I came in with a coolant leak in my radiator and a brake light telling me I needed to change my brake pads. I was charged $90 for a coolant pressure test to tell me I needed to change my radiator (which was already obvious) and was charged an hour of labor which is $188 to diagnose the brake light that was clearly stating I needed new brake pads. I took my car to a different mechanic after being charged with telling me what I already knew and left with the same issues and with $350 less after taxes and fees. I got tricked by their friendly customer service but they have no mercy when it comes to charging absurd prices for the most simple things I would not recommend.
Howdy Mr. Garcia. Thank you for your review of our service at B&B Automotive. It was our pleasure to have met and served you. Please bare in mind that while the radiator leak may appear obvious, appearances are never a guarantee that no other component of the cooling system may also be leaking or compromised due to the severity of the easily identifiable leak. The $90 pressure test diagnostic fee covers the technicians time that will be spent diagnosing the cooling system concern, start to finish. It also covers the set of testing that will need to be performed, resources/materials used while testing and the maintenance of equipment used to test. Any 1st class automotive repair facility with highly trained, ASE certified technicians will always pressure test the system before and after the repair to ensure that the leak has been properly fixed and then manually measure operating temps at different points of the cooling system. We also go the extra mile by block testing the engine to make sure that no permanent damage has occurred due to the loss of coolant. We suggest settling for nothing less than this process from whichever automotive shop you choose for your cooling system repairs. The brake system diagnostic of $188 was needed due to the red brake light being on. Outside of a red brake light being on when the parking brake is in use, this indicator light only appears when there is an actual issue with the brake system. In the case of your BMW, the fault code 005DE2 - Dynamic System Control, which normally indicates pad wear on the front axle, had actually set not only for needing new brake pads, but additionally, the brake pad wear sensor wiring had actually been physically damaged. Without having investigated the code lead by removing surrounding components to visually inspect the other parts of the brake system, this critical damage would have been missed and the red brake light indicator would still be on after replacing the pads. We were committed to go above and beyond for you. While we appreciate your compliment of our service team, it is concerning that their courteousness and professionalism was perceived as less than sincere due to the cost of the testing needed, which you had agreed to upon check-in of the vehicle, for the concerns you requested us to look into for you. We will review our business practices to see what we might do differently to avoid this kind of feedback from other customers in the future. We sincerely appreciate the previous opportunity you gave us to serve you well and we invite you back anytime so that we can hopefully provide you with a better experience. Have a great day!
- B&B Automotive Services