The Car Spa

Helen and Mike, the owners of The Car Spa, are as nice as could be. They take a personal interest in their customers.
They themselves drive Japaneese manufactured automobiles, so owners of Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, etc. should feel comfortable with the level of expertise provided by their mechanics.
My repair included a part billed to me at reasonable purchase cost instead of the much higher retail cost.
The labor was reasonable and adjusted down from «book» because I had already removed the old part.
There was only one problem preventing me from giving this business 5 stars — included in the repair cost was a «Service charge» of over $ 11. There is a large sign in the shop indicating that the service charge is for miscellaneous parts including nuts and bolts, grease, shop towels, etc. My repair required no miscellaneous bolts or other parts (everything was included in the part or re-​used from the old part). There may have been a number of minor costs for shop towels, etc. I expected the service change for me to be $ 2 – 3 generously. Instead of denying the charge, I asked Helen how the charge was calculated. She feigned ignorance, said something vague about a percentage of the total cost, then promptly removed the charge without my requesting it to be removed. When asked if I felt better about the removed charge, I told her honestly, «No. I was asking for clarification, only.» I suggested a $ 2 – 3 shop charge was appropriate. She refused to even consider it. This was awkward, to say the least. A 5% fee will never be fair, as some parts cost much but require little labor and vice versa. The service charge should be flat or calculated based on the amount of labor and it should reflect a reasonable estimation of the costs associated with the repair. To do otherwise is frankly dishonest. I feel certain that Helen and Mike are just trying to cover their costs as effectively as they can, and that this charge is not intended to gouge their customers. I will definitely patronize The Car Spa again soon, and hope to find the service charge calculated more appropriately.

When I moved to Orlando I cast about for a while looking for a good, honest mechanic. It took a few tries, but I found one at The Car Spa. Mike and Helen run an honest business and are a pleasure to do business with.
At one point I had a loud thunking noise coming from the front of my car when turning. Mike took a look and let me know that the boot was coming off of one of the CV joints. He said that «eventually the part would go bad, but I didn’t need to worry about it now and could save my christmas money.» That kind of honesty is really refreshing in a mechanic. The repairs are quick, the prices are reasonable, and there’s always a smile and a free ride back to my house.
Regardless of what brand of car we own in the future, I know that we’ll continue to bring them to the car spa for repairs.