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Review content:
I don't do many reviews and rarely ever do a negative review, but I felt I needed to this time. I was having a misfire in my motor on my car and changed the plugs and still had the miss, so not having the required diagnostic equipment to find out what was causing it, I took it to McAlister's Auto Repair of Fort Myers. I was told it would cost $125.00 to diagnose the motor, so I left the car with them. I ask them to look at the front end parts as the car is getting old and has high miles on it, and to check for a slow power steering fluid leak I had been having.\r
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They called me the next day and told me the miss was due to bad fuel injectors and it would cost $832.10 to replace them. They also told me my slow power steering leak was because I needed all new power steering hoses at a cost of $712.00. Next, they told me my front end needed a center link and 4 ball joints for a cost of $1,023.88 for a grand total of $2,692.98! Wow, I thought, my tires aren’t wearing, my power steering only needs a little fluid every so often and the motor runs fine when driving, it just has a miss at idle. So I paid them the $125.00 for the diagnoses and drove my car home.\r
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I bought all new injectors at a fraction of the cost they quoted me for the parts alone, and I installed them myself after Googling “how to”. Much to my dismay, the car ran exactly the same. Next, I Googled some “DIY” diagnosing and found two of the coil packs were the problem. I replaced them for $145.00 and the car runs fine. Next, I cleaned the engine compartment and looked to see if I could find the power steering leak. It ended up that a low pressure hose had a small crack where the hose clamp was, so I cut off a 1/2” piece and tightened the clamp back and whala, no more leak, and all the other hoses are fine, no leaks at all on any of them. Then I looked up a bran new complete front end kit that included the center link, all 4 ball joints, all 4 control arms, all 4 tie rod ends and sleeves and the idler arm, with a three year warranty and guess what, all those parts cost less then what just one of the four ball joints they quoted me cost! \r
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My family has gone to them for over 30 years and back when the dad was in charge they were not cheap, but they were good and honest. It is sad to have to write this, but I felt it was necessary.
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