Definitely left an impression for a lot to be desired…read more...
I called and spoke with Sylvester, who told me it's $150/hour labor rate, $150 for diagnostics; but he offers to wave 50% off the diagnostics job if the job ends up going to him/his team/shop in the end.
Sylvester seems nice enough, personable and relaxing conversationalist enough when I talked on the phone and when I dropped off the car. I wish the positive impression there translated to a more positive experience or instilling any positive confidence in...
I bought a very old used car (20 year old car; but under 110k miles), and didn't need the premium pricing for maintenance, considering I don't want to put in too much into a car that is in its last years (for reference, I usually bring my cars to Precision Auto Care in San Leandro). Based on location, labor rate, high rating ratio (and compared to other local repair shops at a similar rate), and some reviews, I chose to try this place out to give my car a good look over. I wanted to see if his shop would be able to confirm/observe some of the same the things they should've from the Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) I had done, and didn't fabricate more merely to pad on costs. In the end, I was not impressed...
After dropping it off for the day, when I came to pick it up, this was the outcome (for the $150 to get an official after-sale inspection "Diagnostic & Analysis; Potential Issues"); Sylvester gave me the most generic, plain, perfunctory assessment! He basically merely pointed out the easily observable & obvious/superficial; showing it wasn't given any kind of in depth inspection. All he gave, specifically, was that the gear number indicator isn't accurate (who cares, it's from 2005, it's not going to show when it momentarily goes down to 2nd or 3rd gear after cruising at 4th), and that "it's old". That's it. He went on about how it's an old car, so not in great shape (yeah it's old, but was under 110k miles with no major accidents or issues and had every service milestone), and that it needs a (what I imagine a still pretty costly) basic tune up before anything else can be figured out...! He claimed it could barely be expected & trusted to drive to as far as San Jose (from Hayward). I asked him about any of the findings from the PPI (transmission needs tune-up, brakes look worn, serpentine belt looks worn down, parking brake could be tighter, various evidence of small leaks), and he merely shrugged and kept pushing for the basic tune up because it's old before anything else. I then specifically asked him what was observed about the brakes, and he again shrugged and nonchalantly responded "well...it stops..." What kind of response is that?! I know what a proper inspection looks like (shot out to SafeBuy); I don't think he or his team even looked at it -- merely test drove it a little bit, took surface-level observations, and didn't even bother to inspect even the most important & vital parts (even as it's not even small compact components)!
He couldn't even take a credit card (machine was acting up), or give a proper receipt.
I've driven it for 7 months now, and put 13k miles on it (because I work in San Jose from San Leandro; going against his wrong assessment) -- I've brought it to 2 other mechanics who confirmed most things from the PPI, and dispelled a few others that weren't as concerning as initially observed (PPI can only inspect so extensively); I did get a transmission tune-up and the spark plugs needed to be replaced, but it's worked great all this time (opposite to what Sylvester said). And none of which was observed or brought up by him/them.
They might be competent enough, and great in other situations and for other people (hence more than 1 star). But after it all, I felt it ended up being a waste of money with Exodus Auto Repair - with bad generic uninformative not-complete diagnostics. In the end, if that's the effort and comprehensiveness of the inspection he'd give at the base/first level, how can I trust him and his team for more in depth troublesome issues & major repairs?!