Sanford's Automotive Service

***EVERYONE PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SHOP**** Mike quoted me a price of $6k to rebuild my engine for a 1971 cutlass supreme (350 engine). I gave him a deposit. When the motor returned from the machine shop, that price went up to $8500 because he said he underestimated the cost of the machine shop work. The lack of communication was unreal. Then the week of installing the engine he gives me a bill for $11,984.01 because he said the quote did not include his labor. Additionally, the parts HE ordered (headers, radiator) did not fit.

His solution to this problem was for me to reorder these parts at my own expense! And he was very disrespectful about it as if I ordered I made the mistake! It took ALL of my military bearing to remain calm with this guy. He initially told me he had to order all of the parts for this project and now he wanted me to order parts for a misquoted job.

I refused! I forfeited my engine and deposit and just took it as a horrible and costly experience. I wasn't giving him anymore money because if you're incompetent enough to order the wrong parts then who knows how the motor will run.especially for nearly $12k! I was fooled by the good reviews and did not read into the bad ones, which point out the same issues I experienced.

There were several flags you should pick up on if you ever consider using this place.heck I should've picked up on these flags but he starts off very professional until he gets your money of course. 1st flag: the business does not take Visa, Mastercard, etc. or that's what I was told. I had to pay all in cash. 2nd flag: his quotes are very vague, sketchy, misleading and he won't give you much in writing. 3rd flag: he is a very rude guy who lacks customer service skills.

He will turn belligerent as soon as you question him on something. 4th flag: He rarely has any customers at his shop. (This is when I realized I had been scammed) This is a shady establishment, please BEWARE! Don't be like me, READ THE BAD REVIEWS and do your due diligence. I would not recommend this business to anyone! Very disappointed!

Mike is fantastic! Even though I barely know anything about cars, he was very patient and took time to explain what needed to be done. The repairs were made very quickly (only a day!), and he maintained excellent customer service the entire way through. He also performed an oil hange, topped off my antifreeze, and showed me how to check the fluid levels and other maintenance in my car moving forward. I will definitely be coming back to him in the future!

He quoted 500. Then heard Infiniti then it jumped to 800.(its a 2001) when I came to pick the car up he said he ran into some other problems and the price jumped to over 900. HE BROKE THE METAL HOLDING ROD o the alternator so he moved it up front so it will be easier to get to the next time if there is e next time said he put it there with bracket and a screw and he hoped it would hold and he was sure it would, well it did not and now the alternator is down in between my engine and belts sticking, burning and grinding and causing problems, my lawyer says it's willful negligence and and boardering on fraud and embezzlement, (it's over 500) and I agree

I was looking for an honest mechanic to look at my 2013 F150, thinking I needed new brakes, and I certainly found one. As a traveling nurse, I rely heavily on my vehicle for my assignments and the service I received from Mike was outstanding. He explained everything in detail and was honest about not needing new brakes at this time, I did an oil change and tire rotation, the service was fast and I even scored a couple of delicious tomatoes. I appreciated the honesty and will definitely bring my truck back for any future repairs and maintenance. I highly recommend him.

Mike was very professional and straight forward about the work he was doing on my car (65 Mustang). It's difficult to find mechanics that can work on vintage cars, but Mike is in a league of his own. He provided constant updates about the status of the car, the bill, and work that needed to be done. He told me about things that I could fix that would be easy rather than him charging me (hard to find a good mechanic that isn't out to nickle and dime you). Overall I had a great experience with Mike and would trust him to work on any of my vehicles.

Very happy with work Mike did on my chrystler 200 honest man and cost between part and labor did not hurt my pocket much very haappy i give 5 stars wish i could do 10.

How fortunate I was to find Mike Sanford. He is a highly competent mechanic who identified a situation with my engine that Subaru dealership mechanics completely missed. That one thing alone saved me from unneeded repair costs. On another issue with my fuel line, he identified the problem quickly, and fixed it in a timely manner. He is honest, and reasonable, and very good at what he does. Can't thank him enough!

Mike does great work! You can trust his assessment of the problem and his fair pricing. We highly recommend his opinion and knowledge.

He was able to meet my need on the spot. He also did some welding/ Fab work on the bumper of my Truck. Nice Guy

!HE WILL NOT FIX THE ISSUE BUT STILL CHARGE AS IF HE DID! I RECENTLY HAD A ISSUE WITH MY AUDI OVERHEATING AND I CALLED THIS MECHANIC SINCE HE HAD GOOD REVIEWS. SO AFTER SPEAKING WITH HIM HE SEEMED VERY NICE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE, SO I TRUSTED HIM AND LET HIM REPLACE THE SENSOR AND A DAY LATER HE CALLS ME AND QUOTES ME 300 DOLLARS AND CHANGE FOR THE WORK AND SENSOR AND I SPOKE WITH HIM A DAY LATER AND HE RECOMMENDED ME TO GET A OIL CHANGE WHICH I ALWAYS DO AT AUDI BUT I LET HIM DO IT HE DIDNT QUOTE ME A PRICE FOR THE OIL CHANGE BUT I FIGURED IT WOULD BE LESS THAN THE DEALERSHIP BUT NO HIS OIL CHANGE COST ME ALMOST 200 DOLLARS AND HE DID NOTHING SPECIAL. UNLESS YOU LIKE THROWING MONEY AWAY ON SOMEONE WHO WILL OVERCHARGE YOU TO *NOT FIX* YOUR CAR I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THIS MECHANIC. AND HE REQUEST YOU SIGN A PAPER AT THE BEGINNING SO IF HE WANTS TO ADD TO THE BILL HE CAN PUT AS MUCH AS HE WANTS!

I had a bad rear end problem and I took my truck 2015 Chevrolet to this shop. He inspected it for me and gave me a great quote. He gave me a estimate of when the job would be finished and he was right he would finish up faster than i thought. I Would recommend this repair shop to anyone who has a issue with their vehicle. Truck rides better than when I first purchased it. Will bring my other car back for some good quality work to be done.

Mike knows his stuff! He took care of our car explained and showed us the old parts of the car he replaced. She runs great and we are so very happy to have her back! Highly recommend this man, he's very knowledgeable and we will use him for any future needs for our all our vehicles and Mike we will call you on our ford pickup, soonthank you thank you!

I'm only temporarily in town and I've had to bring my vehicle to Mike twice. I've had a lot of experience with auto shops (older Jeep) and am very impressed with Sanford's. Mike was very communicative with me while my Jeep was in his care, he did not BS me, he was timely, and he did not overcharge. I highly recommend Sandford's Automotive Service and I am very grateful to have my Jeep back and running like new!

My 2004 Somona had many problems. Sandford spent over 50 hours putting my truck back to it's greatness again. He told me what it would take. Gave me a good price for all he had to do on my 2004 Somona. Runs great drives great. Yes I trust and recommend Sanford Auto. Service.

Sanford's is awsome. Excellent service and follow through. Found a vehicle we wanted to purchase 2800 miles away from us in Portland, OR. Had the dealership take it to Sanfords for a 3rd party mechanics inspection since we could not be there in person. Sanford's went above and beyond. Not only did they inspect the vehicle for mechanical soundness, but they also understood our situation so looked the entire vehicle over for cosmetic flaws and also gave their honest opinion of the vehicle as a whole. When we received the vehicle there were no surprises and everything was as described by Sanford's. Very happy and would reccomend to anyone.

Mike is a knowledgeable and honest mechanic. I brought my car in for some maintenance at the 100,000 mile mark, and he told me what services were essential and advised, as well as the ones that could wait. His prices are fair and his service is excellent. He returned my calls quickly, and had my car ready in less than a week. Within days Mike had serviced the brakes, replaced my tires, shocks and struts, given the car a tune-up and replaced the radiator hose, and fixed a broken blinker!

For me, who knows very little about cars, it was nice to see a mechanic so forthcoming and transparent in his work. At one point, Mike invited me to look under the car as he did some troubleshooting. That kind of openness is not what we usually associate with car mechanics. A great experience all around--I strongly recommend Sanford's!

Great experience! Mike Sanford was able to get the parts and install them faster than I could have even had the parts delivered alone, and he managed to do it all under quoted cost! As a mechanic, I found Mike to be knowledgeable and friendly, and highly professional. He went out of his way to provide top notch service, and it shows in every aspect of his operation. I would definitely recommend Sanford's Automotive to my friends for their auto repair needs.

Sanford's automotive is probably the most straight forward and most considerate mechanic experience I have ever had during a time where my car was needing work and I was enduring the typical stress and worry we all do. A few months ago my friend and I broke down about 25 minutes from my home in Columbia. Got towed to Sanford's Automotive and within a short amount of time we had the diagnosis of the problem. Mr. Sanford was completely straight forward, gave us the bad news that the engine was shot but assured us that with his many years in the area and lots of experience and cooperation with others in the area, that the car would be back on the road in no time with lots of care and work put into it.

I have since then revisited Sanford's automotive several times for other minor tune ups up on my car (not as severe of course.) and received a fair and affordable but quick repair transaction each time. I cannot recommend Sanford's automotive enough to anyone within the Columbia or Midlands area.