On a recent visit to my daughter in Minneapolis, I took her 99 Subaru to get groceries. It took a few turns to start the car and it ran rough. A few miles from her house it smelled hot.. seconds later all power shut down and smoke started pouring out from under the hood and it reaked of burning rubber.. I coasted to the curb, jumped out and ran for a phone, something exploded behind me and I turned and saw even more smoke pour out from underneath. The fire dept came and declared it safe for AAA to tow away. When asked where to take it...I said I am from South Dakota I have no idea.. he said we take all our work to Bradan Auto I will take it there and he drove off leaving me, I walked back worried about the honesty and reliability of the mechanic that now had my car. Shortly thereafter I was contacted by Nate from Bradan and asked several questions about what the car was doing that morning and she was questioned on the days prior. He called me hourly to keep me updated on what damage he was finding and the cost to repair it. He eventually found where a squirrel had chewed the starter wires causing the short and the explosion I heard was the A/C exploding, he also talked to me about finding the battery wires melted and the battery fried. I became worried about whether I wanted this car back or not.. would it be safe for her to drive afterwards. I stopped in the next day and Nate walked me through the damage and showed me first hand what had happened and explained that the engine was fine that it was just wires, hoses, the A/C, battery, cables, etc. all easily replaced. The last and final estimate was $1800.. He got that car Tuesday and I had it back Thursday. Total $1795.36. My daughter reported that it is starting right up and running great. I am so glad the car was towed to Bradan Auto. I have already passed his name onto parents I know whose kids have cars at the U as he is only blks away and I have told my daughter to take it there for all future work.
Pros: Great communication, worked steadily on it, quick turn around time.
Cons: none
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