Update: while I did not have a favorable repair experience with ACA, the customer service manager did end up calling me about my experience and did reimburse me 1/2 of my repair expenses with them. So I think my original conclusion was right - they generally do a great job but I caught them on one of their rare bad days, and I have to give them credit that they did their best to make up for it, which is something I could never say for any other repair shop I've dealt with. After this, I would give them another try.

Recommended

Original Review

08/25/2011

SERIOUSLY DISSAPPOINTED

I went to these guys because I found them searching online and after calling 4 other shops in and around Long Beach. They were the only other shop I could find besides the dealer that was certified to work on my Civic Hybrid. I read a few reviews and decided to try them out based on so many favorable reviews on their site. According to the Honda shop, my car needed a "start clutch" for transmission problems, which was going to run $1,400. I cam to ACA to see if this was really the case and if so, have them to the work for hopefully less than Honda. During inspection, they find that my transmission mount is "broken in half" and to do any further diagnosis, they would have to fix that before ANYTHING else could even be looked at. Fine, I take them at their word. By the way, I dropped my car off at lunch on a Friday, expecting a diagnosis and estimate by end of day...I did not get to this first diagnosis until the end of Saturday. Finally, I get a call towards the middle of the afternoon on Monday saying the initial repair is complete, but now that they've looked at it more they say I could go ahead and get the start clutch fixed and that would run $990. OK, less than Honda's shop but I've already spent $450+. In addition, they do not recommend fixing the start clutch, but replacing the entire transmission...between $3,000 - $4,000 (depending on whether the part is new, used or rebuilt). Knowing my car was only worth about $6K, spending that much didn't make sense to me. I asked if I could wait on the repair and decide later (thinking maybe I'll just sell it) and they said "yes, it's definitely drivable, you can take it no problem." If drivable means it will drive for one week and they break down on my way home and have to get it towed, then sure, I guess they were right, because that's exactly what happened...After picking it up on Tuesday, it broke down in the middle of the street and I had to get it towed the following Thursday - literally 6 business days after I picked it up because they said it was drivable. My contention is, if they had REALLY looked at it and did a good assessment of the transmission, they would have seen how bad it was and should have strongly discouraged me from driving off with it. Instead I had to deal with the inconvenience and time to have my car towed and brought back to a local Honda shop. Plus, I ended up spending $450 with them all for NOTHING! Lastly, to put salt on the wound, the CUSTOMER SERVICE dept had called me the Monday before my car broke down and asked how the service was. At the time (not knowing my car was going to break down in a few days) I said it was good, but the symptom I brought my car in for was not taken care of and the service was really slow, but I still wanted to bring it back in and pay for the start clutch to get fixed. He apologized and said he would look at what happened and would see about getting a discount for the next repair, and would call me the next day (Tuesday). He never called back...and this was the CUSTOMER SERVICE REP! After it broke down on Thursday, I called and left a message with him to let him know what happened, and again, didn't call me back. To date (1 week later) they never called me back to try and follow up on my call or follow up on their promise of discounting my service. Somehow this place has a lot of great reviews, but I caught them at their very worst, and can't recommend them to anyone. I ended up trading in my car to Honda as-is (at a loss, since now my car didn't run at all) and got something else. I have not ruled out filing a complaint with the BBB, as I spent $450 with them and my car stopped driving a week later snd even their customer service dept decided to ignore my complaint. Proceed with caution.

Not Recommended

Adam K. from Advanced Computer Automotive responded on 08/27/2011 12:01 PM

Mr. Ludwig, I have spoken to my customer service department that states they have discussed with you your situation and have done whatever it takes to address all of your concerns. If you need any further assistance to this matter, please dont hesitate to email me. Thank you again for advising us of your concern(s) and giving us the opportunity to address them adequately. Adam Kalb President ACA Automotive

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