I don't know how they do it, but Mitch and his guys are good, cheap, a... read more I don't know how they do it, but Mitch and his guys are good, cheap, and fast. My 2006 GMC truck would give me all kinds of fits when I drove it. It would run great, then die, then barely run, then be great again... It was really frustrating! My local shop said it could be several possibilities, but wanted to start by doing a tune-up and go from there. I wasn't impressed with their guesses; I wanted a solution. I went online looking for a better deal. I found Shaw Auto Service and gave them a call. I told the guy on the phone what was up and he was honest about it - he said he didn't know, but they would figure it out. Keith came out later that day, did about an hour of testing, and told me I needed a fuel pump - guaranteed to fix my problem, he said. Well, when he got to the fuel pump he found a bad wire and fixed it. I got to take the $250 pump back to the store, just paid for his time, and haven't had any problems since. Just awesome!
I own a '03 Saab 9-3, and just as it was time for my tag to be renewed... read more I own a '03 Saab 9-3, and just as it was time for my tag to be renewed, that wonderful little "Check Engine" light came on during my afternoon commute. So, as usual, I made an appointment over at the dealer to get things checked out. I figured as long as I was there, I'd get the oil change and the free inspection done; I had some work to do anyway. After awhile, the service advisor comes over and says, with the most pleasant look on his face, that they will be "more than happy" to take care of the problem causing my light to be on, and, by the way, your water pump is also leaking a bit... the total? $1200 for the light and almost $1100 to do the pump. You folks better be completely ecstatic if I were to have both items done! I said I'd think about it, paid $120 in diagnostic fees, plus $65 for the oil change, and went back to the office to consider how I could blow the car up while having it look like an accident. Instead, I shared my troubles with an associate who suggested I try Craig's List; I figured it couldn't hurt, and Shaw Mobile was the only ones I saw that listed Saab as one of the cars they worked on. I called and spoke with Mike, who seemed ok (but anyone can "sound" ok), so I made the appointment to have him come to the house the next day. He diagnosed a bad connector to the sensor which made it look like this thing in the engine was all messed up (so I don't worry about proper names - shoot me). But he fixed the connector for the diagnosis fee of $60 plus $30 labor, and then gave me a quote of less than half of the dealer on the water pump.... Guess who did the pump??? Everything turned out great, Mike did an awesome job, and the "stealership" got an earful from me later that week. I'll always use Shaw Mobile from now on; and that other place? They'll never see me again!
I had recently gotten a used 1999 Hyundai Sonata, because I needed som... read more I had recently gotten a used 1999 Hyundai Sonata, because I needed something that would get better mileage than my full size truck. But, a couple months after I got it, it started to die while going down the road. It would usually restart right away, but eventually it didn't. I had it towed to my regular mechanic, who said it wouldn't be a problem. After a couple days, he called up and said I needed to take it to the dealer because he thought it had a bad computer, and he couldn't take care of it. I did some research on the internet, and the symptoms didn't match up with being a computer problem, but they didn't really match, well, anything. I told them to just tow the car to my house while I considered my options. I went on Craigslist and saw the ad for Shaw Mobile and gave them a call. They seemed to at least know it wasn't the computer right off, and promised they could fix it. I had one of their techs come out and within about 45 minutes he asked me to go get a "crankshaft position sensor", whatever that is, and that would take care of it - "guaranteed". My car has not died since, and all they charged me was $60 for figuring it out and $40 to put that part on. The mechanic I "used to use", because I'll never call them again, charged me $120 to tell me it was the computer - which is wasn't - plus $90 for two tows. I figure that's money paid for my education. I can't recommend these people enough.
