Hands down, this company provided me with one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a repair shop. Regrettably, they reaffirm every negative stereotype that exists about mechanics and repairmen.\r
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My car broke down on me on a Thursday evening. From the signs and symptoms that it displayed, I assumed it was a transmission issue. First thing Friday morning, I called Cottman and spoke with Daniel, who identified himself as the owner. I explained the situation to him in detail and informed him that the cost of repairs may be an issue for me, as money was a bit tight at the time. After hearing my concerns, Daniel invited me to have my car towed to his shop, assuring me repeatedly that he would work with me on price and payment, no matter the cost. He also assured me that his staff would diagnose the exact problem with my car that VERY SAME DAY at NO COST to me.\r
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I had the car towed to the shop, where it arrived at about 9:30 AM. Five hours later, I still hadn't heard from Daniel or anyone else, so I called to inquire as to the status of my car. Daniel answered and informed me that he hadn't had a chance to get to it yet, but he assured me that he would before they closed at 5:30 that day.\r
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At 5 PM, still not having heard from them, I called back again. Daniel once again answered, but this time he informed me that he would not be able to diagnose my car's problem until the next day. So much for his previous guarantee that he would identify the problem the VERY SAME DAY - despite having had my car for almost 8 hours.\r
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The next morning at 9:30, Daniel called to inform me that he'd performed diagnostic tests on my car but couldn't identify the exact problem. He asked me to explain what had happened, even though I'd given him all that information the previous day. He then informed me that he would perform additional diagnostics on the car and get back to me after he'd identified the problem.\r
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Two hours later, Daniel called back to inform me that after performing additional diagnostics, they'd identified the issue with my car as it ""jumping timing"". When I asked for more specifics, he couldn't give me any; he did, though, inform me that in order to confirm the exact diagnosis he'd have to perform a minimum 3 additional hours of diagnostic testing - at a cost of $95/hour. So much for his previous guarantee that he would diagnose the exact problem with my car at NO COST to me.\r
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I informed Daniel that the 'Check Engine' light had come on when my car initially broke down, asking him to at least research that matter before conducting extensive testing; he ignored my request and insisted that I'd have to pay in order to find out exactly what was wrong with my car. Again, so much for the NO COST diagnostic guarantee.\r
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After reflecting over the sum total of my experiences with this shop, I declined to authorize them to perform any additional work on my car and arranged to have it towed back to my home.\r
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Needlessly to say, I would definitely NOT recommend Cottman of Cary to anyone in need of car repair assistance.
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