a good mechanic in Puna ?

[Green]

Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in Puna, I'm tired of "parts changers" that call themselves mechanics , I need a mechanic that knows how to diagnose the problem not change parts hoping that they will get lucky.

[Rob Tucker]

Mike's Garage in Pahoa, across from Burger King. He's good and because he is good he is busy... can take a couple weeks getting in. But he will talk to you about your problem and if he can't fix it he doesn't charge.

On another note I just had a major breakdown with my van. and with Youtube was able to diagnose and fix it at no cost.

[terracore]

I like Curlees in HPP. Though it's been a few years since I've been able to get a car seen there.

Mike's has fair pricing but I had an issue with them. I ordered two tires on Amazon and took them them to Mike's to be installed. While he had the wheels off he said it was time to replace the back brakes. Since the car had over 70,000 miles on the original factory brakes I believed him. I still do. In fact, I was going to make an appointment to get the brakes serviced anyway, he just beat me to talking about them.

So I made an appointment to get the brakes replaced. When I dropped the car off, I specified "replace brakes, front and back". The kid who checked the car in wrote down "check brakes" on the work order. I made him change it to "replace brakes front and back". I told him, I want all four brakes replaced, not just the back. Do them all. Replace all four. I didn't care if the front brakes had 30% life on them or not, I wanted them replaced because of the hassle involved with losing the use of the car for a couple of days (they couldn't guarantee they could do the job in one day even though I had an appointment, and as it turned out, it took them two days to look at the brakes).

So when I picked up the car Mike was there, the one who told me the back brakes needed to be replaced, and he told me they only replaced the front brakes because "the back brakes didn't need it".

I'm guessing whoever worked on the brakes just wanted to go home so only did the front, which weren't even the brakes that were diagnosed as needing replacement. I was pissed for that obvious reason. But also because I was VERY SPECIFIC. REPLACE BRAKES FRONT AND BACK. ALL FOUR. WRITE IT DOWN. DO IT.

So now I'm driving around listening for the back brakes to make noises so I can take the car to Curlees and get them done. At least they will do them on the same day I drop the car off. If I can get them to answer the phone to make the appointment.

I guess if I go to Mike's again, I'll have to leave a note tape to the steering wheel telling them what I need done, because telling two people and having them write it down on the work order wasn't sufficient.

Most mechanics try to perform unnecessary services to charge you for them. To Mike's credit, they do the opposite. I also had them fix my truck brakes, which was all problems with the hydraulic system, and their charges were very fair.

Shifting the conversation back to Curlees: One time I took my truck in for an issue and it only took them a few minutes to fix it. Since their minimum labor charge is 1 hour, they pounded out some dents to give me an hour's worth of labor. Most places would have just pocketed the difference.

[kalianna]

I think Curlee's has been closed for quite some time. Whenever I drive past it's shuttered tight. What about Wally's?

[Green]

I haven't been to Curlee's in over 12 yrs, I had issue with my car not being able to idle, it ran fine but would not idle when at a stop. I took it to Curlee's told them the problem and at the end of the day I get the call from them the "car is done". So they "tuned it up replaced spark plugs, new cap and rotor i don't remember what else, but it was about $100 for things that the car didn't need. Of course the vehicle still didn't idle. I can change those things myself I'm a parts changer, but I don't call myself a mechanic. So I realized that Curlee's is just a parts changer also.

[birdmove]

On the matter of breaks, I believe most cars and vans and pickups are still running disk front brakes and drum rear brakes. We just had our front disk brake replaced on our 2014 Kia Soul at 75,000 miles, and it needed them. Rotors were fine.  My 2004 Tacoma is still runners by the original rear brake shoes at over 160,000 mile. Drum brakes go a whole lot farther than disk front brakes. Front brakes do most of your braking action. I would be surprised if a vehicle with 75.000 miles needed rear brake shoes.

[SBH]

Does anyone know of a good, honest mechanic for VW’s and German autos? We’ve been going to Bear’s for about 15 years but they have recently gone out of business. 

At first they had a sign on the door that said closed for remodeling and the phone would just ring without a message, but that’s been taken down and the phone has been shut off.

[terracore]

On the matter of breaks, I believe most cars and vans and pickups are still running disk front brakes and drum rear brakes. We just had our front disk brake replaced on our 2014 Kia Soul at 75,000 miles, and it needed them. Rotors were fine.  My 2004 Tacoma is still runners by the original rear brake shoes at over 160,000 mile. Drum brakes go a whole lot farther than disk front brakes. Front brakes do most of your braking action. I would be surprised if a vehicle with 75.000 miles needed rear brake shoes.

The back brakes do go a lot further than the front brakes.  My car has disk brakes on all four wheels.  I don't know why he said the back brakes needed to be replaced, and then later said they didn't.

[allensylves]

If you can travel as far as the Puna side of Hilo, we are very satisfied with Seany B's on Makaala near Kawili in the Atlas recycling lot.
We used to go to Curlee's until a friend told us about Seany B's.
They are very good to work with, charge good prices and never been a problem. They are only open Mon. - Thurs. now. 9-5.

[sistersue]

Does anyone have any experiences with Wally's Garage in HPP?