There are some good mechanics there. There are a couple poor ones. Management is disorganized and poorly run. Some suprisingly poor customer service goes on, and some really decent work (sometimes.).

A former mechanic, I understand their operation and have had them do one job for me; and actually MOVED MY CAR off their lot due to a rude, crazed mechanic.

I had a job I'd intended to do myself, and had bought parts. An injury forced me to go to a shop. I knew a mechanic at Lara's, so went there again. Another mechanic, "lara" on coveralls, without any preamble, begins lecturing me that "we'll fix it how we want to, even if we have to tear down the whole front of the engine; and what's with the parts? Dont EVER come to a shop with parts! We get our own parts! I'm going to maybe give you a waiver this time....."

AMAZING! While one doesn't usually bring your own parts, some shops, many, charge double or triple RETAIL, and buy them at half the parts store price! So you get why this guy was hollering, except that the part I brought was a $9 thermostat! If he's the owner, how's he in business? He's not the service writer, another mechanic is, fortunately. If he's an employee, he'd not last a day at my shop. Wow, that was a rare and terrible encounter with a mechanic. I was so angry I took my car immediately to another shop.

On the good days, I've seen them pricing work off the top of their heads, which is not how it's done. One can either use the flat-rate book which prices labor by the normal time per task; or bill for the actual time required. Most use the flatrate book, and give your estimate by their hourly rate times the flatrate time per task. Lara's seem to guesstimate a price, not necessarily even based on their time expended. Watch out for the nutjob there, good luck, their are possible good experiences.

marques