Mariela Auto Repair

My experience with Mariela was a nightmare. After what has happened, I cannot in good conscience not say anything. I called the Woodside location and asked about finding the source of a smell in my car. I asked if they had same day availability and they said that they did. It took over two days for them to get to my car, with my calling every day. I was never called back when I was told I would be. On the third day they finally looked at my car and gave me a laundry list of repairs that needed to be done on top of replacing the carpet. The office manager tried every trick in the book, including telling me “you know us girls we don’t always take care of our cars”, to try to get me to get the extra repairs done. She did not ask before if they could do a full diagnostic. If they had I would have said yes. I agreed to have an oil change, paid their diagnostic fee, and agreed to have the carpet replaced. They placed an order on the carpet and I paid up front. We agreed on a time for me to come pick up my car - 5 hours later - but they had not yet completed my oil change. She told me to come back after an hour. When I returned it still was not ready for me. She then took me into the back of the shop to show me holes in the bottom of my car underneath the carpet. Why would they tell me the carpet needed to be replaced and not have looked underneath the carpet? Why was this not included in the previous list of work done? And how can they say that they completed a full diagnostic and then find this additional thing? I asked for an itemized estimate of the rest of repairs they said that I needed. She was very resistant and finally gave me a hand-written list, without itemized prices, just a lump sum at the end. And then it took another half-hour for them to pull the car out and only because I asked her to check.

I was supposed to come back 5 days - or 3 business days - later. In the meantime, I took the car to another mechanic for a second opinion. They confirmed a couple of repairs needed but said that the brakes - a very costly repair - did not need any work done. The day before I was supposed to come back, I called to confirm my appointment. The office manager said she did not know the status of the carpet shipment. Again, I was not called back when I was told to expect a call. I was told that the carpet shipment was delayed and it could be up to another 5 days for it to come in. She told me that I should stop calling, that she said that she was going to call me when she had an update, and that I was wasting her time calling to check in. After a long conversation on the phone I went to the office to continue the conversation. After another long conversation she finally said that I should talk to her manager, who was at the Westbury location. She reluctantly gave me his information, saying that I could look it up and then writing down the phone number on a piece of paper. How was I supposed to know not to bring in my car the following day if I had not called to confirm my appointment? Was I supposed to show up only to be turned away?

I drove out the following morning to speak to the manager. He was, to his credit, very professional. He offered a refund on the labor, since after all of this I was not going to have the work done at either of their shops. He said he would give me the carpet at cost for me to take to another shop. He their policy of not returning parts, stating that they cannot get it refunded from the distributor. The Auto Custom Carpet website states that they accept returns so long as the customer pays return shipping and a 20% restock fee. In our final conversation of many, he offered me shop credit for the cost of the carpet. After all that has happened, can you blame me for not taking my car back to their shop?

I know that they will write their own side of the story in response. I know they have plenty of regular clients. Do them the kindness of listening to us both and making your own decision. But after what happened, I personally cannot recommend them.