I drove my 2000 Subaru Outback station wagon to the store and it drove just fine. When my family and I got into the car to leave the store, the transmission would not engage in any of the forward gears. I had the vehicle towed home and checked around to see to whom I should take it to.
The closest shop was Brownie's IT and they told me that they offered free diagnostic and could find our problem. I drove it (in reverse) to them and left it there. The next day I received a call from them saying that the 'free diagnostic' only was enough to tell them that we needed an 'inspection.' This inspection would set us back $365 and would, in effect, obligate us to use their services.
I was concerned about possible cost, but I imagined that it would cost more to have the vehicle towed to the dealership than I might save by shopping around. I reluctantly agreed to pay for a $365 inspection since their 'free diagnostic' was worthless.
Two days later I get got a call saying that the repairs would cost around 2,300 dollars total (that did include the earlier $365). I told them that I would have to check my finances and get back to them.
Instead of waiting for me to call them back they called my wife while I was at work and pressured her into giving them authorization to do the repairs. The price had gone up when they told it to my wife - it was now nearly three hundred dollars more. They claimed that they hadn't figured in taxes when they quoted me the price.
My wife and I had to do some creative banking, going so far as opening a new credit line to finance these unexpected costs. When we got the car back, it was running significantly worse than when we took it in for repair. It had developed a shimmy when braking.
It idled rough and seemed like it wanted to stall out at any time. It also would surge in power while accelerating as if I were pumping the gas pedal. I only felt safe to drive the vehicle once and then had to wait all weekend for them to open up on Monday.
Thus my family of four faced being left with only one vehicle for still longer. When I took it in they tried to tell me that the car had engine problems when I brought it to them. Then they said that they could take a look and see it they 'knocked something loose.'
Two days later they told me that they didn't see anything wrong with it, but I could have a neighboring auto repair shop take a look. They had their neighbor go over it and another two days later told me that I needed a new part and that they would charge me only for the part, but it would cost me over a hundred dollars, maybe a bit less if I wanted to wait until the next week due to slower shipping.
Brownies then told me that they ordered the wrong part and that I would not be getting a working car back from them on Friday, despite the extra charges for next day shipping. I was told that the earliest they could even order the correct part was on Monday so that even if I paid extra for them to rush the correct part I would be without the car until Tuesday at the soonest.
After three weeks, two days, two replacement part, and $2500 I get the car back from Brownie's. It still has a shimmy. It still idles rough and erratically. It has a new engine error code. It still acts like it will stall out at every stoplight. The power still surges when I accelerate.
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