Laurel Heights Automotive

Kathi Patterson _{on Google}

Feb 20th, 2024

Laurel Heights was referred to me by a Precision Tune employee. I was told this company charges fair pricing for auto repairs not only for men but for women, too!
I can testify to that!

Cynthia Wolfgeher _{on Google}

Jan 1st, 2024

12-8 took my car there heard noises in brakes. Laurel calls and tells me needs brakes rotors all around. I was sceptical about front but they said they needed it. Had regular maintenance oil change done today where bought car on maintenance plan at dealership. Multy point inspection done and they could not figure out why so much brake flood in it. Also brakes they had just replaced on front of car when bought it with rotor's. We're replaced. So Laurel replaced front brakes and rotors and back which needed. Fronts were brand new and they still replaced . 900. Dollars later and Laurel denies bad service come on. You don't need to work on my car anymore because I will not be back. Honesty is vertu and Laurel has lost that for customers.

Matthew Moore _{on Google}

Nov 23rd, 2023

I never thought I'd write a bad review about Laurel Heights Automotive. I'm usually loyal to a fault and once I find a mechanic and/or shop I trust, I go back to them time after time. Laurel Heights may not be the most budget friendly shop in Raytown, but it's always been a place I have trusted with my aging automobiles.
Recently I brought my 2018 Ford Escape to their shop to address several concerns going on with car. Running diagnostics, they had a laundry list of issues they needed to address. All in all, the costs were over $900 for the repairs, including the evap valve that I knew had been giving me problems for some time, a sensor, a tune up, and an oil change that I didn't ask for.
After paying the bill, I drove across the street to Hyvee, ran in for one item and when I came back out, the car flashed all kinds of warning lights telling me to service immediately. So I drove it back to the shop, again right across the street, and the put it back up on the lift to see what was going on. Turns out, the car had a bad auxiliary water pump (that they changed later on after I left the car in their hands) as well as a failing water pump that was "seeping". This caused me a lot of confusion seeing as I always check for leaks and never noticed anything under the car, but they assured me it would have done it without me even knowing. Apparently the water pump issue showed up on their initial diagnostics, but they didn't look into it, and let me drive off their lot with a car that was basically out of coolant.
The mechanic sat down with me and worked hard to convince me that it wasn't their fault that the water pump failed but this issue existed prior to bringing it in. After spending some time researching the issue, turns out this was the main problem and reason for bringing in the car and that the coolant was actually seeping into the engine and mixing with the oil. I'm sure the other repairs were needed, but why not address the main problem? All symptoms pointed to this being a water pump issue, but they didn't even notice the car was completely out of coolant? Additionally, could it be that they had to do the oil change in order to get the car to run right given the amount of coolant that had mixed with the oil? Really appeared to me like they had to intentionally avoid this issue.
The way it was explained to me, the water pump could be babied for a while and I'll just have to keep an eye on the coolant levels until I can afford to take it to the dealer (as they don't even work on those?). Turns out this was bad advice, as coolant mixed with oil is very bad for the engine and my $1,000 job could end up costing me $7,000 to get a new engine. Their advice should have been to park the car and not drive it until I get the issue resolved.
I think "imminent engine failure" would have made this a more pressing issue, but that's just me.
A few weeks later, I brought my 2007 Chrysler van to address an issue with the passenger side wheel bearing that turned out to be a tie-rod issue. The mechanic refused to work on it due to how rusted the car was, I was still charged a diagnostic fee even though it wasn't written up in the computer and as far as I know, he never ran diagnostics, and was told "good luck" and to get a new van as soon as possible.
No, I'm not a big client and they have plenty of work to keep them busy (probably why they didn't want to work on my water pump to begin with), but I'm no longer referring friends to use them, and I will be finding a different shop to take my vehicles.
edit:
A: You didn't contradict anything I said.
B: The van can be fixed without putting it in the air.
C: Trouble shooting on a car to find the problem isn't always going to be easy. The tune up was the correct action in determining the issue. Yet still, the water pump was on the original diagnostics that you showed me and is apparently a very common issue with these cars and it was completely out of coolant when I drove it off your lot. That's why I'm frustrated that you missed it and with the bad advice I was given.