I brought my car to Ali and asked if he could do three things: change the engine oil, replace the rear passenger door check (stop), and change the CVT transmission oil along with both transmission filters. Before booking the work, Ali asked me to go to a Honda dealer and purchase the required parts myself, which I did.
For comparison, Honda Service had quoted me three hours of labour for the transmission oil and both filters, and 0.8 hours for the door check.
When I returned with the parts, another customer's car was on the lift and Ali was changing over her summer tires. I sat down and waited. While working on her car, Ali told her she needed new rear brakes. He then asked me to come over and look at what he was showing her. I declined, but he insisted, so I went over.
Ali pointed out a slightly discolored ring around the brake rotor, about 3/8" wide, and asked me to feel it. It was visible, but I could not feel anything with my hand. I pointed out that the ridge around the perimeter of the rotor was less than 1 mm, a sign of not worn out, and asked whether the rotor thickness should be measured before saying it was worn out. Ali then changed his tone and told both of us, "I guess you can get a little more use out of these brakes, and when we change your summer tires over to winter we can look at it again."
Looking back, that was the point where I should have left and gone somewhere else.
Ali then asked me to write out my own work order for what I wanted done. I wrote:
Change engine oil with synthetic oil and genuine Honda filter supplied - $70
Change CVT transmission oil and both filters - 3 hours labor
Install new rear passenger door check - 1.5 hours labor
(Honda had quoted 0.8 hours for the door check, but I agreed to Ali's request for 1.5 hours.)
Later that night at 9:27 p.m., Ali called and said I had not left the key fob in the vehicle, so he could not replace the door check, and asked me to come over right away with it. I rushed over.
When I got there, the key fob I had left was under a jean jacket on the passenger seat. I asked Ali if he had tried pushing the start button. He replied, "Oh no, I should have tried that."
Ali then told me he had changed the engine oil and only one of the transmission filters. He said he had not realized how much work was involved with the second filter. He explained that he would have had to remove two solenoids and realign them, and that he did not want to risk damaging my transmission, so he decided not to complete that part of the job.
He then asked me to bring the car back in two days because he was leaving, wanted to be paid for what he had one, and was not working the next day, so he could replace the door check in a couple days.
When I paid, I was still charged for the full three hours of transmission labor.
After leaving the shop, I later verified the repair procedure and learned that replacing the second transmission filter does not require removing or realigning solenoids. I also confirmed that the filter he did replace is generally estimated at about two hours of labor, while the second filter--which was not changed--is typically about one additional hour.
Based on my experience, I felt misled and overcharged.
If possible, find a mechanic you can build trust with and ask detailed questions before authorizing work. In my experience, I wish I had gone somewhere else. read more
