Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center

I very rarely use my car, but when I do, it’s for really important, longer trips — like to visit my folks in Flint around the holidays, or when I volunteer at a summer camp in Jackson.
This time around, when I started up my car in Chicago, it sounded pretty bad. Very loud. I was worried that I had a hole in my muffler or exhaust system somewhere.
As the 280 miles ticked away, the sound just got louder. I knew I would have to have someone in Flint look at it over thanksgiving weekend. And I knew, from previous bad experiences, that the nearest Volkswagen dealerships were 45 minutes away, in Lansing and Auburn Hills.
I had heard the horror stories about places like Jiffy Lube, so I asked my dad where he took their cars. He immediately mentioned this specific Tuffy Auto Service Center. It had been recommended to him by a good friend of his, and they were both very happy with their experiences there.
When we arrived, I met Danny, the manager, who was very friendly and courteous. Almost immediately our technician, Don, came out to pick up the car and put it on the hoist. Within five minutes he had us come out to look at the problem — a coupling had come completely loose and needed to be reconnected. He said it would be no problem to fix it.
While we were out there, I also asked him to attach a new belly pan that I’d bought to protect the engine compartment. He had no problem helping with this slightly unusual request. (VW Jetta and Passat owners know that if you so much as scrape the front bumper over a parking block, you risk losing that belly pan.)
Within an hour, the work was done and he had us back out to look at the work that was done. He pointed out that one of my front ball joints was loose, but said he’d have to order the part. However, the price he quoted was VERY reasonable — if I didn’t have to go back to Chicago I might have seriously considered having them to the work.
But he said that it would get me back safely, and didn’t try to pressure me into having any extra work done, like flushing a bunch of fluids or my brake lines or any of that kind of stuff.
The nicest surprise of all was the price. I can honestly say that this was by far one of the best deals I’ve ever had from any one who has worked on my car!!!
Anecdotally, I’d heard that one of their technicians lived about twenty miles away, but had switched to working at this shop — and had customers follow him out to this location just to keep him working on their cars. That’s the kind of story that (to me) speaks volumes about customer satisfaction… especially with the price of gas these days!
One other story: My dad had taken their GMC Safari van to a different auto repair shop nearby, and while they’re doing the work, the guy points out a leaking hose on the brake cylinder. «You really should replace that,» he says, «because it’s a safety issue.» Dad says, «Okay, put it all back together and write me an estimate.» Then he brings it to these guys, who look at it and say, «No, that’s just normal wear and tear, it happens with these models, you just check it every six months or so.» That’s a pretty rare commodity these days: honesty.
So, to sum up: It may have been the great recommendations that brought me here, but I soon learned why: excellent customer service, they take you out to look at the car and point out exactly what the problem is; very honest and straightforward people, no pressure to have unnecessary work done; unbeatable price.