INCOMPETENCE OR DISHONESTY? I'm sorry to say it appears to be one or the other. I brought my Navigator To Honest-1 Ormond because of the great reviews and management's comments under reviews that they tend to save customers 20-25% below dealers' costs. After my experience, I challenge whether these reviews are from actual customers. I brought it in for an oil change; estimate to replace a burnt running board motor; and an odd mechanical sound emanating from the right rear when braking (not a brake noise, but a "Clanging" when letting up on the brake). The first red flag was a $110 diagnostic charge for the running board, which is not taken off the repair if the work is done, it's just a diagnostic. I already knew the motor was bad, but that's how they roll, so I agreed, thinking I'd save with the repair vs. dealer. The service manager, Jeff, was kind enough to come outside while I drove in the parking lot to replicate the noise from the right rear. He agreed that it was odd but his team would figure it out. He mentioned he was a former Ford/Lincoln service advisor. A few hours later he called with the following info: Running board motor needs replacing. $1621 (plus the $110). I told him that was way more than the dealer. Hold off. Noise in rear? Wheel bearings shot. Needs new wheel bearing assemblies- both sides. $1600! I was floored due to two things- I couldn't believe the cost, and more importantly, it did not seem like a wheel bearing noise to me. I told him I would call him back. I went online and the most expensive assembly I could find (OEM) was $500 a side. Aftermarket considerably less. I called the service advisor @ Gary Yeomans Lincoln and asked for a quote on the running board motor and the wheel bearings. As noted above, both were significantly less. I also told her that I wasn't sure that the bearings were the culprit, so I made an appointment for the next day. Went and picked up my truck from H1. Next day the the dealer called me back. WHEEL BEARINGS ARE FINE. IT WAS MISSING A BRAKE CALIPER BOLT. $8. Replaced both to be safe lol. The dealer could have easily told me I needed wheel bearings since it's plausible that the bearings were bad plus needing the bolt (when she wrote it up she mentioned it had been diagnosed as needing bearings so those were checked). Looks like they are the Honest 1's. When you pull the wheel off, the FIRST THING YOU SEE is that huge caliper. The bolt is facing you on the top half of the rotor. There is no way you CAN'T see the missing bolt, especially since they checked the brakes for wear (supposedly). It wasn't loose- it was gone. So, as I said- either they are grossly incompetent to miss that, OR the obvious- let's replace expensive parts that are not needed and add the bolt. Fixed! Ironically, I said to Jeff at drop off that years ago the caliper bolt on the left rear had vibrated out and he mentioned another car he had seen that happen to recently. So we discussed the actual issue before inspection. Oil change; diagnostic; air filter $180- after various coupons and discounts. Their oil changes are the same price as the dealer, but the dealer adds tire rotation and car wash. No savings, just a wasted day and I will NOT be using this facility for obvious reasons. BTW the owner sends a flowery email asking for feedback after the service. I waited until I had my truck back and called her at the number provided to share this experience. It's simply the shop number, not a direct line. When I asked for her I was told she was not there, and is there very rarely. I responded to her email with my phone number.
Mr Tobey...We apologize for the poor service you had at our store. I called several times to discuss what happened and your voicemail box was full. I find talking via google is not productive, but that is my alternative right now. I did talk to our tech and he says the wheel bearing were bad. We wanted to, at our cost, to take the car back to the dealer and have our tech and their tech look at the wheel bearings together. If bad, we would pay for them. If not, we would compensate you for your troubles. That offer still stands. You had several concerns you raised. We do have a diagnostic fee that covers running tests to find out cause of a customer concern. It is time that a tech will spend to find a problem. Our repair costs are based on OEM labor guides. We don't inflate them to cover the diagnostic time. We want each cost to be clear. If we take something apart during the troubleshooting and the customer wants us to do the repair, we do delete the disassembly time from the repair costs since that was already done. If not, the diagnostic cost includes reassembly. Finally, yes, I am not in the shop as often as I used to be. I am a 60 year old female that has contracted COVID twice. I am working as much from home as I can. And yes, the phone number provided in my email is the shop number. All of our phones go through that line. Again, I am sorry you did not have a good experience with us and I hope we get the opportunity to talk. All the best, Sharon
- Honest-1 Auto Care Ormond Beach