Prime Tune & Brakes

Please do your research and do not give this shop your business. Complete incompetence. Apparently this shop is under new ownership and is no longer honoring warranty service from previous ownership although still under the same business name. The mechanics are young and it seems that all the good 'seasoned' techs have moved on from this once reputable shop. New owner seems nice enough, just not knowledgeable, doesn't seem like he understands the automotive business. Hard to trust someone who doesn't know the trade, in my opinion. Sorry guys, had to be said. From a very disappointed long time customer who won't be coming back. This shop will not last long as it sits, thus meaning your new ""warranty"" will be void as soon as they go under, much like my warranty was void after new owner bought it out. Best move on to a more reputable/stable shop. I have since bumped into the mechanic that used to work on my BMW at Prime Tune, he no longer works in the trade due to bad ethical practices on the business owners behalf. He also informed me of a few other shops who seemed to be worse than Prime Tune, hard to believe they are out there, but this tech unfortunately had to work at a few more unethical shops before deciding to make a change to his chosen career path in life. Sad, aren't many good techs out there anymore due to bad business practices. more

I am going to break this review down into multiple areas. Price - Very clearly laid out and itemized. They had my car for roughly 7 hours and I was only charged 4 hours of labor and for a timing belt replacement job plus a couple of other things that is a good deal. The dealership rate is $100 an hour so I saved $70 there. Communication - Decent. The guy working the front desk seems kinda... off... but he is nice and still honest. The mechanics, although young they know what they are doing. Education - I took my car in for a safety inspection, one of the mechs found a small leak that appears to have been fairly old in age. They allowed me to look under the car itself and explain to me the possible problem areas and possible solutions and suggestions on which route they the mechanic would go first, not the sales guy out front - HUGE POINTS there. With the good comes the bad, the bad part is that they are slow. Once you get to talk to the mechanics you are in good shape, just don't bank on the guy in the front, he shirt has no stains, his hands are clean, but nice enough guy. I don't believe anything was removed my vehicle, but if you keep valuables in your vehicle that is your own risk and that is never recommended. Scam... hey they are business, they were honest with me in saying yes, you don't HAVE to replace this part, but, being that the vehicle is used, it would be smart but not needed at this time - Class. more

I just dropped my car off here earlier today. When I dropped it off, it was running great no oil leaking or anything... Then, when I went to pick it up, they told me not to drive it more than a couple of miles because it was leaking so much oil. They told me it was ""unsafe to drive""! If my car was ALREADY leaking oil that bad, then WHY did they change my oil?? Also, my car is all electronic and has sensors in it to let me know if my car has anything wrong with it and there were definitely NO oil lights on when I dropped it off! I live in the mountains and drove an hour and a half to get my oil changed.. You would think I would realize if my car was leakin oil that bad! Also, there is NO oil in my driveway where I usually park my car! I think they screwed something up!! more

I took my car to their shop for a routine oil change. A few miles down the freeway, and the engine seized. They had installed the incorrect oil filter and sent a tech to put a correct one in. The car still didn't start, so I had it towed back to their shop to determine the extent of the damage. A few days later they claimed to repair it, but \r 2800 miles later it broke down again. I took it back to them a second time (as they refused to have me take it anywhere else), and they gave me an work order explaining that I had a bad crankshaft bearing. \r \r 900 miles later a check engine light came one, so I took it to a nearby Toyota dealer who told me the original engine was no longer in my car. Prime Tune had completely replaced the engine with a much older engine without telling me and lied by telling me instead I had a bad crankshaft bearing. \r \r Now they are refusing to pay for a replacement engine Cons: The manager is a dishonest bully more

I'm from Seattle and wrecked my truck while on my way to Mt. Baker and had it towed to Prime Tune & Brakes b/c they were the only place open on the weekend. I was told the initial diagnostic would cost $90 and take an hour or two. They also said they'd take a look under my car to see why the alignment was off.\r \r I didn't hear back from them until 4 days later and somehow the cost for the diagnostic ballooned from $90 to $260! When I asked for an itemized invoice for the charges, it took them another week to produce it and included a full-tune up, a battery and a mystery ""shop item"" for $50. Given the discreprency b/w the initial price and work performed, I've tried, unsuccessfully, to contact the business and negotiate a compromise for the work that was actually done vs. those they fabricated. Next step, Washington State Attorney General's Office to file a complaint Pros: Open on weekends Cons: Increased costs and lied about services performed more

My wife and I went to Prime Tune & Brake in Bellingham, WA for an oil change, transmission flush, and brake pad service, which we were told would take a couple hours to complete. We were pleased to get an 11:OOam appt. on a Sunday, however we quickly learned that making an appointment doesn’t matter. We call an hour and a half later to see what the expected time for pickup was and they hadn’t begun to work on the vehicle. We later received a call 30 minutes before they closed (4pm) informing us that our vehicle would not be finished today because the parts that they ordered were wrong. They provided a loaner vehicle, and asked us to return tomorrow for pickup. The following day my wife waited in town after work and finally called at 4pm and again was told that the vehicle would not be ready by day’s end and that the parts they ordered again were wrong. It wasn’t until late into the third day of servicing that our vehicle was returned to us. We were forced to pay full price despite having to wait 3 days for a 3 hour job and having to fuel and refuel a gas guzzling loaner vehicle. No consideration or credit was given for this inconvenience. The icing on the cake is that they ran the transaction on two of our accounts, charging us twice, so then having to deal with the bank headache to investigate fraud charges. When I called Prime Tune and told them about the double charge the guy who answered the phone rudely exclaimed ""Well, what do you want me to do about it"". I would not recommend anyone use this company given this experience. Pros: ? Cons: slow, dishonest, didn't finish work, and over charged more

One time i was driving down sunset and my car began to make a loud noise i was very close to prime tune so i went there. It turned out that a spark plug had fallen out. They fixed it for free. another time i took my car there and it cost over a grand to get fixed but it probably wasn't there fault. last i had a friend that took his car there and instead of fixing it they took it too another shop and charged him extra. Pros: Quick Cons: Wierd dude with the sick mustache. more

When you advertise ""Open 7 days a week"", you should hold true to that. You don't work on Sundays. Furthermore, I left a message on the answering machine (WHICH STATED YOU AREN'T WORKING ON SUNDAYS) and nobody ever contacted me back. How frustrating this is. My business isn't worth anything to you people. I can't comment on their work ethic part of things considering I couldn't even talk to a human being to get in. A week goes by and nobody still can call me back. Congrats, you've just inspired me to go elsewhere. Pros: ? Cons: Bad customer service more