HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Stormy is a stand up guy, looking out for you, not your wallet…read more
I had rodent issues with my truck for a couple of years. They kept getting into my cabin air filter, which would clog the air vents and eventually lead to one of them chewing on the knock sensor wires inside the engine. While visiting my parents in the area, I tried taking my truck to Toyota of Escondido, where they proceeded to quote me $7,500 to fix the knock sensor and a number of other "issues." $3,500 of which was just the sensor and $300 to replace the air filter. Which is absurd. My truck is worth around $8,000. Frustrated I went looking for a reasonable mechanic, and that's what I found with Stormy.
Stormy did all the same work Toyota said needed to be done at a fraction of the cost, but wouldn't fix my knock sensor initially. He said he wouldn't take my money to fix it, just to have me turn back around and have him fix it again within the year. He gave me recommendations on how to rid my truck of the rodents, and once I did, to come back.
You have no idea now much I appreciated that level of honesty and willingness to make sure we'd actually fix the problem, not just take my money because I was there. Other places (including Toyota of Escondido), would have gladly taken my money, not mentioned the fact that it could happen again, and taken my money again when the problem returned.
Anyway, I tried his recommendations. The Mighty Mint spray (available on Amazon) did the job. After several months of being rodent free, I gave him a call and booked an appointment. And here's were Stormy once again proved his merit and won me over as a customer. After taking a deeper look into the issue, he realized my truck has a very specific design flaw. Something that would take him personally a longer time to fix than a friend of his. He gave me a call, broke it down to me, told me about his friends shop (Aloha Automotive), offered to drive my truck there (which he did) and made sure I got a good deal with them too.
The whole endeavor took way longer than I wish it would have, but honestly, I'm glad we took our time to fix it. Because of Stormy my truck is back in perfect shape and at a beyond reasonable price. My truck doesn't often have issues, but any time I have them in the future, I will 100% bring my truck to him first.