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Mechanic recco in RTP NC area? (NO CROWN HONDA DEALERS, PLEASE)
Hello, all,
I have a horror story and a question. I bought a 1991 Civic Station Wagon with 196,000 or so miles on it. I love that little thing! It has terrific road feel and gets incredible mileage for a 90's car, but it needed a lot of work from the get-go. Problem is finding a reliable mechanic in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. After various adventures with Chapel Hill independent mechanics, one of whom allowed as how I could have my brakes done (for $40 over the dealership price, as I later found out) but had to have my car off his lot that day by 5:00 pm sharp, another of whom swore to use OEM parts but had a 19 year old install no-name brake pads that squealed from day one, I started searching for dealers in the area. Crown Honda of Southpoint was just two exits down the interstate. They did two services on my car, with excellent results, but....I'd broken my shoulder in a bicycle accident and was still in very painful recovery a month later when my Honda's rear brakes needed servicing. I called Crown Honda and made an appointment to have the brakes serviced. Of course I specified the year, make and model of my little wagon. The tech writer at Crown Honda insisted I be there at 7:00 am (I work swing shift, so this was very early for me). It takes a lot longer to get ready with only one arm, but I did make it there close to the time specified. After waiting an hour and an half with no word of my car, while trying to find some way to work with a broken arm and my laptop, I asked the service writer how it was coming along. He barely looked up from his podium to tell me the brake pads weren't there and, next time, make an appointment before I brought my car in. When I told him I had made an appointment, he just said the parts weren't there, they'd ordered them and come back when they were. The service manager's name was printed on every service receipt. I called him and described the problem. He said he'd look into it. Left a message on my voicemail that Friday saying that since I'd had some good experiences with some of the tech writers, I should make sure I made appointments with those tech writers in future. Oh, and he told me to think about this over the weekend and call Monday if I still wanted them to work on my car. Needless to say, I'd didn't. Fast forward to Christmas this year - out of town trip to visit family means my little wagon has to get there. Chapel Hill mechanics again asking a ridiculous amount for ordinary service and no guarantees as to reliability. Crown Honda of Southpoint could fit me in and quoted a price $100 less than CH independant shops. The tech writer I spoke to was OK, but when I brought the little beast in, every one of the service area men just happened to find something that faced away from me and my car. I found someone in another area that would write up the work and finally got it done, for quite a bit over what I'd been quoted. Given all this, does anyone know of a good shop in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina? There seems to be a really good one in Greensboro (Triad) but they're an hour away and have 8-5 weekday only hours. Thanks for listening - MG |
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Mechanic recco in RTP NC area? (NO CROWN HONDA DEALERS, PLEASE)
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Mechanic recco in RTP NC area? (NO CROWN HONDA DEALERS, PLEASE)
On Mar 3, 1:46 am, wrote:
> Hello, all, > > I have a horror story and a question. > > I bought a 1991 Civic Station Wagon with 196,000 or so miles on it. I > love that little thing! It has terrific road feel and gets incredible > mileage for a 90's car, but it needed a lot of work from the get-go. > Problem is finding a reliable mechanic in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill > area. > > After various adventures with Chapel Hill independent mechanics, one of > whom allowed as how I could have my brakes done (for $40 over the > dealership price, as I later found out) but had to have my car off his lot > that day by 5:00 pm sharp, another of whom swore to use OEM parts but had > a 19 year old install no-name brake pads that squealed from day one, I > started searching for dealers in the area. > > Crown Honda of Southpoint was just two exits down the interstate. They > did two services on my car, with excellent results, but....I'd broken my > shoulder in a bicycle accident and was still in very painful recovery a > month later when my Honda's rear brakes needed servicing. I called Crown > Honda and made an appointment to have the brakes serviced. Of course > I specified the year, make and model of my little wagon. The tech writer > at Crown Honda insisted I be there at 7:00 am (I work swing shift, so this > was very early for me). It takes a lot longer to get ready with only one > arm, but I did make it there close to the time specified. After waiting > an hour and an half with no word of my car, while trying to find some way > to work with a broken arm and my laptop, I asked the service writer how it > was coming along. He barely looked up from his podium to tell me the > brake pads weren't there and, next time, make an appointment before I > brought my car in. When I told him I had made an appointment, he just > said the parts weren't there, they'd ordered them and come back when they > were. The service manager's name was printed on every service receipt. > I called him and described the problem. He said he'd look into it. Left a > message on my voicemail that Friday saying that since I'd had some good > experiences with some of the tech writers, I should make sure I made > appointments with those tech writers in future. Oh, and he told me to > think about this over the weekend and call Monday if I still wanted them > to work on my car. Needless to say, I'd didn't. > > Fast forward to Christmas this year - out of town trip to visit family > means my little wagon has to get there. Chapel Hill mechanics again > asking a ridiculous amount for ordinary service and no guarantees as to > reliability. Crown Honda of Southpoint could fit me in and quoted a price > $100 less than CH independant shops. The tech writer I spoke to was OK, > but when I brought the little beast in, every one of the service area men > just happened to find something that faced away from me and my car. I > found someone in another area that would write up the work and finally got > it done, for quite a bit over what I'd been quoted. > > Given all this, does anyone know of a good shop in the Research Triangle > area of North Carolina? There seems to be a really good one in Greensboro > (Triad) but they're an hour away and have 8-5 weekday only hours. > > Thanks for listening - > > MG The suggestion of learning how to work on your car is a good one but some people don't have the inclination to do such things and just want a good mechaic that will not rip them off. My suggestion is to get on the web and log in to www.cartalk.com and go to their MechaniX files. There Cartalk listeners have listed the names and locations of shops that have done good work for them. You should find someone who will work out for you. Do recoginze that repairing cars for a living has costs involved and you should expect to pay reasonably well for the service. One other thing, indie garages don't stock parts for your particular vehicle and if you want some defined work done such as a brake job, or other owner manual recommended work, you should go to your mechanic, describe what you need to have done, schedule a time when he/she can work on it and have the parts available. This may require you to pay upfront for parts to be ordered if they have to come from the dealer and may be potentially not returnable and then pay for the labor when the work is done. It all depends. Treat the mechanic with respect, thank him when he does work on time and in a quality fashion and you will go a long way to having a shop that will treat you the way you want to be treated. They are all not trying to make boat payments off you. |
#5
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Mechanic recco in RTP NC area? (NO CROWN HONDA DEALERS, PLEASE)
"maumee" > wrote in
ups.com: > One other thing, indie garages don't stock parts for your > particular vehicle Doesn't matter. They get parts same-day from wherever they want, including dealers. Plus they get about 20% off full-retail price, which they then add back on as markup when they resell to you. > and if you want some defined work done such as a > brake job, or other owner manual recommended work, you should go to > your mechanic, describe what you need to have done, schedule a time > when he/she can work on it "She"? How politically correct. Did you know 99.99999% of auto mechanics are male? I think the entire province of Ontario has only one licensed female auto mechanic. > and have the parts available. This may > require you to pay upfront for parts to be ordered if they have to > come from the dealer Where did you get this from? This is not at all true. -- Tegger The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ |
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