TL;DR: The KAR Shop is a slick business where you will pay a premium for UX frills like logo branding, online customer case tracking, and text-based updates- including upsell solicitations that invite you to have additional repairs done- but where the value you will get for your money will be mediocre at best. If your experience is like mine then thousands of dollars of repair work will not resolve the issue that brought you there in the first place and you will end up returning multiple times with the same problem while the diagnosis goalposts keep moving and the costs keep ballooning.
The good news is that all KAR Shop staffers I interacted with were polite and professional.
The bad news is that despite three visits and twice being assured that the repair was successful, the A/C issue that brought me to KAR remains unresolved and I am out nearly two thousand dollars. Taking my vehicle to The KAR Shop was a total waste of money and a very costly misadventure for me.
Here is a summary of the experience, with the worrying moments enumerated.
Made appointment over the phone for my 2006 Honda CR-V for next week and described A/C issues. Was told A/C inspection was between one- and two-hundred dollars but that additional A/C servicing would run $300-$ 400. Got end-of-week text with link to an intake form. Completed form. #1) Got another text over the weekend asking me again to complete an identical intake form that was missing all the data I previously entered. After hours drop-off of vehicle Sunday. Filled out hard-copy form detailing A/C issues when leaving key in night-drop. #2) Was contacted Mon. A.M. and asked to summarize A/C issues as though I had not now twice explained my vehicle issues. #3) Got text later Mon. with invitation to authorize 8 additional repair items totaling ~$3,100, including replacing one windshield washer jet for over $100. #4) Got call end-of-day Mon. and told that A/C issue could not be found but that the upsold repairs were coming along. Car stayed overnight. Authorized hose-replacement repair for A/C. #5) Called end-of-day Tues. and told that A/C repairs could not be completed because the ordered part could not successfully be attached due to sizing mistake. Was told car would be kept another night. Got call Wed. that vehicle is done, works great, and A/C is nice and cool. #6) Arrived at shop Wed. eve and was given the keys to another customer vehicle. #7) Once key mistake was sorted, I started my vehicle and heard a new noise from the engine. #8) Began driving with A/C and within 5 minutes knew that it was not repaired. Called KAR to make return appointment and reported new noise from engine. #9) Staff member A tried to convince me that new engine noise was not new but was from one of the upsell repairs I had declined. Returned vehicle to KAR Thurs. Was called Friday and told that A/C now needed new fan for ~$500. I expressed frustration at the customer experience so far and staff member C said that I could have a discount and pay ~$325 instead. #10) Was later contacted by staff member B who had no knowledge of the new engine noise I reported. Staff B tried to convince me that it was an old CR-V suspension recall issue. I convinced staff B that it was a new noise coming from engine. #11) Was called back later by staff member A and told that noise was caused by one of the upsell repairs that was installed incorrectly. Was again told that vehicle is done, works great, and A/C is nice and cool. Picked up car on Friday when weather made A/C unnecessary, and didn’t drive car again till following week, where I discovered within 15 minutes of using A/C/ that it was not fixed.
This is where we now stand. The KAR Shop wants another $800 to keep repairing the A/C on my vehicle. They assure me that this is all that is needed to make it work, but of course they’ve told me exactly that twice already and were plainly wrong both times. It took me no effort at all to discover that neither repair was complete, so their quality control process is highly ineffective if not absent altogether. If for some inane reason you are looking for shade-tree mechanic results at dealership prices, then congratulations you have more dollars than sense and I guess The KAR Shop is perfect for you; however, if you value either your money or your own mental health, then you should steer very clear of this place.
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The good news is that all KAR Shop staffers I interacted with were polite and professional.
The bad news is that despite three visits and twice being assured that the repair was successful, the A/C issue that brought me to KAR remains unresolved and I am out nearly two thousand dollars. Taking my vehicle to The KAR Shop was a total waste of money and a very costly misadventure for me.
Here is a summary of the experience, with the worrying moments enumerated.
Made appointment over the phone for my 2006 Honda CR-V for next week and described A/C issues. Was told A/C inspection was between one- and two-hundred dollars but that additional A/C servicing would run $300-$ 400. Got end-of-week text with link to an intake form. Completed form. #1) Got another text over the weekend asking me again to complete an identical intake form that was missing all the data I previously entered. After hours drop-off of vehicle Sunday. Filled out hard-copy form detailing A/C issues when leaving key in night-drop. #2) Was contacted Mon. A.M. and asked to summarize A/C issues as though I had not now twice explained my vehicle issues. #3) Got text later Mon. with invitation to authorize 8 additional repair items totaling ~$3,100, including replacing one windshield washer jet for over $100. #4) Got call end-of-day Mon. and told that A/C issue could not be found but that the upsold repairs were coming along. Car stayed overnight. Authorized hose-replacement repair for A/C. #5) Called end-of-day Tues. and told that A/C repairs could not be completed because the ordered part could not successfully be attached due to sizing mistake. Was told car would be kept another night. Got call Wed. that vehicle is done, works great, and A/C is nice and cool. #6) Arrived at shop Wed. eve and was given the keys to another customer vehicle. #7) Once key mistake was sorted, I started my vehicle and heard a new noise from the engine. #8) Began driving with A/C and within 5 minutes knew that it was not repaired. Called KAR to make return appointment and reported new noise from engine. #9) Staff member A tried to convince me that new engine noise was not new but was from one of the upsell repairs I had declined. Returned vehicle to KAR Thurs. Was called Friday and told that A/C now needed new fan for ~$500. I expressed frustration at the customer experience so far and staff member C said that I could have a discount and pay ~$325 instead. #10) Was later contacted by staff member B who had no knowledge of the new engine noise I reported. Staff B tried to convince me that it was an old CR-V suspension recall issue. I convinced staff B that it was a new noise coming from engine. #11) Was called back later by staff member A and told that noise was caused by one of the upsell repairs that was installed incorrectly. Was again told that vehicle is done, works great, and A/C is nice and cool. Picked up car on Friday when weather made A/C unnecessary, and didn’t drive car again till following week, where I discovered within 15 minutes of using A/C/ that it was not fixed.
This is where we now stand. The KAR Shop wants another $800 to keep repairing the A/C on my vehicle. They assure me that this is all that is needed to make it work, but of course they’ve told me exactly that twice already and were plainly wrong both times. It took me no effort at all to discover that neither repair was complete, so their quality control process is highly ineffective if not absent altogether. If for some inane reason you are looking for shade-tree mechanic results at dealership prices, then congratulations you have more dollars than sense and I guess The KAR Shop is perfect for you; however, if you value either your money or your own mental health, then you should steer very clear of this place.