Wiygul Automotive Clinic

This is a belated review, because I finally got around to doing the work Wiygul told me I needed to do.
I have a 2005 Yukon Denali with a perpetually leaky 6.0L V8. I brought the truck to Wiygul a few months ago to diagnose a few oil leaks. They told me there were two — the oil filter «plate» gasket, and the valley pan gasket. The filter plate is the job I had them do, as I found their $ 1400 quote for the valley pan job (even with their recommended «while you’re in there» knock sensors, knock sensor harness, intake manifold gaskets) to be absurd. I work on and race old BMWs and simply brought the truck to them as I didn’t have time to handle it myself. They told me the valley pan was the worse of the two leaks «by far» and «you really need to do this ASAP.»
Finally got tired of the truck leaving puddles wherever I went, so I ordered the $ 150 in parts and proceeded to take 2.5 hours of my time (at $ 110/​hr, how do you get $ 1400??) to replace what they told me I needed — valley pan gasket, knock sensors, harness and intake mani gaskets. Guess what WASN’T leaking catastrophically? The valley pan.
The truck is still leaving puddles and I have looked underneath it. The oil filter plate gasket that they claim to have replaced may be the source of this leak — still. It’s mighty wet right there.
Additionally, when I had tires mounted, I asked Wiygul to put sealant on the inner lips of the wheels, as GM chrome wheels are known to get a little corroded and not seal well. «OK, we’ll do it.» Why did I have to bring the truck back to have that done, twice?
I’m not sure if Wiygul has a warranty on the work they’ve done, because if they truly did replace that oil filter gasket and it’s just failed again, I’d love to have them re-​fix it. On the other hand, given their poor diagnostic skills, I’m not sure I want them touching the truck again.

My husband and I rented a Uhaul here and was told we had to park in the street??? Excuse me, we are customers. There was no street parking so we canceled the Uhaul.

OMG I love these Guys. Long story but a happy ending because of wygul. My battery died and I was jump started by AAA. They could not supply a battery for my Mercedes Benz E350 coupe. It was the original battery pretty good 5.8 years. Called around and no one has a battery. When I called Sears they had a die hard with what they said was a 5 year battery. It was 229 installed vice the dealer 279 plus labor. Sears installed the battery and at the payment they said it was only a three year warranty
I already felt scammed then the hammer fell. Sears said an alternator was required immediately. It would be in excess of 1200.00. They also said don’t go anywhere else. Well if that doesn’t make you suspicious nothing does.
I have been using Wiygul for all my work for the past few years and have been extremely satisfied. They advised me on the best tires and they were better than the originals.
In this case they ordered the alternator and were ready to install it. They checked the alternator and it was ok. They saved me 1200 dollars. I have VIP service and they pick me up and take me home.
Tyrone at the desk was great and Red the technician explained the issue in detail. It was incompetence at Sears not something underhanded.
I have read the negative comments but not from me.
They will tell you what need done and no more.
Go there with confidence.
Dr Michael Balady

They told me it was going to be over $ 250 to get a popped tire fixed because I apparently broke a sensor when I hit my tire. This is the second time they’ve said this to me so I started to sense a scam. Sure enough, I took it over to the Discount Tire right off the beltway and they told me the guys at Wiygul had to have broken off the part and fixed everything for me for $ 80.

I don’t usually waste my time with negative reviews. This time I’m going to. I had an appointment for an oil change with a tire rotation at noon with a groupon, I arrived 10 mins late, I was told the job would take 1 hour which is fine, I figured it will be a job well done if it takes an hour.
I got my car back 10 mins after 2, so double the time I was told! Good thing I did not have to go back to work, when I got my car back it was obvious that the tire rotation was not done, how would I know? Simple! The brake dust on my front rims was still there on the FRONT rims, if you rotated wheels, usually the back wheels go to the front, and the front to the back. So if the brake dust is still all over the rim… Yeah. Frankly, if you skipped the wheel rotation, then what else did you skip? New oil? Oil filter? Refilling fluids?
I would’ve said something but honestly, I did not want to wait 2 more hours!
Sure, you have good reviews but I am a first time customer, and my experience is the only thing that matters to me. I feel that I got crappy service because I used a groupon. If you are going to provide subpar quality service because people used groupons, then DO NOT OFFER THEM! People would pay more if it meant they were getting honest service.
Although I spent 50% of what I would’ve spent at Jiffy Lube, I’m not sure if it was worth it. I’d rather spend it where I know I’m getting what I’m paying for. Def not going back.

I have been taking my vehicles to Wiygul’s since I moved here three years ago. So far, I’ve always had a great experience & the guys at the front desk are always friendly, nice, & knowledgeable. I have yet to have them push a service on me that my vehicles did not need. I’ve used three of their specials listed on their website with out any trouble. I also love that Wiygul’s is close to where I live, making drop off & pick up easy and hassle free.

I went for a Groupon oil change for 2 cars. They tried to up sell me for $ 700. When I said no they were less than pleased and were rude. I took car for second opinion and had everything done that needed to be done for $ 159. They also used am impact wrench to put on lug nuts after your rotation totally disregarding torgue specs. The mechanic who did the work need a pipe to get enough leverage top get them off. Not my favorite place.

They scratched my wheel– even pointed it out to me and said that they would replace it– then never followed up or returned my calls. I even left them a message saying they could just repair it if it would be cheaper than replacing it. I was really impressed with their integrity at first but ended up being very disappointed.
Had nothing gone wrong, I would say that they are a great business. Once they screwed up, they really dropped the ball.

I called here to check how much it would cost for a power steering hose to be replaced as it had gone out on my vehicle. They stated on the phone the price would be about $ 200 (a relatively normal price). After dropping off my vehicle (I only lived 1 mile away so I could walk back and forth) I was later called and was told the price would be $ 653! They also added over $ 3,000 of other items they wanted me to authorize fixing, including $ 65 to clean the battery terminals of the car (complete rip off again). I told them I would only authorized the hose replacement, even though it was a complete rip-​off already I did not want to risk burning up the power steering pump and didn’t have the time to take it elsewhere.
Upon arriving they pushed multiple repairs on me before even letting me pay their ripoff prices and leave. They also told me that the tensioner was tight. The vehicle I drove had the power steering lines coming directly off the unit and there is no reason to remove the pump unit or mess with the tensioner at all when doing this repair. This was also aggravating given that the manager up front apparently knew very little of what actually happened with my vehicle. I have made sure to recommend no one I know go here.

These seemed friendly people showed me a long list of maintenance items that I had to do and things that I «needed to» repair. And guess how much they quoted for the so called «required» service? More than $ 3,000!
It’s so funny because I just had some of the maintenance items on their list done at another place before I came in.
I did not agree, and they told me that they were unable to do the work that I had made an appointment for. So they wasted me about 2 hours on a work day morning advising service that I did not need, and did not do the work that I asked them to do.

Super convenience. People are polite. Extremely over priced! I went to this shop several times for oil changes and inspections. I figured that since the shop was so close to my apt, it was worth the mark up. Recently, I needed the passenger side mirror (manual) went to them and they gave me a quote just under $ 400. That just seemed off. I called the dealership and they quotes me no more then $ 215. The dealership! Well, I went to the dealership and only paid $ 176.
I hear they do great work but I would get other quotes before deciding on getting your work done there.

I came into Wiygul for a quick oil change and tire balance/​rotation. I could not be less impressed. The actual mechanic was fine. The leadership/​sales/​office manager was as slimy as can be. He berated me for not having standard maintenance done on my higher mileage Toyota. Little did he know that I had my family mechanic in Charlottesville flush/​change most of the fluids 18 months earlier. He tried to sign me up for a slew of un-​needed services. I declined. Further, he gave me some noise about the power steering going out. Rather than continue to deal with the underhanded ruffians running Wiygul, I took my truck into my family mechanic today… turns out everything is running perfectly. There is ZERO evidence of any power steering issues, all fluids are clean and to the correct levels, and up to all Virginia codes. I will NEVER return to Wiygul. Be warned.

Called a day before to set up an appointment. As I was driving, I called to confirm and they told me that they didn’t have me in the system. I had a Groupon and they said they might be able to squeeze me in so I continued.
They weren’t friendly, didn’t put my phone number in right to call me when it was ready, weren’t able to do inspection (which was included in the Groupon for a synthetic oil change and inspection), and then they tried selling me a bunch of things that I probably didn’t need (I may need one or two but at this point I didn’t feel I could trust them.) I agree to one of the air filters that I could visibly see needed to change… And of course when I was checking out, they said they couldn’t replace it (without giving much of an explanation.)
This place is a joke and no better than any other big chain.

I have used Wiygul for over 10 years and always been satisfied with the results. I drive some older cars and they do need TLC, as well as some costly repairs, from time to time. I have been most impressed with their honesty. On several occasions I was counseled by Wiygul to not fix something because it wasn’t a serious matter and could be put off. I was impressed by that because an auto service firm can easily make money off of people who don’t really know their cars.
I have recommended Wiygul to several friends. Most have been satisfied, but a few haven’t. In each instance of unhappiness, it was because they didn’t like the Wiygul recommendation to drain, BG flush and renew fluids. Those procedures are costly, but if you know anything about fluid and mechanical components you know that clean fluids are critical for a long service life. So if you go to Wiygul and they urge you to replace your fluids and you can’t remember when the fluids were last changed — Just do it.
If you’re not interested in keeping your car healthy by renewing your fluids then you probably don’t need to use Wiygul. Go find any fly by night outfit who will give you the low price you probably desire more than a well running vehicle.

I came to get my inspection sticker but they stop taking cars between 4:30−5pm. Which brings me to the million dollar question of why they are open until 7 if they are talking cars? The last time I came I definitely got my sticker after 5. New rules I guess. I walk in and the employee is chilling watching tv. Too bust for me. Hmph

The guys here are great! Think I have finally found a new garage since moving back here in 2011!

*******Review Strictly on U-​haul rental only!!!*****
I booked a u-​haul online for a Saturday morning pick up at 8:30am & got to the their offices at around 8:15 and they said there were no u-​hauls available, an older white man served me and was very rude, either didn’t like me or was slightly racist one of the two.
I went to the car and called the main u-​haul customer service and told them about this and they told me that there is an available u-​haul and they don’t know why that man doesn’t want to give me it, even after I booked it, so I told them to call him and find out while I wait in the car because he was so rude and disrespectful to me. They called me back in a few minutes and told me that I should go in and get the u-​haul because it’s there. I went back in and he just looked at me badly but I didn’t care lol as long as I got the u-​haul. Wish I had gotten his name, he was rude and I will never recommend that place and will not even bother going to take my car there.
I see they have a groupon for that place now, mmmm maybe business is slow because you are too dam rude to prospective customers.
Definitely won’t be going there. (Lane Street, Alexandria branch)

I’m not saying this place will try to scam you, but they definitely tried to scam me.
I wasn’t coming in to get a vehicle safety inspection, just for an oil change and tire rotation, but the «friendly folks» at Wiygul went ahead and told me all the things that I will need to have done in order to pass the inspection there. Now that I’m home, I can actually look up what is listed on the official Virginia Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Program. Every single thing they listed off to me (and believe me, they typed out an invoice) is nowhere to be found on the official inspection page.
Now, would they have actually failed me on the inspection? Who’s to say. But, I look pretty responsible, and I bet they were hoping I would get all of this work done just to get it out of the way. That way when I came through for the official inspection, I’d pass with flying colors.
I’m not saying these guys are two-​bit con men, but that’s how the treated me. I will not be coming back.

brought car in for oil change, they said brake fluid, transmission fluid should be changed but I had them done recently at the dealer. In addition, cost of repairs even if I did need to have them done was far greater then the dealer.

I came in after receiving a coupon for synthetic oil change and tire rotation for $ 40. What a deal! While I was there I asked them do a four wheel alignment. I showed up for my 11AM appointment. Andy at the front desk was friendly enough, and showed me to the waiting room and offered coffee and water. At 12:18 Andy checked in and said he’ll look to get me out within the next hour — the tech is finishing the oil change and will rotate the tires and do the alignment next. No problem! At 2:03 he finally had everything ready to go with a handshake and a smile. A really long wait for such minor service, but whatever — I love my car and wouldn’t want anyone rushing it.
When I got home, I did a walk around — I’m veeeeery particular about my car and always worried my flat faced 18 inch wheels would get scratched. Waaaaait a second… the same scratch I had on my passenger rear wheel was still… at my PASSENGER REAR WHEEL! Didn’t I just pay to have my tires rotated? I called and told Andy that his techs didn’t rotate my tires. He said he was sure the did, but to hold on. He put the tech on the phone and I told him the same thing… He said «No? Hold on. let me look at the ticket.». Andy got back on and said «Oh yeah, he forgot. Come on back and we’ll go ahead and move them around for you.». Oh! The old simple mistake, come on back buddy line! If he forgot rotate the tires, what the hell took three hours?
Should this place be put out of business? I doubt it. Reviews say they often do good work. But this was my first time… and unfortunately for them the last time. And to have a technician «Forget»?? You can forget to remove the paper floor mats, or forget to wipe down the steering wheel and gearshift, but you CANNOT «forget» one of the three things I brought my car in to have serviced! When you’re working on someone’s car you can’t «forget». What else will you forget? To tighten up the lug nuts? Or maybe forget to reconnect the brake lines? Or did you not forget… and just not do it because I probably wouldn’t notice anyway?
Either way, as a first time customer, this is unacceptable. I’m not taking another day off, and I’m not risking taking my vehicle back to someone who I don’t feel will do it properly. Great treatment in the waiting area, but unfortunately that’s not what I’m paying for and prefer the same attention to be paid to vehicle instead.