My college aged (not mechanically savvy) daughter moved to the Twin Cities and her '02 Honda would not start one morning. Not knowing any mechanics in the area, I called AAA and they informed me this place was down the street. I had the car towed there. Diagnostics were performed, and Tim called me to let me know what work needed to be done. I've owned this car for a long time and know it's history and issues well. Tim told me I needed several items replaced or repaired which I knew WERE NOT RELATED TO THE PROBLEM THE CAR WAS HAVING. I'm an attorney by trade, and it took about 10 minutes of cross examination to arrive at what he told me was the minimum amount of work that would need to be done to get the car operating. However, after this conversation, and based on his quote, I still do not think he is being "honest" with me. I will take the final work order when complete to my local mechanic and determine if all of the work was necessary. If it was, I will update this post. However, I am 100% certain that if my daughter was dealing directly with Tim, she would have paid at let 2x the amount quoted to me ($900) for a long list of unnecessary work. If somebody has to tell you that they are "honest" they probably are not! I will be calling AAA to report this vendor.
Nelsen, Thank you for taking the time to express your concern about this experience with us. I apologize that it has been less than an excellent visit. I have spoken with Tim, as well as, the technician working on the vehicle. The diagnosis determined that the ignition system is at fault for the engine not running. Doing a full tune up is the right way to fix the underlying issue, as well as, prevent your daughter from having to endure a re-occurrence of the vehicle leaving her stranded. According to CARFAX vehicle history and the condition of the existing parts, it seems as though this vehicle has not had a tune up in over 175,000 miles. I can definitely put myself in your shoes and see why you would question the recommended repairs, it is hard to know who to trust when it comes to getting a vehicle serviced. I assure you that we strive the be honest in every guest transaction, regardless of the severity of the repair. Please do get the second opinion that you mentioned. I am confident that your mechanic will alleviate your concerns and instill at least some trust in Honest-1. To address the recommended services that were not related to the initial starting problem, it seems as though we were not very clear that these were mileage based recommendations or non-urgent needs. I apologize if that was the case. Honda recommends a timing belt/water pump replacement on this vehicle at 105,000 miles. According to the CARFAX vehicle history that service has not been performed. The other recommendations are relevant, but not urgent. There is great potential of upsetting our guests by recommending too many services to them at one time, however, we owe it to our guests to properly inform them of their vehicles needs. It's a fine line, I'm sorry that we didn't communicate clearly enough in this case. Thank you for your business. You and your daughter are valued guests. Sincerely, Jon Nygren - General Manager 651-482-0035
- Honest-1 Auto Care Roseville