⭐☆☆☆☆
If your preferred diagnostic procedure is “replace expensive parts until the problem eventually goes away,” Faricy Chevrolet in Salida may be exactly the shop you’re looking for.
My truck, Big Red, started having transmission issues just as I came out of the mountains from a hunting trip, so I had it towed to Faricy. Initially, things looked promising. Rachel, the service writer, was prompt, communicative, and informative.
Unfortunately, that was the high-water mark.
From there, the diagnostic process seemed to consist largely of plugging in a scanner, seeing a code, and immediately suggesting parts, while still charging me an hour of diagnostic labor. Actual testing to determine why the code was present seemed to be an optional upgrade.
My regular mechanic spoke directly with the dealership and explained work that had JUST been completed on the truck. Faricy's next suggestion?
Approve doing essentially the same work again.
When I pushed back and asked what testing had actually been performed to support their conclusion, the answer seemed to boil down to wanting to “look and see, just in case.” That's an interesting philosophy when you're spending someone else's money at dealership labor rates.
At some point I was handed off to a male service writer, and apparently the new diagnostic strategy was to use bigger automotive words at me until I stopped asking questions.
I did not.
Because their findings weren't making sense, I called my own mechanic, who repeatedly tried to help them work through the diagnosis. His input was largely ignored. Meanwhile, the meter kept running at an impressive hourly rate for what appeared to be a remarkably small amount of actual diagnosing.
Eventually, and this pains me to admit more than the repair bill, I had to call my boyfriend, who works in service management at a dealership on the Front Range, and ask him to intervene.
Nothing says “confidence inspiring dealership experience” quite like needing to bring your own service manager.
Calls were dodged for days. We were told we'd receive calls back that never came. My boyfriend ended up walking them through diagnostic checklists and procedures over the phone. By the time they finally arrived at a diagnosis, everyone involved had lost essentially every shred of confidence in the shop.
We were also told this was their best Chevy technician.
That did not have the reassuring effect they may have intended.
In the end, rather than authorize thousands of dollars in parts based on a diagnosis none of us trusted, we picked Big Red up on a flatbed and hauled her back to the Front Range so Eric at Big Thompson can actually diagnose the problem, fix the truck, and hopefully restore my faith in the automotive industry.
So, if you have several thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket and enjoy the automotive version of throwing spaghetti at the wall until something sticks, this may be the shop for you.
If you don't know much about vehicles and are relying on the dealership to accurately diagnose the problem before spending your money?
Lord have mercy on your wallet.
