Simon’s Automotive Service

Easily my best experience with paying anyone to work on a vehicle of mine (aside from motorcycles). I asked for recommendations from several neighborhood Facebook groups I’m a part of, and Simon’s was the one that got the most recommendations. They also showed up on the Ohio E-​Check repair list. Despite the suggestions to use Simon, I was reluctant to take my car there (because of experiences with other shops in the past). They were friendly, respectful, and seemed to be good people. I didn’t read Unilocal reviews until today, and I’m surprised to see some of these experiences happened at the same place I took my car to.
When looking at my car, Simon found quite a few additional things that were wrong with my car. That’s when I was worried that they were a «typical» repair shop. However, Simon said that, because of the damage (a rotted engine carriage being the biggest issue), he wouldn’t recommend putting any real money into the car. I had taken the car to other shops for oil changes since buying it, and none of them noticed the issue, or cared enough to tell me about it. Simon did. You may think that it’s a «he said, she said» thing, but Simon took pictures and SHOWED me the damage – even sending the pictures to me. He said they could absolutely fix the problems if I wanted them to, but it was completely up to me. Since the car was bought hastily, and cheaply, my decision was to hold off on the work, but at least I know about it now.
I look at it like going to the doctor for a sprained ankle, and your doctor caring enough to do a full-​body physical, and realizing you have cancer. I wouldn’t have known, if he hadn’t taken ownership over the health of my car. I’m not upset with them for that, especially with the candor and respect they showed me. I wouldn’t hesitate to take my car to them ever again.

I took a car here about 2 years ago before buying it from the nearby Honda dealership. I was told that the car I was looking at, a Honda Civic hybrid, was an excellent car, and that it would run for years. There were a few minor repairs that would be needed, but that I should absolutely buy the car because everything was in good shape. Two years later, I’ve spent upwards of $ 5000 on repairs for this car, including $ 1000 almost immediately after purchasing it (they estimated about $ 250 worth of repairs). I don’t know what was in it for them, but they absolutely mislead me about the quality of this car and its condition when I purchased it.

I was visiting from out of town and needed some issues to be addressed expeditiously. These guys proved themselves to be honest, professional, and highly competent. Pricing and options were presented clearly and concisely. The work was carried out efficiently and completed several hours early.

Terrible! Went in to have a sensor changed and, being that I drive a high performance vehicle and do my own maintenance when the weather permits, I naturally purchase my own parts. Upon arrival at Simon’s (because they «don’t give quotes over the phone») I was told by the disinterested gentleman behind the counter that they also «don’t install customer parts» (pretty long list of things they –don’t– do, huh?). Obviously their mark-​up on parts is so significant that they don’t want your business if they can’t hit you with an insane part cost in addition to labor! What a racket!
Even though it’s on the other side of town I’ll continue to take my cars to the Detroit Auto Clinic: they don’t care if I buy my own parts, they’re just happy to have my business and do excellent work.

I have taken my car to Simon for years. He is pretty honest. I have brought my car in for problems that I though that were much worse due some of my friends playing mechanic over the phone. He was honest and gave me his best price. He is much more reasonable than dealerships, and or some of those FCUK’n scam artist muffler, tire and chain places. Do not take your car there for anything other than an oil change or tires, and watch them while they work on your ghetto sled. It seems every time I take my car to one of those places they invent work or my check engine light comes on the next Fbomb-​ing those places all day.
So if you want spend little, take a trip to E. 40^th and Carnegie and play mechanic roulette. If you have read my other posts there is an honest place you can take your car! If you live on east side and want to get your car fixed this is a decent place.

After my brakes lost their pressure, I did some looking around to find a mechanic and settled on Simon’s because of other online reviews. I felt compelled to write my own review (which I have never done before) as a caution to others who might be shopping around for a good place– try the lusty wrench or alternative solutions car care instead. After my experience I won’t be going back to Simon’s.
The day after I dropped my car off, Simon called me and told me that leaky wheel cylinders were to blame for the lost brake pressure, which would cost $ 700 to repair (including a ‘dire’ front/​rear brake job). As a college student (with a $ 1500 car) I told him I couldn’t afford that, and brought the truck home to fix myself. Simon was extremely kind about this and didn’t charge me, which left me very impressed.
After a little research I took the brakes apart, and found that the wheel cylinders were retaining oil as they should have been (they were old, but they didn’t need servicing yet). Still, I rebuilt them and attempted to refill the brake fluid. That’s when I found out the real reason my car lost brake pressure– a huge leak in the front right brake line. That means the $ 700 job would not have fixed the real problem… though I would never have known it if I had just left my truck at Simon’s.
Still, old leaky brake cylinders are a common reason for loss of brake fluid, and Simon was so nice, that I went against my better judgement and called him up to fix up the brake line (for a much more reasonable $ 200). I brought my truck back on a Wednesday, talked with him again on Thursday, and finally followed up on Monday morning– only to find out that they hadn’t started. He told me they would get to it the next day– a full 6 days after I had initially brought it in (and this after he had told me over the phone that they usually finish within 24 hours).
When I finally was able to pick up my truck, I asked if he’d knock off $ 10 – 20 for such a long wait (hey, I’m a college student after all). At this, Simon became very argumentative, implied that I was liar, and attempted to tell me the job had been completed quickly and I had been notified days earlier. When I cited the phone calls I had made to check on the progress, he seemed to doubt himself for an instant (and to check what day it was) before pressing further with his position. I paid the full amount cordially and walked out of the shop. I felt very wronged– not because of the 6 day wait or the firm price– but as a direct result of this poor personal interaction. Before this Simon had been really nice and friendly, and I was shocked by his harsh stance. If he had cordially refused to discount the price, I wouldn’t be writing this right now– instead he tried to convince me that it hadn’t been a long wait, and backed himself into a lie in the process.
So one $ 700 misdiagnosis (which in the best case was due to incompetence rather than dishonesty), one 6 day wait, and one painful personal interaction later, I decided to do my part and warn other people that take these reviews into consideration when they choose a mechanic. I had very positive interactions with Simon early in the process, and I understand why he has so many fans online. If I had took him at his word early on, I probably would be a fan too– but after a 3-​week long, very involved series of interactions, he’s changed my mind. I can only say that I regret having taking my vehicle to Simon’s, and that I’ll be finding somewhere else to take my truck in the future.