I went to GarageYourself here in Miami to diagnose a loud clunking noise in my front suspension and found a sway bar end link completely separated from the bushing and the bar end. The Toyota dealer mechanic had installed the links two years ago. The link on the passenger side was installed on the inside of the bar end flange and not on the outside. To make matters worse he didn't even use the washer to prevent the link from separating from the bushing. On top of that, since then I've had at least two other dealers and a couple independent shops check the front end because it just didn't feel right and nobody ever noticed the improperly installed link. Very reassuring. Typical South Florida crap.

 

This is one reason why I never let anyone other than my Lexus dealer service and work on my car.

 

Renowned BMW dealer in Athens, Greece, changed my pads in my 7er once and didn't put the pins correctly. Pads was basically hold because of too much wear in the disc, that created a dish the pad could nest in...

Indy replaced the radiator in the LS right before I drove up to Switzerland. Didn't bleed the system properly. 2.5k Km later, and 3 days before the inspection to take my new plates, the car overheats as I get in my garage. I bleed it properly and everything fine, crisis averted.

Dealer, or no dealer, if a mechanic is an idiot he can majorly screw your car. Problem is that if you don't notice on the spot or upon receival of the car, there is very little you can do apart from never going to that place ever again...

 

The mechanic finished the job and thought..."what's this spare washer for? Oh well I'm off, time to get some brew!"

 

The large washer was actually still there. it was on the OUTSIDE of the sway bar end flange, essentially doing nothing.

 

Surprisingly I've had the worst luck with the Lexus dealers. The best have been the independent techs.

 

That's part of the problem... I took it back a couple times and they say there's nothing wrong. Take it to other shops and I get the same BS. Living in a world of stupidity. If they can't do the job correctly the first time what makes you think they could do it correctly the second or third...

 

Yelp.com is a great website. I would just search it and look at the recommended shops. I do some stuff at the dealer and most everything else at a shop that I found that has great reviews.

Example:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/naulin-auto-service-miami

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc...&sortby=rating

 

Yes I do like Yelp, the most recent shop I've used is right near my place here in South Beach (Larry's) and they've got great reviews. They do have excellent customer service and don't charge me for small stuff but even they failed to find this issue. I will give them a little more slack because they are not Toyota/Lexus specialists though.