I brought in my 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe because it had started to leak oil.
I stopped at Napa to check to see who they recommended and they gave me a list of 4 shops.
The first one was unable to get my car in as soon as I had hoped. The second one I called was Four Star Auto. I was in luck and they had has a cancellation that following morning so I told them the issue and brought it in first thing in the morning. I showed the gentleman at the front desk the picture I had taken just so he could see what had me concerned. I asked them to check to see where it was leaking from and call me before they fix it.
Austin called me and said they ran a full diagnostic. Not what I asked for, but okay. If that is what was needed to find the oil leak I am fine with that. My vehicle has never leaked before so it really had me concerned.
My car is over 10 years old, has over 170K miles on it and has lived most of it life in New York meaning it has seen a lot of salty winters. But it runs great. The dash however is lite up like a Christmas tree. I am talking "Check Engine, TCS, ABS" and a couple others. The man started going through the list of things he had found. first addressing the oil leak, what it was and how much it was to fix it. All of that was reasonable. Approx $220 to get the parts and fix it! SOLD!
He then wanted to tell me about the other things he found. First he wanted to address my ABS and TCS lights. Apparently my Tone rings were damaged so they would not preform their function. I haven't had ABS or TCS for almost 5 years. It is not something that is needed for the brakes to function. His price on that repair may have been reasonable. I told him it was not something I could afford at the moment and I will have to skip that repair for the time being. He then moved on saying my spark plugs were in desperate need of replacing. I asked him how much that would run and he said they would want to do a tune up. The cost on that would be $800! I have NEVER heard of anyone paying more than $300 and that is on a very fancy vehicle! I told him in no way could I afford that, however I would really like my spark plugs changed. He flat out said they would not do it, they least they would do is replace the spark plugs and wires and quoted me $560. I told him never mind I would have to have a friend do it instead because that is crazy.
He then decided to tell me, "I am not sure if I mentioned this but since we ran a full diagnostic, you will be charged around $100 so that will bring your total to just over $300." To which I said fine.
Next, he decided to tell me my transmission fluid was burnt out and needed to be replaced. Which I thought was odd seeing as how that is something that normally lasts 75,000 miles and I just had it replaced last year....I said I will postpone addressing that. Next he said that my oil has not been changed in a long time and we should address that. To this I replied, "Did you look at the oil?" he said "No, we just saw the sticker in the window and wanted to make you aware" Odd, that a full diagnostic would not include actually looking at the oil. I then let the gentleman know I had gotten my oil replaced 4 days ago, with Mobile 1 synthetic. So my oil was not in need of changing, and the new sticker they had placed on my window had fallen off and was sitting in my center console.
After this conversation with Austin, I felt very comfortable with my decisions but just in case something he mentioned needed immediate attention or was a fair price I called a mechanic friend from back home. I had taken notes while Austin was trying to sell me all these other repairs and also took down the numbers he gave me....My friend told me exactly what to call back and have him address (my oil and to top off one other fluid) bringing my total to $321.00.
He about had a heart attack when I told him what he wanted to charge me for a tune up and then again for spark plugs and wires.....He straight up told me that was insane and that I should never return to that shop again.
As a single woman, I warn you to stay VERY FAR AWAY!
I brought in my 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe because it had started to leak oil.
I stopped at Napa to check to see who they recommended and they gave me a list of 4 shops.
The first one was unable to get my car in as soon as I had hoped. The second one I called was Four Star Auto. I was in luck and they had has a cancellation that following morning so I told them the issue and brought it in first thing in the morning. I showed the gentleman at the front desk the picture I had taken just so he could see what had me concerned. I asked them to check to see where it was leaking from and call me before they fix it.
Austin called me and said they ran a full diagnostic. Not what I asked for, but okay. If that is what was needed to find the oil leak I am fine with that. My vehicle has never leaked before so it really had me concerned.
My car is over 10 years old, has over 170K miles on it and has lived most of it life in New York meaning it has seen a lot of salty winters. But it runs great. The dash however is lite up like a Christmas tree. I am talking "Check Engine, TCS, ABS" and a couple others. The man started going through the list of things he had found. first addressing the oil leak, what it was and how much it was to fix it. All of that was reasonable. Approx $220 to get the parts and fix it! SOLD!
He then wanted to tell me about the other things he found. First he wanted to address my ABS and TCS lights. Apparently my Tone rings were damaged so they would not preform their function. I haven't had ABS or TCS for almost 5 years. It is not something that is needed for the brakes to function. His price on that repair may have been reasonable. I told him it was not something I could afford at the moment and I will have to skip that repair for the time being. He then moved on saying my spark plugs were in desperate need of replacing. I asked him how much that would run and he said they would want to do a tune up. The cost on that would be $800! I have NEVER heard of anyone paying more than $300 and that is on a very fancy vehicle! I told him in no way could I afford that, however I would really like my spark plugs changed. He flat out said they would not do it, they least they would do is replace the spark plugs and wires and quoted me $560. I told him never mind I would have to have a friend do it instead because that is crazy.
He then decided to tell me, "I am not sure if I mentioned this but since we ran a full diagnostic, you will be charged around $100 so that will bring your total to just over $300." To which I said fine.
Next, he decided to tell me my transmission fluid was burnt out and needed to be replaced. Which I thought was odd seeing as how that is something that normally lasts 75,000 miles and I just had it replaced last year....I said I will postpone addressing that. Next he said that my oil has not been changed in a long time and we should address that. To this I replied, "Did you look at the oil?" he said "No, we just saw the sticker in the window and wanted to make you aware" Odd, that a full diagnostic would not include actually looking at the oil. I then let the gentleman know I had gotten my oil replaced 4 days ago, with Mobile 1 synthetic. So my oil was not in need of changing, and the new sticker they had placed on my window had fallen off and was sitting in my center console.
After this conversation with Austin, I felt very comfortable with my decisions but just in case something he mentioned needed immediate attention or was a fair price I called a mechanic friend from back home. I had taken notes while Austin was trying to sell me all these other repairs and also took down the numbers he gave me....My friend told me exactly what to call back and have him address (my oil and to top off one other fluid) bringing my total to $321.00.
He about had a heart attack when I told him what he wanted to charge me for a tune up and then again for spark plugs and wires.....He straight up told me that was insane and that I should never return to that shop again.
As a single woman, I warn you to stay VERY FAR AWAY!