I found out about MKS from my sister's boyfriend, who has been using MKS for many years. He has trusted his Infiniti to them several times, both his older one that he traded in, and his newer one, which he still drives. I also saw all the positive Yelp reviews, and the fact they have been open for over a decade, all of which back up the fact that MKS must be doing a good job, given that Miami is full of mechanics. MKS, by the way, stands for the initials of the husband (Mark) and wife (Karla), and the S stands for the first letter of their last name.
I had an oil valve gasket leak issue on my car, and the dealership quoted me a figure close to $1,000 to repair it. I reiterated that I have been a loyal customer and they said the best they could do was about $800, and that was with customer loyalty discounts, etc. That was the only thing they would address though, for that price, so anything else would be an extra charge. I was upset about the price and decided to do some sleuthing. I joined car forums, searched YouTube videos and thought I could try to do it myself. A few YouTube videos convinced me that this was too much work for me and I should leave it to a pro. Still, people talking about this issue would mention mechanic quotes for half the price (or less) than the "lowest" amount the dealership was quoting me. Many people who owned shops in other states said that this should not cost more than $400-$500.
I decided to ask my sister's boyfriend about his mechanic, thinking he used a dealership, like me, since he, like me, keeps his vehicles for many years (though I have kept mine much longer than he has and plan to hold on to it for many years to come). He said his guy, Mark, was reliable and honest, and not too pricey. I booked an appointment with Mark for a consultation and he said my problem was going to become serious and even more costly if it was not addressed soon. Understood, but what was the damage? Well, he said he could just repair that issue, and it would be in the $350 range (less than half what the dealership had quoted me), or he could add some additional services that the car will need eventually down the line (ignition coils) and save me the labor cost of doing it down the line since they had to remove the intake manifold for both the gasket issue and the future coil issue anyway. I figured why not, it's a heftier price to pay now, but in the end, it will save me about $300 of labor costs to remove the manifold again in the future when the coils go bad.
I booked my early morning weekday appointment for the following month, since it's so labor intensive it could not be done on a Saturday, when they are open for about 4 hours, and came back this past Friday. He threw in the replacement of three ignition coils, the six spark plugs, oil valve gasket replacement, checked my tires, brakes, changed my oil, gave me a new oil filter, and new windshield wipers (which hadn't been changed in years), all for less than $700 -- STILL cheaper than the dealership and with tons more thing included! He also taught me how to change the front ignition coils, should they go bad, since those are easy to replace (they replaced the 3 rear ones, which are more involved). I got to keep the 3 rear ones they removed, which are fine, and can now use them to replace the front ones whenever they go bad and give me trouble. The free mechanical lesson was pretty cool.
I mentioned a tire noise and vibration issue to him, which he checked out, and said it was the result of the tires I had in the rear becoming lumpy (guess those used tires I bought in Longwood back in November weren't so perfect after all). At that point, he could have said my tires were worn down and I needed new tires, but he said other than the noise and vibration, the tires were fine. The threads were not worn and there was no need to replace the tires, unless the noise and vibration were so bothersome. I thought that was incredibly honest, considering he could have told me my tires were in bad condition and I had to buy new ones. He said I could take my time and replace one down the line, and then the other, or none until they were both worn down, but I was in no danger whatsoever at this time. Like I said, that was impressive. I have kept the noisy performance tires since I just turn up the music and can deal with it. I don't carry many passengers often anyway. I appreciate Mark talking to me in an upfront, honest manner, and his wife was also really cool (thanks for the parenting advice, Ms. Karla)! read more
