I have a european luxury car that is now out of warranty so I gave these guys a shot because they are so close to my home compared to the dealer.
I am typically not a person that would take the time to sit down and so officially file a report on a company but I've had more than 1 negative experience now with ASS and feel like I needed to add my complaint to the growing list in hopes of helping someone avoid these guys!
It is a given that you'll be told there are all kinds of other items wrong with your car regardless of why you take the car into the shop. They clearly have been trained to use certain tactics and even certain words (total "investment") when calling you to tell you what all needs to be done; and they will apply significant pressure by multiple people to get you to have the work done. They consistently try to lead you to believe that if you drive the car away without having the work done, it is going to cause even worse damage, etc.
Previously, I've only gone there to have my oil changed... It's just convenient (no less expensive than the dealership, just closer to home). However, yesterday my car had some engine issue which caused my engine light to illuminate. I was really close so against my better judgement, I pulled into ASS because I really didn't want to risk driving any further.
They plugged it into the computer and told me that it tripped several codes and that they needed more time to diagnose. So I had them take me home where I began doing my homework. I narrowed down what I thought the problem was and even discovered that my car manufacturer had an active recall for this particular problem.
When they called I was told that it needed 3 or 4 different services done (none of which mentioned on the phone was what the actual problem was) for "an investment of $900." I told them that my manufacturer had a recall campaign in place so I was just going to come pick it up. I had to still pay $95 just for the diagnostic but that's pretty typical. While paying the front desk guy acted surprised that there was a recall and said their computers didn't show anything for my car.
Today (the next day) I took the car to the dealership where they replaced the faulty parts without charge. I asked if there was any other work that needed to be done and the only thing they could find was that I needed an alignment (again, not one of the services that ASS said I needed).
So, my point in all of this is that I simply feel like this company cannot be trusted. I could say things like do your homework or be careful or ask them to validate what they are doing, etc. The bottom line is, there are plenty of other service stations out there that are honest and fair. My recommendation is to simply not go to an American Service Station. Ever.
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