I own a BMW, and have brought it in to this place 3 times so far: 1 was a routine oil change, the other was replacing all brakes, and the third was replacing the CAS module.
Let me first say this- their prices here are NOT any cheaper than dealers, although they claim they are. I blindly just brought my car here on all 3 occassions mentioned above without even inquiring with a dealer.
Let me give you an example. Their synthetic oil changes here go for $110. If they have to reset your BC system, it's another $50. After tax, you are talking about $170 or so.
BMW of Tacoma (or Northwest BMW) will do all of the above for $79.99.
Brakes will cost you a few days of waiting for parts, and again, prices that are suspiciously close to or higher than a dealer's price.
All that is fine, because they seem to do great work. I haven't had an issue with any of the actual work they did on my car.
But the reason I am giving them two stars is this:
As another review alluded to, these people will take your car out for "joy rides".
I had John, the owner, call me at 3:30PM on the day I got my CAS module replaced. He told me that the work would not be done by end of day, and that they car would need to stay in the shop over night.
"Ok" I said.
That's when he asked me for a favor that, in retrospect, is completely unprofessional and quite unbelievable.
He said that one of his mechanics had asked if he could take my car home to Woodinville for the night, and bring it back in the morning.
WHAT?? Did I just hear that right? I told him no. And even made it a point to call back and say I was not comfortable with this. Whether or not this mechanic actually drove my car home to Woodinville that night or not, I will never know. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
But I no longer trust this place... and honestly, given that you can get certified technicians to work on your car at a dealership for the same price or lower, it really begs the question- why would you take your car here?
[UPDATE per John's Comment Below 6/5]
Understood that a test drive is needed on repairs. Furthermore, it is understood that sometimes, an "extended" test drive is also required. But is it normal practice for a shop to request that one of their mechanics take a customer car HOME, AFTER SHOP HOURS, to a city 20 MILES away?
Or rather, would it be more standard procedure to set aside some time the following day for a mechanic to take an "extended" 10 mile test drive, during business hours, while on the clock at the shop?
If the term "joy ride" has offended you, then I do apologize. But to label the request you made as standard procedure or simply a request for an "extended test drive" would be misleading and inaccurate. read more