Complaint Review: Auto Stop Shoppe - Kansas City Missouri

There are basically two schools of thought. One is you do the bare minimum to resolve the problem and ignore other outstanding items, and you troubleshoot one step at a time. The other one is to do all the deferred maintenance first and then replace parts if that doesn't fix it. Your car has 150k miles and I am willing to bet money you did not have the timing belt changed recently. So it's due for that service, which is also a good opportunity to replace the water pump, thermostat, the other drive belts, flush the coolant, and do other work that would make sense to combine with that service. That would guarantee all the cooling system parts are in good shape and that you won't have a breakdown soon. Many shops want to make sure the customer won't come back for the same issue anytime soon. That said, they should have explained their rationale for recommending the service that they recommended. But I think $800 for a complete cooling system and timing belt service is a better deal than $200 for just the thermostat unless you are desperately short on cash or you plan on not keeping the car for much longer.

Unfortunately and especially with this generation, proper diagnosis of a problem is a lost art or a completely unknown to today's "educated" mechanic. Not all problems are caught by the latest and greatest $500,000 scan tools. They can be detected by a much more expensive device called the human brain mixed with COMMON SENSE. Can you check a thermostat? Sure. You put it into a pan of water on a stove with a thermometer and see when it opens! A failed thermostat is probably not going to directly show up on the latest and greatest scan tool but that doesn't mean you don't suspect it. Your timing belt needs to be changed as per the intervals set by the manufacturer. I've seen it as low as every 60k miles. You don't mess with it. You get it done. If you do0nt remember when or if it ever was done then to be on the safe side, do it.

One should, as I know that eventually, all parts one day, will have to be repaired or replaced.

The original invoice clearly acknowledges there were no leaks, and the fans were working, and Mike, the technician, said that a diagnostic test was not done, nor was the car taken for a test drive. 

RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!!!

1)        How and what were the findings and methods used to determine if and when the timing belt was last    changed or needed, as well as the additional parts listed, and

2)         How much antifreeze was installed, and

3)         Explain what method was and not used,, as to the work performed which established that it was only antifreeze needed, to resolve the problem of the temperature gauge showing, as high.

This was a waste of time and money for nothing, when charged for the antifreeze and labor cost, if they believed I needed a timing belt and the other parts listed. This appears to be a charge that was not needed, because if a water pump was to be installed, they would have had to drain all of the antifreeze.  Yet, I am being denied a refund. UNBELIEVABLE:  There motto on their website says: "If you don't need it, we won't sell it."

Again, I was not informed about the additional repairs needed, at the time when the antifreeze was added and charged for the labor.  Just the thermostat alone has resolved the car issues.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME!!!  Avoid this company at all costs. I would not recommend using their services under any circumstances. Do yourself a favor and take the extra time and go to an honorable, legitimate auto repair shop, that won't rip you off. 

This was very disappointing, and I would advise against putting yourself through the same ordeal. They don’t even deserve 1-star.

For whatever reason the rest of my submission was truncated. What I wanted to add is if there is overheating without any obvious leaks or signs of head gasket problems, the thermostat is best to check. It is a simple process and if I was working on your car, that's what I would have suspected before a much bigger job of replacing a water pump.

 The car obviously lost coolant if they had to top if off. So there is a leak somewhere. It sounds like the first shop was going to do a thorough albeit more expensive job. However, they would have taken care of two important maintenance items for a pretty reasonable price. The second shop charged a pretty high fee for a relatively small job. A thermostat on most cars is very easy to replace, while the timing belt and water pump take quite a few hours. So you got 5% of the work for 25% of the price. Not sure it's such a good deal. Cars with timing belts should have the belt replaced every 60k miles, and yours is most likely way over that. Most people neglect it because it's an expensive service and you can usually get away with not doing it. But if it does fail, you will be stranded and most likely need a new engine. And newsflash, all shops mark up parts, usually quite a bit. But they usually guarantee their work, which includes the labor to replace the occasional DOA part. Most shops won't guarantee parts that you supply, and it would be pretty bad if you had to pay to have the work done twice because you got a dud. That's why most shops don't want to deal with parts brought in from outside. It's like complaining a restaurant doesn't let you bring in food from outside. Yes, you can buy food at the grocery store for a lot cheaper than what a restaurant would ask for. That doesn't mean the restaurant is a poor value.

Timing belts do not last forever and if one breaks, massive engine damage could result if you have an interference engine. Therefore, when ever somebody has the WP replaced, since the mechanic has already opened up the front of the engine, the timing belt is replaced along with other components involved with its smooth movement. That job usually costs $800 to $1000. Timing belts NEED TO BE REGULARLY REPLACED! However, as a matter of doing the job right,