computer tune and lube review: Stay Away! 22

BEWARE !...will be told additional work needs to be done and manager is very unprofessional. Steer clear of this business.

Computer Tune and Lube is a very poorly run facility. There are stories of some easy and good repairs but mosty a add on garage. I went for emissions there and was told I needed, brakes, shocks, and other costly repairs for my car. The car just had brakes installed a week prior and was serviced 100% buy a dealer. When approached about the unneeded repairs their answer was, we must have just made a mistake. My friend also just had an oil change done there, they installed the wrong oil filter and his engine blew after leaving. They admit to the worng part, and making a mistake that blew the motor, but are holding him responsable for the repairs and motor replacement. What a bunch of BULL. Where is the DMV and dept od consumer protection for auto places that are scamming the public, and not living up to the mistakes they make. I am appauled at the shop, AND the State of CT for not holding the company responsable for such actions. I hope either they straighten themselves out or get shut down. Either way the public needs to feel safe when dealing with a service center.

After spending $2600 for repairs that apparently weren't needed my rattle is still there. I trusted they knew what they were doing. My mistake.
Now I'm not sure what to do. I'd like a refund considering my car barely runs after being there a week. They want to look at it again to fix it. Well how about refunding the $2600 first, then maybe. Now I notice parts are marked up 100% over dealer OEM. I no longer trust them to look at my car but I'm kind of stuck after all the damage they have done. I wish I brought it to the dealer, at least they know what they are doing.

I find it hard to believe that Computer Tune & Lube is such a rip off. After getting a $1, 500 quote from Firestone to replace a "bent axle" and a whole slew of other things wrong with the front end (after having new tires installed, ) I took my car to their Manchester location for a simple oil change and asked if they could take a look at the front end and let me know how bad it was. The car was 10 yrs old and not worth the expensive repairs Firestone wanted to do. Computer Tune & lube checked it out and told me there was nothing wrong with the front end at all. They just rebalanced the new tires that were humming and vibrating while driving. I've been driving the vehicle for over a year now with no front end problems. They saved me a boat load of money for being honest and I will never do business with Firestone of Manchester again.

These places should be out of business by now. They are NOT reptuable businessmen nor is the place capable of doing HONEST business. The dont know what the words integrity and honesty mean. run by two local scam artists we all know... especially one blows... lies like a rug.

I will never go there again after they asked $930 for replacing a fuel pump and fuel filter! I got another quote for $350 at a different shop. I told them I was not going to get it done there. Five minutes later, they called me on the phone saying they can do it for $750. I said no, then they wanted to charge me $100 for diagnosis. They are trying to scam you whenever they can. I have been doing my regular maintanance there for a year but they are really just a bunch of liars. I have heard people at computer tube and lube work on commision and they try to get you as much as they can. So stay away if you want to avoid trouble!

Just got my tires rotated by these guys... $50 after tax! for a freakin tire rotation! I just got another quote at a nearby shop for $2.50 per tire... Needless to say I will not be using Computer Tune and Lube again...

I AM THE GENERAL MANAGER OF COMPUTER TUNE AND LUBE, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL 4 LOCATIONS.
FIRST OFF AS HONDA SERVICE ADVISOR SAID THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PARTS WE USE AND THE JUNK YOU CAN BUY FROM AUTOZONE, WHICH WE DONT USE. DO YOU REALLY THINK A PART THAT IS LESS THAN HALF OF THE COST AS AND ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT PART IS OF THE SAME QUALITY YOU ARE A DOPE, THEY DONT CHARGE YOU LESS CAUSE THEY LIKE YOU MORE, ITS BECAUSE THE PART IS INFERIOR. SECONDLY I AM NOT GOING TO SAY THAT NONE OF OUR EMPLOYESS HAVE NEVER MADE A MISTAKE THAT IS ABSURD, HOWEVER WE DO HAVE INTEGRITY AND HONOR, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO MEASURE A SERVICE DEPARTMENT BY THE WAY THEY RECOVER FROM A MISTAKE. RE-USING OIL, GIVE ME A FRIGGIN BREAK.

Not a good establishment...
Oil changes are done with cheap lousy oil . I heard they were recycling the old stuff I'm not kidding and reusing it in cars.
Repairs recommended are bogus.
The majority of work done there and recommended in the past has been highly unneeded. This is the only way the place ever made money.
I was once there and saw them tell an elderly person he needed brakes. He told them he just had them replaced! I got the heck out!

Management there seems useless and incompetent. Lots of funny business dealing in these places.

Let me tell you about my experience with Computer Tune and Lube centers. I have used two of them over the years. Both times I was offered to have repairs done that weren't needed. The second time [[ different location, same thing. I used middletown and manchester. Both were very scary places. Unorganized, extreme prices, upselling galore and you get the feeling the place is run by real scam artists. I used to go to the place in Old Saybrook, a couple of times, and that place was a joke and went under too. Apparently the two owners are a mess and I'd be very careful. Going to Sears is a much better decision. there are so many other places to go... I have learned... I agree with the BEWARE and STAY AWAY comments... Its a poorly run and mismanaged biz! Total rip off

to those of you saying the parts were over priced cause you checked auto-zone or napa. you really dont understand car parts. auto zone and napa sell mostly garbage parts compared to dealer and oem parts. i used to work for the Honda corp. and an alternator from them was 748.00 vs an autozone alternator for 240.00 . the only difference was the honda one worked. the cust had requested we use an autozone one due to the price diff and after installing it the car started and ran correctly once, then the alternator failed. my tech had to remove the alternator and autozone sent another. This one didnt even function once. after the second failure the cust was pretty much forced to go with the Honda brand. this one worked right away and continued to work. my shop lost money using autozone because my tech had to install it 3 times, thats quite a bit of time and labor lost. Yes places like auto zone sell parts for much cheaper, but its at a cost. you get what you pay for. now if you said they were charging you twice what the OEM part costed you would have a leg to stand on, but to say "its cheaper at autozone" is like saying the steak burger at a real restaurant is twice as expensive as mcdonalds.

to you RMD thats unfortunate, the brakes needing to be pushed in so far sounds like there was air in your lines or a brake leak. The installation error would outrage me as well, the tech absolutley should be removed. it doesnt take a rocket scientist to install a brake pad.

I agree this company is a scam - I have filed with the BBB of CT. Following is most of the story that I filed. I STRONGLY recommend staying away from this company.
On 10/21/09 I paid $1, 345.49 to Computer Tune&Lube for a complete brake repair - rotars, calipers, pads, etc. Immediately after picking up the car, I called to say that the brakes did not seem right. I had to push the pedal very far for it to work properly. I was informed that I "was just used to metal on metal and the brakes were fine". I eventually got used to that and continued to drive it. In December, I started hearing a strange noise and scheduled another appointment. On 01/09/10 Computer Tune&Lube informed me the master brake cyclinder was bad (est. >$400.00) and also that the lower right control arm needed to be replaced (est. >$400.00). I brought the car to Balise Hyundai in Spfld, MA since I found there was a recall on the control arm. Balise needed to charge $200.00 labor & lubrication to diagnose the master brake cyclinder. They informed me the master brake cyclinder was fine (I have documentation). They found that the front calipers installed were the wrong part. The tab on the outside pads could not fit into the slot for the calipers and therefore, the pads were angled and only part of them were contacting the rotars and also causing constant drag. I contacted Computer Tune&Lube and eventually agreed to bring it back to them so they could repair it properly by replacing the calipers, pads, etc. On 01/25/10 Mike (the store mgr) informed me that they replaced everything and on 01/25/10 would refund the $200.00 paid to Balise. Mike had also told me on 01/22/10 before the repair they would refund the $200.00 on 01/25/10. They also said the front brake flex hoses were leaking and that was the problem I had. They said they replaced everything even though nothing was wrong. I kept calling over the next couple weeks looking for the refund until I eventually escalated to talk to the owner who then would not honor what the store manager had told me twice. On 2/12 I dropped the car off at Balise to do a full brake inspection since I had been given incorrect information from Computer Tune&Lube repeatedly. Balise informed me that the same parts were installed and someone had simply bent the tabs on the outside pads so the angle would not be as severe which eliminated the drag effect but the pads still were only half contacting the rotars. I have the parts and digital pictures that show wear on only part of the pads and part of the rotars. They confirmed again there was nothing wrong with the master brake cyclinder or the flex hoses. I told Balise to repair it properly by installing the correct parts, resurfacing the rotars, etc.

The negative comments about this place were made over a year a ago ! Those people are no longer there. The new managment put customer service first ! It is unfair that these are still showing up!

Very good shop. Excellent turnaround time and reasonable prices for services. Very knowledgable staff with attention to detail. Agree with previous comment about Jon. Very professional.

UnderI the new management I had a great experence ! I brought my car in for a oil change and tire rotation and check the brakes. Jon the manager Took time to bring me out to the car and show me what was goign on with my car. I had them do the job. Jon gave me his loaner car to goto work. He called me to let me know what was going on with my car and to let me know when it would be ready. When I pick up my car Jon went over everthing with me . The next day I called other repair shop To see if Jon gave me a fair price! He was 75.00 dollars less than everyone else ! I will be bring my other car In ! It a good shop and a great attiude

to larry with the used napa alternator.did they tell you that the alternator was used or rebuilt? it sound to me that it should have been new for that price, and also did they let you see and check out the old one to see if it was really bad or could it have been something else, like a broken or improperly adjusted belt! refer to craigslist rants and raves

Agree.
We have just encoutered the same problem.
We brought our vehicle in for an issue. It was diagnosed and "fixed" for a total cost of $830.00 (approx).
We were charged $440 for the part.

The problem was not fixed. We are bringing the car back to them but in the meantime we called around to get prices for the part in question that they replaced (which wasn't even a new part, it was a rebuilt), and the cost of the part at NAPA is $180.

They also said they warned us about our issue last time we had the car serviced a month or two ago (they didn't).

And, they told us that our brakes need doing for $750. (We said no, thanks.)

So, now we still have a car with the same problem, and a new (used) part that we didn't need afterall which cost us $830.

We used to be loyal customers of Computer Tune & Lube.
No longer.

No way they are very proffesional and and are very nice and respectful. And ive never had a promblem with them, they care about you and your car.

great shop

I agree the people at computer tune and lube were very nice to me and i thought there prices were good.

computer tune and lube is not bad at all, they are very nice people and treat you with respect. There prices are cheap compared to most other shops. And they will beat just about any other shop, price wise and you will be treated nicely.

After we got there to pick up the car manager told us that additional work had to be done. No one ever even checked with us if we would agree to pay $650 instead of the $185 originally estimated. What is this?