Lake Stevens Automotive - Lake Stevens, Washington

Neil H.

Updated per business response: Thank you for your prompt and courteous reply. One star back for your attention and interest in customer feedback.

For the record I did not request a (binding) quote, just an estimate for comparison purposes. I stated clearly that it was the maintenance minder (which the advisor did not know anything about), explained what it does, and gave the make, model, and year of the car, which would have enabled your advisor to quickly access the vehicle specs to know what type of transmission it has, as well as the fluid type, and approximate quantities needed for a drain and fill as well as a flush.

I appreciate your desire to not misinform the customer, as well as to cover your back, however when a customer requests an estimate for a specific, and routine, service to be performed just give them the info (with appropriate disclaimers, of course). Had a reasonable estimate been provided (which used to be the norm at Lake Stevens Auto) you probably would have had my business. Instead, I felt mistrustful of both the information I was given, and the motives/expertise of the advisor.

Hopefully you take this feedback to heart and it helps improve the experience for future customers. Sadly, you've lost this one.

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I used to come here all the time. The owners were friendly and fair. Sadly, things seem to be quite different now.

Last week the maintenance minder on my Honda gave me a message that it's time for a transmission fluid replacement. My last couple of experiences with their "service advisors" had been negative, but I figured I would give these guys one more try for old times sake, and called for an estimate. I mean, draining and replacing fluids is a pretty simple and standard service, right?

I gave the person (Dan?) my make and model information and he said I had to bring the car in for a "diagnostic" (which is now standard with them, and which they charge for) before they could give me an estimate. I said there was nothing wrong with the car, I just wanted them to drain and replace my transmission fluid. Was told that they couldn't tell how much fluid they would need and the cost could be anywhere from $400 - 800 (or more)!

Seriously?

Now in fairness, I understand the need to charge for diagnostics (why tell someone what's wrong for free, then have them decline service and do it themselves, right?). I also understand they might not know exactly how much fluid, but they should be able to ESTIMATE by looking up the make/model and checking the specs. Finally, labor for this type of service should be a flat rate/book value, so easily quotable. Yet the best he could do was tell me anywhere from $400 - 800 (or more!!!) and the DEALER charges less than half his LOW estimate.

I have held off adding a review thinking my last couple of interactions might have been one-offs, but after comparing my experiences with the other negative reviews here and elsewhere, it's clear to see that this not an exception, but is instead a pattern. I will never go there again, and recommend you do not either.

Darryl P.

Don't take your vehicle to this shop! They charged me $655 to tell me that my engine was toast! Those were just the diagnostic and engine compression tests. I didn't get any repairs done for that price! I may as well have lit my money on fire! After paying the bill, I could only sell my minivan with a blown engine for $900, so I only netted $245 for my van minus the bill that I had to pay! I feel that the diagnostic fee of $150 is all the money that I should have had to pay. Another $455 for them to perform a compression test, to verify that my engine needed to be replaced for thousands of dollars? They also quoted me $11,000 to put a new engine in a minivan that would never be worth more than $6,000 after a new engine replacement! The only reason that I'm giving them 1 star instead of half a star, is because the people at the front desk are really friendly. It's probably because they're so happy to make some easy money from all the fees that they charged me! Take your vehicle someplace else! That's my advice!

Chris P.

Rated 1 star only because 0 isn't an option. I took my SUV in with a few issues, and they were happy to charge me almost $300 for a diagnostic but after 2 days said they couldn't find any issues. As far as I'm concerned all i paid for was overnight parking, because they clearly didn't even bother with a code reader.

One of the issues they said they couldn't duplicate was still throwing the same code it was before as soon as i picked it up. If my cheap $100 code reader can pick up the issue, there's no excuse for them saying they couldn't find it. They told me I could take it back in if the issue "came back" but why the hell would I waste more time and money on them when they're clearly incompetent? I'll just cut my losses.

Heather R.

I went in for an oil and filter change. Waited 3 forking hours when I had an appointment. Then when they were done it cost me 193.50 for a forking oil and filter change. I will never go there again, and if anyone is reading this, don't go it's a trap.

Rachel R.

Lake Stevens Automotive got me in the next day to do an alignment on my vehicle. They gave me an estimate beforehand and sent me a text message with their findings after the evaluation was completed. I approved the work via text message and the alignment was done promptly. The staff was super nice and pricing was good. I will definitely return to them if/when I need more work done on my vehicles.

Kent

Second time I have had vehicle repaired. everyone was helpful and easy to engage with. I liked the use of website to document the repair work needed. Provided a nice list of the issues found, cost to repair and option to accept or decline each item.

Yo B.

I had been living in Lake Stevens for 2 years and im sad I never had gone to this place before for oil changes or any type of maintenance! This place is super detailed in checking your vehicle out! Kyler is super cool and honest. Detailed Photos were taken and estimates were given and what I value most about this place is their genuine honesty. Definitely check this place out! Estimates may seem high but you will pay for top tier work done!

Katarina L.

Came in without an appointment and they got me in right away! I had a headlight out and Casey got it fixed less than 10 minutes.