Pacific Car Care‎

8350 SW Barbur Blvd, Portland, OR 97219, USA

Address:	8350 SW Barbur Blvd, Portland, OR 97219, USA
Phone:	+1 503-293-7200
Site:	pacificcarcareportlandor.com
Rating:	3.9
Working:	7AM–6PM 7AM–6PM 7AM–6PM 7AM–6PM 7AM–6PM Closed Closed

Location

Photos 9

Reviews 4

Anonymous User

Heres the short version: Be careful. The best-case scenario is they gave me a $2000 misdiagnosis (at a very high price for the proposed repairs) while ignoring some clear signals that they were incorrect. The worst-case scenario is that they were intentionally trying to pull something over on me. Details are below for those who are interested ... I noticed my car was gushing oil when I started it up after a below-freezing night in December. I called PCC and had my car towed in. To their credit they advised about the $90 (!!) inspection fee before I towed it in. I told them I couldnt see where the oil was coming from because I was in a dark parking lot when I tried to start it up, but that I thought it was coming from near the bottom of the radiator. Next day they advised I had a blown headgasket because there was a milky-substance under the oil cap (which was true, and often a sign of a blown headgasket) and because they detected carbon in the coolant. They quoted me $2160 for the headgasket repair and to fix an unrelated rear-brake problem they found. I did some quick research as due diligence and this is what I found: 1. in the 2.0 liter VW engine I had a milky substance under the oil cap sometimes occurs after driving in near-freezing temperature (as the temperature had been all week), and it is not always a sign of a blown headgasket; 2. a blown headgasket will commonly be presaged by a number of symptoms (smoke and a few others, I dont remember), none of which I had; 3. a blown oil cooler, which is located near the bottom of the radiator—and which is much cheaper to fix, will produce massive oil leaks just like the one I had; 4. carbon in the coolant can be caused by rust, for one, or something like a blown oil cooler, for another; 5. a compression test is the one sure way to diagnose a blown headgasket; and 5. after calling a couple shops for quotes, the consensus was that a headgasket repair should run me, tops, $1100 from a non-dealer shop, and the brakes $300. I found most of this stuff by checking VW fan forums and other sites for about an hour. So I called PCC up and told them that I hadt had any of the symptoms commonly associated with a close to blowing headgasket and that a blown oil cooler seemed to match what happened perfectly. They told me they were "99.9%" sure it was the headgasket. Regarding the oil cooler, they suggested that the headgasket and oil cooler could have blown simultaneously, with one causing the other in some accident of physics that I dont quite understand. I also asked about a compression test and they essentially blew the suggestion off. At this point I had a strong suspicion they were trying to screw me, so I told them I was going to have the car scrapped so that they wouldnt mess with it for bringing it to another shop (I had heard this sometimes happens). I towed it to my normal shop and their opinion was that they found nothing that would make them believe there was anything wrong with the headgasket. We fixed the oil cooler instead ... for less than $300 ... and the problem was fixed. In sum, they suggested just about the most expensive repair possible, they provided "99.9%" assurance without doing the one test that could provide 99.9% assurance, they ignored strong suggestions that they could be wrong, and they, in fact, proved to be wrong. Oh, oh ... AND they did this while charging what, from all indications, are exorbitant prices (I asked my mechanic from my hometown about what they were charging and he literally laughed). Plus (I almost forgot about this) when I got the car back from them one of the big plastic tubings coming out of the engine was snapped in two (I spent a lot of time staring into the engine trying to find the leak before I brought it in ... it wasnt like that when I got it to them). So either they are overpriced and incompetent (at least in my case) or overpriced and untrustworthy. Just my opinion.

April Sunshine

December 2016. This place took nearly an hour and a half to complete a simple oil change, refused to honor their own coupon AND failed to do the "Free inspection" as advertised. I expected to see a surcharge for the synthetic oil but got much worse. Basically, I was charged 3x the initial quote for bare bones, slow work. Ive never paid that much for a simple oil change. Ever. And Ive never been to a car care place that doesnt perform an inspection or even top off the fluids on a customers vehicle! Total disappointment. Im stunned. The details: The official website listed a coupon for "Oil change and free inspection: $19.99" with a button that said "redeem now." I clicked this button and filled in the form, then clicked submit. They got back to me via email, confirming the time, but less than a week later, when I showed up day of, they told me the time was no good because their mechanic wasnt even on shift at that time. The employees themselves were nice as rice but the work they performed was stunningly bare bones. I left with no clue on the health of my engine oil, coolant, tire pressure, tire longevity. Nothing. A shame since I was hoping to make this my go to place for any future work on my car, but the fact is Ive received better service even from the mainstream places everyone tells you to avoid. Just... Bizarre. PS. Blew a tire just a month later. Couldve been avoided had they done the inspection they promised! There goes $500

Anonymous User

WORST MECHANICS IN PORTLAND METRO!!! My car broke down on 99, so I pushed it to the closest mechanic. After a thorough review they wanted to charge me $2,400 for brakes, new clutch, radiator and front and back shocks. I went with just the radiator because I couldnt drive my car unless this was fixed. They also had me sign a waiver saying that my brakes were "Too dangerous to drive with." 2 WEEKS LATER my radiator started leaking again and I had to pay another $50 for a new hose. I even asked Damon if my hose was ok how it was when I left initially and he said it was fine. 2 WEEKS after that I took my car to a clutch mechanic and he adjusted something on the clutch. He said the bands or belts or something had gotten loose over time. He didnt even charge me it was so easy. Damon wanted me to replace my entire clutch for $1,400. Are you kidding me Damon? I always thought mechanics were shady and after this experience Ill never trust em. Always get another estimate folks! Watch...the owner will reply to this with some mechanical jargon that I dont understand to make me look stupid. Bottom line is, I never write reviews on google, but because I was asked to spend $1,400 on a clutch at PCC and went to another mechanic who fixed it for free, I had to. DO NOT GO TO THIS ESTABLISHMENT!!!!!!

Anonymous User

Ive taken my cars here for over ten years, and have always been impressed by their honesty. Ive overheard dozens of conversations between Ken (owner) and other customers, and he is as up-front and honest as they come. Maybe even more telling, I hear his conversations with other employees about cars and customers, and theres nothing but respect and a desire to do a good job. Ninety-five percent of all my many visits to them have been smooth, with repairs done correctly. When there were problems, he has fixed them as fast as possible, and has never charged me an extra dime to get it right. My only complaint is that Mike at the front desk is not as customer service-oriented as one might like. Ive heard him argue with customers at times, and hes overly quick to defend the shop and blame the customer in any dispute (this has happened to me more than once). Everything ultimately gets resolved, but theres more friction than there should be. But everyone else in the shop is really pleasant and easy to work with!