Hickey Automotive

Had a great experience with this shop today. Helped two of my family members this week with two of their cars. Fair and friendly.

Finding a mechanic you are comfortable with is like finding a doctor you are comfortable with. It is a tough thing to do, and there is a lot of trust involved. No one likes to have to have repairs done on their vehicle, and as expensive as repairs can be, you want to make sure that the correct repairs are performed correctly. I am as mistrusting as they come, I have always had a difficult time finding a shop I trust. When I moved to the area, I had to start my search. Hickey Auto strikes me as a straight shooter. I have brought my vehicle to them for a number of repairs, and I never felt like they were trying to rip me off. They seem to be interested in fixing the problems, without «finding» a million other things that need to be fixed. I feel the rates are reasonable. I feel that in time, I will be as comfortable with Hickey as I was with my long time mechanic before I moved to Arizona.

Not happy with my experience at Hickey Automotive. They were very nice at the front desk and phone customer service, but made up for it in excessive charges and poor diagnosis.
I came to them as an «out-​of-​town» new customer to inspect my car for reasons why it was running at higher than normal radiator temperatures, but not over heating. I also mentioned that I recently took the car to JiffyLube for an oil change and they informed me that the battery was bad. I did not replace the battery there, but asked Hickey to test the battery just to double check. Hickey quoted me $ 9.99 to inspect the car for these problems.
Later in the day I received a call that they solved the over heating problem and all I needed was a new radiator cap. They also said that JiffyLube was right, I needed a new battery. Their quoted price over the phone was no more than $ 100. I said that price was OK but to call me if it would be anything more than $ 100. Never got that call.
At the end of the day I was a little shocked to find that I was charged $ 132 for my battery plus $ 19 to install it, $ 28 for the radiator cap and $ 49 for the vehicle inspection that was originally quoted at $ 9.99.
On the drive back home, my car ran exactly the same with high water temperature so their diagnosis was not accurate. When I checked online for the price of the cap I paid $ 28 for, I found it at most parts stores for between $ 6 and $ 8 for a Ford MotorCraft part. For comparison I called my local dealer and I could buy the cap from them for $ 12. I now think that I should have waited to replace that battery since I think they took my Jiffy Lube story and used it to their advantage.
Long story short, get all quotes in writing from this shop and double check parts pricing before paying the bill.