One of my vehicles was a 93 Volvo 850. The incident that needs telling in this review was the replacement of the valve cover seal on my Volvo. Unfortunately, when A-Car Auto Repair performed the work, they used the incorrect sealing compound (Volvos do not use standard silicone), which ended up blocking oil circulation to the camshafts and ultimately caused several thousand dollars in engine damage. The initial side effect of this mistake was excess engine noise, which the service manager passed off as 'normal' for a Volvo. I took it back several times in frustration to try and get them to figure out what was wrong, but the service manager ultimately gave up and recommended that I contact a specialist about 3000 miles after the mistake had been made. The second Volvo-specific mechanic I visited knew exactly what the problem was right away, and pointed it out when I first drove in and popped the hood. Once they got the valve cover off and had confirmation (with photos), I contacted A-Car Auto Repair immediately and passed on the clear photographs of the damage and its cause, plus the contact information of the Volvo mechanic that discovered the damage so A-Car Auto could obtain an estimate for repair (~$2500-$3000) and hopefully do the right thing to correct it. Their response was stunningly unpleasant: The business operator of A-Car Auto Repair offered me, through their service manager, an insulting $300 as a 'gesture of goodwill,' asserting that my Volvo 'was probably already damaged before [A-Car] worked on it.' Luckily, I had a complete log of all prior maintenance to the vehicle from the day it rolled off the lot, proving the Volvo's relative good condition until the valve cover seal damage - but I still had to meet with their business operator and verbally joust across a desk to get them to pay me for about half of the estimated repair cost.\r
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A-Car Auto Repair is dishonest, more than willing to screw over a long-time and once loyal customer.
Pros: None.
Cons: Destroyed my car, would not cover repairs despite solid paper trail and photographic evidence.
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