Swedish Motors Inc. — Local services in Marietta

I have used and recommended Swedish motors for several years. They repair and service two of our European made vehicles. The work is always done properly, professionally and promptly.

I have two concerns that have not been addressed. I returned a battery to them more than a year ago. They originally installed it, but it failed a load test in a short period of time requiring replacement. Servicing was done elsewhere as we were not in town.

The returned battery should have provided a Core refund or Credit but this been forgotten even after repeated requests. Last summer I was last that they were waiting a response from their supplier. I guess it was not very important to them, but it was to me!

Yesterday, they serviced our '03 Jetta. It is my wife's daily driver. They had a cancellation and fit me in to a full schedule due to what I perceived as an immediate need. The dipstick did not register any engine oil.

Eric called stating that the minor oil leak required a new oil plug with a gasket. While not yet due, I agreed to the LOF to provide a solid baseline to determine if we have more engine concerns or oil use. I was told a minor engine miss was likely a bad spark plug. I agreed to change the 4 plugs.

During diagnostics they noted an Evap Code requiring a new gas cap. They also recommended a Catalytic converter cleaner.

An estimate was not provided but I Ok'd these "minor" repairs (LOF, 4 plugs, gas cap, and a gas tank additive to clean the catalytic converter). My mental math predicted a $250 - $300 bill.

I received a $529 bill. Yooza! Several hundred above what I expected was not planned for. Partivcuarly at this time of the year. Makes me rethink our relationship.

Oh yeah, to justify the total, I was reminded that the bill would have been much higher at a VW dealer. That is one reason I don't go to dealers. Now I am not sure I will continue to use Swedish Motors.

Just be sure you ask for clarification of any ESTIMATE before the work is done. Buyer beware. ...

Where shall I begin, shall I speak about how the vehicle should of never been cleared for inspection. The rear rotors were so bad they had grooves for ever ( and yes I have the evidence the rotors themselves) but that's not even the worst part the brake shoes only had 6 to 10 microns of pad left not the required 2/32's by state standards. That's not to mention when I pulled the rotors the emergency parking brake parts i.e. liners and broken shoe parts that fell out in my hands and ground. The worst of it is my 5 year old and family and friends when I could get it running which by the way they were trying to get running and put a battery in that was wrong group for the type of car as well under the 800 to 900 CCA required. But check this they ran a system check on electrical but failed to find that the alternator was burnt. By that I mean is I took it to an amish company I know that does excellent rebuilding work. And was informed that the armature and windings were burnt. Now you have to know all the details and that is I was only able to put 1500 miles from june 2018 till March 2019 when I was finally able to fix and replace all rotors and brakes, all new plugs which were not torqued properly, new ignition Coils, oh and replaced alternator. Etc, etc. Since I'm retired from Federal service I still made alot of aquaintences while putting in my 23 plus years. Perhaps the best way to handle this is take the parts and pictures to my friends at state department of vehicle inspections. I'm sure the stations inspection would come under scrutiny for sure. Oh and I have a sleeve full of aces up them. Like hey so called mechanics they kept suggesting I replace the throttle body. Question did you even think to replace the mass air flow Sensor I DID!!! And guess what...

I made an appointment a month in advance. I think I was here like 2 times before my most recent visit and I really liked them. For my most recent appointment They said drop it off for the day. Then they said they would have to keep it to the next day. They had my car a total of 6 days. They gave me a really stinky loaner with duct tape on the inside because it was literally falling apart. Then after keeping my car for almost a week they had not done a single thing. Swedish motors is full of liars. They need to listen to their customers and work on communicating better

Response to owner: there absolutely shouldn't have been any charge since it was a huge waste of time and no work was done. There were multiples lies told within the entire process that all came from Ian. They had worked on my car before and knew my situation with the wheel locks. The first lie they told is telling me that they could do the job at all, since it turns out they couldn't. Then when I picked up the loaner on Friday I asked Ian the status of the car. He told me that with the new part they ordered they had gotten three wheel locks off and were just working on the last one. I had a witness right by my side who heard the same thing. Then when I called Ian on tuesday he switched the story again and said they had not gotten any of the wheel locks off. Playing Games. By the way I Had already explained to Ian that the locks needed to be broken off. there was no key to get the wheel locks off, that information came straight from the manufacturer so there was no reason to order those extra parts. I also explained that to ian when I made the appointment a month in advance. Again you need to LISTEN TO...