Bob Bowen's Auto Service

I told them I was going to take my car to the dealership and the manager charged me about $60 to diagnose the problem. They had diagnosed it wrong by telling me I needed an entire starter! I disputed the charge on my credit card but ended up paying it because they said Bowen had provided a diagnosis. Poor diagnosis, high price, and deplorable customer service.

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They told me I needed new shocks and struts, I felt it seemed reasonable given the mileage of the car (93K miles). I told them to go ahead and perform the work. They also told me I needed new tires, I declined to purchase them there. The work was performed and there was no measurable improvement in ride feel. I had all four tires replaced in the next week and the ride feel was vastly improved. I feel that I was taken advantage of, that the shocks and struts were not totally necessary. All I needed was to replace my tires. Upon doing more research I also realized that the price they charged me for the shocks and struts was much higher than I could have gotten elsewhere. Beware of them, they are not honest.

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In my classic 1985 300 ZX the battery had gone dead 3 times in my driveway over 4-5 months. Took it to the mechanic I usually used who said there was no problem and I should drive in more often. THERE WAS a problem. A small drain on the electric system from the theft alarm which Bob Bowen found within 20 mins.

They are excellent. They are very freindly and easy to get along with. They are fair with their pricing and good to work with.

They are horrible. I would never have anybody go here. If you were in the desert and needed your car towed I would say to go past them. They were terrible. They kept coming back and saying that this and that were wrong. They gave us an estimate and it was 4 or 5 times what we were quoted. It was at the point where we could not do it. We couldn't get the car home. We noticed a brake leak and they said it just needed a flush. We took it somewhere else and they said it had a cracked master cylinder. There was a noise that they said were the transmission bearings so we paid to have those replaced. Anther mechanic said it was the catalytic converter that was cracking apart. It was really bad. It was just a nightmare. They were fast. They were really bad. We would never, ever use them again.

Unfortunately this is not an honest place. Needing only my A/C fixed, I had the rare luxury of getting to price compare between this and my usual shop (South Bay Datsun). I was charged $95 for a non-refundable diagnostic, which I was told would be refunded if I did the work recommended by the shop. The office manager, Barbara, informed me that my upper radiator hose was "about to pop". I was quoted a total price of $614 for the following: upper radiator hose, A/C low side hose, re-charge the freon. When I balked at the cost of this, Barbara took me out of line and said "Well, now we can't fit you in today". I then overheard her on the phone promising another customer "If you bring it in today, we can have it done this afternoon", which was not a professional way to handle it. After this, I decided to try my usual shop (South Bay Datsun). They looked at my car and told me I only needed to repair the A/C hose (not the upper radiator hose, as recommended by Bob Bowen) Repair of all the other items recommended by Bob Bowen Auto service was not needed. South Bay Datsun's repair of the A/C hose (cool air throughout a subsequent Las Vegas trip and since) was $213. And I wasn't asked to pay upfront for this diagnosis. I originally took my car in to Bob Bowen because it's down the street from my house which is conveniently located for me, but after hearing the two completely different prices and finding out that I was being advised to purchase equipment which I definitely didn't need, I have to say, I won't be going back.

Great- the service was wonderful, they were professional and got everything done in a timely manner