NTB: National Tire & Battery

The manager tries to make up for wait times and mis information

I had a great experience with my wife’s Mazda CX-​7 here at the Lorton location. My wife had a slow leak in her tire. She had nitrogen filled tires, which made self repair difficult. They changed my nitrogen out for regular air, fixed the slow leak, and had me out in 45 minutes. All for a very reasonable cost. I see lots of bad reviews for the Lorton and Woodbridge locations, and I hesitated to come to NTB. I am glad I did because I have been more than satisfied with the service I have received from NTB.

Went there because I had a coupon for $ 25 off two tires and my spouse likes it there. Normally get treated well. Had a donut on the car, told them I needed two new tires. (You almost always need to get two.) First thing was that the tech inspecting my car asked if I wanted to replace the just the FRONT tires. This question was asked when the donut is on the rear passenger side. This question was also asked when everybody knows you always put the new tires on the back. Their little TV ads on constant play even say that. Then while waiting, there was small talk discussing our local football team, and one of the techs made a lewd comment regarding the team’s unofficial nickname that I felt was SO unnecessary. Why he had to take it THERE is beyond me. That pretty much did it for me. Driving home I heard things banging around in the trunk. They basically just threw the donut back in the trunk and did not secure it nor the jack. Makes me wonder how well they put the tires on. They also didn’t tell me about the but 3 tires get one free deal. Never going back there.

This NTB is the freaking best.
I came in about 10 minutes before closing on a Sunday. I had been working on my Mustang and had screwed up the panhard rod install, but the DIY shop on base had closed and I was out of time. In short, I was desperate. I limped it down the street to NTB in the hopes that they could put humpty-​dumpty back together again.
Jeff and Tyler were on hand, and as it turns out, Jeff is something of a Mustang enthusiast himself! So he knew exactly what needed to be done to fix my car. What luck, right? He and Tyler started rolling out tools and fixed my car right there in the parking lot… and then didn’t charge me a dime for the trouble.
The shop itself is in a difficult location; it’s visible from the Fairfax County Parkway but you have to turn on Terminal Rd and go in from the back. They have a nice waiting area with a couch and chairs, coffee, and TV, as well as wifi. Their prices for actual services are very competitive, right about on par with competitors like VA Tire and Auto.
Anyways, I hope it’s clear that Jeff and his team have made a believer out of me. If you need an alignment, tires, brakes, suspension, whatever, these guys are the real deal. Highly recommended!

I’m giving them 1 star because i can’t select 0. Horrible experiences in all 3 of my trips. The first two were for alignments, a service covered under the plan I had purchases at another store before I moved to this area. Since these services were «free» in their eyes (never mind I already paid for them) they didn’t pay any attention to the promised time and frankly were asses when I complained the simple alignments were taking too long. The shop was NOT busy.
The last was the worst. I needed new tires on my 4runner, which are pretty expensive tires. I did my homework and knew what I wanted when I arrived much to the dismay of the salesperson that just could not understand why I didn’t want to pay twice as much for another tire. Even though I was waiting, it was clear my vehicle was shuffled to the bottom of the order. After they looked at it, they recommend a ton of repairs that i knew were not needed and i told them such. After three hours of waiting, again shop was NOT busy, my vehicle was ready only to start the engine and get a tire sensor warning light. Engine off, back inside.
After another hour of waiting, they finally get around to my vehicle again. Guy comes out and again reviews what I need to have repaired. Furious at this point I asked why they were effing around with that and I wanted the sensor reset. Another hour goes by and they come out to tell me the sensor on one tire is broken and needs to be repaired -$ 250. Huh? The sensor was working when I came in, doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math that they broke it.
After nasty arguments, they finally agree to replace the sensor that they broke. But have to order it from a local store ETA 1 hour. Fine, already spent 5 hours there. Part arrives, they take their sweet time installing, out the door at 9pm after originally arriving at 2 pm. Again, shop wasn’t busy.
Do yourself a favor and stay away.

These guys seemed pretty capable to me. I went there for an oil change and they did it. The downside is I had to wait for an hour and a half before they got started on my car, and I had an «appointment». The pricing was not overly excessive and the manager worked out a nice discount for me without too much problem. I’d go back.

Have now been twice with equally bad experiences. I first went for new 4 new tires. Had an appointment, but that means nothing — they take everyone first come, first serve. My car wasn’t even brought into the bay until I had been there nearly 2 hours. When my car was finally finished they told me that I needed a new battery. I said that I never had problem with it and was so mad about the wait, wouldn’t have gotten a battery there if needed.
After I paid and went out to my car… IT WOULDN’T START! Had to go get them to jump my car. It has now been a few months, and I’ve never had a problem with the battery. Seems a little shady…
Went today because the ‘low tire pressure’ light went on. Feel stuck because I have free tire rotations, etc. at NTB. Once again over 2 hours to patch the back right tire that had a screw in it. We they were done they said they couldn’t turn off the low pressure light because the sensors in my two left tires had low batteries. I couldn’t understand why the light went on for the back right tire, but it couldn’t be turned off because of the two left tires. They couldn’t explain beyond, «Those things can happen. You’ll have to go to a dealer.»
Another person in the waiting room had come for an oil change and was told they’d be done by noon. She went and asked for her keys back at 11:50 because her car hadn’t moved in the hour she’d been there. However, we did see one of their mechanics take 3 smoke breaks in that hour.
Go somewhere else. I got my state inspection done at Yates in Kingstowne in about 10 minutes.

My brakes went out right before entering the ramp to 95 so I wanted to take my car somewhere local. One of my brake lines burst and they wanted to charge me over $ 1000 to replace pads, rotors and yes, calipers. I told them to only replace the busted brake line. The brakes function but since I am now replacing the pads and had the car up on a rack, I see they charged me $ 330 to replace only a small part of the brake line, left the fender liner hanging and then left the brake line laying on the steering shaft. It would have been worth the cost long-​distance tow to take it to a trustworthy mechanic and have the job done right!

Waited over 3 hours to get the tires I purchased from them mounted. Was told I wouldn’t need an appointment when I had asked before I got there.

My car was towed here after popping 2 tires. I was told they had my tires but it turned out they could not get it for another 10 days. I managed to find some used tires elsewhere and had NTB techs install them. They also briefly misplaced my tire locks but found them a short time later.
After driving around a bit my flat tire light was on and it turned out the techs did not override this feature so I had to return and get the techs to fix it. I was not happy about it but the manager was so super friendly and nice he made me feel alot better about the situation.
It seems to me that there is a gap in teamwork/​communication with the service techs and the front desk which unfortunately causes frustration for the customer.
If it wasn’t for the super friendly manager I would have had a horrible experience.

I’ve been going there for the past couple of years, mainly due to convenience and price. They always have a coupon and the oil changes cost less than 20 bucks. But this will be my last time! The last visit they stripped the drain plug, left it on the rack for several hours. Never bother calling me, I showed up 3 hours later after it was promised to be done in 1 ½ hours. Still up on the rack the technician thought it would be fixed by an act of God, needless to say 6 hours after the promised time I got it back. Only to find the car a mess, oil on hoses, grease all over the carpet, door and steering wheel. Goodbye NTB

Horrible retards and criminal thieves. I took my truck in to get a front end alignment after buying an expensive set of tires for a lift. The meth head tech drove my truck in and pulled in on the alignment rack. He looked like he was getting to work. I read a magazine and let about 30 minutes pass. Th meth head tech cam out and said he was done and my alignment was good to go. We’ll I have never trusted mechanics so I marked my alignment bolts with a white out pens just to make sure they actually do an alignment. I crawled under my truck to check and guess what? THEY DID NOTHING! .The meth head tech did not even loosen the bolts to align anything. I busted his ass right on the spot that he tried to rip me off. I flipped the fuck out and got my money back. NEVER EVER go to the fucking criminal meth head fuckers. They will try and steal you r hard earned money. Buyer beware on this meth center.

I’m currently sitting here and I’m obviously not happy since I’m writing this review. I’m only here because I have an odd tire size (honda hybrid) and couldn’t find my size anywhere else.
I had an appointment for 1:30pm. It’s now 4:30pm and I still don’t have my car. This place is awful. Luckily I have my laptop and my iPhone (using MyWi) so I can get some work done.
Stay away.

Poor communication coupled with inattentive workmanship makes this place a loser. The employees here really don’t care. If they screw up your rim, then it’s your problem. If you yell them you need your car by a certain time, ten they will promise to have it ready, and take no further action. This is the worst tire experience I have ever had. I have used these guys three times because of their location. Each time there has been an issue.

the worst … the absoulute worst. i have not been their in a year, but i had a family member go, and won’t go into details but their experience there was HORRIFIC.
Terrible technicians, even worse customer service.
they held me at their mercy for some time because they were so, so close. but no more. I drive out of my way to avoid.

I bought a set of tires (BF Goodrich All Terrains). I walked in knowing what I wanted and the manager tried talking me out of them. I went back the next day and ordered them anyway. They mounted them quickly but didn’t check the clearances. I drove to work the next day and smelled burning rubber! Ends up, the tires were too wide. This should have been identified when the tires were mounted. I will NEVER go back!

So far I’ve only been to this location once. That was to pick up a car battery in the hopes that it would fit our car back home in the driveway. The front desk manager was AMAZING! For the life of me I can not remember his name, but I would go back there just for him. He’s was very pleasant and very caring as to what we needed. He also gave us 10% off the battery. It’s very refreshing to walk into any kind of car mechanics store and not receive an attitude or rudeness. The only reason I’m giving them 4 stars instead of 5 is because the price was a little bit high.

I went here because they were the only place that had the tire size I needed in stock. This was a last ditch effort and the results of my experience will show that.
I had torn the tread on my front tire and only needed one replacement. I decided to get an oil change as well since my truck was due for one soon. The guy at the counter said it would be 45 minutes. Because of their location, I went to the waiting room and chilled. I listened to my iPod and let the time pass.
45 minutes later my car hadn’t moved and no one had approached me about it. I decided they were busy and let it slide for a bit. A few minutes later they started changing my oil. I went back to my music and before I knew it it had been a hour and a half! None one had come and got me and yet my truck was now in the parking lot!
I went and asked and the guy had forgotten to get me. I walked out to my truck and to my surprise the spare tire was still on! Now I don’t know bout you, but every tire place I have gone to they put your new tire on and don’t just leave it in the bed of your truck!
Not here they don’t! The manager apologized and gave me the oil change for free and the in 5 minutes flat the tire was on. Of course there was no tire rotation or alignment, but hey at least he put the damn thing on.
Needless to say, I will not be going back there again.

I had the misfortune of having my car serviced here. In general, from my experiences, NTB and/​or Merchant’s are simply terrible places to take your car.