Summary: They will try to charge you more than double what any other shop will. They will take advantage of you if you don’t know much about cars.
I originally went to Green Drop because my car was making a lot of noise. They told me the day I brought it in what was wrong and how much it would cost to fix. I brought it back a couple days later to get the problem fixed. They told me it would likely be done before the end of the day. It was done two days later. While they were fixing the original problem, they found a code from the engine light telling them cylinder 4 was misfiring. I asked how much it would cost to fix that, and they told me before they could say anything they would need to run a $160 diagnostic test. It seemed steep, but because I knew the problem could be serious I didn’t want to drive it to another shop. I told them to go ahead and run their test. It took them five days to do it. Then, they come back and tell me it is my spark plugs and ignition coils, and that it would be an additional $947 to make the repair. That’s over a thousand dollars for the diagnosis and repair for a simple spark plug/ignition coil repair on a 2011 prius. They wanted to charge me $572.56 for 4 ignition coils and $94.60 for 4 spark plugs, in addition to $280 for labor. 4 OEM ignition coils from almost any other shop add up to anywhere between $300-400. Spark plugs are $10. They claimed the job would take two hours, accounting for the $280 for labor, but when I called around and looked online, I discovered the job should take only an hour even with a novice mechanic. I looked at the numbers for my exact car. When I asked why they were charging me twice what other shops would for parts and labor, they told me, “We have bills to pay and a shop to run.” So do the other shops offering these parts and services for half the price. I took my car to another shop. They were able to look at my spark plugs within 15 minutes of my arriving (for free), compared to Green Drop’s $160 and 5 day wait. They also had the job done in less than an hour (remember Green Drop tried to sell it for 2 hours) and charged me less than half what Green Drop tried to. I never believed the stereotype that car shops will take advantage of you if it looks like you don’t know anything about cars. Green Drop proved me wrong. Do not go to this shop if you don’t have someone with you who knows about cars. They will take everything they can.
Net Promoter® NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score™ and Net Promoter System™ are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.
Attention
We use cookies to personalize content, enable certain functionality, and track site analytics for marketing purposes. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.
I originally went to Green Drop because my car was making a lot of noise. They told me the day I brought it in what was wrong and how much it would cost to fix. I brought it back a couple days later to get the problem fixed. They told me it would likely be done before the end of the day. It was done two days later. While they were fixing the original problem, they found a code from the engine light telling them cylinder 4 was misfiring. I asked how much it would cost to fix that, and they told me before they could say anything they would need to run a $160 diagnostic test. It seemed steep, but because I knew the problem could be serious I didn’t want to drive it to another shop. I told them to go ahead and run their test. It took them five days to do it. Then, they come back and tell me it is my spark plugs and ignition coils, and that it would be an additional $947 to make the repair. That’s over a thousand dollars for the diagnosis and repair for a simple spark plug/ignition coil repair on a 2011 prius. They wanted to charge me $572.56 for 4 ignition coils and $94.60 for 4 spark plugs, in addition to $280 for labor. 4 OEM ignition coils from almost any other shop add up to anywhere between $300-400. Spark plugs are $10. They claimed the job would take two hours, accounting for the $280 for labor, but when I called around and looked online, I discovered the job should take only an hour even with a novice mechanic. I looked at the numbers for my exact car. When I asked why they were charging me twice what other shops would for parts and labor, they told me, “We have bills to pay and a shop to run.” So do the other shops offering these parts and services for half the price. I took my car to another shop. They were able to look at my spark plugs within 15 minutes of my arriving (for free), compared to Green Drop’s $160 and 5 day wait. They also had the job done in less than an hour (remember Green Drop tried to sell it for 2 hours) and charged me less than half what Green Drop tried to. I never believed the stereotype that car shops will take advantage of you if it looks like you don’t know anything about cars. Green Drop proved me wrong. Do not go to this shop if you don’t have someone with you who knows about cars. They will take everything they can.