Plainview Auto Care NY 11803

L

Lisa Bloom

We've been a customer since the owner of the station previously across the street retired. We had no issues when Brian was in charge. Recently, we brought in my daughters car for an inspection. For reference, the car is 2 years old and has 14k miles on it and is only really driven locally. I got a call from Jason who told me that in order for it to pass inspection, the car needed 4 tires new tires and brakes at the cost of $1300. This seemed odd to me and my husband, so we consulted with a friend more knowledgable about cars. He found it to be ridiculous and told us to take it to the dealer. When I told Jason I'd be picking the car up to get another opinion, he told me that the dealer would charge me much more than he would, but I said I would take my chance. Brought the car to the dealership and the tires were in good condition and the brakes were fine. The car passed inspection and the cost was $37. In fact, the mechanic at the dealership said that if driven the same type of mileage for the duration of the least (1 year), the car would need only a tire rotation at the next oil change. When I called Jason to share this, he got very aggressive with me and said the dealer was lying. He claimed dealerships slap passed inspection stickers on cars to remove themselves of responsibility for the poor materials they use on the car. I dismissed it to his bad attitude of being caught and went about my day. Then a friend shared that she had a similar experience on an inspection and had to purchase all new tires at the spur of the moment. I posted in a local Facebook group, and over 50 different people told stories of similar issues with this mechanic. While I can't speak to whether or not they actually needed tires and brakes, I did hear about cars getting tire rotations and the mechanic "forgot" to rebolt the tires in. Or someone went in for an oil change and "accidentally" got a new windshield. Or a horn that worked fine didn't work upon inspection and failed, only for the owner to be told by a dealership that the horn fuse was removed. Again, I'm no mechanic but something is fishy here. I would absolutely go elsewhere if you're looking for an honest mechanic. As someone said "the only thing Plainview Auto is good for is a $20 tire patch."

L

Larry Whitbeck

Failed my car because the front brake pads were bad. Took the car home and replaced the pads myself. These are the pads that he told me were bad. NYS says a fail is when you have metal to metal contact. These weren't even close to that. The squeelers weren't close to rotor yet. He should have said they are halfway worn and suggested replacing within the next year. He lost my confidence as a reputable shop owner. He also collected my $37

D

Doug Garfinkel

Always honest and fair. This is the best repair shop ever and you can feel comfortable they won’t find problems that don’t exist.