Affordable Brake and Auto Repairs Blaine MN

Oct 10, 2014

Trusted Blaine Auto Repair Shop

Free Test Drive Blaine MN Our auto repair shop in Blaine, MN takes a different approach, when completing car, truck or SUV brake repairs we don’t start this process with your car on a hoist, we start it with a free test drive. The reason for this is that you have more control of the situation and we have the needed experience to be able to determine your vehicle’s problem with just a drive and a simple inspection on the ground. We don’t pressure you into a sale your budget will regret and we don’t bring up unnecessary repairs. We understand that you work hard for your money and it needs to go a long ways.

Benefits of a Test Drive

You decided to take advantage of the free brake inspection offer. Again, we at Clark Automotive don’t offer free inspections, but rather a test drive and visual inspection on the driveway for free. The biggest difference is that your car remains fully drivable. You are not placed under any pressure to execute an immediate repair, because it is in the shop up on the hoist.

What Could Go Wrong With a Free Brake Inspection

You’re at the repair shop offering the free brake inspection, sitting there enjoying the free coffee. You thought something was wrong with the front brakes, because they were pulsating. Your were expecting that they would tell you that you needed a $100 dollar brake job on the front, because that is the price they have on the wall as a special offer. They go over the estimate with you and explain that you need to spend $265 dollars for a front brake job. Now this is where things break down, a fair and good service writer would have explained that they can get the job done today if you wish, or set the brake job up for a future date, and ask you what you think? That is not what happened!

You ask, “What happened to the $100 dollar brake job”. They explain that your brake failure is more severe than that, and requires more parts for the repair. They were pleasant and fully explained what needed to happen to fix your brakes. One problem, you don’t have the funds for three more days, and do need to get to work in about two more hours. So you ask to have your car back, so you can get to work. They inform you that your car is all apart, it will take them some time to get it back together. So you now have to call for a ride to work and pick up your car that evening, if you can get back there in time.

You get back to the repair shop in time to pick-up your car; but it is still on the hoist apart. They explain that they will need to put in new brake pads. They will do the new pads and reassemble your front brakes in the morning for the $99 dollar fee, but your front brakes will still pulsate. All you can think about is what happened to that free brake inspection, why didn’t they call me to let me know. You told them, “I will call you in the morning”, lucky your ride waited for you. Do you want to blow up and mandate your car be reassembled? Do you tell them to put in the new pads for the $99 dollars? A friend says make a call to the shop I use see what they have to say. After checking your options and calling that other shop you decide to put the cheap pads in and live with the pulsating. That other shop informed you that the charge for front brakes would be $250 dollars, unless your calipers became defective due to the pulsating. The other shop didn’t think that would be too likely. So you wasted $99 dollars, some time and a lot of frustration.

We are not saying all repair shops that offer low upfront cost will do exactly this but it unfortunately has been the experience of many of our customers, prior to them coming to Clark Automotive. If your looking for a trustworthy mechanic that will offer you only needed repairs, quality parts, as well as respect you – contact our shop today or stop by.