Clack Automotive Repair

I would give them 0 stars if I could. Firstly, they quoted me $ 1400 for the diagnostic, new fuel pump, a tune up, and labor. I told them to go ahead and start and they said it should be done in a day or 2. After 4 days of it being in the shop, I went in to pay and pick up my car only to find out nothing had been done as I did not pay the full bill in advance. I said that we never agreed on that and they went on to insinuate that they did not trust me to pay the bill. When I asked why I never got a phone call about this, he replied «What, I’m supposed to call you everyday?» Excuse me!?! At this point, I’m getting more and more frustrated. Instead of apologizing about the misunderstanding, the employees (mainly a guy named John) continued to yell at me (despite my distressed state, did I mention I am pregnant??). At that point I ask for my keys and tell them I’m going elsewhere (and telling all of my friends to as well). They say, OK but you have to pay for the diagnostic. Angrily I do. I then call around to a few shops and end up talking to Darla from H&H. What a difference! She was so sweet and told me not to stress about it and that they’d help. I drive my car over there (which would be impossible with a broken fuel pump I find out) and they do a fuel pressure test only to find that it is fine. No low pressure, ie fuel pump is fine and Clack’s straight up lied to me. They do a little more sleuthing and discover that it is a simple vacuum leak. $ 78 and I’m out of there and car is fine. I can’t believe that Clack’s was going to swindle me out of more than $ 1300, how do these people sleep at nigh? DO NOT TRUST THEM! I will be calling AAA as well as the BBB to report this.

There are few things in life that cause me as much anxiety as car trouble. It’s the reason I own cars that are sometimes nicer than my tax bracket. Pretty sad when the car is a 2000 Saab Convertible, but I bought it over five years ago and haven’t had a single lisp in its performance. Until last week…
My boyfriend and I were driving to San Francisco when the engine light went on, and then later the power steering went out just as we rolled off the Elko exit. Not knowing anyone in Elko, we called AAA to tow the car to Clack Automotive Repair. Carless, we stayed at the Thunderbird and worried ourselves sick most of the night. I recited conversations in my head with my Dad, begging him for money. In the morning, we called a Saab mechanic in Reno, and troubleshooted the best we could via phone.
At Clack, we were told it would take at least a day to work on the car, so we booked another night in Elko. The mechanic called us and said that it was a belt problem and we could pick it up the next morning. He quoted us $ 355 and we were totally relieved. No calls to Dad.
The next morning we picked up the car, and were told there was a problem and they’d have to reroute the belt. The mechanic explained everything to us with a detailed illustration. A couple hours later we picked up the car – $ 468 total. They were friendly and the work appeared to fix our car enough to get back on the road safely. We knew it wasn’t a permanent fix, but we were grateful that our car was running well enough to get us out of Elko. If you’re ever stranded with a european car, you couldn’t ask for a better mechanic. These guys are great – and they’re AAA Approved. Also, we suspect they gave us a break on the labor fees because we are students and being stranded for two days was costly (lodging, food, etc).