John Ellis & Son

Recommends

Cyndy S.

Joined 1 year ago

Nothing but good. I cannot say enough good things about this garage. We were on vacation and had a problem that 3 other garages in the area could not resolve. They worked all day on the problem and discovered that it was caused by an alternator that had spiked instead of dying. It had affected many parts of the vehicle, the worst being the regulator. They got us up on the way the same day while only charging us for the part and labor for changing the part rather than the variety of mechanics that had worked for 7 hours we spent there. I have personally sent this to all my friends some of whom are either in the Sacramento area or have relatives that are. We cannot say enough good things about this garage.

Doesn't Recommend

Tim K.

Joined 2 years ago

Sadly disappointing. I took my car in because it was overheating. The engine also was making a bad clunking noise at the time; unfortunately, I did not know what that meant.

I took the car in to John Ellis. They replaced the water pump, and performed some other repairs, and charged me about $1,000. When I came to pick up the car, they told me I had thrown a rod. That was the clunking noise I had heard.

The engine was shot. But John Ellis made me pay for the repairs and the new parts anyways.

Why would I have wanted a new water pump on an engine that was shot?

I complained to the state Department of Automotive Repair. They have no legal authority over mechanics; but they can complain on your behalf.

The Department found my complaint and had merit, and they went to John Ellis. John Ellis agreed to refund my half of my money. I think that means they admitted some responsibility.

We expect an auto mechanic to not just fix our car, but to tell us what we need, honestly, and not to sell us things we do not need.

John Ellis failed. I spent $500 on a new water pump I had absolutely no use for.

Oh yeah. And, the repair took two days longer than they initially said it was going to.