C.A.R.S. Complete Auto Repair Services

Reviews 3

VE

Vernon Mingo II

AVOID THIS SHOP LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! Paid them to replace the bearings in my SUV. In doing so, they failed to fully tighten the nut on my passenger front side hub. I added new rotors and brake pads the following week myself. But their mistake went unnoticed for a couple of months. 3 months in, Im getting a violent shaking in my steering wheel while braking. And with brand new bearings, rotors and pads, this is NOT supposed to be happening. Took it to my friends at Brake Check to inspect the work that C.A.R.S. did. With the car on the lift, I watched the mechanic manually wobble the wheel vertically by hand as if it were a loose tooth. Was told immediately the front passenger wheel has "bearing play" as a result of them not doing something correctly. This eventually caused "warping" in my rotors. Braking with a loose wheel on your vehicle will do that. So back at C.A.R.S., I notice the entire staff has been replaced since my last visit in Dec (I wonder why). Im explaining to Steve, the new manager, my dilemma. Upon his mechanics initial inspection, he discloses to me the error in them not tightening the nut on the hub, fixed that, and ensured me that would fix my problem. He went on to say theyd "tested" my bearings, rotors, brakes and suspension, and all looked great. I wasnt out of the parking look good before turning around and coming right back in. STEERING WHEEL STILL SHAKING WHILE BRAKING! This time, Steve says, as per the same mechanic, the problem is my rotors are warped. And because they didnt install them, they couldnt be held liable. But just 15 mins earlier, everything checked out 100%! Never have I ever had a warped rotor on any of my vehicles at any time. Especially not 3 months after a brand new install. This made no sense. I voiced to him the only explanation was the wobbly wheel as a result of the shoddy bearing job they did. HE AGREED WITH MY THEORY, but still gave me 15 different excuses as to why the liability was mine and that their error was not severe enough to effect my braking the way it has. Given the mistake did happen, this couldve easily been remedied with them replacing my rotors & pads at no cost to me. I only paid a little over $100 online for the set. Hell, they couldve reimbursed me that amount to buy a new set and I wouldve done the work myself in half an hour! Long story short, this wouldve been a 15-min job for them and the $100 cost wouldve been a slap on the wrist for what couldve eventually caused a very dangerous accident. Rather than take responsibility in this situation (like the Christian company they tout themselves to be), its clear theyre no more honest or fair than any other shadetree mechanic shop that is out to screw you over and get paid in the process. They just lost a loyal potential lifetime customer. My advice: TAKE YOUR VEHICLE AND MONEY ANYWHERE ELSE, BUT C.A.R.S.!!! Even if it costs more, you get what you pay for...unless youre doing business with them. Then youll get less.

JA

Jamie Callahan

There are good reasons why customers should take care when dealing with automotive mechanics. Most folks dont understand the complexity of todays cars and cant easily diagnose problems themselves. An obvious symptom like a car pulling to the right should mean an alignment would fix the problem, but a dishonest mechanic might lead you to believe more than a simple fix is needed. The following is a timeline of my experience with C.A.R.S. - Brought my Kia Optima to C.A.R.S. based on good Google reviews and it was near my home - Was told they dont do alignments, but would diagnose the problem anyway - Learned they had sent my car to NTB for alignment while I was out getting coffee - I was told the alignment would set a baseline whereby they could determine if the issue was more complex - After the alignment, the car stilled pulled to the right and I was told I needed new struts and shocks, and likely a Camber Bolt kit to fix the issue - The estimate for all work was $1850.00 (not including the camber bolt kit) I agreed after-the-fact to pay for the alignment at NTB ($145) and the "diagnostic" C.A.R.S. did on my car ($115), but was skeptical about needing new struts and shocks (I certainly didnt think $1850 was a reasonable price). After some quick research and a few phone calls, I determined that I could find someone else to fix my car. Enter Beck & Masten Kia in Tomball. It took me a few weeks to get an appointment, but they fixed my car in a matter of hours. Heres what they did to fix it: - THEY ALIGNED THE CAR (struts and shocks were fine) - I paid $92 ($59 for the alignment, $19.95 for tire rotation, and $15.95 for some routine scheduled maintenance). Thats a difference of $1758.00 that I didnt have to spend, folks! Perhaps the mechanics at C.A.R.S. were well intentioned, I cant say, but its clear they are inept or worse, crooks. Furthermore, I have a print out from NTB of the initial alignment done and it shows specified ranges that were completely ignored, and before and after alignments that didnt change. What kind of idiots work at NTB? I showed this print out to the mechanic at Kia and he just shook his head and laughed. Heres the lesson folks: ALWAYS DO YOUR RESEARCH before agreeing blindly to pay for repairs that seem expensive and unnecessary. C.A.R.Ss slogan is "Welcome back to affordable car care." They mustve taken their cue from the folks who dreamed up the "Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)!" My advice: DONT BRING YOUR BUSINESS TO C.A.R.S.

JA

Jason John

Heres the problem with todays younger mechanics. If they cant plug your vehicle into their little computer where the computer tells them what is wrong, most of them cant troubleshoot the problem. I have an older, low mileage, GM truck that I took to C.A.R.S. on 2920 last summer/fall. The A/C wasnt working. They fixed it within a day or two and and I was happy. A few weeks later, my truck began misfiring. Now, to be clear, I dont think the misfire had anything to do with the A/C repair. I took the truck back to C.A.R.S. and they replace the rotor, cap, spark plugs and wires. The misfire returned. So, I took my truck back to them again. This time they replaced the distributor, but the problem remained. After a few days at the shop, Ray tells me "we cant figure it out". I asked about all the parts we threw at it and replies with, "well, you were going to need those parts eventually, anyway". After the repair, my tachometer is jumping like crazy because of the new distributor. I take my truck to another mechanic who found vacuum leaks, a bad EGR valve, AND THE WRONG SPARK PLUGS. The spark plugs they had installed stuck a quarter of an inch deeper into the cylinder and one of them was completely burned up. Also, once another new distributor was installed, my tachometer stopped jumping. So, I emailed the owners and explained my frustration, providing receipt numbers and pictures of the spark plug size different. Im told by Dennis Mendoz that he would investigate the issue and get back to me. He doesnt. So, I email him again. This is his response... "_____, what is it you would like me to do? I no longer have that mechanic employeed. He had made a few other mistakes that cost the shop time and money. So he is not longer with us. What is it that you would like us to do?" I replied again explaining that the ball was in their court to make things right and Dennis told me, once again, that he would get back with me. Its now been two weeks. So, Im done with these guys.

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