DO NOT PATRONIZE THIS BUSINESS

Ron's Auto & RV Service Center
10602 NE Fourth Plain Road, Vancouver, Washington

Ron's Auto & RV Center in Vancouver, Washington may just be a good place to avoid. These are all statements, words or phrases that they use repeatedly on their website:

• "Family-Owned & Operated Since 1976"

• "Family-owned and operated since 1976" (phrase is repeated again a few times on the home page"

• "high-quality reliable service you can count on"

• "Our business is built on repeat customers and referrals"

• "High-quality Service & Reliability"

• "We pride ourselves with quality and reliability you can count on today, tomorrow and beyond"

• "Honest & Accurate Estimates"

• "We give you the facts and repair options for your vehicle -- YOU make the choices. No high-pressure sales tactics" ever!

• "Computer Diagnostics"

• "Skilled Technicians to Help You With Your Auto"

Complaint about Ron's Auto & RV Service Center from an unhappy Vancouver, Washington customer:

LET THIS BE A LESSON!

     I had read all the claims on their website and took my 1995 Lincoln into their shop for service last week. I guess that just because somebody "says something" doesn't mean that it's true! Duhhh! I know, I know, I should have known better. Sometimes I guess that when people repeatedly use and reuse words like "honest" and "quality" or similar, it might be a tip-off that they are just the opposite or they wouldn't bring it up so many times. I mean you don't see all those types of claims at stores like Costco. They just have good service and good service. They don't spend a lot of time bragging about themselves. They let their "actions" do the speaking. Shifty types like some quick-shuffle car dealers like to use words and phrases like "honest" and "quality" and "family owned" to get your trust. Then they start telling you what they never do "we won't cheat you" "we never lie" and similar claims. Well, I'm finding out that perhaps it's best to avoid companies who get carried away with telling you honest they are. The fact that they mention it so many times may just be a red-flag. I mean, why don't they just let their actions and reputation speak for itself. Here is my problem with Ron's Auto & RV Center, the claims they made and what they actually did.

     My rear air suspension did not function at all on my 1995 Lincoln. The rear end of the car was almost dragging on the ground. I called and they said to bring it in and they would "diagnose it". I did drive it to their shop. The rear end hit bottom twice on the way. They took a day or so to diagnose it. Then Wayne called and told me there was nothing wrong with it. He said they had put it on their "diagnostic machine" and it showed all was OK. Wayne said that perhaps the battery was the problem as it was bad. I'd never had battery problems and they wanted OVER $130.00 TO REPLACE THE BATTERY so I declined. Wayne said that He said that I did need an oil change. At this point I was a little scared as They had mis-diagnosed the air suspension problem, told me I needed a new battery for a very high price and I'd not been having any battery problems but since they had spent some time on the car, I felt that I should throw them a bone and told him to go ahead and change the oil.
     Ok, well later that day (or the next, I forget), he called and told me that they had found a problem with the air suspension. He said he put another mechanic on it. He said this mechanic had 12 years Ford experience and used a Ford diagnostic machine rather than the Snap-on diagnostic tool that they had previously used. He said that the "experienced Ford mechanic" had found from his diagnosis that the "sensor" was bad. Said it would cost $430.00 to replace. Well, I was a bit skeptical by now but I decided to go ahead with the replacement of the sensor. I mean, I really wondered why the didn't put a qualified mechanic on it from the start and why they trusted a Snap-on diagnostic tool if they had a Ford diagnostic tool that was more accurate. But I'm not a mechanic and Wayne really sounded convincing and I could not really afford to do this but it had to be fixed so I said to go ahead.

     OK, so later that day (or the next, I forget), Wayne calls again and says that it's not the sensor that' bad. He said that they put on the sensor and that the problem still exists. He says that they think now that it is a "short or something somewhere". Oh, and he says that one of the air shocks has holes in it. Are you kidding me??? (I wondered to myself). OK, OK, calm down I told myself. But now I'm sure of 4 things. 1. They have no idea what the problem is. 2. They cannot properly diagnose the problem. 3. I need to have the car fixed as it cannot be driven in it's current condition. 4. And they now kind of have me over a barrel here. So I remember reading on the Internet that some people with the same problem opted to just remove the air suspension shocks and replace them with standard coil springs. I asked Wayne if they could do that. He said it would make the ride rougher. I believe that but at this point I was getting so scared of what they'd come up with next that I just wanted to get the car back in a drivable condition. So Wayne said he'd find a cost and call me back. He did that. Called me back later that day and said that the shocks were bad too and that in addition to adding coils springs that the shocks would need to be replaced too. Well, I'm not there to see them. At this point I'm not confident about any diagnosis they give but they really have me over a barrel so I just ask the price and he tells me. I say "can you break that down" and he does and included in the price break-down is a charge for "diagnosis of the rear suspension"! I asked "how can you charge me for a diagnosing the air suspension when your first 2 diagnostics checks were wrong (first one said nothing was wrong and second one said sensor was bad) and to this point you still do not know what the problem is. Wayne said "well we're pretty sure there is a short somewhere" and I said yes, but you were also "pretty sure" that there was "nothing wrong" and then that the problem was the sensor and you were dead wrong both times. The reason we are switching all over to coil springs is that the diagnosis was wrong twice. I can't waste any more time on this and I want to just get the car out in a drivable condition and and your diagnostic tests were wrong/bad and I shouldn't have to pay for them. And Ron says "well, I have to pay my guys for their time" (that includes the first mechanic ( the non-Ford mechanic who used the wrong diagnostic machine)." We debate a little and he says he'll cut the diagnostic fee in half and I still am not happy because all the diagnosis was wrong, not just half of it. But he says I must pay and they have my car and they really have me over a barrel so I say just go ahead. He then says it's gonna take a little longer because there is an RV on the jack now and blah blah blah and I just say call em when it's done and I hang up on him. He calls me the next day (or so, I forget), and says it's done and that he took off the diagnostics fee. and I go to pick the car up. When I go to pick the car up the total bill is $1156.60 and that included the diagnostic fee! He did NOT remove the diagnostics charge. I start to argue that with the girl at the counter but then I just give up and I mean, at this point I'm really really spent. Now I'm sure that if you ask him he'll say he never said he'd remove the diagnostics fee. Or he'll say that he cut it in half. Or some other excuse. At some point you just decide that life is short and you have to just move on. The less time I spend arguing with dishonest car repair service companies the better off my life will be. so I paid them the $1156+ and went on my way. My advice is that you should NEVER do business with these people. My lesson is to ask more questions up front "like, if you give me a "COMPLETELY WORTHLESS DIAGNOSIS" and then another "COMPLETELY WORTHLESS DIAGNOSIS" are you going to charge me for them. I also want to mention that a few of the above statements may not be 100% correct as I'm not POSITIVE that he had said the first diagnostics machine was a Snap-on. I may be an hour or 2 or maybe even a day off on my timeline and I may have missed a word or 2 on some of my quotes but the even in it's entirety is essentially the same and exactly as I tell it. I think that their claims of "quality" "honest" "computer diagnostics" "family owned since ...." are just so much bunk if they want to treat customers like they treated me. Your experience with them could be different. Maybe I just dealt with the wrong guy there. You can email me if you have any questions about this event. If they (Ron's) makes any contacts to me I'll also report that to this website. 

PS: Oh, there were a few other very wrong things that happened on this transaction but I think I've pretty much made my point.