Incompetent or Dishonest
I had a bad experience with Precise Auto Repair. I had major oil loss on the commute to Santa Cruz going through the hills, that appeared to come through the timing belt cover. I had my car towed to my home in Santa Clara and looked up auto repair as I had moved out here in January from Nebraska, and haven't used a mechanic yet. Precise Auto Repair seemed to have solid reviews, so I called to see if they were available, and they were. I stopped by to have it checked out, he found the oil loss coming from the timing belt and told me he would let me know after he inspected, but quoted me around 750 for a timing belt replacement. He calls me later, telling me the camshaft seal was the wrong size/a cheap fit, and he found it losely put into place, and that he would need to do the entire timing belt service. I agreed without calling around because I needed to drive on the coastal highway the next day, I showed up, paid for the repairs, he had the old parts for me to check out. Here's where the problems started.
The parts all looked brand new, as I had just had the timing belt service done 20k miles ago. I didn't question it at the time, and contacted the original mechanic from Nebraska. After believing it was his work, he informed me there is no way that I could have driven not only across the country, and in addition to that commute through the mountains every day with an "improperly sized seal". He even sent me the seals part number, which I checked and is the OEM seal. I was then told it was the PCV valve clogged, and built up back pressure when I was downshifting (it's a stick shift). I checked with another couple mechanics, one I called on the road, another I was able to talk to by just pulling in. They both agreed that would be the problem, and the one I stopped to see even showed me how to remove the PCV valve, and told me I can swap it myself. It was incredibly easy, a 5 dollar part, and something that John should have fixed. In addition, both mechanics, and my original, said it should have only been roughly 200 to reset the seal, or even change it.
I did not need to be charged the entire service, I did not need as many new parts as he sold me.
I went to try and talk to him about being reimbursed, he became extremely rude, and only said that "That's what the service is" instead of justifying why he did the entire timing belt. Later that day, he called me not to apologize and say he reconsidered reimbursing me to the cost of what the seal should have cost, but to tell me to google the work and he didn't know why I was upset at him. I will not go to Precise again, and I will not recommend his work. read more
