20 bucks back. I highly recommend checking your oil level before u leave the parking lot and make sure that u get what u ask before you leave as well. Never going back there again.

Just had my truck’s front end worked on again, this time by an honest mechanic. The new parts that NTB claimed were installed were never installed. It was simply a straight out lie! One that I paid over $ 500 for. It’s your money, spend it wisely, not here.

I’m actually very surprised about the quality of service I’ve received here. I looked at the reviews here and was scared off. My brake line was leaking somewhere and I had to go to a company meeting the next day, so I need it fixed ASAP. I went to a local guy who couldn’t fit me in, and told me to go to NTB, so I went with it. I actually had great service. They found the leak as well as that my radiator was completely shot. Literally, no coils in the radiator. They were surprised my engine hadn’t seized at all. I’m not too familiar with mechanics at all, and they took the time to answer all of my questions and explain in detail what was going on and how it effects my car. I’m super happy with the work the mechanic did. His name was Jordan Higgins, and he was super nice, and showed me exactly what was going on. He started working on my car and I needed to get something out of it, and he stopped what he was doing to help me out. I also replaced my tires and got an alignment at another time, and haven’t had any problems at all. Jordan did a great job, and worked quickly. Very knowledgeable. I’m also happy with the time it took. I took my car a while back to another shop to fix one of my brake lines. It took them three days and didn’t even call me. They did my leak and replaced my radiator in the same day and called me to let me know my car was ready. Very happy with the service.

Had a coupon to get a free tire rotation when getting an oil change. They were fairly quick but on my way home someone driving next to me yelled that my back tire was wobbling. So we called and they told us to go to the closest ntb to have the tires tightened. They were definitely loose.
Fast forward a month and a half later, driving on the highway home from a trip and the same tire noted above started shaking and making loud noises. Pulled over and saw that 3 lug nuts had broken off.
I will not be going back to ntb.

Worst service I’ve experienced with a body shop. It was my first time at this place and what do they do? They purchased THE WRONG tires from pick up truck. They had let me known they had messed up, and said they would fix the problem. 2 weeks passed by, and not a SINGLE PHONE CALL BACK! I had gone in and asked for them to just forget about fixing it, they still tried to charge me for the wrong tires they purchased! STAY AWAY and save your money and headaches. Horrible. Go to Bockmans in DeKalb or Chucks auto, that’s where I take my care from now on. DO NOT GO.

If you want someone to destroy your car, NTB is the place for you. Seriously, I’m not kidding.
I was traveling over the holidays last Christmas and the water pump on my car broke. I’m not from Dekalb and this NTB was the only place that was open and could fix it.
They replaced the water pump and timing belt for $ 700 which is about what it costs to have anyone do that. But then they charge me $ 100 on top of that for antifreeze which was an outrageous cost (you can get that for $ 15 at an auto parts store). They had me over a barrel since I had no choice.
After several hours the car was fixed and back up and running. I was back on the road and after an hour I had a problem where the car wouldn’t heat up and it was really cold. I had no heat from my vents, just ice cold air. (Remember, it’s December and really, really cold).
I called NTB and they told me I could come in to have it looked at, but I would have to turn around and try to get back there before they closed for the day, and the store would be closed the next day. They also gave me other stores in the area but they were all a long way away and I wouldn’t be able to get there before they closed. They said it wasn’t serious and that I could come in when I was on my way back home a few days later and they’d check it out.
Turns out it was very serious, when I reached my destination the check engine light came on, the car started smoking, and was running really rough. I had to have it towed it to a mechanic there that my family trusted and then rent a car for a few days. After looking at it the mechanic told me because the car wasn’t heating up in the cold weather the engine blew the head gaskets due to temperature differences. He identified the cause which was a stuck thermostat, and told me that it’s a $ 15 part and takes about 10 minutes to replace. He showed me that if the thermostat is bad it is obvious because it breaks into an open position and a working thermostat doesn’t do that. NTB failed to either check it or failed to have the knowledge to recognize it was broken.
I called NTB and tried to get some sort of help from them. Unfortunately for me, they wouldn’t stand behind their work. I spoke to the store manager and asked him for help, but he refused to help and told me to call the district manager. The district manager wouldn’t take my call until he talked to the store manager. When he was finally ready to talk to me, he admitted they screwed up by not checking the thermostat, but told me it was all my fault for not bringing it back even though the NTB store told me it was minor and nothing to worry about until it was convenient for me to bring in.
They wouldn’t fix (or even help to fix) the problem they created. They also wouldn’t reimburse or give me anything toward the towing fees or my rental car. They also wouldn’t even give me a refund for the shoddy work they did. Bottom Line: They knew and admitted they messed up but didn’t care.
So basically, they were either lazy or ignorant and that cost me $ 3,000 to repair the problem they created, $ 150 to tow it to the mechanic, $ 95 to rent a car for three days, and, of course, the $ 800 NTB charged me to ruin my car in the first place.
It has taken a lot of effort for me to make this as civil as possible, as I am extremely angry and disappointed at their poor quality of work and bad attitudes.
This whole saga was a really rough experience.
It would be one thing if NTB said they won’t help you even though it’s our fault, cars can be tricky — or something like that.
But to tell me it’s entirely my fault since I did what NTB told me do do (bring it in when it is convenient because it’s not a big deal) really makes me angry.

I’ve been here a couple of times and have always been satisfied with whatever service I’ve asked for… that’s not why I’m writing this review.
Last weekend my younger son (16) was riding around in his new truck (new to him anyway) and ran over a big metal screw. I told him to call NTB to see if they were open and had time to plug his tire. They were and it was a $ 23 service.
My boys went over there, got the tire fixed and the mechanic, «ok boys, you’re good to go». Of course being teenagers they thought they were getting away without paying. They come home and tell me. I immediately call NTB to find out if my picture was going to be up on the wall for non-​payment :).
The gentleman said that he told the boys to go and there was no charge. Granted I have dropped some $$ into tires and service at this place but this was very unexpected and generous.
I thought this was a great way to get two new drivers on the road to feel comfortable with an auto repair shop. I know my boys will not forget this and I’m sure they’ll bring their trucks in for NTB service when needed.
Great job and great service. Thank you NTB.

On the whole, I’m satisfied with this NTB. My main complaint is wait time. Even if I come in with an appointment for a task that, according to the sales person, should only take 15 minutes, I end up waiting much longer. (And that’s not considering the wait time if there are a host of people at the counter.) I guess wait time is kind of a given when it comes to car work. Although, I’d prefer if the people doing the car work were better at estimating how long a task will take.
I will say that these guys do decent enough work and do what they can to keep your business.

Went to have an Alignment done on my Truck. I have done front end work and alignment work for over 25 years. I do not work as a mechanic professionally anymore.
First off, the mechanic said my lower ball joints were shot, they were not shot at all.
I told him to do the alignment anyway. He then said the alignment heads would not fit my wheels. I had to show him how to put them on.
He then said he couldn’t adjust the camber on the right side because the eccentric bolts were frozen. He did not attempt to use a torch, which is used all the time when doing alignments up here in the rust belt.
Then when he was done, the steering wheel was still off center. He didn’t even test drive it.
I felt like complaining, but I didn’t bother, no one there is capable of doing an alignment correctly. I wish they would allow me to do it myself on their machine, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Last week during the blizzard, my car slid itself into a curb, causing the tire and rim to essentially implode. I had the car towed to NTB, and at first, everything seemed okay. My dad bought new tires for the back of the car, and I was able to drive the car away.
The next day, my brake light went on, and I noticed the wheel was wobbling when I drove it. I took it back and had them look at it again. When I got there to have them look at it, nobody thought it was important enough to tell me I would have to wait an hour and a half for them to even look at my car. So when they finally looked at it, I was told my brake line was broken, and I needed a new axel (price tag of $ 1100). I took it down the street to the dealership the day after and was told that my entire front suspension was about to go out, the tie rods, ball bearings, etc. needed to be replaced, on top of the axel and brake line, bringing my price up to $ 2700.
While NTB could have replaced the brake line and axel for a lot cheaper, I would have dumped $ 1100 into a car that would need even more work. These guys are mechanics, and for the age and type of my car, the suspension breaking down is something that is common, so I wish they would have taken a better look before they tried to get me to fix my car.
Customer service was great, besides them not telling me I’d be sitting in the waiting room for an hour and a half.

So I am sort of conflicted writing this review. I’m normally more of a restaurant/​pub type and I normally tend towards independent places, but damn of the Dekalb NTB doesn’t deserve some commendation here.
The wife chose to drive her Volvo into an unsuspecting curb without provocation. Needless to say, she believed the curb had it coming and she also might have anger issues. I will reserve further comment for fear that she might read this and attack me with whatever blunt, heavy object happens to be closest at hand.
So my handy little self braved the foreboding and bitter colds of a Northern Illinois winter and replaced many of the mangled bits of what remained of her front suspension. I fancy myself quite handy with such things, especially after enjoying a few adult beverages.
So bits in place, conventional wisdom suggest that a trip to the alignment rack is par for the course with such work. The cars new found propensity towards steering directly into ditches did much to reinforce my intuition.
So we drop the car off at the local NTB for a simple alignment. Or so we thought (evil sounding duh duh duh music).
Because the repars had been done in a snow covered driveway on jack stands, there were a few areas that had been missed. My father in law is a mechanic. I’ve spent a good deal of time around cars. We feel like we know what we’re doing. The folks at NTB were more than welcoming in letting us poke around, verify things and generally annoy them while they tried to run a business. They went way beyond the call of duty in being righteous to us.
So we ordered the other bits for the car, which of course had to come on a boat from Sweden, through Ellis Island and one of those body scanner things to get here. All the while, Brandon and the NTB crew were patient and accomodating, letting the car take up space in their lot and make other cars feel inferior to its teutonic stateliness (this is a bit of a fabrication, nothing about the old girl is really stately).
Finally all the parts arrive, the car is fixed very nicely, the bill is WAY under what we had expected for the amount of work they did and the number of times they had it up on the rack.
So there we have it. Faceless corporate store has heart. Great employees make great businesses and I was absolutely impressed with the way everyone at the Dekalb NTB handled themselves. If it sounds like I’m beaming a bit, it’s because I am. I can recommend this location with a great deal of confidence.