I really wanted to give this shop a higher rating but after my second visit, I just can't seem to justify coming back or recommending this place to people I know. I took my cars here twice hoping the second visit would be better, but I just didn't have the best experience.
I used to work on fighter airplanes so I enjoy maintenance work and I do most of the maintenance on my vehicle to save money and because it's fun. There are times where I take it to a mechanic because I don't have the time and/or some jobs are easier with two or more people.
My most recent visit to RBG was on July 3rd, 2023. I had taken my car to get it looked at because my spark plugs were fouling and I was thinking maybe it skipped timing, but figured it would be good to have a second eye. So on July 5th, I had called in which they found that my 3rd injector was stuck open. I had brought them another injector to replace it along with oil and an oil filter to change the oil. Then they told me the fourth injector was also leaking and they would order me a o-ring kit and said it would arrive on Friday, July 7th. On July 7th I called and they told me there was a delay on the part and it would arrive on Monday July 10th. I called on July 10th and told me it has not arrived yet and that it would be here tomorrow (July 11). So I called again on Tuesday July 11th and they told me the part arrived but the technician working on my car had to go on leave for personal reasons and that he would be back on Thursday (July 13th). My thought process was "Why can't they just have someone else put the o-ring on the injector and test the fuel pressure and for any fuel leaks?". I didn't understand why they would make a customer wait so long for a job that isn't too demanding and if there was a reason to hold off maintenance for that job (ie they are busy or they're short on staffing) I would think they would give a reasoning, but I didn't receive any of that. On Wednesday (July 12th) I called at 2 pm and they told me they were just about to get someone on my car, but I had told them to hold off on doing any work and that I would just get the car back. I went to the shop around 4 pm to pick up the car and I had a tow truck on its way since I didn't have a fourth injector. The vehicle was not ready for me. I thought I gave them plenty of time to button everything up but I guess not. There was still missing hardware so I just told them I would cancel the tow and get it tomorrow.
The next day I pick up the vehicle and pay. They charged me two hours of diagnostic and 1 hour of labor (remove and replace the one injector). The oil change wasn't done so they didn't charge me for it (I didn't understand why this wasn't done when it was in their shop for that long). The removal and replacement of 1 injector was $100 worth of labor which blew my mind because it's literally just 2 screws that are in front of you and the connector. It takes less than 5 minutes probably, but their system charges 1 hour of labor. I ended up paying over $330 and my car was in their shop for 7 business days for one fuel injector o-ring.
Overall:
I think Jesse is really cool and Jonathon is an awesome mechanic, but the business model here just doesn't provide the best guest experience. I was really hoping I can take my cars here for when I don't have the time to work on them myself, but I will just have to clean up my schedule to allow more time to work on my own cars and look elsewhere for a better shop when I don't.
1.) I feel like their billing system takes advantage of customers (Billed $100 for 1 injector and its 1 hour of labor, I can understand half an hour), but that's just insane. I'm picturing someone looking at the screw for 25 minutes each before actually removing them.
2.) They don't prioritize long term guest experience at least I didn't get that after two visits. They kept my vehicle in the shop for a simple job.
3.) The lack of communication is subpar. I feel like they can do better communicating rather than have a customer continually call them to get updates.
Receipts attached from both visits. read more