Brake repair service near Elmhurst, IL

NEW MANAGEMENT - SAME PROBLEMS - 10 yr+ Firestone Lake Zurich customer (no longer, I will go next door from now on) that is completely feed up with this store’s upsell/extortion practices. I am a 57 year old gear-head/electrical engineer. I bought a “lifetime alignment” for my car and over the last few years have had to use this “lifetime” Firestone service a few times. During my ownership of this car I have had failures of both front struts (1 with a leak, 1 with a broken top bearing mount) and both CV axles (1 worn and clicking on turns, and 1 with sliced boot/throwing grease). These repairs THAT I PERFORMED required me to take the car in to have the front end “alignment” checked. On several occasions alignment was “checked” and no adjustment was required. During the last replacement of the passenger CV axle (November) I took the car in and asked that they change the oil, and check the alignment. Several hours later they call me and say that they cannot do the alignment (ever so slightly out) because they cannot loosen the tie rod ends because they are “rusted” in place. They said that unless I paid additional “Shop Fees” for them to loosen the rusted parts, or bought all new parts they could not do the alignment. I was not happy with their solution, told them so, and said I would “loosen” the tie rods for them when I got some time off during the December Holiday and bring it back. It took me 3 minutes per side with a propane torch and penetrating oil to loosen both sides. I again dropped the car off again, and asked for an alignment check. A few hours later they call and their story changes: Now one of my tie rod ends, and one of my control arm ball joints needs to be replaced in order for them to perform an alignment. I asked why they did not see these “alignment stopping problems” in November (no response), and was it possible to see what they were talking about. (The car drives like a DREAM! -no clicks/ticks/squeaks/creaks/pops…NO NOISE …NOTHING!) The mechanic (very nice guy) showed me an almost indiscernible (few 1000ths of an inch) play in each part as he vigorously shook the wheel while up on the rack with me looking, and using his Maglite. I was taken aback. This tiny amount of play is completely normal for a used car (110K) which obeys the natural laws of physics and material properties. A few 1000ths play in NO WAY indicates a part needing immediate replacement, or preventing alignment. FIRESTONE has now “entered” in their computer that an alignment CANNOT happen until these parts are replaced.

I have used this shop several times over the years they have always been very professional and prices reasionable. I have also recommend them to several friends and family

Called to get the engine seals replaced, he said they do that repair but it was miss diagnosed and hade me spend over $600.00 with no result complete rip off, put a faulty part on my car which I needed replace again within a year, did not acknowledge. I would not recommend this shop for any work on the car

Alternator took a dump, found this mechanic shop in Plainfield, IL, near me, towed it in and bam got lucky left 3 hours later. This Plainfield auto repair shop is on top of their game. Thanks for getting me in and back on the road so quick and cost effectively.

I took my car in not knowing what to expect after my daughter had hit a curb hard and also noticing weird noises coming from my fairly newly bought used car. 59 Auto took it right in and fixed it very quickly and it didn't cost nearly as much as I had feared. I was very pleasantly surprised.

I own Douglas Automotive Repair Inc and am sorry you experienced some quality issues with our shop. I am a certified technician and have been for 35 years. We always use high quality parts in our repairs; through the years we’ve been in business we’ve found that it just doesn’t pay to use lower quality parts unless it’s a customer request to keep costs down. We did have a period where we were having employee quality issues, but have since resolved those. It’s very unfortunate that it impacted some of our customers as we worked through it. Customer feedback is important to us and I want to thank you for sharing yours. We continually strive to make sure we give high quality service and our customers are satisfied.