Sun Devil Auto

What I got done on my car was not completed the day of. I had to (somehow) trust Sun Devil Auto to work on my car yet another day. The second day, they got the work done. I’ve heard that the other locations are much better.

This is based on a very limited but very satisfactory single experience with Sun Devil auto that was undoubtedly made better by happening to come in at just the right time for near instantaneous service. In a rare case where I knew exactly what I needed done on my car, just replacement of the annoyingly, occasionally loose battery post connectors that have left me stranded at least briefly on multiple occasions. It appears to be a known thing with several models of Honda, and somebody needs to tell them to get on that.
Until then I fortunately had a Sun Devil au less than a mile from home. Given the nature of the problem they were able to quote me a price over the phone which I found to be reasonable, and do the work have me out in less than an hour. Staff was courteous, the waiting area adequate and clean, I was miserably sick with a cold, speed was greatly appreciated.

We brought in both our vehicles today mine wasn’t planned. My battery died though and I called Chris not only did he get it in quick but gave me a great deal. We definitely recommend Sun Devil Auto!

My friend and I brought his car to this place to check the A/​C unit. Minutes prior to coming here we had purchased the A/​C Pro can of freon but went to Sundevil because the car wasn’t getting cold. After $ 140 later and being told we didn’t have much freon in the car, which seemed odd considering what we did prior to going there, we left feeling a bit swindled. Just think people should be careful when considering this shop

Reply to M D of sun devil auto! There was no confusion on my end. What I did not inform the «shop» was I am a certified technician. The only reason I went there is because my tools had not arrived yet. Regardless the carburetor was not the issue. The distributor came lose and advanced the timing. Just wanted to inform the public of the shotty work being done there.

I came in for an oil change and was treated with a caring and professional attitude by the service advisor Jaymes Berry. He explained in detail the service my vehicle required and did not sell me services that were not needed. I would recommend Sun Devil Auto to my friends and family. ~Alex K.

Took my son’s car in for them to look at the transmission. We were told that «after driving the car it’s not the transmission but the wheel bearing.» (They send out transmission work and only ran codes, did not open up the transmission to see if there was anything wrong). Because we thought that we were going to save $ 1500 by not having to have the transmission rebuilt, we told them to go ahead and and do the work on the wheel bearing. Well that was $ 600! We go to pick up the car (this is a thursday) just before it closes and my husband gets in the car, gets 2 blocks away and notices the transmission is still having the same problems. My husband called and the «technician» had just left and won’t be back for another week. We took the car to a transmission shop near our home and within 20 minutes of them having the car up on the rack they told my husband and son (as well as showed them) what was wrong. They showed them what his parts look like and showed them with new parts what they should look like. The transmission shop is rebuilding my son’s transmission at the cost of $ 1800 (which is fair considering the transmission was toast), however, the $ 600 fee for a $ 150 part (which my husband could have replaced on his own) has eaten away at my son’s budget for the transmission work. THESE GUYS SUCK!

This is funny they say they can’t find my name in there databanks anywhere. Of course they can’t.
Okay, maybe I should be more specific, my incident with Sundevil auto took place one year ago. But I’m going to repost this every six months. I want people to know this place is not trustworthy and they did rip me off.
Had I known about Unilocal and what it was I would’ve posted a year ago. Doesn’t matter, I’m doing it now.
The date on my invoice is August 13, 2012. Invoice number 24 171
Everyone please read my earlier review. Beware of this place!
Everything they said I needed done when I went to another shop, they said I didn’t need any of that.
I am going to repost this every six months so everyone knows about this place. I’m not saying all Sundevil auto garages are like this but I would beware!
A total rip off and a joke! I had to go back two times to have work fixed properly after they had it. The first time they forgot to put a lug nut back on my tire. Are you kidding me!!!
Then, I had my brakes fixed, they sent me away with them worse than when I came in.
When I asked about it they said I needed a new master cylinder and could be another $ 800.00 worth of work. I finally had enough.
I took my car to another shop and was told the air wasn’t bled out of my brake lines and there was absolutely nothing wrong with my master cylinder. Wow!
I honestly felt like I was robbed. They also told me I needed some front end work done, axles or something. The other shop confirmed there was nothing wrong with that either.
People think long and hard before you take your vehicle there. The manager was no help what so ever and when confronted with all this denied it all the way. Stood by his mechanics assessment of my car.
I found a new place:
Bay’s Auto and Tire
Extremely trustworthy and friendly staff. No shenanigans!

Never again!
I’ve taken my car to this location 3 times, on two of those occasions I went ahead and authorized the repairs they suggested, even though I was skeptical of their diagnosis and costs.
One the first occasion my clutch had failed, so I take my car in, they agree that my clutch is fried and it’ll be $ 400 to replace it. I have a limited edition vehicle with several high performance and/​or aftermarket parts, so this seemed like reasonable price. All is well and good until the next day when they tell me that they put the new clutch in but my transmission is fried as well and it’s going to cost an additional $ 1600 to replace it, as it has to be assembled by hand. This raised some red flags but I was in a jam so I authorized them to do it.
On the second occasion my mass air flow sensor died and they tell me it’s going to $ 1200. That seemed incredibly high, but again I paid it.
On the last occasion it took it in to repair an exhaust pipe that had broken off at the first catalytic converter (I have dual CATs), I figured it just needed a quick weld. When they called me I was told that I have to replace the entire exhaust system, that the pipe had broken off inside the CAT and that the first CAT was «shoved halfway into the exhaust manifold». They said the cost was going to be $ 1600 for the exhaust system plus labor. This sounded like total BS to me, so I went to their shop and looked at it while it was on the rack. In regard to the CAT being «shoved halfway into the exhaust manifold», this was utter BS. The CAT and manifold where in perfect shape, the only damage was a small crack in bracket between them. What they said was true in regard to the pipe breaking off right at the CAT, but I could see immediately that it could be easily welded; weld a collar to the CAT, trim down the broken pipe and weld it to the collar… Viola! I point out that a weld can fix it and the mechanic tells me «No way, I even took pics off the damage and sent them to our exhaust specialist and he said it’s impossible». So I tell them fine, cut out the first CAT, terminate the lead O2 sensor and I’ll run it with one CAT and one O2 sensor. He tells me «you can’t do that with a turbo, you’ll get a check engine light if both CATs and sensors aren’t working and connected, you’ll never pass emissions.» That’s when I pointed out to him that due to the broken pipe there is no airflow at all to the second CAT and O2 sensor and I’m not getting any check engine light. He looked at me stunned for a few seconds and said «I’m just telling you what our exhaust guy told us.». That’s when I knew he was full of it, so I told them thanks for nothing and took my car. The next day it dawned on my that a good friend of mine has an uncle who is a master welder and long story short, I took my car to his shop and he fixed it in less than 45 mins. It took longer to remove the CAT than it took him to weld the break. It was so easy that he refused to charge me.
What I learned from my last experience is that there were only two possible scenarios in that instance:
1. Either the mechanics on staff and their «exhaust specialist» were so inexperienced and ignorant they didn’t understand that the exhaust could have been fixed with a simple weld
–or–
2. They knew that it could be fixed with a weld but were more interested in selling a $ 1600 exhaust system
Add either of the above to the fact that they straight up lied to me about the condition of my CAT and exhaust manifold and you can only conclude that when it comes to Sun Devil Auto at 43^rd & Thunderbird, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

So, I took my 1964 ½ Ford Mustang to Sun Devil Auto (
) for a free inspection and new tires. I usually go to the shop in downtown Phoenix, which is reputable and I have had good experience there.
This time I took my vehicle to the Glendale location because that’s the closest one to where I live. «We give the same quality of service (as the other location),» they said to me on the phone, «we’re just different guys.»
I had my car towed there on Friday, March 2. I got a call on Monday that they were all done with the inspection, I authorized them to do some minor work (new points, new starter coil), and then I didn’t hear back from them for days.
So I call on Thursday, March 8 and they say they found the right size tires and that it’ll be ready for pick up the following day.
I leave work and head for the shop, on my way I get a phone call from the assistant manager asking me if I have a gas can. Why? Because they ran may car out of gas. This is pretty unusual, typically a shop would take care of this on their own. But I stop at QT, buy a gas can, and a gallon of fuel.
When I get there they still have my car on the lift. They lower it, I get in. I notice three things immediately. First, my car is in neutral. Second, there must not be any transmission fluid in it because it won’t go into reverse. And third, there’s a gigantic crack in my windshield that was not there when they picked my car up.
Now, one of the first things I told them when the car was dropped off is that my battery would need to be charged. I had a new battery in there, one of those really expensive ones that are supposed to last a while. It had been sitting and was dead I told them they’d need to charge it.
Their solution was to start my car with one of their batteries, take out their battery, and then drop in my battery so that the alternator would charge it. This is plain ridiculous to me. If my car were to stall, I’d be screwed. Not to mention that they had it for seven days. It takes two hours to charge a battery. They said their battery charger is shot, which may be the case, but there’s a Checker and an AutoZone one mile away which charge batteries for free.
Obviously, without transmission fluid, a charged battery, and with a cracked windshield, my car isn’t ready to drive home. I tell them that they need to correct these issues so that I can pick it up the next morning.
They call me around 9:30am on Saturday telling me that instead of charging my battery they gave me a new one of the same kind, and proceed to make a big deal about how they’re taking such a loss and doing me a favor.
My only concern at this point is ‘are they going to fix my broken windshield that they’re responsible for?‘
They’re going off on how they towed it in backwards so it couldn’t have broken from a rock in transit, and they don’t have stuff flying around in their shop, and they can’t just fix it.
I know, with one hundred percent certainty, that my windshield was not broken when I dropped it off. They won’t come out and call me a liar, but that’s basically what they were saying; that it was «like that» when they got it.
I go in and see the manager, who I’ve never met at this point,” who asks me to speculate as to how the windshield got cracked. I don’t really care, and I don’t know what goes on in that shop, where my car sat for a week, so in my opinion, anything could’ve happened. But, I think they lifted it wrong. They had it on a lift in neutral. If they lifted it too close to center, or were opening the doors and climbing in an out, then the body would’ve flexed causing the windshield to crack vertically down the center.
In summary, they communicated with me poorly. They did not provide a full inspection that they had a eight days to do. They tried to send me home in a vehicle without a charged battery and without transmission fluid. They broke my windshield and did not take any responsibility for it.

They raised the coupon another two dollars to 18.95. I had an oil change appointment and asked Chris Corkin at 67^th and Bell to call when it was ready. I waited 5.5 hours and he never called. Then had an attitude when I went to pick it up. I will never go back to Sun Devil Auto. Do yourself a real favor and go somewhere else altogether for oil changes.
Coupon has now been raised to 19.95. You should officially have no reason to take your car to any sun devil auto.