Louis Mastrangelo
★
☆☆☆☆
2 years ago
On May 24, 2023, I brought my car to Reliant Family Auto. Prior to this, I had been in contact with John and Donald, the owners of Reliant Family Auto. In our conversations, I asked them specifically if they felt comfortable working on my car and could correct the issue I was having with the car. They assured me they could and only after our conversations, I too feel comfortable that they could repair it. I left the car with them on the above indicated date telling them take the time necessary to do the job correctly; from this point on, I, not them, would initiate almost all communications, usually once a week to check on the progress. After approximately seven weeks, I asked them if it were possible that the car could be ready by the weekend; this was the only time I had ever said anything about the length of time they had had the car, nor at any time was I ever angry or showed any sign of discontent either toward John or Donald, but during this phone call, John, who was clearly frustrated, angrily stated that they had spent many hours on the car and became angry and irritated with me for even making this request. I did remind him they had had the car for a prolonged period of time. It was at this point, John stated he would have the car ready by the weekend. In the afternoon of July 15, 2023, I received a call from John telling me the car was ready, I told him I would be there by the end of the business day to settle up with him and collect my car. I was not happy to see that after spending about $1,450.00 the car seemed to be running as bad as prior to being dropped off. To be fair, some of the items I was concerned about (fuel leak, oil change, head lamp repaired and spark plug replacement) were completed, the car however was still not running right and John allowed me to leave with the car in that condition knowing he had just accepted payment for problems they had not corrected! I left his shop and only managed to go about three quarters of a mile before the car died at a busy intersection while I attempted to turn left. I restarted the car again, made an U-turned and drove directly back to his shop. The car spurted the whole way and nearly died a few more times, it was clearly evident that John had not even test drove it prior to my payment and collection of the car. I came back to the shop as he was attempting to leave and told him what happened and that I nearly didn’t make it back again. He took possession of the car again, saying he would have a look and get it taken care of. At no point in this conversation, nor any subsequent conversations did he or Donald ever mention that they would charge me more, I believed they were going to correct what I had paid to have been done in the first place! It was only at the time of pick-up on August 9, 2023 that I learned they charged me additional hours of labor to attempt to correct the same problem. At this point we had a heated conversation and they told me if I didn’t pay them, I would not get the car back; there were two of them and only me and I am handicapped, I felt intimated so, I paid their ransom. As of September 6, 2023, the car it is in another shop being repaired again. I have paid Reliant Family Auto nearly $1,900.00 and after over two months the car is worse in some ways than when we started. I do not deny some of the items I asked to be corrected were fixed, some indeed were (oil change, pop-up headlight, plugs replaced, gas leak fixed and a few others) and I do recognize my car is an unusual car, but they knew this going into it. I would think very carefully before you come to this shop, they will not stand behind their work and were more than happy to put me on the road with a car they never test drove and knew was not right and would potentially strand me. As a handicapped person, I cannot push a cars any longer, they knew this as well! I would not come here for anything beyond basic auto maintenance. Note, their rating was much lower before, make of that what you will.
Laurie Wright
★★★★★
a year ago
I was referred here by a friend and I was so impressed by how professional and knowledgeable John (owner) was regarding my 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser. The dealership had recommended I spend $6K on a “seaping” power steering issue and a timing belt problem❓❓ John was so friendly and opened the hood and look under the engine and immediately saw what the “issue” was which did NOT REQUIRE a 6K fix but, instead occasionally checking to see if seepage turns into a leak. He said with 166K miles on it, normal wear and tear. No charge‼️🙏☮️. Thank you John for your amazing service‼️‼️🙏☮️ Laurie W
Alden Navon
★★★★★
4 months ago
If you have ANYTHING going on with your car or just need general maintenance, these are the guys to go to!!! Super friendly and helpful! I recently had my transmission rebuilt for my 2020 Toyota Highlander, which while I wasn't happy to have to get done so soon on a newish car; this shop really went above and beyond for me and I can't recommend them enough!!
