We respectfully disagree with other reviewers and say we did not have such a great experience with Lansdale. We were mostly disappointed with pricing and with what FELT like a possible attempt to oversell. We will also admit this was an unusual time for us, as we weren't as proactive or involved in seeking service as usual. My husband is skeptical about dealerships and has very limited time for car maintenance because of work, so I did my research and trusted the reviews. This was a mistake. On top of that, my husband was coming down with flu, and our decision making wasn't as sharp as usual.
Let's start with PROS: Though I initially felt a bit rushed on the phone as I tried to explain problems and ask questions, he was mostly professional and helpful during the call, and even more so in the front office. I'm sure it's annoying to listen to someone like me who knows nothing about auto service, so I confessed my ignorance and said I thought my husband's CRV needed A) brakes and B) possibly a belt replaced. The gentleman I spoke to explained they don't stock parts for every problem and vehicle, so I needed to plan on leaving the CRV there. I understood, and when I replied I wouldn't have a ride home, I was VERY grateful and impressed to hear him say, "No problem. We can give you a ride home." And they did! (I made this call on a Wednesday afternoon, so we agreed I would drop the vehicle off Thursday afternoon.)
When I arrived Thursday afternoon as planned and was again asked about symptoms, I did my best to describe sounds the vehicle was making and explain performance problems like the "dull" brakes and the "squealing belt." I admitted I didn't know what was wrong , but that we wanted the vehicle looked over and diagnosed. As promised, I was then graciously transported the short distance home in the cold, drizzling rain with my 10 bags of groceries! We did not receive any further contact Thursday afternoon or evening.
Friday morning was unusual in that my husband was home sick with flu, so he was able to hear the phone call from Lansdale when we were told A) we did in fact need brakes, and I THOUGHT he said they'd already been replaced at that point (yet no price yet quoted), B) we needed a serpentine belt replaced, C) a transmission flush, D) new spark plugs, E) the battery replaced and F) an oil change. My husband spoke up and said "the battery is less than a year old and shouldn't be reading 400 vs 800, and we have regular oil changes based on the computer, so skip those 2 services." Immediately we were told without those 2 services the total repairs would still be $1975. We didn't know if this was a fair price, but it seemed AWFULLY high. Yet with sharing 1 vehicle and a case of flu, we just agreed to all but the battery replacement and oil change. Had my husband not been ill, he would have said we'd pick up the car and shop around because he was uncomfortable with 1) the very high price, 2) an auto tech not using the vehicle's computer vs the sticker for determining when to change the oil and 3) being told the battery needed replacement when in fact, the battery test was done improperly and a battery was not needed. Because of difficult circumstances and poor judgment, we unwisely gave the "ok" to make all the other repairs. (Later research did indicate overpriced services.)
Shortly before 5:00 Friday evening we received a call the car was ready to be picked up, so I dropped my husband off to pay for and retrieve the car. A different gentleman reviewed the invoice, and he acknowledged they'd used an incorrect calibration system to determine the battery was going out. I believe he removed the diagnostic charge for it.
CONS
Our math and the invoice showing $915 for labor equates to about $150/hour, and because this seemed high to us we made phone calls on Saturday. We found auto repair in Austin runs about $85-150/hour, so this does make Lansdale on the high end, unlike other reviewers stated.
Sadly, this experience left us with buyers' remorse and mistrust. We're not taking issue with service at this time; we just feel the pricing structure wasn't as fair as some reviewers made it sound, and we felt something wasn't quite "right" or transparent. In the future we won't allow illness or time pressure to lead us into making a hasty decision, and I won't be as trusting of online reviews. We don't want others as naive as us to have a similar experience! read more