I went to Performance Tuning off of a friends recommendation , they seemed very nice over the phone and set up a appointment for the next morning as soon as they opened. All i needed done was a diagnoses of an engine code that i had already pulled and to see where i had a e-vac leak coming from. I dropped my car off the next morning at 8 a.m. It sat where I parked it for the entire day with no one looking at it. I checked several times through out the day to see what their diagnoses was but they kept saying it was next in line. The 2nd day i got a call around 3p.m. and they finally had an answer. And said that the diagnoses cost $125, i asked them what they did and they said they checked the harnesses (meaning they looked at them), pulled the engine codes (Which i already did, cause its free at any part sotre and i told them that), and finally the only real benefit of that charge was them hooking up a smoke machine to see the e-vac leak. After the diagnoses they said it would cost about $660 to repair everything including labor. I called my insurance company to file my claim and i got denied. I found out that the estimated diagnoses and repair time for the problems i had was 1 hour and 10 minutes, and i was denied because the cost of the job was $100's over the range to fix the problem. And they told my insurance company that they charge $110 an hour for diagnoses work. So very untruthful company that charges top dollar for work that they couldn't even guarantee or warranty. So save yourself some time and avoid this place.
Mr. Gray's perception is in conflict with the facts. Pulling codes is not a diagnosis, it is only a first step. His evap leak was shown to be a small leak caused by a broken seal on the gas cap. This was proven by using a smoke machine to find it. He admits as much. Mr. Gray makes a very wrong assumption when he states that we "looked at" the harnesses, when in fact voltage testing was done on the systems that were throwing codes. I guess he forgot to mention that he had codes for an intake tuning solenoid and a torque convertor and incorrect gear 2 ratio in his transmission. Or maybe the folks who did his "free at any parts store" engine code read are not trained in diagnostics or how to interpret codes (that would be the job of the master mechanic who worked on his vehicle) so he didn't even ask for us to check those much more important items than the gas cap. It is hardly the problem of the repair shop that his insurance is unwilling to honor his policy. As for Mr. Gray's claim that we were untruthful about our charges, we have a signed work order authorizing us to spend $75-150 for testing and analyzing his car, and we charged him $125. How is that untruthful? Mr Gray, like most people, has no idea of what it takes to test and diagnose a problem which sets a code. The person who did the work on his car has been a mechanic for longer than Mr. Gray has been alive and is a nationally recognized trainer. I am sorry that he does not understand how electronic controls in a modern car work and how they are tested and analyzed. We read the codes, tested the systems and provided our advice. I have no idea where his statement of "charges top dollar for work that they couldn't even guarantee or warranty" when we did not do any repairs to the vehicle. We do, in fact, offer a two year, 24, 000 mile nationwide NAPA Peace of Mind Warranty on all parts and labor repairs that we do. We have been in business for 23+ years and hold an A+ rating with the BBB because we do warranty our work and honor that promise. And let me repeat: we did not do any repairs on the vehicle, not even the gas cap, only testing and analyzing for the codes stored in his computer.
- All Tech Automotive West