My Xterra suddenly stopped working coming up the hill to Morongo valley, and I stopped at the first auto shop on the right side.
The owner/mechanic there diagnosed "Catalytic Converter" and a missing cylinder and a misfiring one...but that he was more expensive and suggested a muffler shop to have better access and prices.
We had my car towed home to the other side of Joshua Tree.
Then I made lots of phone calls, read loads of Yelp reviews and drove to a muffler shop in Yucca Valley (at 5mph). There, they did the plug in diagnostic and agreed about the cylinders but disagreed on the catalytic converter.
From that point, I had the car towed to Monument Motors. They diagnosed two converters needed at a choking price which "freaked us out". From there, I got on the phone to "everywhere" to educate myself.
Then I called back and let him know how little I knew and that my questions might seem "hard and cold", but I just wanted to understand. At that point, he was able to give me a much better explanation point by point with the knowledge I had gained elsewhere...so I knew I was being explained to without deceit. He also made it clear that the final diagnosis might be more $, but cannot be done until we had new converters on my car...and that while only one had failed, the other had been subject to the same stresses (the cylinders) and may fail soon, and was "standard" to change both.
Meanwhile, he took the time to find a more economical source of acceptable converters that would pass "serial number" inspection at emissions...which cheap converters may pass...but not be State acceptable per model.
A few days later (every point was days ahead of schedule at Monument, the long delays were due to me) I got a call that the converters were changed, the vehicle was running smooth and strong and no other items needed to be worked on or replaced, and that the final invoice amount was exactly what the emailed estimate indicated.
I do well with bad news when I understand...and I ended up being comfortable with the higher price knowing that I would not need to scramble at emissions time due to inadequate catalytic converters...which also would have cost not only replacement of new ones....but more days of "downtime" with my work vehicle.
This is a long review, but fairly complete for those who like to get every detail they can out of a review. Bottom line, Monument Motors gave me a boatload of bad news, helped me understand the process and consequences, and delivered exactly what they said they would for the price they said they would complete it for. They also let me know that there was also a chance sooner or later that the cylinder readings may re-appear and that at that point those would need immediate attention as to not damage the new, expensive converters.
I am excited to pick up my Xterra later today or tomorrow a week sooner than I expected it. read more