B A's Automotive Service Inc

I went to this business with the wrong expectations. I expected to receive a fair estimate from this business for some strange reason.
  I told Curtis,(Tony) the owner and writer of my estimate, that I wanted specific things checked on my Lincoln pickup truck. I also told him that I just had an oil change at Express Lube and they overfilled my engine oil. Probably because they didn't drain all the oil out before they filled it. Anyway, I told him I went under my truck to check for leaks and I wiped up the oil that they spilled when changing my filter. I then found a leak in what I thought was one of my transmission cooler lines. I told him that I tightened the hose clamp that appeared to be the cause of the leak but I wanted to know if he'd check it and replace that 3" hose. I also wanted an estimate on replacing all 4 rotors and pads all around. I also told him to check my transmission fluid and my serpentine belt.
  That is all I wanted him to do. While we were talking I mentioned that just because I drove a Lincoln it didn't mean I had a lot of money. 
  My plate says I'm a disabled vet and I'm 65 years old but Curtis apparently doesn't care to give any kind of a break to anyone. As a matter of fact it appears he's extremely unethical in his business practices.  
  About 20 minutes after I got there, they pulled my car into the shop. Five minutes after that, Curtis came to me and said, "did you know that someone put transmission fluid in your power steering pump"? He said that the transmission fluid in turn ate at the seals in the lines and has caused leaks in the power steering unit and my rack and pinion. I told him I had no idea and I wondered if that Express Lube place did that.  I was pretty irritated and depressed about that. So I asked him if I could see the leaks. He said he doesn't like to do that because of his insurance but agreed to let me go and look.
  I went under the truck on a creeper with the mechanic and I pointed to the leak in a small hose on the transmission cooler line. I said this is a transmission cooler line,right? He said No, that's not the transmission cooler line, it's part of your rack and pinion.
  Well that's just a straight out lie. I went to mechanics school years ago and I know what the cooler lines are. They have nothing to do with the rack and pinion.
  So I asked him to show me the other leaks that Curtis told me about. We moved to the other side if the truck, under the power steering pump. I told him I had wiped up the oil that the Express Lube people spilled when they changed my oil filter and that's why there were wet areas around different parts. He shook his head no and pointed up some hoses and whatever else he thought he was pointing at that was supposed to be a leak. He said "no, that's not oil, that's from leaks in the power steering pump".
  I didn't see any leaks at all. The man was pointing at nothing that had a leak. I don't know what he was pointing at but it wasn't leaks.
  I heard enough, and seen enough. I got out from under the truck and Curtis was standing there the whole time. I told Curtis to write up that estimate for me. I was a little puzzled and depressed about the transmission fluid being in my power steering pump. I didn't see any leaks but now I was having some doubts as to whether or not I knew what I was talking about. It had been many years since I did any work on a car and having this guy telling me all that false information, I kept my mouth shut.
  I took the estimate Curtis wrote me and left. Oh yeah, he was friendly and courteous the whole time that he was attempting to rip me off.
  The phoney work came to about $1,235.38. The rest was an extremely high estimate for what I wanted. $563.34 just for the two front rotors. The total estimate as I said was $2736.51.
  I went to Sears and a place called Plaza Tires and I got an estimate from them both. Before I did that I checked my owners manual and my power steering pump calls for transmission fluid. So there you have it on the somebody put transmission fluid in my power steering pump statement.
  I have all the written estimates. Sears found no leaks anywhere. Their brakes estimate was $595. That includes 2 front rotors and pads and 2 rear rotors and pads. They were also going to replace the 3" hose that was on my transmission cooler line. They confirmed that I knew what I was talking about on the trans cooler line. It had nothing to do with my rack and pinion at all as I already knew.
  Plaza Tire Service wrote an estimate for $403. That included 2 new front rotors and pads. Resurface rear rotors and pads and fix the leak in the small 3" hose on the trans cooler line. They also confirmed the rack and pinion and power steering pump had no leaks and no problems at all.
  To me, Curtis and his mechanic were attempting to steal my money. Attempted theft without a doubt. If I didn't know anything about cars and took my truck for him to fix what they said was wrong then he would have gotten away with stealing my money.
  I wonder how many victims have they racked up in the 45 years of being in business. I think that's what I read, 45 years.
  I can't say enough about this man and his unethical business that he runs. I don't know how many people know that most of these mechanics use a book to determine how many hours to charge you for the work they do. If you ask them how much they charge per hour they may say $60. If they can finish a job in 1 hour and the book allows 4 hours, well then they charge you for the 4 hours. That's what Curtis also does besides the phoney work.
  Don't trust anything this man or his employees tell you.
 
 
  
 

I spoke to the owner. He was polite and honest. He got the car in and got it fixed in a timely manner. He contacted me when and if there was a delay or a change to the original estimate. When we got the vehicle home it looked great and ran great for the most part. I do have to say that he did forget to hook up the cruise control again and a couple of other small issues, but was very apologetic and gracious when we took it back in.

He did a really good job and offered a reasonable price. I really like him and trusted him a lot. I would recommend him to others.