HELP - car broke down

michelle06

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Messages
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We drove 1000 miles, made it to Orlando. Headed to AK. On the way back to the hotel, our alternator went out and was smoking. We've confirmed it is the alternator, so without discussing what is wrong, can someone please recommend a good, reputable repair shop that won't charge me a fortune just because I'm a tourist? We hope to rent a car tomorrow so our vacation isn't lost, but need to get this fixed ASAP obviously. Info is greatly appreciated.
 
We drove 1000 miles, made it to Orlando. Headed to AK. On the way back to the hotel, our alternator went out and was smoking. We've confirmed it is the alternator, so without discussing what is wrong, can someone please recommend a good, reputable repair shop that won't charge me a fortune just because I'm a tourist? We hope to rent a car tomorrow so our vacation isn't lost, but need to get this fixed ASAP obviously. Info is greatly appreciated.

Try the AAA Car Care center, located by the Magic Kingdom parking lot next to the Hess Station. When I worked at Disney, I went there to have some work done and it was only slightly more expensive than what my mechanic at home would have charged me and they were very professional, honest, and FAST! I brought my car in early in the morning and had it back the same day with about 6 hours of labor time for the work I had done. Even though I lived in the area, I wasn't familiar at ALL with the local mechanics and it gave me peace of mind to use a big company like that because I felt like I wouldn't get screwed over or scammed. They did a great job, and, like I said, were only slightly more expensive than my mechanic at home.
 
Try the AAA Car Care center, located by the Magic Kingdom parking lot next to the Hess Station. When I worked at Disney, I went there to have some work done and it was only slightly more expensive than what my mechanic at home would have charged me and they were very professional, honest, and FAST! I brought my car in early in the morning and had it back the same day with about 6 hours of labor time for the work I had done. Even though I lived in the area, I wasn't familiar at ALL with the local mechanics and it gave me peace of mind to use a big company like that because I felt like I wouldn't get screwed over or scammed. They did a great job, and, like I said, were only slightly more expensive than my mechanic at home.

Thank for the info. What did you mean by "about 6 hours of labor time for the work I had done."?
Thanks, again! Do you happen to know the hourly labor rate?
 
Thank you, Vickalamode. We did go to the AAA car care center and that was the perfect solution. We were able to drive it there versus somewhere much further and then spend the day in Epcot since they took us to the TTC. It was done by the end of the day. Going there kept us from having to rent a car and still enjoy our day (except for the big bill!). Thanks, again for your help.
 

Thank you, Vickalamode. We did go to the AAA car care center and that was the perfect solution. We were able to drive it there versus somewhere much further and then spend the day in Epcot since they took us to the TTC. It was done by the end of the day. Going there kept us from having to rent a car and still enjoy our day (except for the big bill!). Thanks, again for your help.

Thanks for sharing the helpful info..sorry you had car trouble while on vacation...been there-done that! Enjoy the rest of your vacation! :thumbsup2
 
Glad you was able to get your car back and not left stranded while on vacation. Hope the rest of your trip goes great!
 
Well, it turns out this wasn't the place for us. After taking our car to AAA, they tried to sell us things we didn't need, such as a battery that was not failing the test, further telling us they would not honor the warranty on the alternator they replaced unless we did replace the battery. 2 days later, the "new" alternator failed. They told us originally they only use new parts, not remanufactured. When we took it back, the guy we dealt with this time said they only used remanufactured parts. They flat out lied to us the first time. Further, upon taking it in again for the failed new part, they said it's warrantied all over the country (Goodyear) and since the light wasn't on at that exact moment, they couldn't do anything! I do understand intermittent issues, but we were 1000 miles from home, missing our day at Disney, and they weren't offering to keep the van for a few hours to drive it and see if it would recur or anything. They basically said too bad. They expected us to drive 1000 miles home and hope it didn't occur again! Luckily, the guy who was taking it for a test drive hollered across the shop as my dh was being told all of this "The light just came on again." So, that forced their hand to keep it a bit and look at it. They put on a second "new" alternator and still insisted on a battery. Well, we had a battery warranty from Auto Zone which they said they would only replace if the battery was bad. In addition to all of this, they had to remove the axle for the initial repair, and this totally threw off the alignment. They did not fix this! Nor did they even say, we will need to do this, and thus will need an alignment which will cost $x. They just left it that way. It was very noticeable when the steering wheel was about a quarter turn off.

We felt the customer service was terrible and shady. Maybe for more minor issues, this place is convenient and you don't notice as much as we did. But for more major repairs, next time, I will have it towed to the dealership.
 
YIKES All the more reason to fly. By the time you shelled out $$$ for repairs plus the worry about the quality of the repair and if you will make it home safely, makes flying it all worth while. I would hate to rely on an out of town repair shop.
 
This is exactly my reason for not driving to WDW...we live approx 1200 miles away. My van is getting old and in excellent condition but at the point when things could go wrong.....and it always happens without warning. My Dh is in the car biz and thinks I'm crazy to worry about the van breaking down on the drive to FL. I think I'm being realistic.

We have done the drive many times but won't again as long as we can get airfare for a similar price to the cost of driving or until I get a newer car.
 














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