Bottom Line: Les Schwab Tires of Burlington, owned by Pat Rimmer, incorrectly installed a remanufactured left-front CV half-shaft into my truck, resulting in extremely unsafe driving conditions due to negligence; the inner CV-joint retaining clip was ignored, allowing the entire driver's-side half-shaft to come completely loose from the center differential, and could have had devastating results.

Although my reviews may usually vary between "Great" and "Awful", this one unfortunately travels into "DANGEROUS". The following is an account of my recent telephone call and subsequent visit to the Burlington, WA (903 South Burlington Blvd, 98233) Les Schwab Tire Center with my 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4.

I probably should have been scared right from the moment their "expert" wanted to argue with me about my truck having/not having IFS; I know my truck, and I know what my truck has - don't try to tell me it has a live axle in the front.

Once we established (via telephone) that I do indeed know my truck better than he (Butch, the Service Manager at this location) did, I asked about having the right-front CV half-shaft replaced. I was personally having a tough time finding one locally on the weekend, but finally located a remanufactured shaft at O'Reilly Auto Parts (also in Burlington) where they were also nice enough to bring one in from another store for me on Saturday.

Butch assured me that he would have no problem getting the part for me using his own connections, and that it would be there waiting for me when I arrived (about 5 to 10 minutes). Not surprisingly given my own difficulties, he had failed to appropriate one, and asked me where I had found mine - minutes later, the O'Reilly Auto Parts delivery truck brought the exact unit that I had found for myself (and which this Les Schwab location was very quick to mark up an additional $25). Not ideal, but business is business, and we left the vehicle with them for about 1-1/2 hours.

Trusting the "experts", I assumed the work was finished COMPLETELY and that my truck was SAFE to drive when they were done. So, I went to the counter to pay the bill (~$250) and decided to ask the sales manager if the part used for repairs were "New" or "Remanufactured"...call it a test - I was just curious what they would say, since no one even bothered to ask ME what I wanted to use in MY truck. He checked (or pretended to check, I'm not sure) the paperwork and announced with zero uncertainty that it was absolutely "Brand-New". I asked him how he happened to know this, and his answer (no kidding) was "Because I know everything". When I told him that it was in fact a remanufactured unit from O'Reilly Auto Parts, he just became speechless and wandered away. Why are people so afraid to just say "I don't know" anymore?

Although this entire event was wrong on SO many levels, the fact that the repairs were completed unsuccessfully and unsafely aren't just scary, the negligence displayed by Pat Rimmer's Les Schwab Tire Centers in Burlington is unforgivable.

Status: UNRESOLVED. Although I have left messages both at the Les Schwab tire Center and with Pat Rimmer personally, I have yet to hear back from either. I eagerly await their explanation - let the excuses begin!

Update: The service manager claims the retaining-clip was there, but worn badly. Another mechanic and I searched for it inside and outside of the shaft, but could not locate it at all. The Les Schwab tire center jerry-rigged the CV half-shaft back onto the differential output shaft well enough to limp the vehicle home, but did not even come close to completing the work to my satisfaction.

Conclusion:

When it comes time to trust the "professionals" to safely repair your ride, make sure you know what work is being done and what the end result is supposed to be!