Engine repair service near Alexander, NY

1976 Ridge Rd, West Seneca - Sign out front says $6.95 for a state inspection. I'm in! When you're in and getting the inspection he tells you it's extra for the emissions portion of the inspection so you only save a few bucks off regular price. That's deceiving and untruthful. Makes you wonder how the rest will go- immediately a red flag for me. He soon tells me the rear brakes will need replacing (at an exorbitant amount) and he took me in to show me- he had a hard time getting his gauge to go below the 1/16 of an inch state minimum you need to pass so he was tilting the gauge and tried at least 15 times (not exaggerating) in front of me (but could not produce it) than just said- "yeah those wont pass". He then said I needed a new left front strut as he said it was angled and look bent. He said it made a popping noise when he raised the car on the lift. It did look funny but I noticed they had moved the boot (covering of the strut that looks like an accordion) partially up off the bottom so it was not sitting right- I placed it back down where it should have been and I said, "Well, I'm not seeing what you're seeing." He then told me the strut was only a recommendation and not a part of the inspection. So, I left there without passing (due to the brakes). I took it to another place and they checked both the brakes and the strut (which I told them about) and passed. The moral of the story for me is NEVER GO TO A PLACE THAT STARTS WITH THE WORD "VALUE". In this case it means, more money, dishonest, partial truth and scheming. Also notice on the walls that there are no signs regarding cost of anything! Not even the sign they legally have to post regarding the cost of inspections!

I want to respond to the bad reviews listed above. First, go to Google and look up the 27 reviews which highly rate Syed,the shop owner, as the friendliest, most honest and best mechanic they have known. Second, go to Car-gurus and look at the near perfect 5 star reviews on this dealership. Ricky is close to perpetrating slander (libel) for writing a personal attack on someone by stretching the actual circumstance of his disappointment. He left a refundable $500 deposit subject to his finance approval. After securing his own financing, he told the dealer to proceed with the NYS Inspection repairs which required another $1000 investment by the dealer into the vehicle. This included fixing the check engine light which by NYS Law is required for all dealer inventory sold. After the repairs were completed, Ricky backed out of the deal because he lost his financing. The signed purchase order in NYS states the dealer is allowed to hold a deposit to recover $damages incurred by customer failure to complete purchase. Ricky agreed that it was fair for the dealer to keep his deposit until the vehicle was sold to another customer so that the invested repair $ could be recovered. Unfortunately due to the Pandemic of Covid 19 and business shutdown, it took many months to resell the vehicle. He has since received his $500 deposit back minus about $50 for paperwork and advertising cost damages which couldn't be recovered. $500 is a lot of money to both parties, especially when your dealership is closed for business during a pandemic.