I'll let you be the judge of my experience.
I took my very old (1998, but only 150k) car in to have tires changed from winter to summer. I know there's some issues with exhaust, some clunky noises, so I asked the mechanic to also take a look at the exhaust, since he's going to have it up on the lift anyway.
When I dropped the car off I left a note inside, because I remembered the engine light was on (for an unrelated issue) and I didn't want it run on the computer. I said again "please just give me an estimate for any repairs".
Two days later, I get a call: "Yeah, your muffler was no good so we replaced it"
(What?!)
"Really cheap one, don't worry, only 87$, crappy muffler but you needed one."
(I'm still not impressed, I didn't WANT a repair, I wanted an estimate)
"Ok, I'll give you discount on the tire change, only 20 not 25"
Oh boy, 5$ off a 200$ repair that I didn't want. And then he said, "Look it was just a muffler, if it had been a $700-800 repair I would have called you first".
Now I'm kind of mad, because I didn't want any repairs, just the tires changed and an estimate. I said I'd come and see him.
Next day - he repeats that the muffler I had was no good and that's why he changed it. So I asked him, Do you think it will pass inspection now? he says, surprised, No no, that car would never pass. So I said, Why did you put a brand new muffler on a broken old car that wont pass an inspection due in 3 weeks? -- No answer.
Thing is, he knew the inspection was due, he confirmed that it was the end of the month. And he knew the car was needing a lot of repair... but he still put a new muffler on anyway without asking (also overcharging me, I checked online, non-crappy new mufflers for my car are like 60$).
Ok, he says, Fine. I'll take it off. Now he seems annoyed, which is frustrating since its his fault the damn muffler is on there in the first place.
A week goes by, no word from him. I drop by after work and check - oh he took his muffler off, but didn't put the old one back on! I can't drive the car without a muffler.
So I call him the next morning, leave a message. No return call. I call again the next day and get him on the phone. Oh sorry, he says, I lost your number (....!). I told him I checked, saw that my muffler isn't back on my car - how much longer? He says "your muffler was no good, I don't have it anymore" so I said, "I drove my car in there just fine, with a muffler that may or may not have been useless. I don't know because you didn't take the time to show me. Then you replaced it without asking me. And now I have no muffler at all. I lost my car for a week and a half, and now I cant even drive it out of your parking lot. You need to fix this."
He says, Ok pick it up tomorrow morning. And then he all but hung up on me.
Next day I paid the 25$ for the tire change and drove away with a muffler on the car. No conversation, just paid and left.
I don't know if he did anything else to the car. I don't think so, although the car is just as loud as it was before and inside does smell like exhaust now when it didn't before.
Is he an honest mechanic? Well, he eventually righted the mistake he made.
Did he try to snow me with an expensive repair without asking - unfortunately it seems that way.
I won't be going back there and I wouldn't recommend it, unless unasked for repairs are something you appreciate (hey, to the right person that might be awesome). read more
