I used to live in South Florida. If you're familiar with that part of the world, you know that every mechanic is a con-artist looking for new and unique ways to rob you of your hard-earned money while convincing you they're doing you a favor.
My car started making a very strange grinding and rubbing noise when I was taking a left turn. I suspected it might have been a control arm, wheel hub, or something else suspension-related and was nervous. We've been in the area only about a year, and I had no clue who was a good mechanic that could help fix the car and not drain my bank account.
I was at a Marshall Area Business Administration meeting and bumped into someone who referred me to Deerfield Tire & Auto and told me to ask for Troy. A few weeks later, I got the gumption (mostly because I was tired of having a car I couldn't use) to wander down to see Troy and I have to say, I was shocked.
Troy and I went for a little test drive. In less than a block, he was able to take a reasonable guess as to what was wrong. He figured it was coming from the rear passenger side wheel, whereas I thought it was the left front wheel. He got the car up on the rack and let me know it was nothing suspension-related (whew) and instead was a brake problem, with the possibility of it requiring new calipers and possibly needing new bearings.
As it turned out, all it needed was new pads and rotors. Troy called me several times to give me updates as to what was going on and how he was ruling out some of the worst-case scenarios (your calipers reset perfectly... your bearings are fine).
He could have easily taken us for a ride (pun intended) and just told me it was all of those things, and I wouldn't have been the wiser. But, he was honest, he communicated everything, and treated us with respect.
I was so impressed with Troy that, when I picked up my car yesterday, I dropped off my Jeep for tire replacement. I was having some uneven wear on the front tires, where other mechanics had said, "That's a Jeep thing and it'll cost you about $600 in suspension work, a CV joint, and then you'll need to buy tires, too."
Nope. He gave me the cost of two tires, he then tested the alignment and it was as simple as the tires were too far toed out. An alignment was $89 and would fix the entire issue (on top of the tires). He showed me the before/after readings of the alignment and we were on our merry way.
The next time I have an issue that can be addressed by his shop, I'm taking my vehicles here. He instilled trust and made me feel comfortable with the entire process. read more
