New mechanic in town

I needed to have a shock absorber installed. Went to Robert, Goodyear, and some parts stores. Robert quoted P4,200 for the part and P600 for installation. Then I went to MAP, on the Dgte - Valencia road about a half mile up from Hypermart on the other side of the road. Nice clean facility. Actually paved and covered with a real roof! Greeted by a very friendly owner, Marvin. Quoted P2,900 for the part and P300 for installation. Part was exactly the same as Robert quoted. Took the car in at 8 on Friday morning. Done by 9:30. The receptionist and the mechanics were also very friendly and greeted me immediately. I've been to several places where I had to stand around for 15 or 20 minutes before anyone even seemed to notice me. Drives me NUTS!!

Anyway, was very satisfied with the entire experience. Highly recommend them.

 

Bebasguy,
Thank you for the information, it only proved my suspicions on Roberts is true. I have a not so good experience with Robert's near the airport, went there to have my wheel aligned, then, after conducting the procedure, they told me the tie rod end had to be replaced as it could not be aligned correctly, although my vehicle was already 6 yrs old, but surely I have not used it as often specially the last 2 years, with my suspicion aroused, I told the guy I will just come back as I do not have the money this time. I went straight to another shop and this time, the shop completed the procedure without any complains on my tie rod end. I casually asked the mechanic to check if anything wrong with the tie rod end, he examined it and at the same time, test drive it and went on an unpaved road, and gave it a satisfactory rating. With your experience, then, I gues they must have been doing it most of the time...

 

Shop

Are these directions coming from downtown or from Valencia? We drove quite a distance both ways and did not see the shop. Is it clearly marked MAP? Any other landmarks that can help us find it? Is it near the wood furniture shop? Thanks!!

 

There's a brand new one near us. It's on the left as you head towards Valencia just before the the Junob Brgy hall. If that's the same one I'd say it's 1.5km after Hypermart

 

Location of MAP

I think I did a poor job of estimating the distance from Hyper mart. A mile toward Valencia, on the opposite side (south side) of the road. They have a big sign which says MAP automotive repair, or something similar.

 

lucky I am a mechanic these blood suckers will not get much from me lol:p

 

Based on comments from this post, I brought my car to MAP to have some maintenance work done. Unfortunately, I cannot share your enthusiasm about the price and work quality. I had several jobs performed simultaneously, steering boot replacement, 2 axle boots replaced, oil change, make and replace oil pan gasket, clean and lubricate electric window mechanisms, replace door hinge pin, repair mounting bolts of left side mirror, replace 1 window riser, fix one window switch, troubleshoot electrical problem (hot relay). Total cost at the end, Php7,390! Parts were under P1500 so the rest is labor. The biggest jobs, labor wise, were removing the door panels and removing the right hand axle.I had a diesel engine removed from my truck elsewhere, stripped down to the block, then re-assembled, installed, and tested after overhaul for only Php5000 so I find this a bit high.

OK, so a bit expensive, but if the work had been done well I would not write this post. When I got the car back, the radio was no longer working (short in RH door speaker), RH front window only working sometimes, 2 windows still slow to rise (he used a FULL can of my silicone lubricant), LH rear door would not open (and handle broken or spring detached?, they had mis-adjusted the door lock during installation), no aircon (may not be the problem of MAP but it was working fine when I brought it in), radiator fan would not go off (he changed wiring to correct the relay problem), broken mirror swivel, window adhesive on rear seat, oil on floor mats, door panel cloth upholstery full of grease and fingerprints, wheel alignment out (steering wheel offset to the left), and spongy brakes.

On the good side, they took the car back, kept it for 5 days and tried to repair the problems at no charge. Now, aircon still not working (so I have brought it to an aircon shop), car now pulling to the right but the steering wheel is straight so it will need wheel alignment (they didn't need to screw that up to remove the axle. They just disconnected at the wrong place). They bypassed the engine temperature sensor (proabably faulty) and wired the fan directly to the ON circuit so now my electronic "fast idle is not working on cold start-up but the fan DOES go off when I turn off the key. they never admitted that they disconnected a brake line when they removed the axle but I bled the brakes myself and they are fine now. They cleaned the interior but now, also, I have a few extra rattles from removing door panels so often.

One other thing that I am hesitant to mention, but might be something you should watch out for if you are leaving your car at MAP or any mechanic shop here. I noticed that my fuel level was considerably lower when I got my car back compared to when I brought the car to the garage. I didn't say anything because I wasn't 100% sure. So, the second time I brought the car in, I filled the tank first and reset the trip odometer. When I picked up the car, I had less than 3/4 of a tank remaining and only 10km on the odometer. When I brought it up to the owner, he assured me that nobody took gas and that maybe they had to leave the car idling for a long time. I don't buy that, but again, no proof but I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the workers filled up their motorcycles at my expense by siphoning gas out. I have had the impression in the past that this was happening at other garages in the city (when I was required to leave my car overnight). just something to keep an eye on.

I'm not saying that MAP is not an OK place to take your car for work, but you might want to consider getting only 1 job done at a time and getting estimates before they start work.

I will soon be needing timing belt replacement and plan to replace the water pump and some seals at the same time. I am not sure if I will be bringing the car to MAP, but I don't know where else to bring it. I haven't really had much luck elsewhere either.

 

Shadows a d*mn fine mechanic if he has the time . I believe hes a licensed mechanic from the west . I have seen his build of a multi cab turned into a off road heavy duty beast . Maybe he posted pics here ?

 

You are right. Larry is a good mechanic, and my neighbor. Unfortunately, I think he has sort of given up the mechanical work to focus on his other business ventures. I might have to kidnap him to repair my car when I come back from Canada with a timing belt kit that includes belts, water pump, tensioners, plus all the seals and gaskets for the front end of the motor, haha. Or, maybe I will have to get dirty myself but I have gotten to lazy over the last few years to sweat that much. Now, if I had an airconditioned garage and enough cold beer, ....