Clarks Auto

My brother took his car there to get a diagnosis for a fuel pump issue and they charged him $500!!! Maybe I could understand if they took the engine and the transmission apart, but that wasn't the case. I will be calling the Better Business Bureau!!

Incompetent, dishonest, overpriced and they apparently prey on senior citizens. Don’t listen to other reviews that are favorable, these guys are crooks. My mother had her 2002 Toyota serviced here in June 2008. They charged her a 90% markup on the Suggested Retail Price of the part needed, tried to add a “diagnostic services” charge on top of the 3 hours of labor they did charge, even though Toyota’s service manual estimates 1.5 hours, AND THEN, after she picked up the car it was discovered 50 miles later when my mom was out of town, that they didn’t reconnect the air filter hose! She paid someone else to reconnect it and Gary Clark's response? "She should have brought it back." Yeah...50 mile return trip because they can't put the hose back on.



They tried to charge my mother $430.00 for a part Toyota sells over the counter to anybody for $227.89. They told both me and my mother that the cost of the part, THEIR cost, was $385.00 and the resale was normally $430.00. To be nice they offered to sell the part “at their cost” of $385.00.



After an investigation we discovered that the suggested retail price from both Toyota and aftermarket supplier, WorldPac, is $228. Wholesale cost to a reseller should have been less. We also discovered that Clark’s paid, in reality, just $227.87. In other words, they flat out LIED. Not once, but three times. They lied that retail was $430. They lied that their cost was $385 and they lied that they were selling the part “at cost”. And tried to falsify a document to show their cost was $385. Amazing.



We also discovered that the part is available over the counter from their supplier for $225. So they even overpaid for the part from their own supplier….if you believe the supplier who seemed to know Gary Clark and his mechanic "Archie" very well. (Covering for them? I wouldn't be surprised.) You can also buy this part at other nearby parts stores for less. Middletown Auto quoted $166. Internet prices are about $177 including shipping.



There’s no doubt in my opinion that they preyed on a widowed, elderly female figuring she’d never know and they had an easy "mark". And when challenged they with the information that they overcharged the owner, Gary Clark, basically said “It’s America, we charge whatever we want.” They expect YOU to pay WAY above retail because they’re too lazy or too incompetent to buy their parts at wholesale prices. And in they end, they didn’t care at all.



This place does not deserve your business. Stay away.