Independence Automotive

I may have found a mechanic I can depend on at Independence Automotive. I don’t trust mechanics. Let me just put that out there. I can’t tell you then number of times I have heard a mystery noise or had an indicator on my dash light up only to be told I needed way more than I actually do. How do I know this? Because I know enough about cars to see through the technical speak a lot of mechanics try to confuse you with and also because I always, always get a second (and sometimes third) opinion. Cars are like going to the doctor. Sometimes the first diagnosis is not always correct regardless of what the error code or service bulletin tells you. I had a car in the past make awful noises, I was told I needed a whole new wheel bearing assemble and then I find out from someone else I only had a stick wedged between the rim and the undercarriage and that’s what was causing the noise — no charge. Unfortunately there are still a lot of unscrupulous auto repair shops out there whose sole purpose in life is to upcharge whenever possible — to sell you services and parts you don’t need. Many dealers are the same way. Case in point, I took my current Ford Fusion to the dealer at 38,500 miles because I had a series of trouble lights come on suddenly and then my power steering completely failed 30 seconds later. I had to muscle the car there and darn near crashed on the way because it took a huge effort to turn the wheel. So I’m just 2,500 over my warranty period and the diagnosis is I need a complete steering rack & pinion system replacement. The cost $ 3200. What?! My new car is barely a year old, I’m within spitting distance of the basic warranty period and that’s what they want to charge me? I couldn’t even negotiate them down because I was so close to the warranty. I was so disgruntled at that point and I said, no way, just clear the trouble code and let’s see what happens. They cleared the code, the power steering came back and until this week I drove it another 50,000 miles without further incident. That’s two more years’ worth of driving and tells me there was absolutely nothing wrong with the rack & pinion. Well, the power steering issue happened again this week at 91,000 so I looked on Angie’s List hoping to find an A+ rated shop and someone I could work with. I took it to Independence Automotive in Pineville. In about an hour Dennis diagnosed that my control arms were causing too much torque resistance and causing the power steering sensor to trip. I was also getting a pretty wicked squeaking noise over bumps that I thought was just a bad strut, but I was told that the control arms were causing the noise too. Because I have trust issues I asked him for the error code numbers so I could look them up and see if he was full of it. Lo and behold, there was a service bulletin stating the same issue — excessive control arm torque. So I told him to replace the control arms, reset the error code, and what do you know, the car has never run better on the road. Power steering came back and as a bonus the squeaking disappeared. Time will tell if the steering issue happens again but for once I feel like I got a real diagnosis, not a guess, and the problem was solved. I also didn’t get pressured into buying additional parts and services I don’t need right now. He did mention the strut and some tire wear issues but I didn’t feel like I had to deal with it immediately. They are a little higher priced than other big name chain shops, but if they keep fixing the right things I will keep coming back. The total repair was done in less than 24 hours and cost $ 1200 for computer diagnosis, four control arms, and labor.

I am always on the lookout for good & honest mechanics that are conveniently located to work & home. I had high hopes for Independence Automotive. So, the other day I dropped my car off for them to diagnose a problem. I left the car and they called me about an hour or so later to give me the quote. They said that I needed a new power steering pump. They quoted $ 800 for parts & labor to fix it. However, doing some research & talking to other mechanics, I decided to take my car elsewhere for repairs. Needless to say, we found a shop that fixed the problem for around $ 175. I am not sure if these guys were trying to rip me off, or if they just didn’t know any better, but either way, it was totally disappointing and now I don’t trust going back there again. :-(