At around 1100, on or around 12 December 2016, I showed up to have my tires checked because of excessive road noise on driver side. I thought it was because the air in my tires was too low.
boss, Sami, gave my car to a new mechanic to "drive and check it".
He came back, told his boss it was wheel bearing problem on driver side. I agreed to have it replaced ... paid around $232.
When the FIRST repair was complete, Sami came back into shop, handed my keys to me and said, "She is ready! You are good to go."
This is fix #1 -- no red flags, yet.
I drove away happy because there was no more noise, no vibration, and the ride was smoother. BUT ..
The TRACTION and ABS lights were on because they had not been reset. Soooo ... I drove back to the shop.
I HAD NOT BEEN GONE 15minutes.
I told Sami about the TRACTION AND ABS lights ... He said he would "take a look" ... and handed my keys to a TOTALLY DIFFERENT mechanic from the first visit.
Sami came into the lobby holding a small object in,his hand, and announced, "Your sensor is bad. You need to replace it. I will order it for you. No charge." I agreed and kept waiting. He then came back in and said something about the sensor and wheelbearing not matching ... that he had put on the wrong wheel bearing, that it did not match the sensor. He told me that he was going to order a new one. Hmmmm???
I waited several more hours ... While I waited, the first mechanic came into the lobby and announced that my socks and struts were bad and were making a lot of noise and needed to be replaced.
Before this, I had not heard or felt any noise or shudders .. even with the so-called "bad wheel bearing". So I took what he said and asked how long I could wait until I needed to fix it. He advised me to do it after the holidays.
After 3-4 more hours, the boss handed my keys back to me and said, "You are good to go. Everything is Okay! " I drove away for the SECOND TIME. THIS TIME, my entire front driver side wobbled, and the suspension grinded, squeaked and shuddered. Minor bumps in the road made my 5-year old JEEP sound like it was 50 years-old! BUT THE ABS AND TRACTION LIGHTS WERE OUT now!
I had stayed at that shop from around 1100 until 5pm. And my vehicle drove worse than when I had first brought it in!
Later that evening, I left a voicemail for the shop boss demanding to know what he had done to my car. And advised him of the new shudders and squeaks and grinding.
I returned to the shop the next day and told the boss about the noises that had not been there at first "repair" without the ABS /TRACTION LIGHT. Once again,he said, "I will check this for you." and I gave him my keys. I reminded him that there had been none of that when he "fixed it" the first time. These new noises and problems only appeared AFTER he "fixed it" the second and third time ... With the additional "necessary" repairs that he told me I had to have.
This time ... He gave my keys to Amir, to drive and check. This time, I rode with him so I could show him what I heard.
When we get back to the shop, the boss tells me that I also need another new part ... even walks me to the shop floor to have his new mechanic Amir demonstrate the damaged equipment me. Like I know what that is!
I am very angry and disappointed by now. Because the so-called errors he made, turned into unnecessary repairs, and "new" problems ... with parts of my car that did not need repair.
One truly needed job, became a nickel-and-dime situation, e.g., This time ... the boss told me that my driver-side rotors needed to be replaced along with the brakes. He tried to say that my brakes were "badly damaged" because of the bad wheel bearing. And that ... the reason I had so much noise was because of the new bearing combined with the current brakes. HOWEVER ... when he "FIXED IT" THE FIRST TIME, THERE WAS NO NOISE, NO GRINDING, NO SHAKING, NOTHING ... JUST ABS/TRACTION LIGHT.
So ... now I needed new rotors and brakes?! I had already had my brakes replaced by him 3-6 months ago. And then ... he had told me that it was the PASSENGER-SIDE, not driver side that needed a new rotor!
I reminded him that he had already installed new brakes. He'd forgotten, and then tried tell me that I just did not understand cars. Nah! I understand my car! And I definitely understand scam and sham when I see it and hear it.
I will not ever return to this shop. They have broken my trust.
To my fellow Sisters ... DO NOT go to this shop alone. Take somebody with you, who knows about vehicles. read more