Dave’s Car Care Center

Wife’s 2000 Suburban was making a nasty knocking sound coming from the rear wheels. Dave’s is convenient, has 5 bays and looks like a bustling shop. Dropped the ‘Burb and let them at it. We got the bad news that her rear end was shot — her car’s rear end, that is. Estimate was escalating above the $ 1K mark, so we asked how imminent the end would be without the repair. He gave the standard mechanic’s answer: could be years — could be tomorrow.
The silver lining: he would buy the vehicle from us, take it off our hands so we’d never have to worry about it again, for $ 4500. Yes, it’s a lowball offer, but we’re driving damaged goods. She couldn’t part with it, so we decided to drive it into the ground. We thanked him for his efforts and paid him for his time.
I was trying to avoid driving the 50 miles to my brother’s automatic transmission shop because he’s always busy and I’m saving the «family discount» for something huge. Well, this started to qualify for huge so off I went. I asked if he worked on differentials, and he said he would take a look.
I was thumbing through a 4-​year-​old Field and Stream in his office when he came back in and asked if I had $ 60. I told him I could spare it, and he told me that I needed a U-​Joint. Ten bucks for the piece and grease and a 50 spot for his man to change it out. The sound was gone, and I saved not only the car but a thousand dollars over Dave’s experts.
The question I asked my brother: Is it possible that the rear end noise and u-​joint noise could be confused with each other. You already know the answer: no way a competent mechanic could do that.
When they’re not in the market for a used car they may do quality work. I will never know as I will never return to them for auto repair.
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UPDATE 2÷3÷2016: Got a note from the manager recently asking for details, which I willingly provided. He assured me that what I experienced is not standard procedure for his shop. Judging from other reviews I’m inclined to agree. This may have been a bad apple that had a jones for a Suburban. I hope he’s gone. Nevertheless, there’s a bad taste in my mouth that will prevent my return. Still, it was a nice gesture of Charlie to try to get to the bottom of things.

AC went out on my car and they had my car ready that afternoon. Great and friendly service. I’d recommend this place to a friend.

Great efficient service! Appreciated the ride home after dropping my truck off. Will use them again.

Dave’s is awesome. The manager (Charlie) handles the phones and the front desk. He’s very attentive and is great with customer service. The mechanics that work here are great, too. I usually ask them to explain to me what the problem is, and they have no problem helping me to understand. I’m not sure if they’re the cheapest in town, but the price always seems reasonable, and the service and quality keep me from even looking elsewhere.