Dick’s Valley Service

I was borrowing a friend’s vehicle for the day and accidentally left the lights on when I arrived at work. Needless to say, the battery was dead when I left that afternoon. I have roadside assistance on my own vehicle, but there is none on my friend’s car. I received a quote from someone else of «starting at $ 68», so I thought I’d just call a couple places I knew were nearby. Dick’s Valley Service said the charge was a flat $ 50 for a jump and he could be there in 20 – 30 minutes. Having used roadside assistance before, I knew the time estimate alone was a steal because I’ve waited for as much as 4 hours from other companies! But anyways, the gentleman arrived within 10 minutes, gave me a jump, and reminded me to leave it running for at least 45 minutes. But what made this a 5 star review for me was that he noticed something wrong under the hood that neither I or my friend knew about. He physically showed me the problem and told me how to be careful until it gets fixed. If that saves us from being stranded in the middle of a busy road, then the money was WELL spent. And again, he was a super nice guy that came to help. Also, the lady that answered the phone was extremely nice as well. I’d definitely call them again for help.

Great service via AAA. Todd was very professional explaining the tools he was going to use, was patient, answered my questions with enthusiasm and humor. The dispatch representative called 10 minutes prior to Todd’s arrival, which was very helpful in 12 degree weather. Fantastic job all @, Dick’s Valley Service in Apple Valley!

I have taken my vehicles in here a number of times, and the last two times they have returned the car with physical damage to my vehicle. This is not professional in least, and I would seriously give another review here on Unilocal some credence regarding his claim of damage to his vehicle. Dick’s is seemingly not the least bit careful with your cherished property, and it’s not as if my vehicles are junker-​clunkers that I won’t notice when there’s scratch, or two, or three on them. In fact, it’s hard not to notice when the rest of your car looks like it was just driven off of the showroom floor, except for the part of your car that Dick’s just worked on.
In the first instance, I brought my car in there for a stuck lug nut, and they scratched up my brand-​spanking-​new hub cap on that same wheel. The other 3 hubcaps are still pristine, as shiny as a new penny, nearly a year later, so it’s not as if these things are easy to wreck. But they somehow managed to do just that. In the second case, I brought the car in for a issue with a power window that was not going up, and they managed to scuff up my previously immaculate door panel; which I had just cleaned prior to bringing it in, so I know it was completely untainted, unsullied, and perfectly flawless. No more. So, needless to say, you can expect Dick’s to treat your possessions carelessly, and toss your property around like a cheap rag doll.
Now the people there do seem to come across as decent, and the work they do is generally (not always) pretty satisfactory. However, it has been my experience that they will charge some pretty outrageous prices for their services. Take the window issue (referenced above), for example. I needed the work done immediately because I was on my way out of town with the vehicle, and I was desperate to get it fixed before I left. I also didn’t have the know-​how, nor the tools, to do the job myself. Though, once I noticed how scraped up my door panel was, after the repair, I started to question the expense of it all. I was charged 2 hours labor for what is a very simple repair (if you know how to get one single part in/​out of the door). A part I subsequently priced out as having an average retail price of $ 84. (It can be had for as low as $ 47 brand new.) Yet I was charged $ 213 just for the part (!), plus another $ 17 for «shop supplies.» Seriously? The dealer doesn’t stock that part, so I wonder where they got it, and if the part I received had 48-​carat gold in it (or what) that caused that big of a price markup??? Next time, I’ll just get the parts myself, and call someone off craiglist who will do the job for what it was worth in labor: about $ 59, instead of the $ 170 in «labor» I was charged.
Another complaint I have with this place was the time I took my car in for a transmission flush. First they overfilled the transmission, which resulted in a red pond of transmission fluid on my garage floor, a pool of fluid big enough for fish to swim in. (Not to mention that overfilling a transmission with fluid can cause serious long-​term transmission problems.) So I had to take it back in for them to drain out fluid to the proper level so the transmission didn’t get damaged. And then they removed too much fluid, so I had to go out and buy fluid rather than take it in a third time! I think next time I need transmission service I’ll just take it to one of those places charging $ 79 for what Dick’s gouged me for $ 199 plus tax and «shop supplies.»
I realize no one’s perfect, and I think I’ve given this place the benefit of the doubt, but in all honesty, I see a pattern here that I don’t like. I now sort of feel like Cinderella after the clock strikes midnight. And Dick’s prices and practices will do that to you — make you poor and feeling as though you need to take a shower after going there.
Ultimately, the scratched door panel (and the costs associated with a pretty simple repair) resulted in the final straw that broke the camel’s back with me and Dick’s Valley «Service.» You may have gotten my $ 412 for that job, but you lost a customer. I hope it was worth it. For it’s actually easier to keep customers than it is to try to find new ones, but I guess you missed that Business 101 Lesson. For me, the curtain has fallen with Dick’s, and it ain’t going back up.

I am so angry with this place! We are moving to Florida in 4 days so we took my brothers car in to Dicks to get a 2^nd opinion on break noise. They said they were fine but did some other work. Picked up the car and there is a big scratch on the drivers side door! We saw it after we left my car with them for a noise in the right front. They called with a $ 1,100.00 bill. We picked up my car and the it had a hard time starting-​when it did start there was a horrible noise. This car has started on a dime for many years-​beautiful LaSabre and now there is problems. Plus, there are 2 huge scratches on the back end! Plus, the same problem is still in the front end!
I will change my review if Dicks stand up and fix all the stuff they did to our cars otherwise-​Do Not Take Your Vehicles To Dick’s Valley Service. They are horrible!

Needed a tow once, and AAA sent out Dicks Valley Service to tow me and I ended up having them fix my vehicle. They did a great job and for a decent price.
I don’t trust mechanics, so I get second opinions and quadruple check prices all the time. However, after several years of faithful service from them, I don’t even bother doublechecking what they tell me and the prices they quote. They do a great job and several times when something turned out to be a minor issue, they just fixed it and sent me on my way.
It’s nice to have a mechanic in the area I can trust.

This is a service you wish you never have to use, but, it’s inevitable that at somepoint you will break down on the side of the road and need a tow/​service. I’ve used Dick’s a few times (notorious for locking my keys in my car and/​or getting flat tires) and recently had the pleasure of having my clutch die while I was driving down Cedar ave on my way to work and called Dick’s. They got out to me fairly quick (15mins or so). They gave me a price on how much it would cost to fix and after checking around I found their quote to be reasonable. They did a great job and they’re an independent local company so I like to throw my business their way.