Ultimate Auto Care Bellbowrie at the Ampol service station

"So grateful for your service and pointing out we had the wrong size tyres on our car. Good work and thanks"

"They helped us with the faulty tyres couple of times and we were happy with the results and price."

"I am driving a dated but sound condition Diesel manual x-Trail. It is not an unusual car nor does it have, due to its age, any complex electronics. I had discovered that at low speed the vehicle experienced a shudder on the rear left that was increasing. This behaviour was combined with an increase in fuel consumption. On recommendation, I took my car to this local mechanic which had the reputation of being accurate but pricey. I asked for a general service, described the issue in detail and requested that all issues be addressed. The mechanic advised me that the car had mechanical issues totalling $2000 of repairs, and that the front tires were worn, which was the cause of the shudder. This was despite the fact that the issue was described to them as coming from the rear left. They said they were unable to obtain matching tires to finish the work. After receiving the car back, I used an internet search and found tires and an installer at a reasonable rate. Shortly thereafter the shudder increased, accompanied by a growing metallic ringing noise. At this point, fearing for safety, I took the car back to the mechanic. I asked them explicitly to test-drive it and reiterate the location of the issues. I also pointed out to them that they had said the vibration from the rear was due to issues with the tires and I was expecting to address them. They confirmed that one of their repairs had led to metal being bent, scraping against moving parts causing the metallic ringing. They further told me that there was a severe issue with the car. They first described the flaw as ‘something rare and specific to the Diesel’. Note: The car's manual power-train is common to all so-equipped xTrails and has nothing to do with the engine. Then they told me that the flaw was very rare and unusual and compared it to the influence of climate change in predicting weather. This is interesting because a layman may not take into account climate change, but an expert should certainly know its matter. Same goes for a qualified mechanic. Finally they told me that the flaw was common and identified it as an issue with the U-Joints. By this time, I had looked at internet searches that largely confirmed this. Ultimately, this led to the replacement of another ~ $2000 for the replacement of the tail shaft. When I suggested that they provide labour for this repair for free, as I was thoroughly disappointed, they suggested a 50/50% split. I agreed to that, as I did not have the time to organise this in another way. Summary. The service provider Failed to identify major flaw, probably due to leaving out final test drive Was unable to source tires even though internet search readily and reasonably provides them. Attempted to obfuscate the failure of service. Carried out repairs incorrectly, causing additional issues with the vehicle. Did not even offer to provide the replaced parts for inspection. The only upside I can see is that once the flaw was correctly identified, the mechanic from my perspective did what they could to get the issue addressed swiftly. However, based on the amount of explanation for everything and anything on pick-up, I have the feeling that this was motivated by the obvious overall performance. While this was not the ultimate auto care failure, for me, it came very close. I will avoid this mechanic in the future and suggest that you ensure that you are explicit and on the record when you specify your needs and look at things precisely, when you pick the vehicle up."

"My experience with the Bellbowrie branch leaves me questioning their trustworthiness and honesty. A quoted wheel bearing repair of $570 was to turn into an almost $2000 job on the day of the repair. On the day, the quote I had received when I made the appointment also turned into 'only an estimate'. Once the car was in for the repair, both sides needed replacing, the bearings supposedly had rusted in and extra labour was required to remove them, additionally both hubs needed replacing. I got suspicious, stopped the repair and took my car elsewhere. At the other mechanic none of those problems were found. Only the right wheel bearing needed replacing. There was no rusting and the hubs were perfectly okay."