SENIOR AUTOMOTIVE

Here's what happened when I showed up today for a seasonal tire change and fluids maintenance... I made an appointment for 1:00pm. I'm ALWAYS on time. When I hopped out of my car, it was exactly 1:00pm. Maybe by the time I reached the office it was 1:01pm; maybe. When I walked in, Pete told me it would be at least an hour wait because they'd just taken in another car. There was no one entering the garage bay, and no one waiting in the reception area, so they'd have had to taken that car into the garage BEFORE 1:00pm, which means they chose to disregard my appointment. I was nice about it and re-scheduled for 2:00pm that same day. I had to switch an appointment due to their delay, but I'm loyal to businesses that I like and didn't want to make a fuss. When I returned at 2:00 (on the nose), Pete was behaving like he was angry. I said (nicely), "You know I had an appointment, right?" He replied: "Yeah. At 1:00. You got here at 1:05. We don't WAIT for anyone." He even made a snotty face and gesture at me as he said those words. O...M...G...! In reply, I said,"Your clock is fast, because I walked in here at exactly 1:00, and when I sat down to try to re-schedule my next appointment my phone said 1:04 and we'd already been talking for a few minutes. So there's no way I was five minutes late." Pete insisted his clock was correct. I said that my phone can't be wrong because it's automatically set. The mechanic eating his lunch behind the desk started laughing at this point. I'm thinking this can't be real because even IF Pete were telling the truth, and even if his clock were correct, they'd STILL taken that other car back to the garage minutes before my appointment, which means that even though they are unapologetic about being quite late themselves, they don't afford customers even a one minute grace period. That's the best case scenario for Pete, but even then, it's BS because iPhones keep reliable time. In any case, I'm still being calm and polite, but Pete shoved the service slip at me and walked out of the room. I signed it and put my keys on the counter. By 2:08 he still hadn't returned. I had no idea if he intended to service my car, or continue with his weird tantrum, or punish me with a lengthy wait. But it occurred to me that this kind of behavior is outrageous and completely unacceptable. I didn't want him to service my car, so I left. I will never return. I took my car, my husband's car, my mom's car, and my mom-in-law's cars with me. I also took with me my good opinion of them. I am bewildered why any small business would wantonly alienate their friendly, loyal customers, or so casually lose four customers in one day over something so bizarre. In the past, I've enthusiastically recommended this business to people, but I can no longer vouch for their professionalism. If you choose to go to Senior Automotive, you might get friendly, fast, honest service... or you might not.

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They pulled the valve cover, inspected and listened to it. Their determination was that it was either a plate between the engine and transmission or the engine needed to be replaced. I paid for their time and labor, then sought another opinion.

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Excellent work as usual. I've used Seniors for years, and have found them honest , professional and reliable as car mechanics

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I have been using seniors for over a year now. When I had recently
moved to Alaska, I needed some help winterizing our cars. I called around and had some really bad
experiences with a few mechanics that came highly recommended on Angie’s list. Then
about a year and half ago, I stumbled on Senior’s by mistake when I had what I thought
was a blown shock in the Minnesota/ Spenard area. I used my phone to locate a mechanic
shop and Seniors was very close. I pulled in and explained my concern of this
blown shock ( I heard a loud boom) and the car seemed to dip in the rear but I
knew I didn’t blow out a tire. Bruce at Seniors quickly saw that one of my back
tires had been punctured, he had his crew change the tire out with my spare and
then asked if they could test drive to feel the shocks. They test drove and
came back and said the shock where fine and that there was no need to do
anything else. They felt it was something that I ran over which got caught in
the wheel well made a loud noise when it was dislodged and punctured my tire. They could have very easily taken advantage of
me but they didn’t and on top of it all, there was no charge (sweet!). That was my 1st experience with
Bruce at Senior’s. On my next visit we purchased an old Bronco and had them
inspect it for some noised and squeaking. Again they took a look and where very
honest with their diagnosis. They said it’s an older car it will make some noise
because of worn parts and joints but there is no need for concern right now. They
greased up some ball joints while they had it up on the rack and walked us around the under carriage and explained
that it would be typical for a Bronco that age to have a U joint issues in the
future but for now everything looked good (again no charge). On my 3rd visit they figured out a
problem that even the Lexus guys couldn’t figure out on LX470. I walked out
satisfied at a cost of $150 vs. the Kendal Lexus quote of $1200. On my 4th time using them I had
them inspect a used truck that I was buying from a private party and once again
they did a great job for me (cost $180).
Next I took my wife’s car in to have the breaks inspected because I
thought I was hearing some unusual noises and once again they were very honest
and said the breaks still had some life left but they would be getting close in
6-8 moths depending on driving style (no charge). About that same time, my breaks hit metal on
metal unexpectedly (no warring sound or anything), I took the car to Seniors
after getting a quote from Lexus of $3400.
Seniors did the job the same day (3 hrs) used all Lexus parts and
charged $1800 so needless to say I am a big fan of Seniors. Bruce (manager), Brice (owner) and his team
are always very helpful and honest. My last visit was last week because the wife’s
car had starting problems. I had the battery checked at Lexus when they did an
oil change and they said it was fine. So I thought that I may be looking at bad
cables, alternator or starter. Seniors
diagnosed the battery as the issue. They called me to let me know and when I
asked them how much a new battery would cost, they said that I should check to
see if the one in the car is under warranty (diagnosis cost $40). They were right
the battery was under warranty which saved me a good bit (I don’t know how these
guys make any money). An honest mechanic, Lawyer, car salesman and insurance agent
are a rear find so 1 out of 4 is a good starting point (no offense to lawyers
and insurance agents).

Will not take my vehicles to them any more

The overall experience was excellent.
I've been using Senior Automotive for 5 years. I've very pleased. They don't overcharge. They do a complete diagnostic and always try to figure out how to do repairs without simply defaulting to replacing parts. Communication is very good. No question is too and quot;sillyand quot;.

They are honest. They will tell you truthfully if repairs need to be done or not.

When A1 mobile did not respond on the shock issues of my car, I happened to see Senior Automotive and I pulled in. They placed my car in the rack and inspected it, they did some stuff and had a test drive. They air pressured my tire fee of charge. They advised me that in the future, I have to have my brakes done. Bruce is very honest. All time I was there, he never charged me of what he had done.