I took my car in to Steve's after seeing all the good reviews. My car has been failing emissions and has a check engine light, so I had them take a look in the hope that my issue would be fixed, not compounded. I had to drop my car off and was pleased when they offered to give me a lift to work. When the shuttle driver was told there was another customer that needed to be dropped off, he was visibly annoyed and vocally complained to his colleague about how much driving he was having to do. It made me feel awkward, like I was inconveniencing them by giving them my business. I was called later that day and was told by the mechanic that I had several critical issues with my car, that would total over two grand to fix. I asked how much it'd cost to just fix what was needed to pass emissions. They quoted me 600 dollars to replace a part that I 1) know costs less than 100 bucks and 2) requires the removal of only two screws to take out and replace. I've taken that part out to inspect it myself and it took all of two minutes, so I know that 500 dollars for labor is unreasonable. I thanked them for diagnosing my car and asked them to not do anything further. The mechanic was clearly confused and seemed annoyed that I requested this. Not sure why; they already made 200 bucks just by looking at it. After I got my car, I noticed a weird banging sound in the hood that wasn't there before when I was on the freeway. The noise is only present when I am going about 40 mph and up. Well, as you see in the photo, it looks like the bottom of my car is hanging down and isn't evenly attached to the rest of the car. I suspect this is wobbling and hitting the car at high speeds. So now that's something else I have to deal with, and even then I don't know for certain that's what's making the weird sound. Turns out I have an acquaintance who works on cars. He took a look and suspects the problem is due to something completely unrelated to the part Steve's told me had to be replaced to pass emissions. Given that Steve's also told me that my oil was critical and needed to be changed, even though I had it changed three days prior by someone else, I'm inclined to believe that I was nickel and dimed, and now the bottom of my car needs fixing as well. Some of the employees I interacted with seemed nice. But that's really all I can say. I don't feel confident in the service I got and I am overall just fed up with not getting straight answers when all I'm trying to do is pass emissions before my deadline.
I'm truly sorry you didn't have a 5 star experience with us because that's our goal for every client, whether they've invaded us from Great Britain or not. We have a 100% client satisfaction guarantee so please call me at 801-694-7936 and I promise we'll resolve this. Until then, there are a few things I'd ask you to consider. 1) At Steve's Automotive Specialists we follow a scientific approach to diagnosis and only recommend replacing parts that prove to have both a logical and scientific reason to be replaced. 2) We use the best parts and provide the best warranties in the automotive business so it doesn't seem appropriate to compare that level of pricing to doing it yourself. 3) If you can show me a legitimate estimate for doing the $600 job we quoted, using the same part(s) and providing the same warranty for less than 100 bucks, I'll do the job for free and give you a $100 bill just for your trouble. 4) I'd be happy to take a look at what's hanging down from your car at no charge, whether it had anything to do with us or not. 5) If your oil looked contaminated enough for our mechanic to recommend changing it, it means it's contaminated and perhaps you should do an engine cleaning. The fact that you changed it a few days prior may be irrelevant, especially if sludge is building up in the engine, because an oil change probably won't correct that issue. I look forward to speaking with you soon, thank you! - Richard (Owner)
- Steve's Automotive Specialists - Sandy