Portland Oregon: front end shop suggestions?

[vandiesel]

+1 on Ziggy's. It's been there forever. I'm not a Les fan either after too many poor jobs.

[BrianW]

Arghh saw the Ziggys recommendation too late. Called several shops in Beaverton, incl the Les Schwabs, and all were booked today. Taking a chance with Firestone in downtown Portland. Fingers crossed. At least it's convenient. Thanks to all for the offers of help! Would have been cool to meet some locals in person:-)

[Bellpilot]

My son-in-law worked at the Firestone on Burnside and lasted about a month there. Make sure you really check out the work and have a good test drive with the tech before you write the check!

[BrianW]

Yeah, I know. They are good for basic stuff, but I don't use them much for "real work" usually.

[86Scotty]

Where are MG and JSweezy when you need them?

[rallypanam]

So? What's the word?

[BrianW]

The word is that the downtown Portland Firestone people are idiots. After leaving it there all day to get a diagnosis for a slight, but present, "blump-blump" noise when driving, they called me 30 mins before closing to say they couldn't diagnose it. When I picked it up they admitted they heard the noise, but because it wasn't written up as a "full vehicle inspection" they didn't look into it any more, even though I clearly told them when I dropped it off that the main thing I had it in for was the noise. Absolute morons. At least they aligned it and did the chassis lube I asked for. And we got to park in a gated lot downtown all day for free.

Yes, I know it was a crapshoot taking it there to begin with, but it seemed the only last-minute option at the time. We're visiting friends in Tacoma later this week and have a line on a good mechanic there.

Many, many thanks to the great Portlanders here who offered help!! What a great forum. Enjoyed our day spent poking around the city, so it wasn't a total loss.

By the way, thanks to the Oregonian (CarringB?) who mentioned years ago that you could weigh your van for free at closed state weigh stations. Very cool! First time I've ever weighed my van (8650 fully loaded, we're 2WD).

Camped tonight in a boondock site in the hills above Cascade Locks in the Washington side. Doing some biking tomorrow in the Gorge, hopefully.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by shenrie

Wish the Les Schwabb here were worth recommending. Buncha crooked asshats at the stores here. They try to pull some real crap with people here. If they didn't have such an easy credit line they would go belly up in this town.

Most shops will try to "up-sell" additional work. I've only been to one Les Schwabb, but while I was at the counter getting a quote for some tires, within five minutes I over heard three calls to people who had left cars for service. The first two were told "you have worn tie rod ends and it could be unsafe to drive" and the third was told "your ball joints are shot". This was while there were no more than three cars in the service bays. What are the chances that three cars in a row had suspension issues?

[Jsweezy]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

Where are MG and JSweezy when you need them?

Hey!

Sorry we didn't see this sooner Brian! We have a vehicle currently occupying the lift but I'm right down the road from Beaverton. Sounds like your already headed North otherwise id tell you to stop by.

[shenrie]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Most shops will try to "up-sell" additional work. I've only been to one Les Schwabb, but while I was at the counter getting a quote for some tires, within five minutes I over heard three calls to people who had left cars for service. The first two were told "you have worn tie rod ends and it could be unsafe to drive" and the third was told "your ball joints are shot". This was while there were no more than three cars in the service bays. What are the chances that three cars in a row had suspension issues?

upsell? sure. its how shops make money, but ya. what are the odds???

they have a habit here of putting the cars on lockdown if you don't replace a questionable tire/part. ive had to go get a car for a girl I know because les schwab wouldn't let her take their car because it was "unsafe to drive".

I even referred a friend in there for a set of tires back when les schwab was sponsoring me for our local autoxs. his tires were only a few months old and one developed a goosegg in the sidewall. he went back in and they wouldn't warrantee the tire....even though their motto at the time was "we wont sell it if we cant warrantee it." they put his car on the lift and told him he would have to buy a new tire before they could allow it to leave. he said put my spare on. once they did that, he left. ive heard of people having to call the cops to get their car back from the stores here. bs scare tactics, especially when they prey on the ladies. ive got stories for days, but ill stop with the few ive spewed about already. people beware in this area.