We had my grandsons older Chevy Malibu towed to Tom's because of excessive engine temperature warnings on the dashboard. After their diagnosis two temp sensors and housings needed replacement. They were courteous and communicated well. After paying for the work I reviewed the receipt, and was shocked at the prices charged for the replacement parts. I called a local Chevy dealership to get price quotes on the parts replaced. The GM parts at retail price quote d to me for the exact two housings replaced (including housings thermostat and temperature sensors) was 270.27. On Tom's invoice we were charged 900.08. They undoubtedly received a customary wholesale discount when purchasing from Chevy dealership. Additionally we were charged 157.89 for a small wiring connector available easily for under 40. I understand a repair shop will mark-up parts as normal operations, But this mark-up charge is extremely excessive. I questioned the parts mark up percentages Tom's charges (service advisor) advised me of 50% typical mark-up. By my estimation the actual amount charged was well over 232 percent for the two housings alone, not including the small wiring "pig tail" priced at 197. Additionally I felt a coolant flush 251 was rather high for a drained engine. Personally I worked on the automotive field for over 25 years, and have never seen price markups this high. Our family will find other sources for auto services going forward. We simply cannot afford their charges. Toms is certainly allowed to charge customers whatever they choose. We will shop around for future auto services
John, thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback. We appreciate your acknowledgment that our team was courteous, communicated well, and properly diagnosed and repaired the overheating concerns with your grandson's Malibu. We understand your concern after comparing the parts prices on our invoice with prices quoted by another source. However, the price of a part purchased independently is not directly comparable to the price charged as part of a professionally diagnosed and completed repair. We also want to clarify that the pricing obtained from another source did not reflect our actual cost for the parts installed, so the stated markup calculation does not accurately represent our pricing. Our pricing supports much more than the component itself, including identifying and sourcing the correct parts, employing highly trained automotive professionals, investing in the equipment and technology required to properly diagnose today's vehicles, and standing behind the repairs we perform. Every qualifying repair we perform is backed by our 3-year/36,000-mile nationwide warranty. Equally important, we stand behind our service with our Customer Satisfaction Guarantee. Because you have expressed that you are not satisfied with your experience, we sincerely encourage you to contact us directly so we have the opportunity to listen to your concerns and discuss them with you under that guarantee. We would have welcomed the opportunity to discuss these concerns with you directly before learning of them through this review, as our goal is always to address customer concerns personally and make every reasonable effort to ensure our customers feel heard and treated fairly. We appreciate your business and your feedback, and we remain available to speak with you directly.
- Tom's Auto Center