Don's Auto Center

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I took our 2000 VW Beetle TDI to Don’s Auto Center to see if the and quot;problemsand quot; another mechanic (Das Autohaus - see review at http://www.combatcritic.com/2013/12/if-you-want-to-spend-lots-of-money-take.html) told me needed repairing were indeed concerns. On my recent Das Autohaus invoice, the owner had stated that the vehicle needed and quot;new strutsand quot; ($400-$600 on RepairPal) and removal of “excess carbon buildup on intake manifold” (which I had done less than two years and 20,000 miles ago at a cost of $700), for a total of $1,100 to $1,300 in repairs. I had recently taken the vehicle on a 500+ mile trip to Colorado to visit my mother and noticed that the fuel economy was six to seven miles per gallon less than last summer (intake manifold?) and the ride somewhat rough (struts?), so I decided to take the vehicle to Don’s when I returned to see if the Das Autohaus “recommendations” were accurate. I explained to Mike, the owner of Don’s, what the symptoms were and what I thought could possibly be causing them (based on the Das Autohaus diagnoses – struts and carbon in manifold). Mike called me later that day and told me that he had checked the suspension thoroughly and found “no issues”, no concerns and certainly no need for new struts. He told me the cause of the rough ride was likely caused by the tires being overinflated and simply let some air out of the tires. As for the poor gas mileage and possible carbon buildup on the intake manifold, Mike said that the winter additives in the diesel fuel cause lower gas mileage and because the manifold was cleaned less than 20,000 miles ago, there was no need to have it done again. He told me that the air filter was a bit dirty, so I had him replace it and do an oil change ($30 for an air filter, $50/gallon for synthetic motor oil) for a total of LESS THAN $200 and OVER $1,000 LESS THAN THE DAS AUTOHAUS and quot;NEEDED REPAIRSand quot;. I thanked Mike for his honesty and integrity, values I as a retired military officer hold dear, and will return to have him service our vehicles from now on. You can come to your own conclusions regarding Das Autohaus. All I know is that by taking our vehicle literally a couple blocks down the street to an honest mechanic, we saved over $1,000. Enough said ... THANKS MIKE!

I have been taking my car to Don's for routine service for several years now. In fact, my current vehicle is the third they've serviced. Carol and Mike are always responsive. Mike is very thorough and puts things in plain language when he talks about issues with the vehicle and makes recommendations that are considerate of your time and pocketbook. I wouldn't trust my car to anyone else.

We took my van here on a recommendation and we were very pleased. We took our car into an oil change at Firestone and 3 hours later the engine blew up, it just melted the engine. So we sued Firestone and they mediated a settlement which I wasn't terribly happy with. They honestly just wanted our vehicle off of their property. So we took it to Don's, he replaced the entire engine because there was nothing else to be done at that point. He did a excellent job and gave us a 100,000 mile warranty on the engine replacement. So excellent warranty, excellent service. I think they are very reliable, I would recommend Don's. Whatever my van needs, it's theirs now.