I've been to Nealy's twice as I wanted to support a local business. Both times my truck had been diagnosed by Nissan so this was a comparison. The first quote I received was higher than the dealership (over $2000 compared to $1700). The second time Nealy's would not give me an estimate or even a ballpark (to replace spark plugs, valve covers, and gaskets), as 'too much could go wrong' - even when I said that any overage for the unexpected was acceptable. And mind, this is an estimate, not a quote. They just had to get a $65 diagnosis and part of a workday to get an estimate. Who has time and money to do that? Well three other shops DID give me quotes, and I'm going with one of them. Edit to respond: Obviously when your wrote your response you didn't respond to my needs as a customer. *Every other shop* I called gave me an estimate, including parts (of various qualities), estimated work hours and labor cost. Your method discourages cost comparison, which is the KEY for me to ensure that I'm getting the best price for the service (not necessarily the cheapest, either). That is the point. If I have to pay every shop to diagnose the same issue, I would spend over $200 just to get two or three quotes, which isn't cost effective. In order to reasonably compare shops for the same work, one MUST get estimates over the phone. Overall, making cost comparison difficult keeps customers ignorant of what other businesses charge and encourages up-charging. Having warranties & ASE master certified technicians is good to mention, but other shops have them also. Your shop IS noted in many reviews as being particularly expensive. My requirement was to compare prices and select the shop that is right for me and my vehicle. And I didn't get that from your shop.
Casey, we are sorry that your experience with us did not meet your expectations. Your investment with us includes guaranteed 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty coverage and top of the line work performed by ASE master certified technicians. The reason we hesitate to deliver estimates over the phone is because we would rather inform you of what our technicians see and the inspections they report to us: They might report on things that you do or don't need that could be different from what other technicians have reported. We would do you a disservice if we gave you prices without being completely positive on our end that those investment costs cover exactly what you need. The $65 investment in our inspection is to cover the time that our certified technician needs to give us a report we can stand behind, in the event that we do not complete repairs. If there is anything we can do to serve you with this in mind, we would really appreciate the opportunity to do that!
- Edgewater