Opinions requested. Is it time to change repair shops?
I've been going to the same auto repair shop for perhaps seven or eight years. A year or two ago, they moved to a new location and have a new owner. They also have at least two service writers. So, it might as well be a completely new shop since I no longer have a service guy who remembers me when I come in. And that's fine.
I took my Ridgeline in for an oil change and decided to have the timing belt and related services (water pump, etc.) done while it was there. I was only 2000 miles away from when Honda recommends having the belt changed: 105,000 miles, according to them. I didn't bother to look it up since I really like this car and want to keep it. And, it's twelve years old and I've heard timing belts should be changed at ten years, regardless of mileage.
When I picked it up, I noticed it seemed louder. I thought maybe it was just my imagination. I also thought I heard a rattling noise.
The next day, my son rode with me and immediately said the car sounded louder and was rattling. We popped the hood and found a universal joint socket adapter up above the weatherstripping at the top of the hood, near the windshield. That solved the rattling problem. This was on the weekend. On Monday, I stopped by the shop on my way to work to drop off the tool and Service Guy A asked how the car was running. I mentioned that it seemed a little louder, but that I hadn't driven it enough to be sure.
Service Guy A said it might be the exhaust gasket or a loose bolt on the exhaust. He didn't use the word manifold, but I assumed that's what he meant...unless they don't call exhaust manifolds that anymore. I told him I was on my way to work and he said to bring it back when I could and they'd take a look. He said they have to remove the exhaust (manifold) to change the timing belt and perhaps it wasn't re-installed correctly.
A couple days later, I called first and then dropped by and spoke to the Owner. I relayed the story from Service Guy A and he said, no, they don't touch the exhaust when doing a timing belt change, but that they'd take a look. Hmm. Conflicting stories.
I returned a couple hours later after they called and said it was ready. Service Guy B was there this time, and he said there's a hole in my exhaust flex pipe (I wrote this down) and it needs to be welded. He said they don't do welding, but any muffler shop could fix it and he thought it would cost me around $150, and said he was just guessing and couldn't say for sure.
So, here's my question: does this sound like a reasonable situation or are they giving me a bunch of bullsh!t? I'm not looking to argue with them, but it seems to me if the problem didn't exist when I took the car in for service but does as soon as I picked it up, they are responsible. It's not about the $150 (which will probably become $500, because that's just how these things work) and the extra time it will take to have another repair done - it's about trust.
I'm wondering if I can continue to trust this shop. I want to, because they're conveniently located, but there are other independent shops around and I value trust above convenience.
Tangential but similar story regarding home repair:
Spoiler: