When you can find a mechanic shop that will honestly tell you what you have to have, should have, or might need later, it's a good shop. Great owners! In 9 years, I have never had to bring the car back for the same problem. I am not the easiest on my car, but they have helped me get 180K out of my 2000 Suzuki Esteem with no major repair problems.

I recently talked to someone who told me that they had a bad experience with Carolina Car Care. He said that they put the wrong part in his car which caused a leak. We both agree that any auto repair shop that won't allow customers to watch their mechanics work on your car is a place to avoid. As for my experience, Carolina Car Care wanted to replace my car's expansion valve, evaporator, and dryer to fix an A/C leak problem in my car, I went to a specialist and got a second opinion, and he knew more about my make and model. He found that it was the pressure switch that was leaking. On 4/10/09, Carolina Car Care would have charged me about $900 more than my specialist to try to fix my A/C leak, and it would still have leaked after their misdiagnosis fix. It has now been many months since the pressure switch was replaced by my specialist, and my A/C still has no leaks in it. I suggest you get a second opinion on any expensive repairs if you do go there, but I would avoid Carolina Car Care to begin with. Also, when I drove my car to them in 4/09, my left front master switch for all four power windows was working. When I was about to leave, I discovered it wasn't working at all. In addition, I had a bad oil leak from a ruptured hose line that started in their parking lot after their mechanic got in to drive it on to the lift. I assume both were just coincidences. The owner of Carolina Car Care agreed that it was my "lucky day" that the leak happened while I was at his shop. (4/6/12 Update = the A/C parts they wanted to replace are still working fine!). My experience with their pricing was that while Carolina Car Care's hourly rate was below the local Toyota dealer's rate, when they added THEIR pricing for the A/C parts, the Toyota dealer's overall price to do the job was less!

Misdiagnosed A/C Problem, High Prices For Some Parts & Won't Let You Watch Work. They wanted to replace my car's expansion valve, evaporator, and dryer to fix an A/C leak problem. I went to a Lexus specialist and got a second opinion. He found a pressure switch that was leaking. On 4/10/09, Carolina Car Care would have charged me about $900 more than my specialist to try to fix my A/C, and it would still have leaked! Their estimate for other work and the A/C totalled $2,294.34 parts and labor at $74 per hr.. A local Toyota Dealer's total was $2,046.55 at $90 per hr. It has now been 22 months since the pressure switch was replaced by my specialist, and my A/C still has no leaks in it. I also had a bad oil leak from a ruptured PS hose that started in their parking lot after their mechanic got in to drive it on to the lift. I assume it was just a coincidence. The owner of Carolina Car Care agreed that it was my "lucky day" that the leak happened while I was at his shop.