This place pulls the classic bait and switch.
One wheel bearing went out, and so I called around to find the best deal. I usually got a different mechanic, but they were booking out three weeks and I needed this fixed quickly. This location offered the lowest price in the Federal Way area to replace both front wheel bearings (always do them at the same time of course) and was quoted ~$475. Three weeks later, I’m given a +$1200 bill.
The whole situation was a nightmare. I was given an appointment date and time and was told it would be a 3 hour job. I never got a call with an update on the job, and so I decided to call and ask if I can pick it up. I’m told no, that my car is so rusty that they plan to cut my CV axles because they cannot separate the assembly to replace the wheel bearings and on top of that I will need to pay to replace the entire assembly and not just the CV axles. I was shocked to hear this because I normally go to a different mechanic and they had never noticed rust on my car, and they had just changed my brake pads two weeks before and didn’t say anything about rust in that area or in general.
I tried to find any other locations that could work on my car that I could somehow drive my car too with a failing wheel bearing, but no one else had openings same day since it was 4:30 PM on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.
I wasn’t able to negotiate much, so I had someone else call on my behalf who insisted that they use penetrant to get past the rust. The mechanics agreed and said that they could only disassemble one wheel bearing and I still had to pay to have the other assembly completely replaced.
I paid $500 upfront for parts before they could replace the entire assembly. Two separate times they ordered parts that were unusable/rusty and couldn’t replace the assembly. I was later told that the parts were coming from junkyards. This continued to push the repair out week after week. The total process took three and a half weeks.
Communication was so difficult, anytime I would call, I wouldn’t get any talk throughs or explanations- I was just told what they are going to do. I had to ask men to call on my behalf, and only then would there be any discussion. It took a man calling on my behalf to talk the staff into using penetrant to break up the rust on the wheel hub assembly instead of cutting through the CV axles or agreeing to stop ordering parts from junkyards.
I haven’t had issues with the wheel bearings since, but I honestly wish I waited for my normal mechanic who was booked out three weeks and quoted me half the price they ended up charging me.
Best trusted mechanics I have made business with. Reasonable prices and always strives to provide quality service. Thank you for being there everytime, I appreciate you!
