I took my car to Les Schwab for a new battery - they told me it was a bad starter. They said they couldn't help me because they don't replace starters. It was very late in the afternoon- so I called Tim at Hi Line Auto Electric and he told me to bring it in. He quickly diagnosed the problem (it was NOT the starter) and his technicians had my car fixed within a few hours. Now my car is running great! read more

...Also would give them ZERO stars.... $15.000 to replace my engine. (Price was OK included tax.) but...they ruined my transmission by not hooking it up. That added another expense. I found the 195 thermostat Sabotaged to never close in order to cover up the overheating engine. (Wrong water pump was installed (Reverse.) and they installed the intake gaskets incorrectly. Two more tow bills was added to the issue and I had to pay a -Qualified- mechanic to make repairs. Towing fee. $500 X2 Exhaust repair $67 Cost of Transmission rebuild. $3,576.38 Harmonic Damper and Intake Manifold gaskets. $592.93 New cap and rotor $127 Mini starter and heat shield $286 For a Grand total of: $20,649.31 (Twice the estimate they wouldn't give me in writing.) The mistakes that were made were novice mistakes and not the work of professional/experienced mechanics. They got close to being taken to small claims.....Don't do it, you will just waste more money/time and get very little compensation for your trouble. Just don't go there....for anything. EVER. I think it is true, they in fact hope to keep you coming back to let them fix issues they have created. A constant revolving door money maker for them, under the guise of being a warranty repair........NOPE! read more

Hi-Line Auto Electric - 1984 Pontiac Firebird TA - Auto Repair Near Me - Burien, Washington

I'd give them ZERO stars if it were an option. Please look elsewhere if you want to avoid being ripped off. I was referred to Hi-Line "Electric" from Meineke off of 6th Ave in Seattle (which is another disaster of an auto shop). Probably just need to trust my gut in the future, but I digress. I bring my sedan in for an electrical issue. The goober at the front counter, instead of listening, runs on about his 80-year-old dad having a similar car with 500k miles blah blah frickin blah. I'm trying to tell him that I'm aware of my "check engine" light and this is NOT the reason I'm here, at an "electrical" auto shop, on the other side of the city. But he's a robot, and again, I should've trusted my instincts here. Long story short, they chased my "check engine" light and ran up scans and testing that cost me over $600. NO WORK DONE!!!!! I was willing to pay for the electrical diag charges and testing I asked for, but this was a horrible experience, and all-in-all, a very shady auto-shop. Choose another mechanic, trust me. read more

The shop was owed by the dad of the current owner. It use to be a good shop. The manager the son over charges you and was told he could charge what he wants. Not using the published cost manual. Check other businesses first. This shop Will RIP you OFF. read more

All of these negative reviews are several years old. Let me submit a current review. I'm a retired, living on a small income with a 97' Cavalier. I found Hi-line Auto Electric about 4 years ago when the car's starter had gone out...again. Burien Chev had "repaired it less than a year earlier. The starter wasn't operating properly because the fly wheel needed replacing, too....which Burien Chev had missed. Hi-line replaced the started and fly wheel. Because the transmission needed to be removed to put the fly wheel in, they also changed the tranny fluid. Sure it cost a lot. But the whole tranny was pulled. Last year the car wouldn't start sometimes. So I left the car with them for a day so they could have the same experience I was. Well, it was sensor in the dash not working. Small bill, great service. They could have told me it needed another starter. I do know quite a bit more about cars than my contemporaries and I have every confidence in Hi-line. They let me know what needs to be repaired, never push or shame me or make me feel less because I'm an old lady. And, when time permits, they will take me home or pick me up when my car is in the shop. Less face it....car repairs cost money and it's one of the few things we put money into that we can't hold in our hand...and we can get overly emotional about them. I know I do. I've been taking my car to these guys since January 2016 and I'm sure I'll continue to do so until my car or my person give out. read more

Update: Tim left a message for my dad, wanting to talk to him about my review. Classy as always. Original review: Dreadful crooks. My dad once trusted this auto center, because he worked with the wife of the business owner, Tim. My dad is now in his 70s and living on retirement from the local public school district, as Tim well knows, but that didn't stop him from conning my dad for years. I first became suspicious of Tim when he claimed to "fix" my car's engine belt for three visits in a row. Then he tried to "fix" a part that my car didn't even have. And finally, he claimed the entire engine was going bust, so promptly attempted to sell me a new vehicle. I never returned to the "repair" shop again, and four years later my car's engine is still perfect, largely because I moved out of the state for school and never let Tim get his hands on my car again. He also damaged the transmission on my stepmom's Subaru and made it worse each time he tried to "fix" it. She eventually took it to another mechanic who really fixed it. Despite this, my dad remained loyal to this business, because he was loyal to his former co-worker. And though very intelligent on many subjects, my dad freely admits he knows very little about cars. Tim and his mechanics capitalized on this and swindled him every single visit, charging him a minimum of $200 each time for a newfound "problem." The best line of crap I heard was Tim telling my dad that all the outside door locks on his car needed to be replaced or the entire electrical system of the vehicle would be shot. The car is a 1996 Saturn with only manual locks, not electric or controlled by a fob. That did it for me, so my stepmom and I stage a mini intervention in which we presented my dad with the slew of negative online reviews for Hi-line Auto Electric, the multiple complaints lodged with the local Better Business Bureau, and car manuals to prove Tim was "fixing" non-existent, impossible problems and forcing my dad to pay through the nose for them. That was enough for my dad to sever ties and seek a true professional. I see that of the few positive reviews for Hi-line Auto Electric, the writers mostly say they're knowledgeable about cars, so it would be near impossible to cheat them. But for the average customer, Tim and his mechanics have no qualms about telling boldface lies at a high price, even while knowing that someone like my dad lives on a very limited income. Tim, anytime you want to make restitution to my dad, feel free. Being the kindhearted person he is, you won't even hear an angry word from him. I'm not so nice, however, and I still have all the receipts of all the money you cheated me out of. read more

Horrible service -Avoid this company - do not believe bbb's rating. The owner/mechanic charged me $409.74 for parts and labor for a botched job. The majority of the charge was for a so called OEM Crank Position Sensor. The crank position sensor he sold me was definitely not an OEM part but a knock off that sells for $40. Not only did he sell me a non OEM part he destroyed it by misassembling the sensor into the wrong hole in the transmission housing, such that the clutch torn into the sensor housing and destroyed it. read more

There are 2 shops with similar names in this area I was looking for the other one. But I decided to give this shop a try since I grew up and work in the area. My check engine light was on and I needed an oil change. I talked to the owner and he said that he would give it a look but couldn't promise work would get done that day. I told him I had hit the diagnostic test done at O'Reilly and knew there were 3 codes and what they were. I left my phone # and mentioned that I would be in the area. Aftet an hour and no call to back to check on the progress and I was told that my car was done. The get the bill and I see a mark up for $3100+ I was beyond mad at this point. I then get a long drawn out explanation of what is needed on my car. I ask what is owed that day so I can leave. Some of the mark up for future work was already completed by another shop earlier in the year and I was told they couldn't tell because there wasn't a sticker on the part that was fixed?! I left but not without paying $200+ for an oil change and diagnostic test. They charged me for the test even though they found the same codes that I told them about. I won't be back!!! read more

Once upon a time, I took my Subaru here because the horn and tachometer had stopped working. After multiple phone calls from them asking for my permission to increase the budget, they had finally fixed the horn but not the tachometer, and the bill came to an insane sum approaching a thousand dollars. Guess I learned my lesson: taking my car to an electrical specialist isn't an effective choice if said specialist is mostly interested in parting me from my money. read more

These people are crooks. They are the bad mechanics your parents warn you about. We brought our vehicle in due to lack of power and a recent diagnosis said the issue was fuel injectors. We said we needed it in 3 weeks for a planned vacation. They said it was not the injectors but it just needed a tune up. $2400 later they said it was fixed. We noticed later that a new ignition system was on the bill - we did not approve or discuss it. We drove 1 block before returning after paying stating it was still under-powered. They then claimed it needed an exhaust system and took it to a muffler shoppe. Still no dice - no further cost estimates were provided. It was not ready for the vacation. We asked for a call and estimate - no call was made. Still not fixed and a week later, we said we wanted the vehicle back and they said it was $2100 more, and said it needed to be paid in cashier's check and refused to take a credit card because I said I was taking it up with Attorney General. These are all listed as scams on the texas attorney general website and they committed each one! 1. commencing repair work on your car without first getting your authorization to perform the repair work, and then charging you for repair work that you did not authorize, 2. starting repair work on your car before obtaining authorization from you, then charging you for it. 3. representing that repair services will be completed by a certain day in order to induce the sale, then failing to have the repair services completed by that day. 4. failing to notify you and secure your additional approval, in writing, for any additional work to be done that was not set forth in the original written agreement. 5. representing or advertising that the shop will accept consumer credit cards or personal or business checks as payment for goods and services, and then refusing to accept credit cards or checks. read more

I can't recall a worse experience with an auto repair issue. Brought our 2006 Subaru Legacy in for multiple, yet common standard issue repairs. Estimated to be ready over 2 days time. 6 days later, $2800+ the vehicle is not only still broken, yet we have also incurred additional damage & issues. I found another mechanic to help us sort out things ( as we continue to hemorrhage money paying for the same thing). The business owner at this present time has refused, denied or admitted any liability. I'm the type of consumer that believes in getting what you pay for. I've been in business for a long time and get that. And so do my clients. Very disappointed in this business, if you can call it that. See you in court, Highline Auto Electric. I only gave one star because the software wouldn't post without clicking that apparently! read more

I used Hi Line for three car inspections, because I was buying a used car from Horizon Motors. They were fast in assessing problems at a reasonable price. read more

I went to HI Line Auto Electric on 10/29/10 to inquire about having electric gauges installed in my Toyota vehicle. Tim (the owner) said they could do it and it would take a couple hours. He verbally quoted me a cost of "around $200". He called me later that day and explained what they planned to do, which was essentially the same service. He did not inform me of any change from the verbal quote. I arrived on 11/5/10 to pick up the vehicle and was shocked to find out the cost was now $596.48. Tim was not there and I dealt with Glen. He presented a hand written quote, which I never saw, from Tim that had an estimate of $575 that said he had told me this over the phone, which he never did. Greg proceeded to tell me that they "don't have many repeat customers", and their "rates were quite variable." He agreed with my outrage, but said he just works there. I had no option at this point and paid with a credit card. I also signed an invoice at that time with a date of 11/01/10 and an Original Estimate of $174.76. I consider HI Lines practice in this case to be deceitful and fraudulent. read more

I got great service from Hi-Line Auto Electric. My car's headlight only worked intermittently -- sometimes going on or off after slamming the hood. I had taken the car to several other shops, which could not locate the trouble. Hi-Line Auto's technician, Scott, checked only two items and said there was a small connector locking cap missing. They ordered the part and Scott did a Cracker Jack job of splicing in the new connector and locking cap. Now, there is no fear that the light will blink off the next time I slam the hood. Demian read more

I have been taking my car to this family run business for years and each time have had a wonderful experience. Usually, I delay making an appointment until last minute and they always fit me right in and fix my family vehicle right up and have me running in no time. They know who I am and have a warm greeting whenever I arrive. read more

Stay away from this place! I returned for a second time with a problem that was not completely taken care originally, during their assessment and under their care they create another problem ( which had nothing to do with my visit) the owner did not want to take responsibility of a problem , this guy (Tim) offer a $20.00 discount out of $300.00 dollars bill . I ended up wasting my time ,( the whole day) my money and with no solution of what my original problem was. Tim is an irresponsible and greedy person, again stay away from this place ! Tim will rip up off. read more

Bear with the back story, it's relevant later on. I was driving down the road when my car (87 325is) lost power. A few friends of mine (certified bmw techs with the exact same year/model of car) drove over and helped me trouble shoot it on the side of the road. We found there was no spark at the coil. So we swapped out the DME and main power relays (fuel, ignition, o2) still no spark. I take the car back to my place and slave over it for a couple hours with a wiring diagram and multimeter. I Can't find anything wrong so I try the ignition coil again. Somehow it's giving about a half inch of spark, but there's no spark at the plugs. So I change out the rotor, cap, and wires. Still no spark at the plugs. It looks like there's a grounding issue and I'm running out of time so I call up the local auto electrical specialist (hi-line auto electric). A nice guy named tim answered the phone and walked me through their diagnosis process. Everything sounded on the up and up and the do not exceed price seemed fair at 150$. After a little more chatting i hook up the toe cables to the car and we trucked her on over to hi-line auto electric. Upon arriving we were met by some ass hat named pete. The first thing pete did was raise the DNE value to 180... after telling him what tim told us he did one of those high nosed snot in hails and changed the DNE back down to 150. No harm no foul. Two hours later good old pete called up with the diagnosis that the car needed a new fuel pump relay, ignition coil, and spark plugs. He's got to be joking was the first thing that popped into my mind and he'll let me in on what the actual problem was any second now. Turns out our good friend mr pete wasn't kidding around. He was dead serious and wanted an additional 520 bucks to spend 30 minutes swapping out 80$ worth of parts. Before letting him in on the little before mentioned trouble shooting, i ask him if there was anything else causing the no spark condition. Nope, that was it. I then proceeded to let him in on the little secret that we had just swapped the mentioned parts out of another running 87 325IS and that it hadn't fixed the problem. Pete fell back onto the only card he could, play ignorant and hide behind the tech who seemed to have taken off for the day (if the tech was gone, then who's working on my car right now?). The conversation wasn't going anywhere so i told them to put the car back together. Pete then informs me that they had hit the DNE and that if i wanted the car back together i'd be paying another 50-60 bucks. 150 bucks turns into 200. At this point it's pretty obvious they're trying to rip me off. I ask him what the hell is the point of a do not exceed if you're just going to arbitrarily ignore it. No response to my question... Pete goes on to suggest that replacing just those parts may not get the car running again and that I should just pay 400 bucks total and they'd replace the ignition coil, fuel pump relay and that the car would be working fine afterwards. The two statements completely contradict one another... but what choice do I have at this point? I ended up paying them the 400 bucks and driving away with my car. After getting the car back to my place I look inside the engine compartment and it was a complete mess. The air filter was left ajar hanging by 1 of 4 clips, the engine is making a loud squealing noise that I can't locate (not the vbelts), and the pulse sensor was left flailing around on top of the engine. It pisses me off that we live in a society where people can get away with shit like this. There's no legal action I can take since I have no documentation showing that the DNE was set to 150, or that the ignition coil and fuel pump relay were working fine before I took the car into their shop. And even if I did what would be the point? They'd get off with a slap on the wrist and I'd put in tons of personal time in courts to make back a few hours worth of wages. read more

I brought my 2003 Ford Taurus into the shop on 4-4-2012 recommended by Pit stop in Burien. My engine light was coming on with P1151 code that were relating to a misfire of some sort. Also my steering panel was making a loud noise. The owner seemed polite and honest , family owned business so I had high hopes. I received a call back and Tim told me that the power steering pump assembly(which I supplied for them from Als Auto Supply) an idler pulley and a serpentine belt and a power steering system flush would resolve the noise. They recommended that I also replace the power steeirng line because there was a minor leak but was not neccesary so I declined the line because they wanted an additional $523.00 for just the line and he didn't seem like this was critical to resolve the steering problem. They replaced the the front oxygen sensors and did a fuel injection system cleaning. They also recommended I replace my spark plugs which surprised me because I had just had them replaced in the past 5 months and I told him this and that I was now questioning the whole estimate.I declined the spark plugs. The total bill was $1,027.08 . I couldn't believe the cost but he assured me that the engine light and the steering problem would be resolved. My steering started making a loud noise again same as before so I took it back to them on 7-6-2012. I have only one car so they offered to take me to my appoitment that I had which was great. The lady called me back and told me that the power steering line had blown and that it would be $523.00 to fix this and it was my fault because they had recommended this in April and I declined it and they wouldn;t be able to get the part until Monday because it was a Ford part. I was so frustrated and disappointed and I told her that and I told her to just put the car back together and I would be picking it up. She was rude when I did and offered nothing but an attitude of that is tough luck on my part for not taking a recommendation of a power steering line that I didn't think was as critical as it was because of the high estimate to begin with. So here I am out over a thousand dollars and nothing to feel good about and a very bad taste in my mouth for this establishment. I would not take a chance with this place unless you are a man and know about cars, I feel taken advantage of and very disappointed that I trusted this place. My outcome and my expectations were not met. I would have liked to have been offered a lower estimate on the power steering line since I already had invested over a thousand dollars in this place 3 months ago and also treated a bit kinder, the customer service was horrible. read more

Dropped off my son's Land Rover Discovery overnight and the next morning I got a call from Tim explaining what was the problem was and then had it fixed by the next day. This is the second time i've brought a car there and I gotta say I'm batting 1.000. There were a few things Tim suggested to fix but no pressure whatsoever. He understood we needed the car to run and that was first and foremost the most important thing. While his mechanic was working on my main issue, he checked out the oxygen sensor which was throwing off a "service engine soon". Tighten up the harness and it was fixed just like that. They saved me $$$. I just don't get the negative feedback whatsoever. Tim and his team is very personable and professional. The parts were even reasonable for a Land Rover. I'm sure if i went to a dealership iI would have paid twice as much. I'll definitely bring my car here again if I have any issues. The bonus is that not only are they electrical pros, they also do regular car maintenance and also fixes. read more

STOP! DO NOT BRING YOUR CAR HERE! I brought my 2005 Jeep Liberty in primarily as it would not turn over, even after a jump attempt. Seemingly this was an electrical issue so this establishment appeared appropriate. After many extremely expensive tests to discover whether I had fluid leaks (which were plainly obvious) they discovered I had a busted ignition switch assembly and neutral safety switch to the column actuator. All this required a replacement with a used steering column. This is after calling me back x2 to say the vehicle is ready only to have them "discover" something else and witnessing them test driving the vehicle after I got there. They dumped me at enterprise rent a car to wait another hour to get into a vehicle that I could not even wait to be cleaned due for fear of being late for work. 2 days later the car is "fixed" with a new set of problems. The dome light does not turn on while inside the vehicle, the lock switch does not work if the driver side door is open, the car ding ding ding's with the door open and no key in the ignition and my key remote lock works only half the time. I tell them I'll be back on this day for them to fix the new problems that were not even there when I brought the car in. A day later the guy calls me and starts talking about the cost of repairs. I said "do you seriously think I'm going to pay you for something you broke?" He starts talking about "Oh, the car has a lot of miles, you gotta expect things to break". No no no, I give you the car, none of these problems, I get it back, new problems are your problems. Worked fine before. How would you feel if you were in my position man? You hire a guy to fix your front door, fix the hinges but puts a hole in your front door, what you gonna say? Oh, old doors sometimes get holes through them. BS. That's bad business. Then your gonna argue with me like its my fault. How do they stay in business? IDK. The car is fixed for now and hell no I didn't pay them for the new stuff. Bottom line: Don't bring the car here unless you wanna get ripped the hell off with expensive tests for simple problems and then get jerked around and blamed for the damage they did to your car. read more

I was treated very cordially by the Service Writer, but was given a line of BS by him, who apparently though I was ignorant of my car's functions. I had to point out to the Service Writer that I knew more than he did - and proved it with Diagrams and Parts Lists. I brought in my car for two electrical problems, one which was not fixed (and given an incomplete answer as to why), and they replaced my automatic radio antenna with a cheap rubber antenna, without even troubleshooting he problem - this fact admitted to by the mechanic himself who did the work. After doing some diagnostics myself, I found a blown fuse. In addition, my radio would not work with the new antenna. I was then told that the automatic antennas were no longer available - which was incorrect. There were a number of them available on the internet. Then I was also told that they had never gotten an aftermarket antenna to work properly - so I brought in electrical diagrams to show the Service Writer that they did not know what they were doing. However, they advertise "Certified Electrical System Diagnostics". I purchased a new automatic antenna and brought a diagram to how it was supposed to be hooked up. At this time I also asked them to replace the clutch. (5-speed manual transmission). They called and said my car was ready. When I went to pick it up, I was told they could not get the antenna to operate properly. It turned out that, in spite of my giving them a clear wiring diagram, they chose to rewire the power wire and did so incorrectly. I had the antenna correctly wired at another shop, and it now works perfectly. When I went to drive my car home, I found that the transmission had been adjusted so that I could not put it into reverse gear. In addition, I could not access 1st or second gear and was forced to start in 3rd gear. I drove around the block and returned the car. The Service Writer also could not put it in reverse. I feel I may have damaged the new clutch in driving around the block, because I had to "slip" it so excessively not to kill the engine when starting, and there was some smoke coming out from under the car. The clutch now chatters excessively whenever starting out and is not getting better. After fixing the shifting problem, I was told that there was a broken clip on the linkage. Due to other considerations on this problem, I do not believe them. There was NO WAY they could have test driven the car - even though I was told they drove it twice. When I got home, found that bezel on the heater control panel / radio had be improperly installed and was hanging loose. They had removed the bezel to do the rewiring. Am I disappointed? VERY! I am disgusted with the quality of their work and their BS. read more

What a great experience! Tim, Forrest and the whole team are top-notch. My older SUV was well-cared for. They diagnosed the problem and fixed it with courtesy and professionalism. They went above and beyond by calling the manufacturer on my behalf. Thanks, Hi-Line Auto Electric! read more

I will never go back to this shop again. I took my 2004 Chevy sedan there to diagnose and repair an engine misfire problem. They recommended a major transmission repair job to fix this problem--I said OK-- trusting that it was absolutely needed, and was sure to fix the misfires. They charged me $2300. There was no change in the misfire problem. I continued taking my car back there, asking them to fix the problem they misdiagnosed. The second visit they said I needed new ignition cables and spark plugs. That cost about $250. When they installed the spark plug wires, one of them was not cinched down correctly, and was touching an exhaust manifold. The third visit they told me they were pretty sure the problem was with the drive-by-wire system, but not entirely sure, and didn't do anything. They gave me my car back, the misfire problem was no better than before, and a ton of money was down the drain. I took my car to a couple other shops to have the misfire problem diagnosed. I shared the results from these other shops; along with evidence found that they charged me for parts that don't fit my car's transmission. I asked that the owner refund my money. He refused. The owner agreed to cinch down the spark plug wires again the right way. Less than a year later, I had to replace the same ignition wires and spark plugs because they broke one of the tips off inside the spark plug wire and the spark plug and cable were arcing across the gap in the wire. This business lost my trust. I took them to small claims court and recouped some of my money. read more