I am highly disappointed that I am writing this review, but it needs to be done. I had a lot of trust and faith in West Auto, as I had been bringing my car there consistently for issues. They typically were fair and fixed the issues I asked of them.
However, I recently brought my car in again due to it having a wobble in the back as I was driving that would cause jerking movements to the side. The first time I brought it, they said my tires were pretty low (which they were) and so they replaced the tires and then fixed the front brakes, but didn't find anything wrong with the rear end. I took the car back, and the wobble was still present, with it being particularly noticeable in the snow.
I brought the car back again, and they held onto it for 4-5 days trying to diagnose it. They eventually came to the consensus that the whole rear suspension needed to be replaced for an estimate of 3500 dollars. I asked if they thought it was worth fixing in which they said probably not with the current value of the car. When I picked up the car, it was completely undriveable even though I was able to drive it in initially. The driver side back tire was wobbling now and i had to pull over and have it towed.
I had a friend tell me to bring it to another shop on their recommendation to get a second opinion. The mechanic at this shop called me pretty quickly after looking at it on the lift, saying that the back tires were blatantly out of alignment by inches and not by centimeters. He wasn't sure how that wasn't noticed right away. The new rear tires I had put on by West Auto had been chewed through which was evidence of the significant misalignment. The mechanic even invited me into his shop and explained the diagnosis while it was on the lift and told me to take pictures of it.
I called West Auto about it and originally they had told me on the phone that they did not check the alignment as they thought it was a tire issue. I called them back shortly after to further explain the second opinion in which they began to tell me that I asked for an alignment (which I for certain did not) and that they could not align it without fixing the entire rear suspension. I informed them that an alignment was NEVER part of any conversation we had in which I was told it was on the "paperwork" on file for them yet I had not received this paperwork because they diagnosed the vehicle "for free", although I asked if I owed anything when I picked it up. They also made comments about me saying I was going to get rid of it and that now I am seeking a second opinion, as if I wasn't entitled to do so. In addition, I was told that they would foot the bill if the car was able to be aligned without replacing all of the rear suspension components. I agreed to this.
Push comes to shove, the new mechanic was able to only replace the lateral links and bolts, and put two new tires on it. All of which (including the price of two tires) came to just under 800 dollars. After this work was done, I had it aligned without issue and my car has been driving fine since.
I had called West Auto to inform them of work that was successful, in which I was told that they would only foot the bill if it was able to be aligned without any kind of work on the rear suspension needing to be done. They refused to give me any kind of refund for the tires that were chewed through because of their major misdiagnosis. I insisted that the work I had done with the new tires and alignment cost me less than 1000 dollars and they had quoted me at 3500. When I said this, I was told that was because they didn't want to try and do the alignment (although the alignment was never part of the conversation up until I had mentioned the diagnosis of the other mechanic) without risking any of the other parts breaking.
Again, I am highly disappointed in having to write this as West Auto is reputable shop and had done solid work prior to this. I am not sure what was different this time, but I would be careful on accepting sole diagnostics from them.
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