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August 2024 by Nicholas Isola
I've taken my VW to SCE a few times now based on recommendations from a local car club. Every time they've provided quick and effective service. Sure, they're a bit more expensive than getting service from an independent shop in a major city, but they're definitely more reasonably priced than the local VW dealership.
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July 2024 by Cris Curtis
Sure wish I would have read the reviews before tasking this shop to replace my cam shaft adjusters. They had my Mercedes for 8 weeks & 1 day, they LIED constantly, never returned a call, constantly said “Yep, we just about have it buttoned up should have it ready today” after countless personal visits as they would not answer the phone., often times the door was locked up during normal business hours w/ no sign saying “returning….”. . They specifically said they put Mercedes parts, clearly you can see by the Mercedes diagnostics that they did not. There were incorrect bolts used that put a hole in another part, there was so much sealant that it could have caused the engine to blow if started, Chris even said he was “Mercedes Certified” when asked. Such a disappointment for someone to conduct their business like this, if you don’t know what you’re doing , don’t pretend you do. We had to finally hire a tow company & roll back truck to come get our car going into the 9th week at SCE to take it to Mercedes after he failed to do what he said he was going to do. He could possible be a decent mechanic on some things but clearly not on this & it was way above his knowledge or expertise even though he assured me during the entire 8 weeks that he had things under control. I truly can’t stand a blatant liar. I can say without any hesitation, the only good thing I found at this HORRIBLE AUTO REPAIR SHOP was Turbo the orange tabby cat. Repair shops like this give the decent mechanic shops a really bad name. All I can say is I would highly recommend doing your home work before hiring this company. The 1 star is for the shop cat, Turbo.
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June 2024 by Ashley Monk
Quality work at a fair cost. The team is professional and kept me informed every step of the way. Will continue to bring my car here and encourage others to do the same. Also the cat is adorable and kept me company while I waited.
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June 2024 by Charles Cattell
Sent my old, reliable Volvo XC90 to these guys because people raved about them. I simply didn't have the time to do the work myself and was assured by many that they do great work at a reasonable cost. Not the case. Each part was at least what the dealer would charge and the labor was hefty as well. I honestly think the dealer would have been cheaper. After I informed them that I'd have the car towed back to my residence, Chris changed his tune real quick and became very short and rude. Told me that I have to pay them for the diagnosis they performed, before they release my car. Obviously. You don't have someone perform a service without payment. Anyway, after I paid the $100.00 for the diagnosis, which I thought was a bit high, I was only provided with a receipt. I paid them for a full vehicle diagnosis and never received one. I asked both the tech and the business manager ( Chris and Rob) for my written diagnosis and got crickets. After numerous emails and calls, which all were ignored, I still have nothing for my $100.00. Last time I checked, it was a crime for a business to take your money and not deliver on services or goods. That's intentional theft.
Arrogant, dishonest and brazen kids.
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April 2024 by Robert Todd
I have a 1998 Porsche Boxster, When I first reached out to SCEA, I talked to Rob and Chris about the service, I was actually interviewing them. I am very familiar with my car and have done my own maintenance on this classic car. I moved to HHI in January 2024 and now I do not have a facility to put my car on a lift and do the work myself.
The service I wanted done sounds easy, transmission fluid and filter change. On old cars this job can go bad and the transmission Auto and Tiptronic is very sensitive to say the least.
I felt Chris and Rob worked on my car like it was their own based on another conversation I had with Chris, I could tell they appreciated working on this classic car.
I felt I called and emailed a bunch for no reason just to check in and they always got back to me. I love talking cars and performance. I found Chris and Rob are car enthusiasts and take pride in the service they provide. I understand things can be difficult and time consuming and you have to be patient. With all the info on the computers and diagnostics it will get figured out and get fixed. Just like other things in life
I do recommend you give them a call and talk about the service you want done and get their feedback. If you feel comfortable after the conversation and feel like you can trust them with you vehicle then give them a try.
Thank you Chris and your team in the pits.
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April 2024 by Malcolm Maclennan (MNMM)
Buyer Beware
I don’t usually post negative reviews but this one is necessary.
I’d previously used the services of SCE Automotive on Cardinal Road for my two foreign cars and thought I was dealing with a straight shooter who did good work. That is until the week on August 14th, 2023 when I took one car in to have about $3,500 worth of work done on the hydraulic suspension.
The SCE website says “We offer high quality service with integrity”.
The work was to remove the hydraulic suspension and install coil springs and shocks. The drop off day was to be Tuesday for this extensive reworking of the suspension and it was to be a 2-day effort.
I took the car in on Monday giving them an extra day. I had mentioned I wanted to see how they did this conversion. Each day I stopped by to see what was going on my car was in the parking lot. Strange I thought, since that job was 15 man hours. (Strange too that it was never in the shop when I stopped by).
In one visit I was told that the front right and both rear shocks had been changed over and the power steering pump had been switched out leaving only the front, left to done in order to get the car back on Friday. Now a 4-day job in elapsed time. That happens.
On Friday mid-afternoon I was told "to come and pick up the car".
When I arrived to pick up the car I was told "this car was very difficult to work on. That the left control arm was bent, that the car had been involved in serious left front damage and right rear damage. And that all the work that had been done on the car during the week had been undone and the car was restored to its original condition." All undone on Friday. My Thursday update indicated no issues. (Before I bought the car from a Naples dealer I had it inspected by a reputable independent German car repair facility and it received a 9.5 out of 10 rating and no reported damage in CARFAX.
I was also told there would be no charge for the work that was done during the week. What?
I immediately took the car to Mercedes Benz on Saturday, morning, August 19th to give a good look with qualified eyes and was told "there was no evidence of any suspension work being done” and "the hydraulic pump had not been removed and replaced”. Pictures were taken to document this fact.
This charade about work done and work not done reeks of more serious issues and consequences. I’ll let the reader reach their own conclusions. I have reached mine and after this experience it is “buyer beware"
Additionally and before having the 70,000 mile service done I asked SCE to give the car a good once over to see it was worth spending the $3,500 on the suspension change. On a more serious note I received an SCE quote to replace both front and rear brake rotors and pads and I approved the brake work to be done. Mercedes pointed out my rear brakes were at the dangerous level as SCE did not replace the rear brakes. SCE also did not point out that the engine and transmission mounts were torn.
On Monday August 21st I dropped off a draft email to Mr. Arnold of SCE outlining all of my above concerns, asked for my service records, and have not heard a word back from them.
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March 2024 by Joe Darwal
Take both my Mini Cooper S and VW Jetta to him for service. My Mini mechanic in Ohio recommended SCE auto when we relocated to the island, and Chris lived up to his reputation.
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February 2024 by Ronin Roper
They charge more than a dealership to repair vehicles here....... literally. Do not go here. Update: Yes, you charged $300 to look at my Uncles BMW.......after we waited 2 weeks for the only guy who could work on the car to come back to work.
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February 2024 by victoria shroyer
Rob and Chris are the absolute best! I have been through the worst with a local VW dealership and someone highly recommended SCE AUTO to me (and i'm glad they did). He was able to diagnose my vehicle while keeping me updated through the whole process. Not only was my invoice a fraction of what I already paid VW to fix ( that they clearly did not, just a band-aid) but they went above and beyond with customer service and quality of work. They now have a lifetime customer and I will send any import owners to Rob and his team.
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January 2024 by Beth Tomlinson
The first time I used this place to have work done on my car I was pleased. However; this time I took my car in for some bodywork and the experience was extremely frustrating . They kept my car for going on three weeks with absolutely no communication. When I would call to ask the status, they never got back with me. They kept it over two weekends without telling me, and when I drove there to check on my car, the doors were locked during business hours. When I did try to call, the voicemail box was full for five days in a row. When I commented about this to the owners, all they said was “well it works now”. Finally, I just I had to pick up my car since they never called to tell me whether it was ready or not. After all that time, the work was not even done!! It was a very frustrating experience and I hope no other customer has to go through this.Did not see a place to respond to the vendor's reply so putting it here. The 19 Cardinal address is the place that the car was dropped off at, where an estimate was written up, where calls went to, etc. This may not be the actual place that the bodywork is done but it was the only place where business was conducted. They also stated that they have no record on me but I am literally looking at a written estimate from them. Hope this provides some clarity.
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November 2023 by Nathan Nix
These guys were great, delivered as promised, super friendly staff, definitely will be back for any of their services I may need. Top notch service! Thanks you guys!Service: Tires
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November 2023 by Aaron Fisher
With a heavy heart I am writing this review. I enjoy supporting local business, even if it is a little more expensive and because you can build a relationship and trust (which I feel is very important with a mechanic). Over the years I have had some good experiences with Chris the owner and have never taken my truck somewhere else for a second opinion. I trust my mechanic. Even after having a simple brake job done last year and while driving home I had parts falling off my vehicle and a terrible grinding noise. I took it back to Chris and he said the new guy did it and he was sorry and fixed it (no discount for the aggravation or extra time). Even with that happening I still continued to go to him thinking that was a once off. But here I am writing this after just giving Chris $2000 to replace my valve cover gaskets that took extra time because halfway through the job he realized he didn't have all the gaskets and had to wait for delivery. So I waited an extra day but figured as long as it was fixed properly I didn't care. Well during that repair I went to my truck to get something out of it at night to find that half my engine was laying on the sidewalk (picture attached) and my hood left ajar for anybody to take or tamper with. I still didn't say anything because I like Chris and figured as long as it was fixed properly and nobody stoled my engine it would be ok. Well I finally picked up my "properly repaired" and pointed out to Chris that I still see oil coming out of the motor and he said "that was from before and it will burn off". Well 2 weeks later it's not burnt off because it is still leaking. I take it back to him and he says "oh I couldn"t see that it was also leaking from the camshaft cap seal". Of course its something different that needs the motor to be torn apart again and it will cost $3200 in labor but because he is being generous he will take $1200 off (so $2000 more to me). The part is $80 so this is just labor. So now my trust is wavering and I take my truck to Chevy dealership and tell them simply that I have an oil leak (nothing about having repairs done). They tell me that it is leaking from the valve cover gasket (yes the one that is 2 weeks old) and its leaking from the camshaft cap seal and the labor to do both is $1700 ($300 less than what I have already paid Chris). But yet Chris wants me to give him $2000 more with the discount to remedy the problem.I still feel like Chris will do the right thing so I go to him and explain the situation expecting that he will stand behind his work and make the repairs for no cost (since I have already paid him $300 more than Chevy would charge to have repaired both) or refund my money for a job that wasn't done properly (not to much to ask from a reputable business). Nope "deny, deny, deny that the valve cover is leaking, and I guess it's just my bad luck that he didn't see the other leak while the motor already completely torn apart and laying on an unsecured sidewalk. So at this point I can either give him $2000 to maybe fix it correctly or give Chevy $1700 to fix it. I'm going with Chevy. I know they will stand behind their work and at the very least my engine won't be left out on a sidewalk (heck I'm not a mechanic but that might be why its leaking again for all I know). This isn't me bashing anyone it is just a personal account of what has happened to me and how my loyalty and trust was not reciprocated.Service: General repairs & maintenance
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July 2023 by Josh Hammond
Came from out of town with Ferrari and the car started clicking/shaking when driving. Showed up unannounced and they had it in immediately. Couldn't repair and will be towed to Orlando but the guys were class act. Very impressed. Tried to not charge me as well.
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July 2023 by Richard Moniuszko
Mechanic is Volvo trained and knows their cars
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April 2023 by Mary Allen
Chris is a knowledgeable competent honest mechanic. My car is 15 years old and because of him I expect I will be able to drive it another 15 years!Services: Exhaust
