I have had a horrible experience over the last 2 weeks with Honest 1 Auto. My car was having trouble starting so I took it in to have it looked at. They told me that my starter,battery, and power steering hose needed to be fixed ASAP for the problem to be solved. $700 later I picked up my car and drove home. Later that night I went to start my car and It would not even turn on. I finally got it started and drove straight back to Honest 1 Auto. I explained the problem and they said they would have a look at it. They said that the problem was not actually the starter, battery, or the hose and instead charged me another $100 to fix a "wire" that was malfunctioning. Happy the problem was finally solved I picked up my car that afternoon and drove home. Once again I went to drive that night and this time although my car turned on, now my lights would not work. I took that car back the next morning and explained the problem, and they tried to tell me that the problem was totally unrelated, and it was going to cost another arm and a leg because this time I had to replace the computer in the car. Seriously this place is a joke and they take advantage of their customers. I paid almost $1000 and my car is worse off than it was before I took it to Honest 1 Auto.
Jeremy, I'm very sorry that you have had a frustrating experience at our shop. Car repairs can be maddening. I have reviewed your work orders and spoken with our shop manager and the technician that performed the work on your 2008 Nissan Pathfinder. I understand why you felt the need to leave a review like you did, and I do not intend on taking it off of our website. We can handle the good with the bad. However, I do want to review a few things about your situation that may have been difficult to hear or understand in the moment of frustration over expensive repairs.
On your first visit, you came in with complaints about the starting system. After testing the charging and starting system the technician could not reproduce the problem. We diagnosed your vehicle for over an hour and discounted the rate to less than half what we charge for a normal hour. Because we could not reproduce the problem, at that point the only option was to do nothing until the problem recurred or replace the starter and battery in hopes that the intermittent issue was repaired in the replacement. We left this choice in your hands. We indicated to you at that time that this might take care of the issue, but because we could not reproduce the problem we could not be sure. You decided to replace the Battery and the Starter as well as have a few other minor things replaced. Hose, light bulb etc.
On your second visit, we certainly empathized with your situation. It's frustrating to pay for a repair only to have the same problem return in full force. Even though we gave you no promise that the prior repair would solve the issue, we diagnosed your vehicle at no charge. Through testing more of the electrical system (a step or two beyond the starting system tested previously,) we found a 'ECM" relay that was not functioning. We replaced this ECM and did not charge you any labor for the repair. The only charge on this visit was the cost of the part.
On your third visit, we again diagnosed the new problem of your headlights not working free of charge. The headlights are relatively disconnected from the the battery, starting system. Normally if a new problem is this far unrelated to the original problem we charge a diagnosing fee. However, understanding your situation, we did not. With the information learned in the testing on the first visit, combined with the information from your second visit, we tested your "PCM" (the car's computer) and found that it was not sending a signal to the headlights to turn on the low beams. This new information gathered after 4+ hours of testing and through the other repairs indicated that your car's computer is/was failing. The symptoms of a failing PCM can include, among many, many others; Intermittent problems with the charging system, starting system, burning out ECM relays, and then of course intermittently not sending signals to the head lights. The most difficult part of a failing PCM is that many times the part fails slowly, intermittently. If the problem can't be recreated in the shop it's almost impossible to fix (unless its by a happy accident.) A failing PCM explains all of the issues that have been happening. If we could have diagnosed a failing PCM on the first visit, we would have, but in this case, the problems were intermittent, and only presented after making what repairs we could as we could, and then combining that information to direct further testing.
We strive to do our jobs the best we can and want to do better every day. If you have a suggestion that you think would have made your experience better I would love to talk about it with you. I will send you a private message with my contact information. We value all of our customers. If we can earn back your trust that would make us happy. I look forward to speaking with you personally.
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