Cybert Tire & Car Care – another disappointing mechanic
I was hoping Cybert, on 11th Ave in Manhattan, would finally be the good mechanic I could count on. It’s family owned, been around for years, is not too flashy, yet not too shabby.
No such luck. On my first visit, they ripped me off and still didn’t fix the problem. The kicker is, the problem turned out to be so simple, I ended up fixing it myself, and am stunned and disappointed they didn’t find it themselves.
I was driving across midtown and a coolant hose blew, a hose that takes coolant from the engine block into the bulkhead. The hose didn’t break, it just burst off its fitting. I didn’t realize this until I had already called the tow truck. ( I was on 51st Street, right by St. Patrick’s, at 9 AM. The best thing to do was get out of traffic fast).
I got a tow to Cybert, who had done my annual inspection. The owner assigned a mechanic to the truck, and told me they would call me to tell me what they had found and give me an estimate of the repairs.
The mechanic called that afternoon, and in barely intelligible English (he was African) said he had replaced the hose and that with a coolant flush and radiator pressure test it was going to cost $275 or thereabouts.
“Well, what had been the problem?” I asked.
“Bad hose. Replaced hose.”
“That sounds like the symptom.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m saying, what would cause pressure to build up to the point that a hose would pop off its fitting?”
“It’s a old hose. You want coolant flush?”
“Can I talk to the owner?”
“Ok, one minute.”
The owner got on the phone, I started to ask him what he thought the root of the problem might be.
“Look, it’s gotten really busy. I understand George has got it fixed. He’ll tell you about it.” Seriously. I was smelling the snow job.
George was back on the line.
“You want the flush and pressure test? $275?”
“I’m trying to understand what the problem was.”
“Is an old hose. That’s it. Somethin always gonna break. That was it.”
“That was it?”
“Yeah!”
“Ok.”
What else am I suppose to do over the phone? Apparently $275 is not enough to allow for a discussion of causes and symptoms.
I got the flush and pressure test done, and picked up the truck that evening, for $284.85.
I was suspicious, so I drove it around midtown traffic for an hour, half hoping the hose would burst again, or the temperature gauge would shoot up, as it had right before the hose burst. No such luck, everything was fine, and I took the truck back to its garage, with a lingering feeling of auto-angst.
The following weekend on a Saturday evening, I took the truck out for a road trip to Hofstra, in Long Island, to go see a friend in a concert. Had to be there by 8PM. Never made it.
I was on 495 going past LeFrak city in Queens (one of the ugliest landscapes in NYC) and the temperature gauge – which had been suspiciously high — shot up into the red. I pulled over to the shoulder and had no choice but to let the engine cool down. When it was cool I drove off again. Within six miles, the gauge shot up again. I pulled over. It went on like this until I managed to pull into a gas station and, with nothing else to try, decided to buy some antifreeze and see if the level was low. I really couldn’t think of any other explanation.
Turns out it was low. I ended up adding a gallon of antifreeze to the system. Now, why was it low? Cybert had just filled it earlier in the week. They had pressure tested it, and found no leaks. I never saw any leaks beneath the truck where I parked.
Turns out, believe it or not, that the culprit was the seal on the radiator cap. Yes. A little rubber seal the size of a silver dollar. It was not broken. It was just bent over itself. So it wasn’t sealing well. I was at wits end, and didn’t think that unbending the seal would solve this problem, but I had to try something. So I unbent the seal, set it right in the cap, and haven’t had a problem since.
I guess the bad seal was letting some coolant evaporate off the top, thereby bringing the level down too low to cool well, etc…. That’s the only explanation I can think of.
Now, why couldn’t the guys at Cybert have just taken a look at that radiator cap? Isn’t that the first thing one does, the first thing a pro does, with radiator issues? They didn’t do it because they just don’t give a damn. They just want to charge for big ticket service (radiator flush, pressure test), get you out, and move on.
I have moved on. I will never be back.
receipt from Cybert Tire for experience described above
I am writing this rebuttal in defense of Cybert Tire. The above story is a finely crafted story written by a professional writer. I take great offense to any individual who writes a bunch of blatent lies. We do not have any mechanic by the name of george. No radiator flush is $375.00. We have no African mechanics. We do however, employee professional mechanics that come from all corners of the earth. We do not rip off customers. We do charge money for services rendered. And customers who have concerns call on the phone or come by and Cybert stands behind all work. A 3 page novel ended by a 4 letter curse word. Now thats disappointing!
If any customer has and concerns about auto services rendered at any Auto Repair Faculity in New York State, They can contact the New York State Dept Of Motor Vehicles. We take responsiblity and obligation to all services rendered to our customers.It is unfortunate that an individual can go on to the internet and post malicious lies. If anybody has any questions about this matter or any questions about auto repair, please feel free to contact me, John Everett, the president of Cybert Tire Corp. I can be reached at 212-265-1177. I want to thank our family of customers who have been bringing their cars to Cybert tire since 1916.
Apologies for getting the price wrong. The total I was charged was $284.85, for initial diagnostic, radiator service, and replacement of a hose which costs around $6. See receipt above.
I have removed the curse word and corrected the price. I am not a professional writer, and this is not a finely crafted story. This is the truth, and an accurate description of how I felt pretty well screwed after I’d spent half a Saturday night on the LIE diagnosing and solving a simple radiator problem that I had just payed your shop nearly $300 to fix.
Your mechanic’s name was George. He was of African descent, and had a thick, unintelligible foreign accent. I have no issue with him being African. I hate that I’m paying such high mechanic’s rates and you can’t even hire a mechanic that an English speaking person can understand. Your mechanic could be German. If he spoke unintelligible English, I would be just as frustrated.
You say we should feel free to contact you. I damn well tried to talk to you when I was your paying customer, and you told me you were too busy. Your mechanic didn’t want to discuss my opinion that the problem with my radiator wasn’t just the hose. You didn’t want to hear it either. Instead you just complimented me on how well I maintain my truck, and handed me the bill — and that was on the second time I tried to tell you that I really didn’t think an old hose was the problem.
Of course now that my opinion shows up on the first page of Google’s search results for “Cybert Tire”, you’re willing to take the time to even write. How thoughtful.
Maybe my experience with you was an aberration. Like with a doctor who treats people day in day out, a mistake in your shop may eventually happen. But like a healthy patient who knows his body, my truck looks well maintained because it is, and though I may not be a mechanic, I know a thing or two about my truck. It would be nice not to get the blow off when I tell you I don’t think the problem is fixed as you’re handing me the bill.
I have a right to my opinion and to share it with others. Hopefully others who come to you will not have my experience, but I certainly cannot in good faith recommend your shop. By my experience, you don’t want to hear what a customer thinks is wrong with his car, and you don’t look too thoroughly at what could be the cause of a problem.
Judging from the reviews I see here, I’m not the only one who’s had a bad experience at Cybert Tire.