Could have been more upfront. When booking, I explained my check engine light was on with the “drive” light flashing. A quick google search will tell you this is a transmission fault for Honda. They booked me in. Confirmed it was a transmission code. My OBD 2 reader already told me the same thing. Told me they didn’t have the capability to work on transmissions. Did the kind of complimentary multi-point inspection you get at oil change places. Filled my tires. Charged me $200. To their credit, they did refer me to a place that could diagnose the vehicle properly, but yeah, $200 to fill tires. Also will send multiple unsolicited emails and texts to you for follow up after so be prepared for that. *Edit Thanks for your very long response. I don’t expect work to be done for free. I’d simply like to be told upfront that you don’t do transmission work when I’m booking my vehicle in for probable transmission work. Wasted my time and my money having to go elsewhere. I won’t be back.
Interestingly, "could have been more upfront" is the opposite sentiment from many of our 5 star reviews. Our team takes pride in the level of communication we provide to our clients. We let them know what they can expect from us every step of the way - from the minute someone calls to book an appointment until they are handed their keys with a "thank you" cookie, they know how much they will be charged and what they are being charged for. Your appointment was no different. We told you when you booked your appointment what our estimate for testing would be, we sent you a work order with that dollar amount BEFORE your appointment (which you approved, at 3 times what your final bill was), your invoice clearly stated what information we accessed from the vehicle, and how we came to the determination that the fault was an internal transmission failure. As you noted, we gave you a solid recommendation of who would be best to handle this specific issue, instead of wasting your money continuing tests on a system that we don't feel confident repairing. There could have been any number of issues other than an internal failure, such as a fuse, broken wire, low vehicle battery, miscommunication from another module, etc. Until we start testing, we can't know what is wrong and it would be irresponsible to just Google and guess. Taking your vehicle to a professional shop to have a professional technician perform testing, costs money - our highest paid technician performs the testing with complicated diagnostic equipment (not a $300 code reader) and expensive software programs, in a building that incurs costs. We can't work for free or we won't be here to continue providing this community with the excellent service we have come to be known for. To your final point, our communication with our clients is ongoing after appointments, as we want to ensure that we are doing the best we can to help them maintain their investment. If you don't want to receive these communications, we will understand if you unsubscribe.
- Kinetic Auto Service