I brought my car to Steve's automotive specialists after reading great reviews and getting a slightly higher than average but still pretty reasonable quote over the phone, $300 to fix a wheel bearing. I experienced pretty decent service (A free shuttle to my favorite coffee shop while I waited!) and what I would call run of the mill price gouging/extortion. After they had taken my car apart - and authorized a charge of $185 to do so- they called and said it would be almost $900 to replace the bearing, because I hadn't specified that my car has two wheel bearings on each side instead of one like most cars. (Which is silly for a number of reasons, I was looking at the factory service manual diagram while on the phone with them for the quote and specifically asked if it would cost more for having two bearings, and then they said they looked up parts to make sure they were available so there shouldn't have been any surprises there, also twice the parts equals 3x the price.. how?) In the end I was able to talk them down to $516 dollars for the repair, still almost double the original quote, no specifications for what their hourly rate for labor is on the work order, and a ridiculous markup on the parts (or is 250-500% normal for mechanics?) The best part, the bearing they replaced still makes noise! I was left with such a bad taste in my mouth that I still haven't called them about the problem. I guess my search for a trustworthy mechanic in the Salt Lake Valley continues. Update: I had to replace the inner of the two bearings they worked on in my wheel after ~13k miles, I put in a quality Timken bearing myself, it cost me $20 retail. Hmm.
Brian, please call me immediately at 801-694-7936 so we can sort through the facts and resolve this for you. - Richard (Owner/Manager)
- Steve's Automotive Specialists