Sweeney's Auto Service PA 19348

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Andy Bradford

My car broke down right up the street from Sweeney's so I figured that was the best place to tow it to at 5:00pm on a Tuesday night. I called and the owner (John) picked up saying I made him come back in to answer the phone since he was walking out the door but that if I got it dropped off he'd look at it the next day. I called the next morning to make sure they got the key and everything okay and was told they would look at it and give me a call. By lunchtime I got a call from John explaining that a $145 part was broken and needed to be replaced. Since it required a good amount of labor to move the trans and repace it the labor would be over $900 in addition to the part ($1200+ total). I told him that I was going to call the shop where I got the truck and see what the cost would be to fix it there - John got huffy again and said "hurry up and let me know because I have to get it the hell off my lift and its taking up space." Even by getting another tow 20 miles/a half hour the cost difference was easily in the FEW hundreds so definitely worth getting it towed AWAY from Sweeney's. I scheduled for another tow truck to take it from one shop to the other right away... When I called Sweeney's back to let them know someone was on the way I was told there was a bill waiting for me for $122 for the diagnosis. I'm not the argumentative type usually but I talked to John again and explained that I work for a living too; although I don't expect free service (his diagnosis), I was curious what he would do with that kind of cost difference and $122 when I was never told anything before was a lot more than I expected (this was the first time pricing was mentioned outside of his $1200 estimate). John was his normal demeanor and said that was how much his time to diagnose it was worth. I would have much rather paid $122 more for towing to a different place the first time and not have to deal with calling multiple tow companies, another shop, and the hassle of Sweeney's attitude and ridiculous quotes. Definitely think twice before you go here.

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Pastor David

John has been a very skilled and accommodating mechanic. There have been times I just needed advice or a small 'fix it', and he was more than willing to help out with out notice. I work down the road from his place and when I drop the car off, he is kind enough to drop me off where I work. I would definitely recommend him.

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iloveeventing1

Sweeny's should be called Swindlers! Just over a year ago I asked Jay (one of the owners) if he could put in a manifold on my Dodge truck. He said yes. Dodge service book called for 3 hours labor but when I picked up the truck the bill was over $700, I was shocked and not happy but paid the bill. 14 months later the manifold gasket was leaking, keep in mind the first manifold lasted 245,000 miles. I brought the truck back, Jay looked at it and said drop it off tomorrow and we will fix it. This is where I have a problem. I went to pick it up and Jay said "I won't warranty that" and hands me a bill for $180. He said it had been 14 months and 14,000 miles and had nothing to do with his work. The problem here is I was way over charged originally, and once again told to just drop off the truck and it would be fixed. If you look at something and you have no intention of warrantying your work then tell me....why would I over pay again for bad quality work. The original work lasted more than 20x longer. I mistakenly thought they would stand behind it. I said I am not happy and will tell my friends of my experience, his response "I pretty sure my reputation can handle that". He clearly does not care for the customer. Not sure if his reputation will suffer but it doesn't seem like he will lose any sleep over it. Point being how do people like this sleep at night? I paid $900+ to install a manifold that professionals at Dodge would have done for half the price. The misconception is that dealers are expensive, more importantly they stand behind there work.