Meineke Car Care Center

"My engine was overheating and I took it to Meineke on East Broadway. The initial fee was around $90 for engine cooling diagnostic, which I agreed to pay before they began. The same afternoon, I got a call from Adam, the store manager, who advised me that they had narrowed the cause to either the head gasket or the heater hoses on the firewall. They needed to charge me an additional hour of labor for the firewall inspection, which brought the total to around $160. I agreed to the new charges, and the following day, Adam called to tell me the inspection was complete and had netted no findings. They recommended the replacement of the engine for around $9,000 or the replacement of the head gasket for $11,000. The car is older, so I decided against the repairs and collected my car, paying the full charge, including the additional hour of labor. We continued to drive the car for the next couple of weeks while we prepared to purchase a new vehicle. One afternoon, I pulled into the driveway, and when I got out, I noticed a heavy coolant smell. I popped the hood and looked around. I first focused on the head but found no evidence of leakage, which should have been obvious given the strong smell. I then checked the oil to look for leaked coolant and found none. Then, I noticed the heater control valve shooting a heavy stream of coolant upward, where it was absorbing into the firewall insulation. For the uninformed, the heater control valve is connected to the hoses that enter the firewall; the same hoses I was charged additional labor to inspect. I bought a new heater control valve from Auto Zone for $20, and installed it myself in about an hour. The car has been on the road for over a year, with no problems. Whether the ultimate cause of this problem was corruption or incompetence, this is not the place for any significant automotive maintenance or repair."

"The lead technician/mechanic (Patrick) at this Meineke location had a tough problem to solve involving the computer systems of this car after a "friend" of one of my daughters had tinkered with it in ignorance and caused serious problems. But Patrick persisted and not only solved that problem but went above and beyond the "call of duty" to solve another problem I hadn't known about. I highly recommend this facility and am totally pleased with the communication, patience and skills of each of the three people there (Adam, Patrick and Tyler) with whom I communicated."

"My oil change with the tire rotation and other system checks took approximately a hour. Staff were professional, friendly and informative. I used a Groupon for the oil change but they did find “ other items that needed to be addressed immediately.” The vehicle has 16500 miles so I felt that it was too early for the suggested other services. There was no hard sell and I can recommend them as a reputable business."

"Met some great people in the office and the tech was thorough & fun. Its important to me that I dont just get service where I go, I love to make relationships with people. These guys did that. Great conversation, and quality work. Equally important. Highly recommend."

"This team was amazing! I had completely destroyed my engine and the Mieneke crew was able to help me navigate not only the repair process but working with our insurance as well. Far from an ideal situation that in the end was resolved in a stress free manner. Took the vehicle home and it was perfect!!!! Highly recommend this group of professionals for any automotive needs."