The Auto Shop

Address:	2560 E Plano Pkwy, Plano, TX 75074, USA
Phone:	+1 972-578-0588
Site:	theautoshop.com
Rating:	4.5
Working:	7:30AM–5:30PM 7:30AM–5:30PM 7:30AM–5:30PM 7:30AM–5:30PM 7:30AM–5:30PM Closed Closed

Location

Photos 30

Reviews 4

Marcus Lopez

POOR SERVICE, OVERPRICED My BMW 535i was heavily leaking oil and I had it towed to The Auto Shop on AAA’s recommendation. I was hesitant in paying the $135 diagnostics fee because other shops have never charged me to look at my car. I was then told it would cost $500 to fix the problem. I thought that’s not bad and gave my approval. After taking my car apart, they told me they made a mistake and ordered the wrong part and it would now cost $1,082. I did not appreciate the price change. This is not a way to do business and this just tells me they don’t know what they’re doing, but overall, that’s just not cool. I called All German Repair, a highly-rated business that obviously specializes in German cars. They actually quoted me $200 less! So I had the car towed there and learned that after taking my car apart, The Auto Shop just threw the parts in the trunk without the hardware to reassemble it. That’s just borderline vindictive. In addition, All German Repair told me the auxiliary fan was removed by someone who didn’t know what they were doing, and was cracked in the process. Turns out it’s an amateur mistake made by shops who don’t specialize in German cars. That’s a $895 part by the way. I went to The Auto Shop with a positive attitude hoping they would be willing to accept some responsibility. I asked to speak to the owner Jerry right behind me sitting in his glass office who looked reasonable and might work with me. That was not an option. Instead I got the supervisor, Erica, who is only nice when taking your credit card number. My positivity was instantly met with negativity. What can you do, some people are just like that. Probably from dealing with all the customer complaints. Why you would put someone like that in charge I have no idea. When I mentioned 1-star reviews, Erica said they only have four 1-star reviews. Well I just counted and theres fifteen (soon to be sixteen) 1-star reviews.I guess it will have quadrupled since she last checked. Needless to say, they were less than helpful. Erica assured me they don’t make mistakes, even though they made the earlier mistake of ordering the wrong part. Anyway, I apologize for the length of this review, but you should know what kind of people you’re dealing with. If you need more convincing, just read the other 1 star reviews. I should have known not to take a high-performance sports car to a place with Transformers painted on the window :-/

Nadia C

I’m so frustrated right now. I went in to The Auto Shop in Plano and asked to have my car serviced for the 60K mile maintenance. I sat there patiently for over an hour. At some point we discussed a small issue that my car had that wasn’t related to the maintenance. One of the employees suggested that I take it in to the dealership instead because it may have been under warranty. I paid $200 and left. Everyone was nice and I thought things were great. I even rated the place 5 stars before leaving. A few hours later I’m at the Mazda Dealership and I’m discussing the issue with them. Apparently, the issue isn’t covered under warranty. The transaxle is different from the transaxle control which is not to be confused with the transaxle computer. Just so that you’re not confused the latter two aren’t covered under the 60K mile warranty. (There was a lot more to that but I don’t even know where to start.) Before leaving I get a breakdown of the potential costs, $300. Okay, that’s fine. But, as I’m leaving I asked the receptionist to repeat something for me. “Did you say that the filters need to be changed? But I just got them changed.” She walks to the back and gets the notes from the technician. “No, he recommends that the filters be changed.” Now I’m silently freaking out. I show her the invoice of the first place I went to and she mentioned that they should have been changed as part of the scheduled maintenance. As I’m driving to the next place I’m doing my best to keep my cool. This is all on me. I should have skipped college and gone to trade school, or at least listened to my father about how to change this and that on my car. I arrive at the Auto Shop, again, and explain what just happened at the dealership. Apparently, only the cabin air filter was changed not the other filter(s). ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? I couldn’t hold it together, I cried. It’s all about TRUST. Who do you trust? What do you do? Everyone I dealt with was kind, but after $500 ($300 which I still need to pay) I still don’t know if everything I paid for has been taken care of and, more importantly, when will it happen again? Lessons learned!

Craig Critchfield

I just went to them for a motorcycle state inspection. They were fast & friendly; in & out in less than 30 minutes. @David ... I havent taken a vehicle to them, but in their defense the parts could be more expensive if they only use OEM parts. OEM parts tend to be more expensive, but are generally more reliable than after-market. If you bought after-market, then I would be very wary of how well they perform. Ive got a Suzuki Burgman, and folks complain about how expensive the OEM parts are (generally 120-200% more expensive than after market), but they last 2-3x longer and are way more reliable. Some shops will use after-market parts to reduce cost and seem attractive...and then youre back in their shop 3 months later when the part fails. I dont know how Auto Shop works, but if I were you I would have asked them what type of parts they were quoting prices for...after-market or OEM. As for the labor...yeah, $350 sounds high. Sounds like they were perhaps charging each part replacement as a separate work order, so the hours were separate. When parts need to be replaced in the same area, mechanics usually lump the hours under a single work order, since youre already working on the area for one thing and its a simple thing to just replace other parts in that area while youre at it. I got a quote for some work at Plano Kawasaki Suzuki, and they were trying to charge me for things as separate labor items even though the work was in the same location. So, some mechanics do that, and it racks up a huge labor bill quick. Just my two cents.

Justin Timetosaveyou

This review is about 1 1/2 years in the making. Ive been a customer of The Auto Shop for about four years and I will say my early experiences were quite good. However, the past 18 months has driven me away from the shop - for good. Had three vehicles in during the recent 18 months for issues ranging from electrical, to fuel injection, to rear-end work. In the prior two cases, I had to make several time-consuming visits and ultimately had to go to a dealer for problem resolution. The dealers are more expensive -- but at least you dont have to pay for the problem resolution multiple times. The back-breaking straw is that the customer service just isnt there...used to be, but not any longer. I recently asked for an estimate (for something the dealers had no problem quoting) and was told they couldnt estimate over the phone but would be happy to take a look and see if they could handle the work. Not the level of confidence I expect from a good auto repair facility. Lastly, they have a so called rewards program (along the lines of cash back), but they insist you cant use them along with any of their monthly specials. Not so much a reward in my book. My advice is to use a dealership if you need anything more than a basic tune up or routine service - even if you need to pay a little more (you get what you pay for).