I recently took my SUV here after seeing good reviews. I don't work far from here so I figured it was a strong and convenient choice for some concerns I wanted looked into. Now I will be going out of my way to use a different shop after my disappointing experience here.
After a $200 examination, I was told that I had some kind of major oil leak, and that I needed an alignment, as well as recommended I replace the steering gear box.
Oil Leak - Since the tech made it sound like it was really bad, and yet I hadn't seen any signs of a leak beforehand, I asked him about that. He suggested I check my driveway. I responded that I already do, and it's completely clean. His response? "Maybe you just haven't noticed". Well, I checked when I got home, and every day for weeks after this appointment, and still... zero oil spots. My SUV is parked in my clean driveway 80% of the time and it's still clean as a whistle.
The alignment - My SUV does not pull in any direction. At least not more than any average car might on uneven roads. I've driven vehicles that needed an alignment before, and this isn't that.
The Steering box - They quoted $2,500 to replace my steering box. The break down was $1,400 for labor, and $1,100 for parts. The average cost to replace that same part in my exact model SUV anywhere else: between $800 and $900, for parts and labor. You do the math.
Anyhow, after my appointment here I made time that weekend to leave my SUV with another shop that had come recommended by someone else. The owner of that shop, a man who's been in the auto business for literally decades, said he was appalled by the quote Jack Dane gave me. I paid another $200 for him to do his own examination. Guess what? No alignment necessary, steering box is completely fine, and no oil leak found(just average seepage, cleaned up no problem).
Want more proof that these guys are not to be trusted? The initial reason I brought it in was because the transmission seemed to slip a little, mostly when my SUV was cold. My particular model doesn't have a dipstick for the trans fluid so I wanted an expert to check all of that out. The Jack Dane tech noted on my invoice: "Observed trans fluid at recommended levels". Guess what? The other tech, with more experience, showed me that the trans fluids were actually almost 2 full quarts LOWER than the recommended levels. He even brought it over to another tech who is even more experienced with transmissions and that guy confirmed it was definitely too low and likely causing what I was experiencing. He topped off my trans fluid for me, and guess what again? The cold slipping issue completely vanished. A month later and it's running good as new, and still no oil spots anywhere I park.
DO NOT trust this shop. read more