I don't like dwelling on negativity but feel that Yelpers should know our experience with this…read moreshop:
After visiting this shop six times in the last year, all I can say is that I should have known, based on their rep's highly defensive & completely unaccountable response after I informed her of finding their screwdriver hanging within my engine bay after the very first time they had serviced our vehicle, to stay away from this place.
In short, we came here because of their AAA affiliation.
They performed a AAA inspection, which found we needed a serpentine belt change. Their prices are in the upper end of the usual range for service; I figured because of their AAA Auto Repair facility status. We did the service with them; the day we got back the car post-repair, I found the said magnetic screwdriver in the engine bay.
The next time I stopped by there for another AAA inspection for another vehicle, I mentioned the screwdriver, to which their rep appeared to get offended, saying that they mechanic leaving it in the engine does not speak of their quality of service. No apology, no accountability for what could have happened to the engine components.
Within a month of our first service with them, our heater core suddenly started leaking. No engine overheating, just leaking. It had never leaked before.
We brought our vehicle back to them and had them perform the nearly $2K for the repair (which included a one year part warranty and a two year service warranty due to being a AAA facility).
Less than six months later, the heater core started leaking again. Again, no overheating; just leaking from the bottom of the car and coolant loss in the radiator.
Over the phone, their rep said that the part/repair were under warranty. However, after we brought the vehicle back to them, within two hours of having the vehicle their rep calls me to tell me that the head gasket is blown, and that they would not replace the warrantied heater core for free unless they replace the entire engine, at a cost of $5K+.
At this point, I took the vehicle back without any additional service and involved the AAA, whom then negotiated for this shop to agreed to perform the warrantied repair without replacement of the engine, to the the shop rep's chagrin. It also not without threats that the heater core would not be repaired a second time under warranty if it fails, and that they would not be liable for the engine blowing up as we drove it away.
(I noticed over the course of all my interactions with the shop rep that she perpetually sows seeds of fear and becomes offended if one does not act on them.)
However, this was the extent of AAA's assistance, as I came to find out that the AAA and this shop's owner are intertwined. The truth is, despite their name, this facility is not a mom & pop shop; it is one of two local shops owned by the owner of a local auto parts conglomerate, who is also on the board of directors of a national auto parts industry trade association (Google: CAWA).
I HIGHLY recommend upon agreeing to leave a vehicle for service to request to see the parts they replaced after service; I requested this the second time they replaced the heater core. It was then that their mechanic showed me the part, which he said was "defective" due to coming apart at the seams. Still, their rep could not accept that the part they had replaced months ago could have failed on its own; she remained with her narrative that we had a blown head gasket and that was the cause of the part failure. When I asked her for what tests they performed to determine that it was the "high pressure" of their engine that blew the heater core, she could not cite any.
During this last interaction with her (when I informed her that she has not justified in saying that "back pressure" from our supposed blown head gasket caused the heater core to fail, since my car showed ZERO signs of head gasket failure: no coolant mixing with oil in the oil tank or coolant reserve , no white smoke, no overheating), she became so upset that she kicked me out of the shop. I have never been kicked out of anywhere before in my life; this was not before I asked to see the coolant reservoir level, which was empty (I had read that whenever the heater core is replaced, a full coolant replacement has to be performed, which obviously was not).
I also tried to contact the owner of this shop, without any response, which is not surprising; imagine, a sole customer is small potatoes to his overall operations. I understand businesses have to survive but it should be honestly.
This was about about three months and 3,000 miles ago. Since then, I have had a Ford mechanic run a Ford OBD engine scan, which was completely clear... no codes. The car has still shown absolutely ZERO signs of head gasket failure.
This is completely factual; I have all the receipts, which the California Bureau of Automotive Repair will also receive.
