I can't tell if these guys are dishonest, stupid, incompetent or all three. I took my car in because the brakes were making a funny sound, and Russ Keegan (the namesake owner) ran a "27-point check" on my vehicle. When I went to pick up the car, he told me that the funny sound was coming from the emergency brake, and that there was a bevy of other problems:
-Both the front and rear brakes were shot (pads, rotors, and hardware)
-The Brake fluid needed to be changed
-The oil needed to be changed
-I needed a new serpentine belt
-The emergency brake cables were broken and needed to be replaced
-The emergency brake shoes needed to be replaced and,
-The starter needed to be replaced
All in all, about $2250 worth of work. Not knowing anything about cars, I took his word for it, and paid the $170 diagnostic fee. Sitting down and looking at the estimate, I called around, and found a shop that would do all of that work for $1800, but even cheaper still, I wondered if I could fly my mechanic friend out from California, and we could do the work together. For the plane tickets, and all the parts, which he could buy under his corporate account, it would cost about $800-$1000. Seeing this as a good opportunity to save money and see an old friend, I flew my buddy (a licensed technician) to Boston with a suitcase full of parts.
We put the car up on a jack, and took the wheels off. The brakes were fine. The emergency brake shoes did need to be replaced, but the cables were fine- a job Russ wanted to charge me $570 for. All of the pads, rotors and hardware for the brakes had at least 40% of the material left, or 15,000 miles. Great, let's check the rest of Keegan's work.
My friend went over the diagnostics sheet with me, and it would appear that they didn't even open the hood:
-The air filter needed to be replaced (and was marked as fine on the diagnostics)
-The brake fluid was as clear as water (master cylinder was brand new)
-Strut mounts were creaking and rusty (marked as fine)
-Transmission fluid was dirty (marked as fine)
-Engine stabilizer mount was broken (not marked on diagnostic sheet)
When we confronted Keegan, he said that he put together the diagnostics sheet so that we could take it to the dealer we bought the car from. Why would he give me a list of false problems? If I take it to the dealer, they're just going to tell me that my brakes are fine, just like my friend did. Why didn't he mark the real problems with my car? My best guess would be that you can't make any money off of replacing an air filter- it takes 30 seconds.
In Keegan's defense, it is true, I did need a serpentine belt, my oil did need to be changed, and the starter was obviously an issue. Overall he was nice and polite albeit dishonest and incompetent. I would never go back, and wonder how many people who wrote positive reviews were really just fooled by his charm. read more