I would like to start by saying that everyone we spoke with at R&D Auto has always been very friendly. I never felt rushed while on the phone with them, although I have felt that something has been "off" both times I have been there in person. To clarify, this is the mechanic that is right next to the Post office in Frederick.
With that being said, personally, I do NOT recommend this business. I thought from all of the good posts and recommendations, this would be the best mechanic in our little town. It certainly is NOT. If I could, I wouldn't give this business ANY stars and warn anybody and everybody looking for an honest mechanic, to NOT to go R&D Auto.
I had taken my vehicle there on 2 separate occasions. The first time, they told me that some part of my engine was going bad and I had to get that piece replaced. We spent over $1,500 getting it fixed at R&D Auto. Just a few months later, the same vehicle started making a weird noise. When I took it back there the 2nd time, R&D Auto said that it was again, part of the engine and it would cost approximately $3000 to get it fixed. But because it is so labor intensive, it would take at least a couple of weeks because the head mechanic "has a bad back".
So I took it to the dealership because I couldn't afford to be without a vehicle for "a couple of weeks". Oh boy, was I glad we ended up going to the dealership.
When we got to the dealership's service department, I gave them the written quote that R&D Auto gave me and told them that this is what I needed to get fixed. After they looked under the hood, it was determined that my vehicle didn't even HAVE the part that R&D Auto claimed that I needed to get replaced. The part R&D Auto wanted me to replace does NOT come with my make or model of my vehicle.
R&D Auto was going to make me pay for a piece that wouldn't have even fit my vehicle and then charge me money for the labor. A piece that wouldn't have fit in my vehicle. All to the tune of $3,000.
And it gets worse. So my vehicle has always had tune ups, transmission flushes, etc. to keep it running in solid, working condition. It has always been very well taken care of. R&D Auto was the ONLY mechanic that I took it to within the last few months because I have always kept up on the maintenance of it and nothing was due during that short time frame.
I went to the dealership and they had asked if I had recently gotten some work done on the engine. I told them yes and showed them the itemized receipt from what R&D Auto gave me. The service department at the Dealership looked it and he shook his head very slowly. He then told me that the mechanic at R&D Auto had attempted to weld the a piece that he had accidentally cut through while attempting to replace it.
This was the same piece that I had paid to get replaced at R&D Auto. And it doesn't look new (as it should have been - and as I paid for), but instead, looks used worn. The wear and tear certainly couldn't have occurred from just a few months worth of use.
The mechanic at R&D auto essentially "glued" an integral part of my ENGINE back together again. !!!!!!
Because R&D Auto messed up so badly on the first job when I had originally taken it there, it ended up causing even MORE damage to my engine. Which caused damage to the tune of almost $1000.
And there's more. The dealership said that when they were first driving it, coolant started exploding everywhere. When they looked under the hood, they saw that there was a "weird clamp" on it, instead of what should have been on there to begin with. R&D Auto took off my clamp for my cooler and replaced it with something that obviously didn't even belong there, causing even more damage costing over $205.
I would like to stress that I have never taken my vehicle anywhere in between the time of taking it to R&D Auto the first time and from the time I had taken it to the Dealership. There was no need to because all of the tune-ups and maintenance was up to date.
Thank goodness I had taken my vehicle to the dealership because it ended up costing significantly less and they fixed the problem I was having as well as fixed the costly mistakes that R&D Auto made on my vehicle. read more