Recently, I took our 2012 Honda Civic to Goss’ Garage in Crofton, Maryland. The motor was bogging down in between shifts. When I met with the counter person, he said he could get us in the following day, and that there would be some diagnosis time, not to exceed a certain amount. I mentioned the small attempts I had made to address the problem on my end- all basic maintenance including replacing my spark plugs with E3’s- a brand I have used for years in other vehicles, and that are quite popular in NHRA. They had never heard of them. (?) I was told they like to make sure that all repairs involve standard OEM parts so they were going to start with replacing the spark plugs with OEM’s. ‘seemed a bit unusual, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I also mentioned that I needed the car back for the weekend and was assured that would be no problem. We scheduled the appointment for first thing the next morning-on a Friday. I was kind of excited because in years past I had watched the PBS program featuring their founder, and because on their website they state “we can fix anything” gave me even more confidence. The next day, I dropped the car off first thing in the morning. By just after lunch time, since I hadn’t heard anything back, I called them just to check in. I was told they were to get the car in that afternoon to take a look. I was wondering why it hadn’t been looked at yet, but things happen. No problem. Around 3 o’clock in the afternoon I received a call. They replaced the spark plugs, but still couldn’t find the problem. I was given a significant number of things it “could be”, and that if I wanted to leave the car over the weekend, and then start a “time and materials diagnosis”, they would be happy to do that. Really? I picked the car up that afternoon, and was presented a bill for just under 200.00. I paid it to get my car back, but was quite disappointed. As it turns out, after speaking with a friend of mine, the problem wasn’t the motor at all, it was the transmission. After just under 30.00 of parts, and about 30 minutes on my back in my driveway, I had changed the transmission fluid and the car was running like new. So, I came away with 2 possible scenarios after this experience: 1- They really have no clue what they’re doing 2- They are crooks. I honestly don’t know which is the case or if it’s a combination of both. The only reason I wrote this is because I got a card in the mail from them stating how they value the opportunity to serve me, and that they welcomed a review on Google.
Mr. Reiger. I am very sorry that you were not satisfied with our shop. Please google "E3 spark plugs gimmick" and you will see why we had to remove those plugs from your car. Also we had a new service advisor (he is no longer with us for reasons like this) who clearly did not explain everything properly. My name is Anthony, I am to co- owner of the shop will you please give me a call at 410-451-4677. I would like to try to make this situation right.
- Goss' Garage II