I had a known manufacture defect in my engine (excess oil consumption) that eventually caused my engine to stop running. The dealership spent a few days determining what the issues are and what repairs needed to be done. Their proposed repair matched to what I researched online about the failure, but the repair cost was way too high. I called two other mechanics that I have worked with in the past to see what they had to offer as a solution. Both offered similar repair options as the dealer and also proposed an engine swap to a similar mileage engine that I currently had. Unfortunately, all the above repair options were similar in cost and only provided 60-90 day warranty. None of the options gave me good feeling so I ended up going shopping for a new car. After I found a couple new car options, I wanted to give one more mechanic to propose repair options. I REALLY didn’t want to buy a car since I took such good care of this one.

This is when I met Mike at Casey’s. He had a completely different view on my situation and explained in detail why he would not go with the other three suggested repair options. Specially, getting into a “repair trap” after they open the engine. He was concerned that other damage could have occurred that would only be found once they get started on the repair. This could potentially increase the price of the proposed repair. Not only did he explain why he thought this, he pulled out parts to show me what happens to the engine when it fails like mine did.

Mike proposed buying a used, low mileage engine (~55k less miles than my current engine of 104k), pulled from a working car in Japan. He explained why this is the best option and how these engines become available to customers outside of Japan. He also explained how this was a high quality engine since it was manufactured to a higher standard than the American version. The kicker… the proposed repair cost was ~28% less my other options and came with a 24 month warranty. This is the first time I felt good about going with the repair after contemplating what to do over a 5 week period.

I now have a fully functional car that is incredibly quiet, doesn’t burn excess oil and drives like new. Mike and his team were a pleasure to work with. While I worked directly with Mike, it was obvious that everyone worked together as a team. I also appreciated that Mike saved parts off my car to show me why certain additional repairs needed to be addressed… something the dealership completely missed and didn’t properly address in the past (or lied about it to me). Going forward, I will only be servicing my cars at Casey’s in Palatine.