They are excellent diagnosticians. Find parts fast and great prices. Fix it right. If they dont, they own their mistakes. I speak from extensive experience. Indeed, had it not been for less than positive Yelp reviews I would not be able to share with absolute confidence why I believe this is the BEST shop in the area.
1. Experience 1: Had my Subaru Forester inspected and much to my surprise (the car had been carefully maintained by my father for 3 years), it failed because of a small leak in the exhaust and worn front bushings. They put the car back on the lift, and indeed, there was no arguing about the bushings, but I was not convinced about the exhaust. They gave me an estimate to fix both bushings and exhaust the latter at $1100. Because of the mixed Yelp reviews and the fact that the inspection had been on the same site (Im a class A skeptic) I shopped around for weeks and could not find exhaust for less than the quoted price. With my inspection period 2 days short of expiring I went to three service shops in the area. Here is where my surprise started. First, all three shops said I would need an additional component. AND None of the shops could commit to having the parts delivered in less than 3 days. It was now the morning of the expiration day and with almost no hope whatsoever called James. He said, no problem he could have parts in by mid-day and job done by late afternoon. He stuck to initial quote and pointed out that it might be possible not to have to substitute the whole exhaust. 5 hours later he calls. Car is ready, the total job less than 50% of the initial quote. Yes, 2 days faster than any competitor and at half the price !
2. In march, my car started to lag power, and emit a whitish smoke from exhaust and light rattle from engine. I took the car to a near by service shop where I often used their vac and the guys always cam around to say hello. They told me they would check it out, no problem. After a $95 diagnostic (which caught me by surprise, as expected as it might be)), I was told it was most likely the PMS. I did a little research, PMS problems dont cause noise. I took it to Sunoco, they said they would run a diagnostic. Halfway through, James called to say that they had identified problem as faulty part in Turbo. He asked whether I wanted to stop at that point or continued. He warned that fixing turbo would be costly and that it would not make sense to continue unless I was going to reapir turbo at that point. He offered to stop test at the lower price. I went ahead and had turbo part replaced. Took less than one day and ran like new. Again, as a skeptic I compared and their price was below competitors.
3. With no warning my wife's Audi A4 would not start. Not sure if it was battery or starter. Watched Youtube videos galore. Stopped at two shops on my way to Sunoco where they offered to do a full diagnostic, and suggested it must be the starter. Took it to Kenwood Suncoco. Spoke to James. When I told him that after running car for 30 mins, the starter did a choking sound, he said without hesitation: Its the battery. Dont waste your time with getting starter fixed. Unfortunately, he did not carry the Audi battery in stock, but if he had I would have saved $40 from shop in Bethesda.
4. I could also describe how fairly I was treated when I recently replaced my rear bearings. The team, by error, changed my front rather than rear bearings. James knew I was on a budget and as much as I appreciated having the front bearings replaced, it was not what I needed. He COMPED the front bearings 100%. Yes, I got four bearing and hubs for what would already have been reasonably priced set of two.
They are excellent diagnosticians. Find parts fast and great prices. Fix it right. If they dont, they own their mistakes. read more
