This is the very first yelp review I have ever written in my life.
I will never take my car back to Pittstop Auto Care. I will also warn all my friends about them. Now I'm warning you.
I was quoted and accepted a price of $150.04 to do a simple brake line flush and a manual transmission oil change with myself providing the oil. I watched the mechanic do the procedure. He replaced the transmission oil first. A 5-minute job. No problem or complaint.
He started on the brake line flush next. He added new fluid to the reservoir and flushed the forward, passenger side wheel's brake line first. And then he stopped and told me the job was done. I said "No, it's not. You need to bleed the other three wheels." He insisted that the job was complete, and I could not change his mind. The manager was not there so I left and returned a few days later to get the job done correctly when the manager, Frank Perez, was there.
Frank was very friendly at first. I explained what happened and he agreed with me that the job was not done correctly. He told me to come back in an hour and he would get the job done. I came back in an hour and suddenly all the tables were turned. Frank now wanted me to pay more to have the job done, citing that he needed to use a monitor for the ABS system to do the job correctly, and that costs more. He said there was a miscommunication between his staff and me. He said they should have charged me more because a special monitor is needed to do the flush. I then said: "I paid to have the brake lines flushed, so flush them. Do what you said you'd do" He said no.
The reality is you don't need a monitor to do a simple brake line flush. You need it if you want to flush out the ABS module. And the only time you need to flush the ABS module is when it is replaced or its fluid connections have allowed air into the system. Otherwise, you don't need it to do a brake line flush. He didn't need it to flush my car's brake lines. He was just trying to bulls_ _ it me. I don't know why. Maybe to save face for his mechanic's blunder.
Anyway, Frank refused to finish the brake line flush, the job I paid for. He said I only had two options: one, he would refund me $50 because of the miscommunication, or two, I'd have to pay extra to have the work completed. I angrily took the $50 with a promise of writing this bad yelp review. I initially told Frank I would have my visa not pay. But that would not have been right since they did change the transmission fluid and did do a partial brake line flush and should be paid for that.
All Frank had to do was keep his word when he told me to come back in an hour and he would get the job done. If he had, this would have been a very different review. Actually, I probably wouldn't have written a review at all, since I never write reviews, up until now. If you say you are going to do something, do it.
Stay away from Pittstop Auto Care.
John S.
The owner of Pittstop, Viviana G., wrote me back. My reply to her is as follows.
Dear Viviana,
I will assume you are being sincere and honest but don't know much about flushing brake lines. I do.
I believe Frank Perez told you the same line of bull he told me. And, since he's your employee, you gave him the benefit of the doubt and believed him. YouTube is full of tutorials on how to flush brake lines on cars with an ABS. You do not need ABS-compatible diagnostics to do it. Just type in "brake line flush" to verify what I'm saying. Or simply call a random mechanic and ask him how he would flush the brake lines on a car with ABS that is having no braking problems. I believe Frank is pulling your leg like he tried to pull mine. And I guarantee that he will vehemently stick with his story. To admit otherwise would be to admit he tried to cheat me. And he'll never do that.
Also, when I returned the first time Frank was friendly and agreed his mechanic screwed up and told me he'd get the job done correctly. But there were a few cars ahead of me and I didn't want to wait around. I opted to leave and return in an hour. I left happy.
It's when I returned the second time, an hour later, that he tried to pull the "ABS-compatible diagnostics" stunt and attempted to bump up the bill after I had already paid for the service I didn't get. Totally unethical behavior.
I have to admit, Frank initially comes across as a knowledgeable, good and ethical guy. He fooled me, initially. I'd bet he fooled you as well when you hired him.
Sincerely,
John S. read more
