Mike Palmer Automotive

Reviews 3

M

M Reed

I took my car here on three separate occasions for various repairs ranging from minor to major, and I found the service to be honest, but low in value, and poor in quality. They had three strikes with me which convinced me to never come back. They say that they stand behind their service, but I found that to be categorically false. After getting new rear shocks put in for what I thought was a pretty good deal and in a good amount of time, I went back to get my truck up to snuff for the Utah Safety and Emissions test. They discovered an exhaust leak, and fixed it, at extraordinary cost to myself. After this repair, I returned, complaining of a new clicking noise in the engine that had not been there before, but they were unable to determine what this was. At a later date, they informed me that I had a new, different exhaust leak, and at a still later date (long after I swore these guys off), a different mechanic told me that the clicking noise comes from the new exhaust leak, but at the time, I simply pointed out that the clicking noise was new and since they had just been messing with the exhaust, I asked them to finish the thousand dollar job on my truck under their guarantee and make it stop making weird noises, since they apparently didn’t do it right the first time. They said, no. That would be $300 more, please. That should have been the last time I went here. Strike two was after the S&E inspection, the wiper fluid wasn’t pumping. Mike Palmer Automotive replaced the whole water pump and charged me for it. Since this is an older car, I trusted their assessment, and had the pump replaced. Turns out, the pump was fine. A different mechanic later verified that it was the switch that was broken, not the pump, and all I really had to do was hold the switch a certain way and it would work fine. So this was a totally unneeded $200 repair they charged me for that not only did I not need, it did nothing to fix the problem. Strike three was such a simple, inexpensive matter of customer relations (in my view), but apparently too difficult for these guys to get through their heads. After my S&E inspection, I needed to change out my faded yellow signal lights for “amber colored” ones as per the S&E guy’s orders. Fine. I asked the guys at Mike Palmer Automotive to swap them out, since they were doing a few other repairs on the car at the time (as mentioned above). No problem. They did, and the car passed the inspection. A few days later, though, one of the front headlights went out. I tried swapping this myself for a new bulb I had laying around, but found this didn’t work, so I took it back in to Mike Palmer. Maybe this headlight going out was a coincidence, but if you ask me, the timing of this happening right after the mechanics had their hands in there working with the signal lights is just too close for me to believe it to be a coincidence (the car had no history of headlights breaking like this). When I took it in and asked them to fix it under their guarantee, since I had recently spent over a thousand dollars with them, and they had also recently been screwing around in that exact area of the car, they said that they needed to rebuild the headlight “harness,” and they wanted $50 to fix it!! Oh really, and how did the harness break? Their refusal to fix this under their purported “guarantee” left the final of a long series of bad tastes in my mouth. I will never return to this business, and I would not recommend them to any of my friends. I don’t care if they follow-up to this review with a nasty response about me wanting free repairs either, since everything I wrote is true. I didnt want free repairs. I wanted them to finish doing the job they started, instead of breaking something else every time they got their hands inside my truck. I think I got a really bad value working with these guys, and I also think that the quality of their repairs was low on my truck.

KE

Kent Mitchell

I was familiar with Mike Palmer Automotive because my regular mechanic sent me to them a couple of years ago for a tricky exhaust repair that my ;mechanic wasnt able to provide. The experience then was positive. This time around I had a bad alternator that needed to be replaced ASAP and Mike Palmer was available quicker than my mechanic and quicker than the dealership. They quoted me an approximate price over the phone, which was favorable, so I took my car to them. When I dropped off the car I told them about a different repair the dealership tried to push on me some two years ago, when they had the vehicle for a recall. I thought this was a blatant upsell and declined at that time. I asked Mike Palmer to check this (it was a supposedly faulty water pump), which they did and reassured me that it was ok. I smiled knowing that the dealership tried to pull a fast one and I made the right choice by declining the upsell. Meanwhile, the folks at Mike Palmer did a once over and noted brakes that were very close to needing replacement, an item I was fully aware of. Without pressuring me, Vanessa mentioned this as something that will likely need to be done soon. Given my prior knowledge of the problem and a safety inspection due in a few months when it might not pass, I asked if they could take care of it along with the alternator. They could and did. Bottom line: this place is competent, professional, and honest. They fix what is needed, warn about what may be needed and their pricing was favorable and fair. The alternator repair was accompanied by a battery maintenance service to freshen and protect the posts, at a nominal cost. The brake repair was accompanied by a brake fluid change, not required but a good thing with the age of my vehicle, at a very reasonable extra fee. When I got home and looked under the hood, they had steam-cleaned the engine and engine compartment, making it look shiny and new after nearly 100,000 miles. This they did as a complimentary service, which was a very nice touch and very much appreciated. This is the kind of extra care that is service-oriented and a manifestation of a repair shop that takes pride in their work and wants to take care of the customer by going the extra mile here and there. I was very impressed with this. With my apologies for this very lengthy post, I would highly recommend Mike Palmer Automotive for all you automotive repairs, maintenance and needs. They are solid good people. Oh... and during the process I had several maintenance questions, both before and after the repair, including one totally non-related question that I called with several days later. Vanessa was polite and very willing to take time to answer questions, and gave me good and reliable answers. She was as pleasant as the day is long. These are great people. Best regards.

VI

Vincent Kerzman

I have a 2004 Jeep Liberty that was having a few problems. I had taken the Jeep to numerous repair shops in Salt Lake City and one in Murray as well as taking it to a Jeep Dealer. Every time I would get the same response from the repair shops. They all said that they couldnt find anything wrong with the Jeep but here is the bill. One dealer even said that they fixed the problem and the funny thing is that a couple hours later it had the same problem. So I took it back to them and they said that there is nothing wrong, I had an auto parts store do a code read each of the times and they all read the it was a misfire. I had the Jeep towed to Mike Palmer Automotive and ran they found out that the two of six cylinders were shot. I ended having to replace the engine on the jeep because it was going to be cheaper to replace the engine instead of getting it fixed. If the previous repair shops would have taken the time to really run a diagnostic check on the car they would have found out that there was a problem with the cylinders. Mike gave me the pros and the cons of just fixing the motor or replacing it. He spoke with me about the various engine manufactures that are out there and why we should go with a Jasper Engine. So I did my research and found that Jasper Engines are rated very highly for performance and reliability. The cost of the replacement was what was quoted and I had it back when promised. Mike and his staff are a awesome group and they stand behind what they promise. I will use Mike Palmer Automotive on a routine basis. If you are looking for a good mechanic that is not only good but also has a personality, then take it to Mike Palmer Automotive.

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