Ron’s Automotive – Cascade Park

I’ve had a horrible experience with these people. A complete rip off. I won’t ever take my car here again. They keep saying my car is fixed and I get halfway home and the check engine light comes back on. Three times! I don’t know if they even work on it.

This may be my first auto repair review and it is worth it! I took my Suburban to Ron’s and was very pleased. Their quote was lower than others and the work was done well. Throw in a free ride to and from work while they fixed my Suburban and I am one happy camper. Great Job!

Thank you for running a shop with Honesty & Integrity. It is refreshing to know that there is repair shops that still honor that!

I took my Mazda 3i to Ron’s in January 2015 after I started hearing noise coming from the engine. They told me it was due to a transmission/​engine mount and replaced the engine mount. About six months later, every time I shifted gears, it sounded and felt like the engine was dropping. I thought it was a transmission problem and limped it into Clark County Transmission. The owner there, John, went to drive my car to evaluate the problem and the car broke down completely as he was exiting the driveway. Via a forklift, John got my car into his shop and up on a lift. He asked whether the car had recent engine work and I happened to have my papers from Ron’s regarding the repairs done in January 2015. John pointed out to me that the engine mount Ron’s installed had failed which caused the engine to drop and broke the driver’s side axle. There were various, copious amounts of fluids leaking out of the engine area. I had to get my car towed to Ron’s and their first reaction was to blame my teenagers for 4-​wheeling my car (I do not have any children). They even said, «Fast and Furious.» After waiting for 2 and a half hours, they finally told me the damages were due to the engine mount they had replaced in January 2015. Apparently, they cross-​threaded and/​or failed to tighten the bolt and screw holding the engine mount which eventually caused the bolt to drop out and the engine to drop and break the driver’s axle. I felt very fortunate that the driver’s axle did not break while I was going 60 mph on the highway as I could have been killed or I could have killed others. When I expressed the latter to Ron’s, they responded by acting like I was overreacting and that there was never any potential serious danger to me from the driver’s axle breaking while I was driving my car. Ultimately, since my car was still under warranty, they paid for the repairs as well as a rental car for the 3 days it took to repair my car which was the right thing to do (surprise). My car has not been the same since they worked on it. It revs much higher than it originally did and goes 12 mph while in 2^nd gear without my foot even being on the gas pedal. I would give Ron’s a ZERO if I could and will never go back to them. I am afraid of my car having future problems due to having it worked on by Ron’s mechanics. To top it off, Ron’s never cleaned up all the fluids in the engine area from the driver’s axle breaking and I got to smell burning fluids for days/​weeks. I also heard from a friend that Ron’s took advantage of her elderly mother by charging her twice for the same service. Take your car somewhere else (John at Clark County Transmission did not charge me one penny for what he did and he is now my car repair god).

If you want to feel valued and respected and well… Don’t want to be ripped off and taken advantage of your time then DO NOT go here even if you have a coupon. Not worth it. They treat women like they don’t know anything and honestly I worried they were going to refuse to give me my keys. Multiple inconsistency and in my opinion more like lies. I wish I could find a reputable Oil change facility that doesn’t screw with other things, tell lies and will simply change your oil in a honest forth right fashion. Convinced there aren’t any around that don’t way over charge the consumer. NEVER again will I go here for anything. If I could give zero stars I would. If I could say anything positive I would… Well here is one. The waiting area was clean. For a business to say that a customers factual review was «slanderous» is unprofessional. Again they choose to avoid accountability.

I recently brought my ’02 Prius in to Ron’s because its hybrid system warning light had come on, its gas mileage had taken a nose drive and it was letting out a loud high pitched noise during regenerative breaking. Ron’s Automotive’s website has a whole page discussing their experience working on hybrids which made them sound like experts in the field. They charged me $ 120 for a diagnostic that as far as I can tell consisting of nothing more than hooking up a scan tool to my car’s ODB port and reading out the error codes, then another $ 195 to do TWO transmission fluid changes in a row (???), which they said MIGHT fix the problem I was having.
After $ 300 worth of services made literally ZERO difference with the issues I was seeing, they told me the next step would be to pay them another $ 2767.33… That’s $ 2400 for a new high voltage battery and $ 367.33 to get that battery installed. Confronted with that high a charge, I chose to go on the Internet and try to research the problem myself.
I have since confirmed that the issue my car was experiencing in fact had NOTHING TO DO with the traction battery, and that this $ 3767.33 charge (THREE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN DOLLARS) would have still left my car in exactly the same state it was already in, and would have left Ron’s able to make an additional $ 600-​$ 700 profit by selling off the used traction battery they’d have removed from my car.
And that their next step after that would probably have been another $ 4500 or so to replace my transmission, where the actual problem was.
I don’t know if this shop is more competent dealing with combustion-​only cars than they are with hybrids, but I would strongly advise *against* taking an ailing hybrid whose ailment is centered around the electronic side of the car to them.
UPDATE — Jan 26, 2015, in response to Ron’s Automotive’s comment below — The computer code registered was a P3009, which is a high voltage leak, not a «battery leak.» A P3009 can be a leak in the transaxle, in the high voltage battery casing, in the inverter or in the high voltage wiring. You guys told me it was in the battery and tried to charge me $ 2767.33 for a new battery when it was in fact in the transaxle. I agree with you that proper maintenance would have prevented this problem, but the $ 2767.33 procedure you tried to charge me for was NOT that proper maintenance procedure.
Next time you get a Prius with a P3009 in your shop, consider following this procedure to figure out where the leak is. You know, if honest business is even remotely a goal for you. At the time this was going on, I tried to point your techs towards this procedure but they didn’t condescend to even look into it. Had to find someone else to actually get the MG1 stator in my car’s transaxle replaced without my time and money wasted on things I didn’t need! Being able to follow Toyota’s service manual is great, but it was very apparent in dealing with you that you don’t actually fully understand how these cars work and aren’t particularly interested in learning!

I’ve visited Ron’s for two different accidents this summer and both times, I was met with friendly, knowledgeable staff. James at the 1^st street location has taken great care of me. I was informed about every step of the process and never felt like I was out of the loop on the progress of my vehicle. They have stepped in and offered advice, even inspected new cars I was considering buying. I trust Ron’s with my car, and that is very important. My only complaint is that the cost is a bit high, but I would still recommend them to anyone due to their outstanding service.

I had my car towed here because it was a AAA approved facility.
My serpentine belt had simply come off, and was lying down below where it was supposed to be. I dropped the car off and waited for a call.
When the call came, they said there was nothing wrong with the belt so they just replaced it and charged me $ 60. The place where I get my oil changed charges that amount for a new belt.
I also asked for a quote to replace the housing for my air filter. They said it would be an extra $ 180. Since the reason I was replacing it was because one of the fasteners was stripped, I called the place that had likely stripped it and they agreed to fix it at their cost. So, I called immediately back to Ron’s (who had told me it would take a while to get the part in) and asked them not to replace the part. They advised that they’d already removed it and had broken part of it in the process.
I had the other shop replace it, and it took a total of 10 minutes, and it was a $ 50 part. I’m not sure why Ron’s would have charged me $ 180 for the same thing.
The most laughable thing was they emailed me an estimate for some things I might want to consider doing to my car… to the tune of $ 4000. The car isn’t worth more than $ 3600. I’ve heard of upselling, but that was ridiculous. It appeared they went through some Honda database and chose everything that a car with my mileage should have done assuming I’d never had any of it done.
In the past I’ve had very good luck with AAA approved facilities, but I can’t recommend this place.

My car broke down 2 blocks from Ron’s automotive. I walked to the business and was told to have it towed would be 75.00 dollars. Stuck with no way to get my car home I had the car towed. When the tow driver handed the receipt over to me it was 48.00. When Ron’s was finished with my bill thay charged 75.00 for the tow even though the bill said 48.00! I don’t understand why Ron’s can charge more even though the tow wasn’t through there auto repair. What kind of business is this? I as a woman feel like I got taken for a ride. Never will I do business through Ron’s again.

Ron’s Auto ain’t nothing but a bunch on scamming greedy take your money jerks. They gave me a price $ 800 higher than what they had said on the phone and when I went to take my truck back they conned $ 60 from me just to look at my breaks. Ron’s wanted $ 1200 total … Went elsewhere and had it find for $ 400! These guys should be put out of business ! Horrible shop horrible people.

I’ll not be back. After losing a wheel on the freeway and rebuilding it myself, I made an appointment at Rons to have everything inspected and get an alignment. Dropped the truck off first thing the morning of the appointment and caught a ride to work. At 4pm I finally called to see what the verdict was, only to find that they hadn’t even looked at it. At the very least, a simple call to tell me I wasn’t getting my truck back as promised would have been nice.
I ended up walking back to Rons to get my truck and won’t be back.

I have taken my vehicles to Ron’s Automotive for more than nine years. No one else ever repairs my cars. Prices might be a bit higher in a few cases, but honesty is their number one policy — and honesty rates very high in my book.

This goes to my most recent experience at Ron’s.
First, let me say, they’ve done exceptional work on many cars that they’ve worked on for me in the past — 3 versions of Subarus, a VW Jetta, a Ford F150 truck.
However, I took my Mercedes C230 in due to an inoperative windshield wiper — which they attempted to repair, only to have it die within two months of the repair. Add to that when I picked up the car, they indicated that they weren’t quite sure about some of the nuances of the wiper motor (timing).
While I’m planning on keeping my other cars at Ron’s, there is no way I’ll take a higher end vehicle there.
Incidentally, I took the Mercedes back to the dealer where I was charged roughly the same amount for a full replacement of the windshield wiper motor.
Meanwhile, Ron’s wanted me to come in for them to re-​evaluate it, and repair again if necessary. That was not worth my time or effort required if I got another «we’ll see if this works» type of response — so I elected to get it fixed definitively.
Sorry Ron — but in this case I believe your guys missed the boat.

I make it a point to go here for both cars in our family. Great, honest service and they appreciate their customers!

Many good shops out there– this is not one of them –keep looking!
Had this shop do several jobs for me in the past. Seemed overpriced but did OK. My son took in car for oil change. That night started leaking. Went back and was told he needed a new washer on oil plug next oil change. Turns out someone put the wrong oil plug back in and stripped out the pan. Manager told me it was not their fault. Quoted over $ 600 for repairs their technician caused.
I’ve heard from several others that work is usually OK here but they do not stand behind their work when they make mistakes.