Firestone FAILED to notify my of LOW coolant, engine OVERHEATED Tampa, Florida

   Your cooling system had a very visible leak when it was inspected after you overheated.   I believe it is just wishful thinking to jump to the conclusion that the leak was just as visible over a month earlier.     Did you notice puddles of coolant in your driveway or garage from March to April?   

  Of course the tech at the dealer told you that the tech at Firestone should have caught this.  He wants you to bring your future business to him and not to Firestone (and it appears to have worked).    Are people really this gullble?     The proof will be when you bring the dealer's tech to court to explain how he is certain that this leak was obvious a month before he saw the car.    I guarantee you that will not happen.

   Here's the real issue.   At some point, your car developed a coolant leak.  At some point after that the engine temperature went high enough to send the gauge (if so equipped) into the red zone and light the temperature warning light on the dash.    You did not pull over immediately, but kept on driving until the engine was on the verge of melting  (BTW, if it got hot enough to damage the gasket, the heads themselves are probably warped.  But they won't tell you that until you're hooked into the repair).    Damage heads and head gaskets are not the result of overheating.  They are the result of continuing to operate an engine after it has overheated.  

  While I have no interest in Firestone, it is obvious that you have based your entire report on the comments of a competitor who wants your business and who very likely has nothing to back up those comments.    Does that sound fair to you?

  I don't have anything good to say about firestone, but you can't hang this one on them.

Commenters have made some good points. There was some time that passed, it is very hard to prove that the leak should have been caught and that them not catching it directly resulted in my situation.

The biggest issue I have is that I paid for an inspection of my vehicle. I asked explicitly if there was any serious issue that needed to be remedied. I was told there wasn't and that I could get the minor things done next time I took the car in for an oil change.

Even if the leak was not visible, the fast that the coolant was low should have at triggered the mechanic to let me know that there might be a leak.  Instead, I guess they just topped it off and didn't say anything to me about it.

But, I do see how this could look ridiculous.  And the Firestone in question has always given me great service before this incident.  I just don't trust their service anymore, since I can't be sure that my vehicle was properly inspected anymore.

"Contacted Firestone for resolution, but they declined to offer any satisfactory resolution, even after I offered to cover half of the damages myself."

LOL! That's good stuff. I would've told you to hit the bricks too. 

Honestly, I don't see how Firestone could be liable for your troubles in any possible way and I find the fact that you actually do to be hilarious. I'm positive anyone from a backyard mechanic to a service professional would agree with me too.

I could go into all the mechanical flaws behind your theories but it's pretty clear to me that you're just looking for someone to blame for a bad situation.

Frankly, I despise people who refuse to take responsibility when things go bad so I hope karma catches up to you and your transmission goes next. 

You took your car to Firestone on March 1st, it overheated on April 8th.  That is about SIX WEEKS later.  Now, had the car overheated on the 1st or 2nd of March..or even a week later.  Perhaps you would have had a case.  But at 6 weeks, you probably have a better chance of climbing Mt. Everest on your hands.

If they don't "pay up", your only chance right now is to take them to Small Claims Court and sue them for the damage.  But the judge or Firestone is going to bring up this exact point on how much time has passed.  So you better have your Tech there ready to swear under oath that there is no way that Firestone could have missed that leak.  He probably should also be prepared to explain how he has enough experience to determine if a leak is at least 7 weeks old, compared to being only 5 weeks old.

My guess is you will see how much of a case you truly have when you ask the tech to go to court.  Don't be surprised if his answers "change" just a little, to something that is not as favorable to your claims.

Oh and just one more nail in the coffin so to speak.  Unlike mechanics who suggest unneeded services.  If your coolant was low there is no way they would not have told you.  Because that would have equaled a repair which is more money for the store.   So there is no reason they would hide this information if it was truly obvious.