Silver City Auto Repair

I will never trust this garage with any diagnostics again. They tried to rip us off to the tune of $4,300.00 for a new engine in our 2000 Toyota Avalon! We traveled to Silver City, NM, arriving Saturday morning, June 17, to pick up my grandson from my daughter and son-in-law who were traveling from San Antonio, TX. (This was the halfway point for both of us and was also the birthplace of my father, aunt, grandmother and many other family members.) Less than 4 miles out of town our car overheated. We pulled to the side of the road, turned it off and called AAA. While waiting, a good Samaritan stopped and informed us all the repair shops were closed until Monday morning. He called several mechanics he knew but no one answered. He gave us a list R & L was the only AAA authorized garage in town so we towed the car there and set up with AAA for repair services. We went to the garage on Monday about 1pm and my boyfriend was told the car had a blown head gasket but due to a slow computer we could not be given an estimate on the work, so Michael the service writer was going to call us b4 5pm. We never received a call. The next morning we returned to the garage. We were told we had to wait for Michael to go over paperwork for the repair. Michael told us that we needed a new engine and that a rebuilt would cost $7,000.00 but he was looking for a used one for $4,300.00! he said the car had an engine knock. I asked if it was a lifter or a rod knock and he said he didn't know. I asked for a pipe to find the knock and he replied that he left his stethoscope at home. He continued to tell us how complicated the engine was and that even Toyota dealers didn't mess with them. We stepped out and decided to have tow the car to another garage recommended by our good Samaritan. I know some about cars and what we were told didn't make sense: there was no mixing of oil and water in the engine, he never started the car for us to hear the knock, and he could not give us any specific reasons for the need of a new engine other than he heard a knock. We paid for the diagnostic work which included a AAA discount and came to $38,56 and promptly called the other mechanic who gladly agreed to see the car. The new mechanic was very informative and specific on what he would do to check for engine damage. He called us 2 hrs. later and informed us the car was fine. He replaced the faulty radiator cap! He also drained the oil and checked for metal shavings. Fortunately there were none. He assured us the car was fine and we could drive it home, which we did, all the way back to La Puente, CA. I was shocked and appalled at the lack of professionalism and actual diagnostic work performed by R & L Service Center. The mechanic who supposedly checked our car was a certified Toyota technician. He never refilled the cooling system, (It was still empty when it arrived at the new garage and they had been driving it like that to move it in and out of the garage at night.) I have a copy of the service record that states the oil was 1/4 qt. low, the cooling system was "topped off," and the engine was tested and failed. I'd like to know what kind of test was performed on this engine. I would like to know where all the coolant went that they put in, and who's idea it was to think they could lie to us and try to get either the engine replaced to the tune of $4,300.00 or get us to abandon our car. In all fairness the car is old, but it has been well maintained and has no mechanical issues. It has new tires, new battery, new radiator, an new alternator and over 260,000 miles. I hope this review will help save someone else from going through what we went through. We had rented a car on Monday for the week, stayed an extra day in our motel room and the only up side was enjoying more meals at wonderful eateries in Silver City while I researched family roots. We have since reported this garage to AAA.

I have taken our two vehicles to R&L ever since moving to Silver City in 2007. Their service has always been prompt and efficient. They have never let me down!

Took our Honda in for timing belt change and the work was done quick. Reps in the shop were very friendly. They called me and gave me a quote on the work which ended up being very close to final charges. Overall I am impressed with the work and how I was treated.

R&L RUSTY IS RIPOFF I WILL NEVER TAKE MY TRUCK TO HIS SHOP HE IS AS BAD AS JEFFS AUTO ON BROADWAY IN SILVER CITY

I have had good past experiences with them, but the most recent one was very bad. They are now a Ram station, and offer 0.05 cents off gas after hours, which is a good thing. Previous experience with their exhaust works was satisfactory, but this last experience was far from it. I've taken my other cars to them (Mercury sable, honda accord) and had good communication and work done quickly. This most recent experience will have me double checking the work done on the other cars. We took our Porsche 951 to R&L for work on an exhaust system leak. We knew some of the pipes were rusted through, that we needed a new muffler, and that one of the exhaust headers may have a leak. First, I was not allowed under the car when they raised it on the hoist due to "insurance issues", which I understood at the time. When we were told what was wrong, the dots matched up, and we expected a few new pieces of pipe to be welded into place, and a new muffler to be put in. The repairs took a couple of days and cost about $430 dollars. The sound had not noticeably changed, which I chalked up to the header leak. The smell of exhaust had diminished some, so I assumed the work was done as we had anticipated. Yesterday when I was under the car I noticed there were no new pipes, and a couple of very messy, very 'gloopy' looking welds that had not been cleaned up. Instead of using a reducer on my 3in exhaust pipe into the 2.5 (or 2in) inlet of the muffler, they simply slagged up a bunch of weld to hold the two together and didn't bother to clean it up. A band-aid perhaps, but not a fix in any way. I think I could have bought my own can, and paid the local university welding students to cut a few pieces of replacement 3in pipe and a reducer, weld them in and clean it up, and the job would have been done better. Disappointing.