Meineke Car Care Centers Inc

In short, NEVER EVER TAKE YOUR CAR HERE, OR LET THESE GUYS WITHIN A MILE OF IT!!! After they diagnosed the problem as a faulty thermostat, I agreed to let them change it that for $400, including a $75 thermostat, $90 for a full flush of coolant fluids, $35 per gallon for 2 gallons of expensive G12 anti-freeze, and the rest for labor. It all seemed quite pricey, but I was in a bind and needed the car, so I paid. Then a few hours later, Ashton called me at work to say after doing the work and driving it, it still overheated and they needed a total of $860 or another $460 additional, in order to change the water pump $150 for parts, plus another few hours in labor. I was shocked, but after talking to friends and some other garages, realized they were not only price gouging me on the parts, but they were playing the up-sell game, since it was their responsibility to diagnose the problem completely and give me an estimate from the beginning, not find the problem by elimination at my expense. After I brought this to their attention and quoted some other prices to them, Ashton agreed to knock off the labor costs for the first thermostat job, bringing the price down to $740, and I talked him down to an even $700 all inclusive. He acted very nice and said he'd even throw in the timing belt for free while he was changing the water pump... but only because I suggested to him to change it, after reading online that a faulty water pump with a leak would corrode the belt and it was easy to change at the same time. Fake generosity, as I later found out they charged me for the timing belt on the bill. And the so-called free labor from the first job was really their fault anyway. And finally, it came out to $762 with tax, since they lied when they said the price was all inclusive for $700. Beyond this, I dropped the car off on a Wednesday, and despite their promises to have it ready the same day, they didn't finish the job until Friday afternoon. And when I paid the bill, Larry, their other mechanic argued with me about the warranty, not wanting to give me more than a 90 day warranty on parts, but none on labor. Finally, one of their mechanics tried to obviously drum up business by telling me about other problems with the car, including a noise and need to replace front struts. Sure enough, when I drove the car out of their garage, it began making a loud metallic thudding noise in the front left side, which it had never ever made before. Though I'm no mechanic, I'm quite sure they did something to the struts, mounts, or CV joint to exacerbate what might have been a minor issue before. Being upset about their treatment, I inadvertently forgot my receipt at their garage, and when I called later to get a copy, they made excuses about their fax machine, then swore they mailed it, but never did.