Sears Auto Center

2.5 Stars
It’s hard to rate these Auto repair shops because everyone has a crappy experience at them. Imagine: the American symbol of independence… your car… is broken down! oh no! so not only does one have to take it to get fixed, but for the most part you’re stranded there while you wait. Heaven forbid.
I brought my car in for a very simple battery replacement. I had no appointment so I knew I would be in for a wait. I can live with that. Came in around 1130 and was told it would be a 2 hour wait. OK, I’ll grab a leisurely lunch, and walk around UTC for a bit and do some window shopping. Thank goodness anyone bringing their vehicle here has that option. Otherwise you’d have to hangout in the waiting area. I’d probably Über to somewhere fun to hangout. Anyway, I came back at 130p to check on the status. Guess what? They hadn’t even started yet. So I wait another hour and change in the waiting room. Finally around 3pm they say they’re ready. I know I didn’t have an appointment, but 50% extra waiting time when waiting time is measured in hours is absolutely no fun. The only bright part was the employee who helped me was very nice and professional.
Next time I’m getting an appointment for first thing in the morning and scheduling all my shopping errands for the one day. Might be more productive that way.

I has been a long customer of this store. I thought Sears Auto is big company and price of their services is good. I have bought 4 new tires from this store last year. Basically, most of my experience about Sears Auto is OK. The only problem they always take a long time to get job done. For example, they will take 2 hours at least to change the oil and do tires rotation.
Last month, I just found one tire has broken by a key on the freeway and was flat. I stopped by this Sears store and asked whether they can repair it. One guy not the mechanic came with me checking the broken tire. He even did not ask a mechanic to inspect this tire and just arbitrarily said the leak cannot be fixed, and suggest me buy a new one.
Actually, before I come over here, I ask one of my friends who was mechanic before and he pretty sure this leak can be fixed. He also suggest me to visit some tire stores like Discount Tire and they can fix it for free. The reason I came to Sears because I just thought it is a big company. Looks like, big company does not care their business as small private company.
Anyway, the broken tire has been repaired by San Diego Tire for free. I am surprised that they did not charge me any fee.
Right now, I know why Sears are losing their business.

Horrible service. Avoid to come here at all costs!!! they just tried to steal my money

Took 2 hours to do an oil change, with an appointment. Also tried to charge me for coolant that I did not need and transmission fluid that I also did not need.

They are AWFUL!!! Do not come here. Took four hours for a simple break check, and an hour to wait in line to pay. They don’t know what they’re doing.

Went to get my car oil changed and waited 4 hours to only leave without an oil change. Worst. Service. EVER. This place doesn’t even deserve a star. The people next to us waited 7 hours for an alternator change…
I asked multiple times the status of my oil change and they said «we’re pulling it in right now» or «we’re working on it now.» LIES, they never even pulled in my car. And finally when I said I’ve been waiting for 4 hours, they said «I understand, but we’re understaffed.» BULL. Saw two guys standing around doing nothing.
TLDR don’t come here. Your 15 minute oil change will take 4 hours and you won’t even get one.

I am a regular customer out of convenience.
The place always seems under staffed and a bit disorganized.
I do like the fact that I can spend my time at the mall while I have an oil change or new tires fitted.
However, I prefer to take my car to our regular mechanic for any other mechanical issues.

Bought 2 full synthetic oil changes on Groupon. They charged me an ADDITIONAL $ 45 for the oil filter and ANOTHER $ 25 for 2 quarts of oil. To top it all off, they couldn’t get the fault codes to clear, so now my car is constantly telling me I need an oil change They Also didn’t top off my fluids, nor did they bother to order the proper filter the day I called and made the appt. so I wasted 3 hours in the middle of my workday.
I spent $ 45 for the Groupon, $ 45 for the Filter and another $ 25 for 2 quarts of oil?
Total and complete scam. Should have read the Unilocal reviews for I went to this shop.

This place is the worst. Trying to get a simple battery installed. More staff than customers. Waited forever.

I needed new tires (and misc services with it) and had called ahead to find out the pricing. When I brought in my car, the tires that actually fit the car were a little more than the ones quoted on the phone, but in good service Todd matched the price.
When the vehicle was ready to be picked up, my other car broke down on the freeway. Since it was past business hours, I could not reach anyone to alert them. Fortunately Todd and Bryan called and were kind enough to wait past closing time until I came. I experienced excellent service from them with reasonable prices. Thank you.

WOW. I am shocked to see that the Unilocal reviews are poor!
I gave them a call a few days ago to get a quote on 4 new tires, a wheel alignment and a new car battery. As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted. They walked me through every single purchase, to make sure I was getting what works best for my car and my financial situation.
ALEX did an absolute AMAZING JOB – He broke down all the numbers for me and explained to me why I was paying what I was paying. I have never been so comfortable working with people in auto sales. I asked a billion questions and each time he had a positive and thorough response with the answer I needed. Without asking, they offered coupons and took into consideration all of my financial concerns and options. THE MANAGER CRISTINA WAS ALSO AWESOME! She was so sweet and made sure I was taken care of the entire time. I walked out of there knowing more about my car then I ever knew before! I am truly appreciative of all their genuine help! They seem truly be great people.
I will defiantly be back again! Thank you so much!!!

Most awful customer service ever! Be prepared to wait for hours! Husband and I showed up right as soon as they opened to have simple oil changes done on both of our cars! 3 hours later and still waiting. Uncomfortable chairs in waiting area, tv that wasn’t working at first, and a water cooler with no cups! Really?!
Waited in line for at least 20 mins just to check in!
Never coming back to this place again.

Go someplace else. I Would have gone to Discount tire if they were open on Sunday. Staff doesn’t know how to tell time and have an attitude in a competitive business like this. If there were only zero starts…

Despite the horrific Unilocal reviews about this place, crazy old me decided to give them a shot ! Hey. I might have a better experience ! We shall see ! Crossing fingers and toes !
Online booking available. I called on a weekday early afternoon and I immediately got Ron on the phone. I explained my situation and that I needed tire alignment done. Out of the three payment options, he convinced me to get the Lifetime Alignment plan for $ 189.99. Free re-​alignment whenever necessary ! Best bang for my buck ! Heck why not? I’m stuck with them forever now. Haha
Instead of booking for an appointment the following day, he told me he could see me right away (same day asap). Wow okay that’s quick customer service ! Got there in 15 minutes and it wasn’t busy. Plenty of parking and near the UTC mall. There was one person ahead of me. I met Ron and one of his assistants. He was very conversational and made the whole process stress-​free !
Ron was straight-​forward and took my personal and vehicle information to input into their database. He evaluated my car and told me that he would give me a call once my car was finished with the alignment. Easy peasy ! The challenge was to really see how long the wait would be. I went to the mall to kill time. I’m sure this is what everyone does. I got a call from Ron within 1.5 hours. Not too bad, but it was a dead day so I’m sure the wait would have been longer on a busy weekend. Ron was on a his break by the time I got back so I didn’t get to say thanks. His assistant was very helpful and did my payment transaction. Got my receipt and car keys and went on my merry way. The car runs much more smoothly. Even better since I got a new set of tires.
I think it’s a hit or miss with these places and what type of work you get done. Also, I think it depends on the mechanics who are working on your car. There was a lot of pointing fingers from previous reviews, but I honestly had a pleasant experience with the manager and his assistant when I was there. My car is functioning fine for now (knock on wood) so I can’t really complain.
Some suggestions:
* Have a water station for those waiting. A drinking fountain is another option. An old gentleman kept asking for water and I even offered him my half open water bottle since I felt bad.
* Have a designated sitting/​waiting area. I didn’t notice one in here, but it would make sense on a busy day.
* Seems to have a lack of organization. Unsure where to line up. Have a roped off section for those waiting to be assisted.
* Lack of staffing on weekday early afternoon. Only one person seemed to be working the front. I can see how this can cause a delay and long wait.
This particular day was my lucky day !! The wait wasn’t too long at all. I also appreciate that they didn’t pressure me to do other maintenance work on my car.
Tip: Go on a slow day. If you have to take some time off work do it. It might save you the headache.
Thanks Sears Auto Center for the great business !! Let’s keep this positive streak going !

Reviews are tough for a place like Sears. I have brought multiple cars to Sears over the years. Yes, I have had my issues. Several years ago the mechanic forgot to put the oil cap on after I had an oil change. I found the cap in the engine bay and brought the car back. They cleaned the car up and gave me a couple of free oil changes. Lesson learned, always check the work!
Must recently I had my Chrysler van in for steering and suspension issues. It took a couple of days to get the car fixed and I was cool with that. Todd and Steve did a great job in getting my 218,000 van back on the road. I waited to do my review as we all know things can come loose after a couple of days or weeks. The van handles like a new car. Now, here’s the best part of this story, wait for it now wait for it, while going through my paperwork it was brought to my attention that I never should have been charged for shocks that were replaced. I thought I was outside the warranty, but I wasn’t. I never would have known! That was over $ 400 bucks back in my pocket. Sure it felt good to have the cash, but it was a much better feeling knowing someone cares enough to do the right thing.

Oil change here takes a solid and consistent 3.5 hrs WITH an appointment!!! Have been coming here on and off for 10 years … But service NEVER gets better!!!
Grumpy Ron the self called «area manager is unapologetic! Unprofessionally replies that they do A LOT of cars per day. That means they DONT WANT YIU TO COME COZ THEY ARE BUSY !!!
Bought the 3 year alignment package for 170 $ last year so i felt stuck in coming back but I just can’t spent 3.5 hrs of my life waiting for my car every time I need a oil change !!!

My car was broken into last night! Gee, I wonder who could’ve done that? I’ve got a pretty good idea who, but when I filed an incident report with law enforcement, they wouldn’t come out, as I had not seen the event take place, and therefore had no concrete proof. Still, I got an Incident number, officers name and badge number.
The idiot ransacked my car, stole my prescription sunglasses, and left the passenger door open a crack overnight. Of course, my battery was dead when I tried to start it this morning.
Called my insurance company and they sent a tow truck out right away to assess the situation. I waited for only 20 minutes for them to arrive. They jumped my car.
The problem this created was that I had an appointment scheduled for my daughter’s follow-​up on her medical, and knew that we weren’t going to be on time. I called and rescheduled for later in the afternoon. I got lucky they had an appointment.
I then immediately drove to Sears in UTC, where I had purchased my battery almost 3 years ago. I knew I couldn’t turn off my car for at least 40 minutes, so I took the freeway and drove fast. I figured driving faster on the freeway would bring my battery charge up to the level it was at before the battery drainage.
When I checked in, there was a long line. The clerks were telling everyone before me it would be 2 hours to have their cars looked at. I knew I didn’t have time for that, so just asked the nice guy who waited on me to look up my information to check if my battery was still under warranty. It was! Since it was most likely okay and I didn’t have time to make my daughter’s appointment if I stayed, I decided to test it in their lot before I left.
I turned off my car. *cringe*
Turned it back on…
VROOM VROOM!!! It worked!
Off we went to my daughter’s appointment, and we made it on time.
YAAAAYYYY!!!
P. S. I’m calling law enforcement tomorrow to report the theft. I had not noticed the sunglasses were missing at first. He made it look like he was looking for important papers. :/​
I know who did it. He is a known car thief whom law enforcement said was currently under investigation. I hope they find my glasses in his possession and arrest him.
And how was your day?

Let us make it simple! First, they want your money for break and tires even though they are still in a good condition. Then they break your car and force you to repair.
How to do it?
They first offer a cheap repair estimate which you won’t really mind, then they increase this price again and again, you will need to pay it unless you want to pay a similar price for checking labor (ridiculous) without repairing anything. Because you signed paper work.
BUT. You car was actually running good until they break it.
Ridiculous experience. I was trying to do a oil change and end up to pay for over $ 800 have waited 3 days to pick the car up. The car just did not work after the oil change and I was told the cooling system did not work at all. They told me would be $ 300 to fix the and increased the price couple times after I signed the paper work. Then I would have to pay 680 for labor if I am not paying $ 800+ to repair the car here. Ridiculous. !
Here is the update, I took my car to dealer, they said my coolant has been removed by someone recently, without coolant system the engine would be overheat soon and it could cause serious damage. Also, the oil and air filter I changed in Sears do not fit my car well, dealer suggested replace them.
I spent over $ 1000 in dealer installed a new coolant system end up this ridiculous oil change.

Second time being here. Pretty unhelpful place and not the most friendly staff. My one exception are the two ladies that helped me but most of the guys here talk to you like you don’t know how to even drive your own car.
Both times I’ve been here I had broken down in the mall parking lot next to them. Both times they wouldn’t help me get my car to them. First time I had to buy a charger from them just to drive my car 50 feet over and return the charger. Second time I had to get a jump from the ball security so I could drive the 10 feet this time.
Nobody ever tells you how long it’s gonna take. Waited 2+ hours each time. If I would of broken down in a different area I’m sure I would of gotten home much quicker.
I’ve been waiting a while now just for a battery change. If I could, I’d go back there and change it myself in 10 minutes but unfortunately things don’t work that way. Good thing I have all the time in the world to let you know how I feel about all this.
I would just avoid going. At all costs.
2 stars cause the girls were friendly, even though the guy breathing down her neck was condescending to me.
Ok been here four hours now… geeze
Just was told it’s gonna be another hours. Worst pace ever. Not even worth a single star.
Still waiting. Five and a half hours…
I seriously feel like a hostage to this auto shop.

JUST DONT GO HERE… Seriously these guys don’t know what they’re doing, and have no customer service skills. Btw I did this review why in line for 20mins cmon.
NEVER COMING HERE AGAIN…