Meineke Car Care Center — Local services in Whitney

TLDR I’m a mechanic and I know exactly what was wrong with the car. They removed all my refrigerant and upcharged all services and created new ones.

Car has 60k miles

Unfortunately it was a rental through hertz Uber rental program so I can’t do the repairs myself.

I knew refrigerant had to be topped off. Also, the brakes were squealing out so needed brakes done.

After their “inspection” there was a refrigerant leak, so it needed a hose replacement, my tires I got a month ago were “bad” and needed to be replaced. Also the Brake AAAND Rotors needed to be done.

They have to be working on commission which isn’t uncommon at mechanic shops. But turning a brake job and refrigerant top off to such a large ticket is insane.

The guy at the front desk was so ashamed even to hold a conversation once I came in to pick up the keys because when I dropped the car off. I was nice, patient, and understanding.

Only for them to STILL take advantage of.

Decided I was not gonna have the car serviced there and to no surprise. My AC doesn’t work AT ALL. and now there’s something wrong with my suspension cause it pulls to the right when braking and accelerating. Meaning the probably put my front tires on the same side to give me uneven traction.

STAY AWAY! You will be taken advantage of under the...

TL,DR: this place overcharges for labor as well as parts. $185 for a 4 inches long engine hose on a 2001 camry, $100 for labor which takes them 30 mins to remove and replace. I will never come back.

—- I used to be a frequent customer with Essential Auto Care which was what this place used to be. They were fine and their prices were fair. Mark was the owner and I had good customer services from them. Then Meineke bought the place, I brought the car back once to see if this could be my go to mechanic again but I regretted it deeply.

The part got replaced is a engine intake hose which is only $58 from Toyota genuine part. They marked it up to $185. They then also charged me $100 for a 30min jobs. They had the audacity to originally quoted me a an extra $40 for Order Request fee and tax which then got removed after my complains. In this economy, this is bs.

I called back after getting my car fixed to ask for an explanation of the expensive rate , was told that Robert the store manager would call back but I waited 2 weeks and got nothing from them.

I absolutely don’t want to spend my hard earn money...

⚠️ SCAM ALERT – AVOID THIS MECHANIC SHOP ⚠️ I’m posting this to warn others — this shop is running dishonest business practices and should be avoided at all costs. I took my vehicle in for a routine brake inspection, and they came back with a quote for unnecessary repairs totaling $1,200. I later got a second opinion from a trusted mechanic who confirmed that most of the recommended work was not needed. In fact, some of the parts they claimed were "worn out" were still in good condition. On top of that, they were rude when I started asking questions and refused to give back my keys until I paid a bogus "diagnostic fee" that was never mentioned upfront. This shop is clearly taking advantage of customers who may not know much about cars. Don’t fall for it — get a second opinion before agreeing to anything here. BEWARE. Do your research and take your business somewhere honest and...