GOODMANS AUTO REPAIR

unknown

They had my car for over 2 months and didn't start it while they had it they just did the repairs (which weren't that great) so when I went to pick it up it would not start and they had it for another month. When we drove off the car shook so bad we had to get it towed elsewhere.

I have used them 3 times. They inspected my girl friend's car for the winter. They told us exactly what we needed to do and the exact nature of the vehicle. They gave us a quote for all that work and it seemed like a fair quote. I think the price of the battery was too much.

*** UPDATE *** I trust that the main repair, replacing the timing belt was actually done, but the shop did not replace the vacuum hose despite my repeated requests and their confirmation that they did. I asked for the secondary air pump connections to be inspected, received a and quot;reportand quot; but found out that nobody even touch the (very dirty) pump and hose connections. Several bolts from the bottom splash shield were missing - which is almost and quot;normaland quot; when you have an oil change done. I did not expect that after a repair like this though. I observed that the oil infill funnel was broken off - at the place where the vacuum tube that was not replaced, is located. I cannot say (prove) for sure that this happened during this repair ... it's just so obviously broken that anyone working under the hood should notice. I had to replace it after noticing because it is too risky to drive with a broken funnel.
I called the garage yesterday and asked why the vacuum tube was not replaced although they said that they did. I was told I would receive a call back right away .... nothing since then. The cost for the tube is minimal so in terms of a refund there is not much money to recover. It's just that the tube was easy to replace during the timing belt installation - very hard to replace now. I think though I am better off replacing the tube myself than bringing it back. I just hope that the timing belt was replaced and that the work was performed professionally. It's very disappointing that part of the requested work was not performed - a major hassle for me. There is obviously poor communication / verification between the office and the mechanic. The quoted and charged price for the repair of the timing belt was fair and they started with the job as agreed. The car was not done at the end of the day because they ran into some problems during removal and installation of the parts but that is understandable in a way and one has to expect that as long as the garage is working on the car at the time / day that has been agreed.
So overall I think it's as good of a shop as many others ... I can't explain really why they did not replace the vacuum tube and how they came up with a report about the secondary air pump that nobody has touched in years (!?!) This would have been easy and inexpensive during the repair ... I am not sure if I would go back. I suppose it depends how this is being handled by them after my call - but I have not heard back from them in more than 24 hours - which is not very promising, I'll post an update if the situation changes.
*** UPDATE *** Holding perhaps a D+ because of the price. Garage has not called back in 3 days ... I also noticed that the main drive pulley for the serpentine belt is completely dinged up as if somebody hammered on it with a screwdriver as a chisel. There is no mistaken - the marks on the blackened pulley are fresh and shiny. Apparently they did not have the right tools for the job. The marks have not been deburred and there is a concern that they will eventually damage or destroy the belt.

I dropped my car off at Goodman's Sunday evening to have it worked on the following day. I was surprised when the mechanic called me around 8am the next morning to let me know he had finished the inspection. He told me the brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. He also explained that a noise I asked about was a tie rod end. He told me that the tie rod did not need to be replaced and that he would try to get grease into that area to see if that would quiet the noise. The car was finished by noon so went to pick it up. All work had been done just as promised. The brakes worked perfectly and the noise in the front end was gone.

Just a note, Goodman's Auto Service has moved and is now located on 92 hiway just east of Platte City.

No problems start to finish. I had given permission to replace both ball joints if needed. They told me when I picked up the car that one did not need to be replaced; it was still in good shape. They could have replaced it and I would have never known the difference. Very trustworthy folks; I'll be going back. Everthing completed as promised and on time.

Work was done as expected and as scheduled. No problems encountered.